COMLEX Level 1 and Step1 on Residency Screening

[ChoctawMedicineMan]

Hello, I'm an OMS3 that is interested in applying IM next year. I have started looking at residencies that I am interested in and comparing my board scores to some reported cutoffs (Ex: FREIDA). I've noticed that for some of them my STEP1 score (226) will exceed the cutoff score, but my COMLEX level 1 score (506) will not. Now I am not particularly interested in top tier residency locations, but I would like to train in a city rather than a community setting. I guess my question is, if my step1 score meets PD filter criteria, will that be enough to get my application through? Or could my COMLEX potentially hold me back? I have seen similar threads to this, but not worded quite the way I'm looking for. Thanks for your help!

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[hellosnd]

n=1. a friend told me one of the top IM academic programs in LA doesn't even know how to interpret comlex scores.

 

[boyington!]

I score sub 450 on Level 1 and 230+ on Step 1. Several of the programs I applied to had a comlex cut off of 500 but I still got interviews.

At the same time though, I could've been filtered out by some programs due to my COMLEX. No way of knowing!

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Hello, I'm an OMS3 that is interested in applying IM next year. I have started looking at residencies that I am interested in and comparing my board scores to some reported cutoffs (Ex: FREIDA). I've noticed that for some of them my STEP1 score (226) will exceed the cutoff score, but my COMLEX level 1 score (506) will not. Now I am not particularly interested in top tier residency locations, but I would like to train in a city rather than a community setting. I guess my question is, if my step1 score meets PD filter criteria, will that be enough to get my application through? Or could my COMLEX potentially hold me back? I have seen similar threads to this, but not worded quite the way I'm looking for. Thanks for your help!

NO one cares about comlex scores once you have a step score.... no one

 

[Goro]

NO one cares about comlex scores once you have a step score.... no one

Shhhhhhhhh......don't tell John Gimpel!

 

[DameJulie]

I score sub 450 on Level 1 and 230+ on Step 1. Several of the programs I applied to had a comlex cut off of 500 but I still got interviews.

At the same time though, I could've been filtered out by some programs due to my COMLEX. No way of knowing!

Did you email the program and ask for clarification? Or did you just go ahead and applied?

 

[boyington!]

Did you email the program and ask for clarification? Or did you just go ahead and applied?

Just applied! Even traditionally osteopathic programs granted me interviews so I don't think any comlex cut off affected me significantly in terms of invites.

In fact, a couple of interviews at academic IM programs brought up my drastic improvement from comlex to usmle (took usmle a few months later) as a strength of my app. It demonstrated resilience, ability to identify weaknesses and improve, etc.