10 days until Step 1 and NBME scores are everywhere. Advice?

[deeproots]

Hello friends,

So I'm taking step 1 in 10 days, and my practice tests and UWorld scores have been all over the place. I'm having a hard time figuring out where I stand and am hoping to get some advice or find people in similar circumstances. Anyways, here's my stats:

School-administered NBME (2/17): 213
NBME 13 (3/17): 480/223
NBME 15 (3/31): 560/240
NBME 16 (4/8): 520/232
School-administered NBME (4/14): 247
NBME 17 (4/14): 550/238
NBME 18 (4/23): 620/252
Free 150 at Prometric (4/24): 81% (from what I've found online, people who scored near 80% on the free 150 shortly before their exam were in the 230's on the real thing)
UWorld overall average: 76% (89th percentile), but the average of my last 10 sets is 87%

I'm really frustrated because my score is all over the place and it feels like I'm not making much progress. I'm also nervous that I found the free 150 to be pretty difficult, but I seem to be the only one who feels that way. Has anybody else had this experience? I hate feeling so unsure with step so soon

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[BillrothI]

I'm taking Step around the same time as you, and have had a very similar experience: 88th percentile on UWorld (average ~85% on last 10 sets) and NBME scores all over the place (ranging from 210 - 260). I just took NBME 19 and performed worse than I had at baseline six weeks ago, so I'm really not sure what to do at this point.

FWIW, this isn't that uncommon: I have several friends who are also all over the place on the NBMEs.

 

[whatisthisstuff]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you with my NBME scores being all over the place. How do you feel the questions you are missing on your NBME's are? Things you knew and just didn't make the connection/made a silly mistake? Or are they simply things you didn't know?

For me I feel like I have been primarily missing things I know and am down to 2 answers but end up picking the wrong one. Remember the NBME is usually the more straight forward answer (compared to Uworld). I also miss questions due to simply not focusing maximally. So really try to practice thinking through EVERY question (which can be especially tough when you're fatigued). Also look at your weaknesses and try to spend some time reviewing those and details you might get mixed up.

At the end of the day everything is in a range and nobody is guaranteed anything unfortunately. The difference between a good and a great score can be just a handful of questions. Thats why confidence and clarity will be key on test day I think. I am hoping that an increased number of questions will be helpful for those of us scoring highly on UWorld but are inconsistent on NBMEs.

 

[deeproots]

Thanks, BlackLips and Billrothl! That makes me feel better, because all of my friends seem to stick with the same score +/- 5 points on everything. I'm also hoping the increased # of questions on test day will make a difference. Honestly, I don't make stupid mistakes too often. I wish I did because that would be an easy fix, but all of my mistakes seem to be me thinking about the question wrong or knowledge deficits. I think I'm just going to keep chugging along and hope for a good performance on test day. It helps, though, knowing I'm not alone.

 

[ridethecliche]

I don't understand how that's all over the place....

Your NBME average has clearly been going up. If anything, you need to breathe a bit and stop psyching yourself out. Don't let the test play head games with you. Just keep it together during the test and ignore your feelings of difficulty. You probably thought that the free 150 was hard because of nerves.

You gotttt disssss!

 

[deeproots]

I don't understand how that's all over the place....

Your NBME average has clearly been going up. If anything, you need to breathe a bit and stop psyching yourself out. Don't let the test play head games with you. Just keep it together during the test and ignore your feelings of difficulty. You probably thought that the free 150 was hard because of nerves.

You gotttt disssss!

I needed that. Thank you! It's hard when they haven't been incrementally increasing. I know it's an overall positive trend, but I was hoping to go into it with more consistently high scores. But, thanks for the pep talk!

 

[ridethecliche]

I needed that. Thank you! It's hard when they haven't been incrementally increasing. I know it's an overall positive trend, but I was hoping to go into it with more consistently high scores. But, thanks for the pep talk!

Do me a favor and plot out your NBME scores on a time axis. Remember that the scores have a +/- 3 error on the CBSE, right? So yes, your score may not be going up numerically every time, but the trend is important. IMHO, a lower score that still keeps with your trend is a 'worst case scenario' kind of situation. i.e. the NBME decides to be a magical gnome that finds your worst case scenario exam. You should be able to work things with your chin up EVEN IF THAT HAPPENS. You clearly know your sheet, don't let them stop you from proving it.

Good luck!

 

[pre med 2014]

are you sure you are not cheating even just a little bit on nbmes? Even looking up an answer to a question you were not sure about during a break (when you can no longer change it) can impact your mentality and give you reassurance to move forward with confidence which you won't have on test day.

That being said your nbmes are not all over the place, you have one outlier a 240 on nbme 15 otherwise it is a normal upward trend

 

[deeproots]

are you sure you are not cheating even just a little bit on nbmes? Even looking up an answer to a question you were not sure about during a break (when you can no longer change it) can impact your mentality and give you reassurance to move forward with confidence which you won't have on test day.

That being said your nbmes are not all over the place, you have one outlier a 240 on nbme 15 otherwise it is a normal upward trend

Definitely not peeking at study materials in any way during the NBMEs. I try to mimic test day as much as possible. I took NBME 19 a few days ago and tried to channel my inner confidence and do everything just like I would do on test day. I got a 236. I was so disappointed, but I don't know what else to do with test day being this week :/

 

[BillrothI]

Definitely not peeking at study materials in any way during the NBMEs. I try to mimic test day as much as possible. I took NBME 19 a few days ago and tried to channel my inner confidence and do everything just like I would do on test day. I got a 236. I was so disappointed, but I don't know what else to do with test day being this week :/

Best of luck to you, deeproots. Try not to worry about NBME 19 too much. Another member recently posted that their Step 1 score was 19 points higher than their NBME 19 score (taken a few days before their exam).

Fingers crossed that your UW scores are more reflective of your final score. But even if they're not, you're still looking good for 240+.

-Bill

 

[deeproots]

Best of luck to you, deeproots. Try not to worry about NBME 19 too much. Another member recently posted that their Step 1 score was 19 points higher than their NBME 19 score (taken a few days before their exam).

Fingers crossed that your UW scores are more reflective of your final score. But even if they're not, you're still looking good for 240+.

-Bill

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm going to make the best of these final days and try to keep a positive outlook. Thanks for the encouragement, and I'll let y'all know how everything turns out!

 

[pre med 2014]

Best of luck to you, deeproots. Try not to worry about NBME 19 too much. Another member recently posted that their Step 1 score was 19 points higher than their NBME 19 score (taken a few days before their exam).

Fingers crossed that your UW scores are more reflective of your final score. But even if they're not, you're still looking good for 240+.

-Bill

God I hope that applies to everyone! Fingers crossed

 

[whatisthisstuff]

Try to see if theres any little things you're consistently missing. The bio stats, behavioral, anatomy, etc questions all count and a few questions can be the difference between a good and a great score.

Atleast for me I feel like I'm solid with my Path/Phys/Pharm...I might not get them all right but that comes down more to the way they ask a question and whether or not my brain connects the dots. Trying to really improve my knowledge there at this point is probably pretty low yield. The smaller topics are where I feel like I can pick up more points.

 

[gimv]

I'm taking Step around the same time as you, and have had a very similar experience: 88th percentile on UWorld (average ~85% on last 10 sets) and NBME scores all over the place (ranging from 210 - 260). I just took NBME 19 and performed worse than I had at baseline six weeks ago, so I'm really not sure what to do at this point.

FWIW, this isn't that uncommon: I have several friends who are also all over the place on the NBMEs.

Oh god, are you me?! Same story, NBME 19 took me back to baseline, it's February again for me. My exam is in 10 days and NBME ranging from 213 - 240. What is left for us?

 

[cellsaver]

Definitely not peeking at study materials in any way during the NBMEs. I try to mimic test day as much as possible. I took NBME 19 a few days ago and tried to channel my inner confidence and do everything just like I would do on test day. I got a 236. I was so disappointed, but I don't know what else to do with test day being this week :/

You know what you need to do?

Let that adorable puppy lick you, tickle your nose and bring out your playfulness

Live, love, laugh. Prayers for you tonight!

Cheers!

 

[deeproots]

Because I promised I'd update, I wanted to revisit this post to let y'all know how Step 1 went for me. I was fortunate and received a 257. This score is 21 points higher than my score on NBME 19, which I took the week before (BillrothI, you were so right). I still don't understand how my scores could fluctuate so much.

I hope the other people taking step around the same time who commented on this post also had good luck on test day, and I'm sure myself and other people would love to know how it went (if you're comfortable with sharing). Regardless, I hope everyone who goes through this process knows that kindness, empathy, and all the other qualities that matter can't be measured with a number.

 

[gimv]

Because I promised I'd update, I wanted to revisit this post to let y'all know how Step 1 went for me. I was fortunate and received a 257. This score is 21 points higher than my score on NBME 19, which I took the week before (BillrothI, you were so right). I still don't understand how my scores could fluctuate so much.

I hope the other people taking step around the same time who commented on this post also had good luck on test day, and I'm sure myself and other people would love to know how it went (if you're comfortable with sharing). Regardless, I hope everyone who goes through this process knows that kindness, empathy, and all the other qualities that matter can't be measured with a number.

Congratulations on such a great score! Yes, NBME 19 is definitely crazy, I also got exactly 21 points higher in the real deal, which was a relief. To my friends taking Step 1 these days I strongly advice against NBME 19 if they don't have absolute confidence on their knowledge, it can definitely break your spirit.