what's harder 36mcat or 255step1?

[chef]

i know it's hard to compare but please try to compare the 2.. tia

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[southerndoc]

Which is more important, studying for step I, or posting these type questions on SDN?

Just buckle down and study.

 

[Fermi]

Plenty of people could get a 36 MCAT on little more than intellect and intuition (and minimal studying). Getting a 255 Step 1 takes months of dedicated study and two years of diligent med school work. I don't believe it when people say MCAT score is a predictor of Step 1 score. The former is an intellect-reasoning type test and the latter is a knowledge-application type test.

 

[egroupie]

well said.

 

[Poesie Noire]

i had come across a classmate of an old friend of mine who graduated from ut-san antonio med school in '02'. he told me the usmle is broader and more difficult exam yet conquerable despite what your performance is on previous standardized exams. he told me that his mcat score was a 29. his step 1 score: 278+. step 2 score : 272. i was blown away. i didnt realize anyone could actually score that high. he told me me that getting above a 260 on either can be done easier if you have the natural aptitude and logical reasoning to do well on such exams. yet, he emphasized that those who dont can still get a 250+ with sound studying in the basic science years and doing thousands of questions. in my wildest dreams could i imagine getting above a 260, but im definitely taking his advice as i get ready for step 2. best of luck to all!

 

[smedly2]

What about the time factor?? Speed was my only issue on the mcat. Is a quick pace as important during step1 as it was in the mcat.


thanks

 

[unregistered]

Hey Poesie Noire,

Thats amazing...How did your friend study for Step 2 and for how long? Which books? Did he also ace his clinical rotations (that seems to be the best predictor of Step 2 success)?

 

[JDENTHOPEFULL]

bump

 

[puffy1]

A classmate of mine scored a 266. This particular person also scored something in the realm of a 36 or 37 on the MCAT.

To score that high on the exam you have to have studied and retained an awful lot during your first two years, you need to have studied and prepared efficiently for Step 1, and you needed a little bit of luck as well (the test you end up taking).

 

[Idiopathic]

278 huh...3+ SD above the mean. That is pretty f-ing ridiculous, and I am not sure I would believe it without proof. I mean, someone who claims that they can "on natural aptitude and logical reasoning" score better than 99.7% of the test takers on this test (while barely cracking the top 25% of MCATers...

a score of 278 on USMLE step 1 will correlate to a student who scored in the top 100 out of 33,000 or so test takers. I am sure they are out there but I doubt they are quite so brash about how easy it is

Has anyone actually seen a score this high? I dont mean to slam you Poesie, this just blows me away.

 

[Poesie Noire]

I know what you mean. I was kind of blown away myself. Obvisouly due to the fact that I never met him before, I didnt feel appropriate on asking to see his score report. Im sure you'd understand. I met him through my friend one night during their graduation week. All the students there asserted the same. 278+ step 1, 272 on step 2. What caught me more by suprise was that they all said that on step 1 it specifically said 278+. I've never heard of the plus sign as an additive. Also, I think you misunderstood some thing in my original post. The guy explained to me that majority of those who score exceedingly high (260+) on either Steps do so because they not only work their asses off in their 1st 2 years, but they're naturally good testakers to begin with. Meaning, they have the natural aptitude to peform well on these types of exams. That's where he had confused me because his MCAT score was so low comparitively to his Steps. Anyways, go figure. I guess we can never know for sure. What I do for sure is that he was ranked 1st inhis class, AOA, etc...and got into CT Surgery at Vanderbilt. If Im not mistaken that's supposedly one of the, if not the best, Surgery programs in the country. All in all, its his advice to me that's important: Questions, questions, questins Good luck!

 

[Idiopathic]

Good points all around. This individual may have been the best medical student ever, for all I know.