2011 COMLEX Level I Experiences and Scores Thread

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bleeker10

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Haven't seen a thread like this for those of us taking the beast this year so I thought I'd make one. When's everyone taking it? I'm taking it May 24th so I now have just over 60 days until I take it.

What materials are being used? I'm using FA, Goljan, BRS Phys, and Savarese along w/ Kaplan COMLEX and USMLE Qbanks (provided by school), USMLEWorld, and COMBANK.

Anyone taking USMLE too? I'm undecided since I'm military. I'll see where I'm at in a month and I can schedule it then.
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Looks like I stayed up for nothing. I guess its my fault for having faith in their word in the first place.
 
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brucecanbeatyou said:
Passed, and with a score that I am happy with! I was so sure that I had failed that I was budgeting money for more test prep materials, reading up on school policies for test failures, etc. Am incredibly happy right now.
Click to expand...

Greetings from SOMA - Flagstaff Congrats! Man I must have missed the window to see my score.
 
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so i'm speculating that the 2 am cdt shindig was basically a default message that pops up whenever they're doing standard site maintenance. however, according to the website, they're actually moving equipment around this weekend, so the default doesn't really apply...not that it really matters at this point.

thanks for tainting an otherwise pleasant weekend nbome
 
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This is very cruel! Hoping the site is available soon so the whole weekend isn't ruined by this!
 
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9134372.jpg


Something to lighten the mood...Scumbag Steve
 
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I got my score. I am fairlu disappointed although I'm not exactly surprised given my COMSAEs and the front loaded nature of my exam. I'm just glad I passed anyhow. Congrats to everyone on their scores.
 
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even though my score isn't uber-high, this site has helped me a ton (and probably caused a ton of unnecessary anxiety) so i thought i'd give back for those taking the COMLEX in the future.

M1+2: i think performance during these years is an oft-understated factor in determining how much prep you need and even as an indicator of how you'll actually do. i believe i'm in the sdn minority of students who were pretty average in their first two years (i'm probably <50th %ile in my class). so i had a lot of catching up to do when i started studying (aka descent into misery).

- began halfheartedly studying in feb, then ramped it up late april
- DIT in mid-may...good for those who need to be walked through FA
- COMSAE A (5/20): 473
- COMSAE B (6/7): 574
- COMBANK: 77%
- UWorld: 60%
- Goljan audio...i thought this was helpful in terms of developing confidence in your pathology knowledge for COMLEX, but not explicitly for questions like it was for USMLE
- Savarese (inc all 4 tests in the back)...i consistently got some of the worst grades in my class for OMM, so, yeah, i suck at it. that's why i went through this book carefully, esp the tests in the back, which i thought prepared me really well for anything OMM i saw on the exam.

COMLEX (6/27): i walked out feeling pretty meh about it. it wasn't killer (like the USMLE i would take a month later), but i made my fair share of stupid mistakes and saw my fair share of things I'd never seen before. i got a 604/89. i was hoping for higher, but i guess that'll do.
 
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This site has been extremely helpful, so going to do a quick run-down of what I did to study.

I mainly studied for the USMLE and added OMT.



-Kaplan Lecture Videos (>200 hours of these videos, I didn't have time to read the notes, just watched the videos)

-Goljan audio 2 x (listened to this when on walks and working out)

-FA x 3 times ( I did this at the end after watching all of the kaplan videos. It is much faster to go through it after having a really good background.) I did not do what most do and read it throughout the school year. I focused on my coursework and then started board study more towards the end of the year.

Question banks

Kaplan USMLE questions (about 1,000 of these, I don't recommend them, though, and much prefer UWORLD)

UWORLD ( 1 time through-if I did it over I would go through this 2 x)

COMBANK (only 500 questions, just to get used to the style of questions)


OMT
SAVERESE green book


I think the best preparation, as lame and cheesy as this is, is doing well in core courses throughout the year.



Ended up with a 250 USMLE and 732 COMLEX
 
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Anyone else on the from July 11th have a score on NBOME? I logged in to check my address...and there is a score...I feel like it is a trick.
 
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Hi there,

Would appreciate any feedback regarding a COMLEX score of 654. It is enough for radiology/dermatology? I really don't have a good handle on how to interpret the scores in terms of competitiveness of different specialties.

Thanks!!
 
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maldabrroc777 said:
Anyone else on the from July 11th have a score on NBOME? I logged in to check my address...and there is a score...I feel like it is a trick.
Click to expand...

holy crap that's early!! I took mine on the 18th and wasn't even planning on looking anytime soon. :eek: now I'm nervous.
 
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I'll break my experience down since this test is so hard to know how prepare for. This is for the c/o 2014.

I started studying for boards in February. I decided very early on to take both the USMLE and COMLEX, mainly because I want to keep my options open. My class grades dropped by a few % on the whole, but I am SO GLAD I focused on boards towards the end of the year. Class rank won't change a ton after 1.5 years of credits, and boards are usually considered more important anyway.

QBanks: Did UWorld 1.5x and COMBANK. Re-did the OMM questions 3x on COMBANK. I would not have gotten through UWorld in time if I hadn't started in March; this QBank is money for USMLE and COMLEX. It is totally worth the $$. I thought Kaplan was garbage and just quit doing it.

Books: FA, Goljan RR, Savarese. Period. I was semi-weak in pathology when I first started studying, so RR was a great resource for me. It may not be necessary for everyone though.

Assessments: I stuck with UWorld assessments and NBME's. I did not do any COMSAE's. I heard how wildly unpredictable the scores were and didn't feel like I needed to pay for any other assessments.

UWSA 1 (5 weeks out): 228
NBME 10 (4 weeks out): 221
NBME 7 (2.5 weeks out): 240
NBME 12 (1.5 weeks out): 235
UWSA 2 (<1 week out): 259 (I don't know how this happened, lol)

USMLE (6/20): Similar to UWSA1
COMLEX (6/24): 600's

In summary: If you want to do well on the COMLEX -- pay attention in second year, master the review material for the USMLE and run through Savarese a few times. There is a ton of random stuff on this exam, but a lot of it is deep in the review material. Have a plan, stick to it, and work hard for a few months and you can rock it.
 
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organicmedical said:
Thanks for answering. Any specialty? I took the USMLE and got a 226. So COMLEX is 654 along with that score. Is anything ruled out?
Click to expand...

From what I've gathered (since I have the exact same USMLE score as you..congrats by the way :thumbup:), 226 puts us in a good spot for most ACGME specialties to at least get interviews. I think Derm, Ortho, Rads, and surgical sub-specialties will be looking for something more. Gen surg might be tough to crack, not because our score is low (its actually above average for g-surg matched students), but because we are coming from a DO school. With good letters, etc, I'm sure it can be done though.

I would say your COMLEX score will get you interviews in any AOA specialty if I had to put money on it. Good work.
 
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DoktorB said:
From what I've gathered (since I have the exact same USMLE score as you..congrats by the way :thumbup:), 226 puts us in a good spot for most ACGME specialties to at least get interviews. I think Derm, Ortho, Rads, and surgical sub-specialties will be looking for something more. Gen surg might be tough to crack, not because our score is low (its actually above average for g-surg matched students), but because we are coming from a DO school. With good letters, etc, I'm sure it can be done though.

I would say your COMLEX score will get you interviews in any AOA specialty if I had to put money on it. Good work.
Click to expand...


Agreed.
 
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Deceptacon said:
anyone know if they really mail you the score? and if so, how long did it take to get your report thingy?
Click to expand...

You will get your letter in approximately 2 weeks. It is not only a score, they will draw your performance in different areas of medicine.
 
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nicolai said:
You will get your letter in approximately 2 weeks. It is not only a score, they will draw your performance in different areas of medicine.
Click to expand...

anyone know why they don't break it down in depth like they do for the comsaes? would have liked to have a system breakdown (ex GI, cardio, repro etc etc) and a subject breakdown (anatomy, pharm, phys etc etc).
 
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RustedKOD said:
Mine was on July 11th. So it was actually really fast. My classmates got their scores back as well so I hope this is not some huge trick...
Click to expand...

that's surprisingly fast! i took mine on the 18th so I hope I don't have to wait another month of it since it appears like they like to release scores in big batches... =/
 
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sylvanthus said:
This site has been extremely helpful, so going to do a quick run-down of what I did to study.

I mainly studied for the USMLE and added OMT.



-Kaplan Lecture Videos (>200 hours of these videos, I didn't have time to read the notes, just watched the videos)

-Goljan audio 2 x (listened to this when on walks and working out)

-FA x 3 times ( I did this at the end after watching all of the kaplan videos. It is much faster to go through it after having a really good background.) I did not do what most do and read it throughout the school year. I focused on my coursework and then started board study more towards the end of the year.

Question banks

Kaplan USMLE questions (about 1,000 of these, I don't recommend them, though, and much prefer UWORLD)

UWORLD ( 1 time through-if I did it over I would go through this 2 x)

COMBANK (only 500 questions, just to get used to the style of questions)


OMT
SAVERESE green book


I think the best preparation, as lame and cheesy as this is, is doing well in core courses throughout the year.



Ended up with a 250 USMLE and 732 COMLEX
Click to expand...

Holy mother of god thats a high score....congrats. Tell me how doing ER in the Top 5 hospitals in the country goes. As for me, I did > then the SD and hopefully it takes me where I want to go...goodluck
 
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Here goes my experience with COMLEX. I took my test on July 11th.

I used RR, First Aid and the green book. I also watched to some Kaplan video lectures because some days I just didn't want to read. I went through RR only once really slow. I went through First Aid 3X. The green book 1X and did 2 of the test in the back.

The qbanks I used were Kaplan (60% avg), COMBANK (75% avg), some USMLE world, and USMLERx (this qbank was great for straightforward things to help me MOA of drugs and for micro too)

Only took COMSAE B - 505 about two weeks before

COMLEX on July 11th
Micro - A lot of straightforward questions. Like one or two on viruses and maybe 3 on fungi. Mostly bacteria. Had a few pictures here
OMM- If you do the green book you should be fine. I'm fairly decent at OMM so this wasn't so bad. I had two cranial where I say WTF? Some random ones I had no clue what they wanted. Lots of sympathic points and chapman's points as usual
OB/GYN - Had a really confusing matching about oral contraceptives. Most of the questions here were drug related.
Pharm - Very pleased with straight forward questions here as well. First aid did really well with this. Know the side effect for didanosine!
Physio- I had a few EKGS...some were really easy...a few I was like maybe there were 2 answers? No graphs liked I was used to doing Kaplan qbank
Path- Most prepared for this part. There were a few pictures. Golijan does a great job with RR. It was so great I think reading the whole thing might have been an overkill for the COMLEX
Other- Random ethics question I had NEVER hear about (there is a reason I went to medical school and not law school) Easy pysch questions if you did COMBANK.

My actual COMLEX score 580

Overall the test was pretty straightforward. I knew there were going to be a lot random things on the test. If I could go back I would have read RR earlier so I didn't feel rushed. I would do more of the USMLEworld questions to have a better understanding of the concepts and probably go through First Aid more the week of the test.

On that note...where do you think my scores could get me? I wanted an allo IM, EM, or maybe even pysch? It doesn't have to be in a huge city either. I was just wondering my options with my score since I didn't break 600 like most people on here!
 
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RustedKOD said:
Here goes my experience with COMLEX. I took my test on July 11th.

I used RR, First Aid and the green book. I also watched to some Kaplan video lectures because some days I just didn't want to read. I went through RR only once really slow. I went through First Aid 3X. The green book 1X and did 2 of the test in the back.

The qbanks I used were Kaplan (60% avg), COMBANK (75% avg), some USMLE world, and USMLERx (this qbank was great for straightforward things to help me MOA of drugs and for micro too)

Only took COMSAE B - 505 about two weeks before

COMLEX on July 11th
Micro - A lot of straightforward questions. Like one or two on viruses and maybe 3 on fungi. Mostly bacteria. Had a few pictures here
OMM- If you do the green book you should be fine. I'm fairly decent at OMM so this wasn't so bad. I had two cranial where I say WTF? Some random ones I had no clue what they wanted. Lots of sympathic points and chapman's points as usual
OB/GYN - Had a really confusing matching about oral contraceptives. Most of the questions here were drug related.
Pharm - Very pleased with straight forward questions here as well. First aid did really well with this. Know the side effect for didanosine!
Physio- I had a few EKGS...some were really easy...a few I was like maybe there were 2 answers? No graphs liked I was used to doing Kaplan qbank
Path- Most prepared for this part. There were a few pictures. Golijan does a great job with RR. It was so great I think reading the whole thing might have been an overkill for the COMLEX
Other- Random ethics question I had NEVER hear about (there is a reason I went to medical school and not law school) Easy pysch questions if you did COMBANK.

My actual COMLEX score 580

Overall the test was pretty straightforward. I knew there were going to be a lot random things on the test. If I could go back I would have read RR earlier so I didn't feel rushed. I would do more of the USMLEworld questions to have a better understanding of the concepts and probably go through First Aid more the week of the test.

On that note...where do you think my scores could get me? I wanted an allo IM, EM, or maybe even pysch? It doesn't have to be in a huge city either. I was just wondering my options with my score since I didn't break 600 like most people on here!
Click to expand...

Are you going to take the USMLE? Seems there are quite a few programs out there that would vastly prefer a USMLE score to trying to interpret the COMLEX. Plus, if you suck on the USMLE, you do not have to report it if you only apply osteopathic. Although, if you apply allopathic you do have to report the USMLE. Annoyingly confusing isn't it?
 
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OK it is a good score...BUT be aware derm is UBER competitive. You need to practically know someone at the sites, have done a stellar rotation, doen research and published something. I know plenty of prospective derm candidates who i have mentored who thought they were shoo-ins and ended up doing fall back residencies...so always havea fallback plan.
organicmedical said:
Hi there,

Would appreciate any feedback regarding a COMLEX score of 654. It is enough for radiology/dermatology? I really don't have a good handle on how to interpret the scores in terms of competitiveness of different specialties.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
 
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ndocy said:
anyone know why they don't break it down in depth like they do for the comsaes? would have liked to have a system breakdown (ex GI, cardio, repro etc etc) and a subject breakdown (anatomy, pharm, phys etc etc).
Click to expand...

because the online score is not broken down..it is the raw score only..the letter will give you the complete breakdown
 
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Anyone have any idea when July 20th test may be posted, I know July 11th people waited 19 days, and today would be 19 days for us. Another reason I am curious is because NBOME is down right now
 
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dermpathdoc said:
COMSAE score only predicts you will pass. there is absolutely NO correlation with scores and actual passing grade..shees
Click to expand...


Really? Hmmm, straight from the NBOME website.

"The correlation between Phase 1 scores and COMLEX Level 1 scores was .76 for timed Phase 1 and .68 for un-timed. Both correlation coefficients are statistically significant. In other words, examinees who scored high on Phase 1 were likely to score high on COMLEX Level 1 later and vice-versa."

Looks to me like they are claiming a correlation.
 
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I called NBOME today and looks like the next set of scores won't be released til the week of the 21st-26th.

:(
 
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