How's your NBME progression coming? scores and trends

[FrancisvsGoljan]

So I was thinking it would be a great idea to track how NBMEs are going and what question bank people are using. It gives us a good way to figure out how we're doing individually. I know it's not based on just sdn and there are a ton of people. But it's better than nothing. Also how long you've been studying. I guess I'll start!

After 1 week of studying
USMLEWorld: used 15% and overall correct is 48%
NBME 1: 172.5

I know this is not great but hopefully a good starting point. I spent 2 days on biochem and one on behavioral science and the other times just doing questions. my overall goal is a 230. we'll see how it goes....

comment are highly appreciated. thanks! I'll keep this post updated. I hope others do too.

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[Premedico]

I finished 12 today too. It was crazy hard and I really thought I'd score much lower than the previous one. I missed 9-10 questions in section 4; got pressed for time and did 8 questions in the last 5 min but I felt like I really didn't know a lot of block 4 anyway. Missed 19 in total and that's a 247. Same as what I got on NBME 11 two weeks ago. Have less than a week to go. How do I break that 250?? (please be kind and give me some tips, I'm not complaining about my score but I just want to push my limit). I'm not planning on taking another test though..

 

[iA-MD2013]

Thats strange. My NBMEs are in the 245 range (well below yours) and I got a 92% (90, 92, 94) on the free 150 at the prometric center. I thought the free 150 was quite a bit easier than the NBMEs.

The difference between the two percentages are just a couple of guesses though so who knows.

I ended up with a 93% as well and am scoring in the 240s (also below fahimaz). I thought it was way easier than NBMEs.

 

[winkleweizen]

Nbme 11-242
DIT-246


I forgot to buy extended feedback for nbme 11...is there anyway to do it retrograde?

Also, i thought 11 was hard as mess.

 

[justdoit31]

Nbme 11-242
DIT-246


I forgot to buy extended feedback for nbme 11...is there anyway to do it retrograde?

Also, i thought 11 was hard as mess.

Did you do them both today? I hope so as I did DIT but never took an NBME- just did 2 CBSE exams (different versions) , 1 UWSA, and DIT. My DIT predictive was higher than my UWSA the week before and I thought maybe it was inflated a lot. If I was to score within 5-10 pts of my DIT exam score I would be happy.

Test on Saturday- doing final pass of FA and it's stressing me out thinking I won't have time to review it all again!

 

[winkleweizen]

Did you do them both today? I hope so as I did DIT but never took an NBME- just did 2 CBSE exams (different versions) , 1 UWSA, and DIT. My DIT predictive was higher than my UWSA the week before and I thought maybe it was inflated a lot. If I was to score within 5-10 pts of my DIT exam score I would be happy.

Test on Saturday- doing final pass of FA and it's stressing me out thinking I won't have time to review it all again!

yup...b2b

 

[quepatho]

Nbme 11-242
DIT-246


I forgot to buy extended feedback for nbme 11...is there anyway to do it retrograde?

Also, i thought 11 was hard as mess.

Nice work. Yes I agree NBME 11 was hard as ****. Pretty sure there's no way to do it retrograde, but I hope I'm wrong about that.

 

[JDOC13]

i did prometric practice exam today and just wanted to clarify a few things. the prometric practice exam isn't exactly the same as what (i think) people refer to as the "free 150." first, the 2011 "free 150" only had 138 questions and the 2009 version only had 144 questions. all of the questions on the 2009 version were on the prometric practice exam (although that exam had an additional 6 questions). many of those questions were also on the 2011 "free 150" exam, but that exam also had a number of new questions that weren't in the 2009 version or on the prometric exam.

also, when people talk about using medfriends to convert their "free 150" percentaget to a predicted step 1 score, i'm not sure what percent they're using -- the prometric score, 2011 "free 150" score or 2009 "free 150." like i said before, all 3 exams are similar but not exactly the same.

does that all sound right? or am i missing something?

 

[MossPoh]

I just randomly busted out 7 blocks of timed random unused on uworld today. (Mainly because I wanted to finish the stupid thing off and go through some marked and incorrect questions). I felt like I was on autopilot for most of it, which I supposed was a good sign. Made a few stupid mistakes and a few things that were supposed to be easy according to the % correct were a little too tricky for me, so still plenty to work on.

67% -> 73 -> 78 -> 89 -> 84 -> 78 -> 71

The last block was a bit of a dip because I never intended to do it and it was perfectly when I hit maximum fatigue. You can definitely see where my coffee and mind started to wake up as well. I tend to miss stuff in clusters, which is telling me I get stuck on one question and mess up the next few because I'm still thinking about it. This seems to be my trend on a lot of exams I take, which probably doesn't favor me for the short NBME ones.

I think leaving about 10+% of uworld unfinished and not looking at it for 2 months while I did Kaplan really helped. I've never been one of those people who could remember exam questions though.

 

[justdoit31]

67% -> 73 -> 78 -> 89 -> 84 -> 78 -> 71
.

You are going to crush Step- my high on UW has been in the upper 70's just praying I survive on Saturday!

 

[iA-MD2013]

Thanks a lot xrevision and congrats

 

[Premedico]

On the NBMEs, does getting one extra question right equate to 10 more points on the CBSSA score?

 

[winkleweizen]

On the NBMEs, does getting one extra question right equate to 10 more points on the CBSSA score?

No otherwise there would only be 60 questions.

 

[Premedico]

No otherwise there would only be 60 questions.

I was wondering because I missed 20 and there were 20 increments of 10 above mine.

Folks, I'm going to read FA over again. I'm wondering if it's possible to do it in 3 days vs the 5 that DIT recommends. I could use the other 2 days to work on my weak areas.

 

[Sheldor]

I was wondering because I missed 20 and there were 20 increments of 10 above mine.

Folks, I'm going to read FA over again. I'm wondering if it's possible to do it in 3 days vs the 5 that DIT recommends. I could use the other 2 days to work on my weak areas.

It took me an average of 5 minutes per page, and so it took me 9 hours to get through the 90 I needed to. So, if you read faster than I did or did 15 hours per day you could make it in three days!

 

[coralis]

I need to complain.. I lost 2% from my TOTAL UW average in the last 2 days all because of Biochem, and this AFTER 4 days of Kaplan live Biochem... I feel like I regressed, the teacher in Biochem was horrendous.... awful.... horrible..... any ideas what to do to learn this crap? Was thinking of doing RR biochem just reading the sides and the tables!

 

[winkleweizen]

I was wondering because I missed 20 and there were 20 increments of 10 above mine.

Folks, I'm going to read FA over again. I'm wondering if it's possible to do it in 3 days vs the 5 that DIT recommends. I could use the other 2 days to work on my weak areas.

I think in the middle ranges say 190-210 it takes a few questions to move up 10, but once you are like 235+ one missed question, maybe 2 sometimes can definitely mean 10 pts on the CBSE thing. I think so anyway

 

[Vulcan]

OK I think I'm gonna take another NBME tomorrow...I'm thinking #11

Got a 231 on NBME 12 and went on a major hot streak in UW raising my avg to 69%

2 weeks! Feelin....ok....

 

[pezzang]

I have a quick question. I realize that ALP is a marker of osteoblast and stimulating PTH increases osteoclastic activity indirectly via osteoblast. Hence, ALP increases with increasing PTH. But why is ALP not increased in osteomalacia? Shouldn't increased PTH due to low Ca2+ raise ALP as well? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Premedico]

It took me an average of 5 minutes per page, and so it took me 9 hours to get through the 90 I needed to. So, if you read faster than I did or did 15 hours per day you could make it in three days!

Oh geez, well then I'm starting tomorrow. Thank you!

 

[MossPoh]

You are going to crush Step- my high on UW has been in the upper 70's just praying I survive on Saturday!

Eh, I feel like the only real difference for me has been I'm better at identifying wrong answers, so my odds of getting a question right increase. I feel like I'm good at answering uworld questions. I've kind of figured out their tricks.

I'm staying very very hesitant because of my history of the MCAT. My practice tests were in the 36-40 range and then I wound up with a 26 and a 27. Having someone die really close to each one (the day before) probably didn't help much.

 

[quepatho]

Eh, I feel like the only real difference for me has been I'm better at identifying wrong answers, so my odds of getting a question right increase. I feel like I'm good at answering uworld questions. I've kind of figured out their tricks.

I'm staying very very hesitant because of my history of the MCAT. My practice tests were in the 36-40 range and then I wound up with a 26 and a 27. Having someone die really close to each one (the day before) probably didn't help much.

Hmm...my practice tests for the MCAT were in the 31-32 range and I wound up with a 36. I'm pretty sure I've used up all of my good luck for the rest of my life...

But I definitely agree about identifying wrong answers being key to getting the percentage up. I had been consistently choosing the "second best answer" for the longest time. It may sound unbelievably obvious to some, but it really helps if you read the question carefully (which I wasn't doing at first).

 

[MossPoh]

I'm in my little block break with NBME 7 (and then 11) right now. I find much more of these questions to be factoid-y, which drives me nuts. I either know them....or I don't. There isn't much figuring out involved so far.

Just finished NBME 7 and the estimate was a 245. For comparison, my UWSA 2 was a 258. Honestly, I believe the major difference was that I lucked out and got the biochem stuff I'm strong in with the uworld exam. It irritates how NON-clinical a huge chunk of the questions were. I understand that may be representative of step 1 type questions, but yeesh. I feel like they are trying to make me care about bench science stuff that I have no interest in.

Halfway through for my day.

I am almost comedically bad at biochem evidently. All of the bars are to the far right with the little star except for biochem which is right in the middle of borderline. I un

 

[ThereHeIs]

I need to complain.. I lost 2% from my TOTAL UW average in the last 2 days all because of Biochem, and this AFTER 4 days of Kaplan live Biochem... I feel like I regressed, the teacher in Biochem was horrendous.... awful.... horrible..... any ideas what to do to learn this crap? Was thinking of doing RR biochem just reading the sides and the tables!

FA Biochem is a much better teacher .. Also, the UW percentage is not as 'representative' unless done on random

 

[coralis]

I have a quick question. I realize that ALP is a marker of osteoblast and stimulating PTH increases osteoclastic activity indirectly via osteoblast. Hence, ALP increases with increasing PTH. But why is ALP not increased in osteomalacia? Shouldn't increased PTH due to low Ca2+ raise ALP as well? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Yes ALP goes up in Osteomalacia too. However it depends which type. If I remember correctly if it's due to low phosphate it will be low. :s Don't wanna make you remember anything wrong, but I do believe ALP goes up in most cases. The reason why no one ever asks/talks about it in osteomalacia it's because, again, it depends what caused it so PTH levels and ALP can vary depending on the cause of osteomalacia

 

[cliquesh]

I just took NBME 6 and got a 226. I recently finished Uworld with a 74% average. I thought I'd do better. I'm sad now

What % correct on NBME 6 do you need to get a 230 and/or 240? I got 84% correct for 226.

 

[NERDY]

Anyone know what the range for each score? I've heard your score will be +/- 10 points to the NBME. Any ideas?

 

[ATrim7]

4 weeks out - NBME 6 - 224
3 weeks out - NBME 12 - 235
2 weeks out - UWSA 2 - 256
1 week out - NBME 7 - 233 (85.5% - hmmm)

Not sure what to think of this progression - but I remain positive. Anything above a 230 on the real deal would make me very happy.

I have one week left, just finished my 2nd pass of FA, have 650 questions left on a 2nd pass of UW (random/timed). At this point, going through all of FA again doesn't seem like it would benefit me. I think I'm going to just focus on my problem areas in FA and take NBME 11 and UWSA in the next few days.

It's tough to stay motivated when I feel like I've plateaued, but there's a feeling inside which says 240 is possible if I work for it.

 

[MossPoh]

I just took NBME 6 and got a 226. I recently finished Uworld with a 74% average. I thought I'd do better. I'm sad now

What % correct on NBME 6 do you need to get a 230 and/or 240? I got 84% correct for 226.

I don't know. I think the curves for them are pretty rough though. I scored a lot lower on NBME 6 than others (around the same as you) and have about the same uworld percentage. It seemed like a lot more fact recall.

 

[lavodnas]

4 weeks out - NBME 6 - 224
3 weeks out - NBME 12 - 235
2 weeks out - UWSA 2 - 256
1 week out - NBME 7 - 233 (85.5% - hmmm)

Not sure what to think of this progression - but I remain positive. Anything above a 230 on the real deal would make me very happy.

I have one week left, just finished my 2nd pass of FA, have 650 questions left on a 2nd pass of UW (random/timed). At this point, going through all of FA again doesn't seem like it would benefit me. I think I'm going to just focus on my problem areas in FA and take NBME 11 and UWSA in the next few days.

It's tough to stay motivated when I feel like I've plateaued, but there's a feeling inside which says 240 is possible if I work for it.

Stick with it !

 

[fuzzywuz]

Hey all, I'm currently 18 days away from test day.

I've only taken one NBME. Is it worthwhile to take another one? Or at least the free 150? I'm worried about it killing my confidence.

I've only completed 40% of UWorld. I'm currently around a low 60% (random+untimed). On my last NBME, I was able to get a 470/214. I took my NBME after studying for 3 weeks going through 90% of the material. I've since completed my first pass and I'm currently working solely from FA and UWorld.

I actually intend on taking some time out to go thru RR blue margins + pics. I also wanna review RoadMaps (pelvic + limb anatomy).

Please offer any insights possible!!

 

[Day man]

I would take one more, maybe ~14 days out. Then maybe another 7 days out. 11 definitely is worth it, the questions are a little 'trickier' and I think it helps get into that mindset, although it is difficult.

I'm actually wondering the same thing for myself. I have UWSA2 left. I can either do that, or nbme 12, or keep doing UW incorrects + FA. Any thoughts? I'm pretty tight on time, and the thought of wasting ~5 hours so late in the game on another nbme when I can't look at the answers worries me. But on the other hand, it might be good to get 'into the nbme' style of questions vs. doing the UW test. 6 more days!

 

[MossPoh]

So, just finished my 2 NBME exams in a row. That was painfully long. I tried to keep it to USMLE timing standards. I only took about 20 minutes for lunch even though I would've rolled over quite a bit more time. I just sat there and ate my sandwich and listened to soothing music...I probably looked kind of pathetic.

Anyway, here is my progress so far with practice exams...

UWSA 1 halfway through our semester -> 230
NBME 6 in Mid-may (can't remember date) -> 222
UWSA 2 last week -> 258

Today,

NBME 7 -> 245
NBME 12 -> 254

I was pretty surprised with that 2nd one. After 300 questions today and the 322 yesterday, I literally said, "I DON'T CARREEEEEEE" in that voice that isn't quite yelling. I was pretty much just going by buzzwords for the last block and probably should've double checked a few more answers.

Overall, I felt like NBME 12 was the better exam. It felt more clinical and less skewed towards biochem and cell bio type junk. I'm not just saying that because I did better. The exam simply felt more balanced and I had fewer "Huh?!" moments, although there were a couple still. I've found the pharmacology almost shockingly straightforward. I never really outright studied for pharm the entire year and if you were to force me to come up with a drug name off the top of my head, I'd be doomed but for whatever reason some answers just seem obvious to me in pharm. (I wish that were true with cell bio/biochem/genetics)

I also feel like I have to say that don't let my (or anyone else's talk/performance) freak you out. You have your score you want in your head, so just focus on hitting that and doing the best you can. I feel like my performance today is a direction function of answering/reviewing well over 8,000 questions over months. I'm not particulary special or gifted, other than my sheer stubborness and hatred towards standardized testing.

 

[WashMe]

I just took NBME 6 and got a 226. I recently finished Uworld with a 74% average. I thought I'd do better. I'm sad now

What % correct on NBME 6 do you need to get a 230 and/or 240? I got 84% correct for 226.

Ok, so you got 168/200 on the NBME. Based on what people have been saying about most of the newly score NBME's, I'd say you need about 171/200 for a 230. I think a 240 is around 175/200. A 260 as around 188/200 based on what some monsters (not me) have posted. Probably +/- 2 questions depending on the test, or it might depend on which questions you miss.

On a side note, my buddy out here took NBME 7 offline and scored 198/200. Not sure what that comes out to! He also only missed 9 questions on UWSA1. I'm convinced he's the smartest guy in the world, no joke.

 

[Vulcan]

Just took NBME 11 and got a 610/247! Super ecstatic!

 

[WashMe]

Just took NBME 11 and got a 610/247! Super ecstatic!

Hell yeah!

 

[icaruswalks]

I would take one more, maybe ~14 days out. Then maybe another 7 days out. 11 definitely is worth it, the questions are a little 'trickier' and I think it helps get into that mindset, although it is difficult.

I'm actually wondering the same thing for myself. I have UWSA2 left. I can either do that, or nbme 12, or keep doing UW incorrects + FA. Any thoughts? I'm pretty tight on time, and the thought of wasting ~5 hours so late in the game on another nbme when I can't look at the answers worries me. But on the other hand, it might be good to get 'into the nbme' style of questions vs. doing the UW test. 6 more days!

Do UWSA#2. I think it's a bit of a confidence booster, and plus you can go over the answers that you got wrong and find out what you can change last minute, or look over last minute... Also, you can look at the questions that you got wrong but SHOULD'VE got right, those would be easy freebies! Good luck, I'm 10 days out...

 

[WashMe]

Do UWSA#2. I think it's a bit of a confidence booster, and plus you can go over the answers that you got wrong and find out what you can change last minute, or look over last minute... Also, you can look at the questions that you got wrong but SHOULD'VE got right, those would be easy freebies! Good luck, I'm 10 days out...

I don't think UWSA2 is a confidence booster for everyone; I dropped 8 points from 1 to 2, and my score on 2 is right in line with my NBMEs (even though UWSA tests are supposed to overestimate). Just my $0.02

 

[quepatho]

I don't think UWSA2 is a confidence booster for everyone; I dropped 8 points from 1 to 2, and my score on 2 is right in line with my NBMEs (even though UWSA tests are supposed to overestimate). Just my $0.02

Yeah I've heard UWSA#2 doesn't overestimate AS much as UWSA#1. I really hope it will be my best predictor .

 

[RapplixGmed]

On a side note, my buddy out here took NBME 7 offline and scored 198/200. Not sure what that comes out to! He also only missed 9 questions on UWSA1. I'm convinced he's the smartest guy in the world, no joke.

Holy crap. I can only score high because I brute force it and put in months of work and I still don't get scores that high. I really admire people who can do that naturally.

 

[WashMe]

Holy crap. I can only score high because I brute force it and put in months of work and I still don't get scores that high. I really admire people who can do that naturally.

Yeah dude people like that blow my mind. Like I said, it's one of our classmates. I think he's going to get 280+ but he said he's not going to share his actual score with anyone...

I feel like one of the *****s in the class. Granted I didn't do much throughout the year, but I would be ecstatic to break 240 on the real deal even though I just sort of assumed I'd be getting a 260 if you'd asked me 6 months ago haha

 

[RapplixGmed]

Yeah dude people like that blow my mind. Like I said, it's one of our classmates. I think he's going to get 280+ but he said he's not going to share his actual score with anyone...

I feel like one of the *****s in the class. Granted I didn't do much throughout the year, but I would be ecstatic to break 240 on the real deal even though I just sort of assumed I'd be getting a 260 if you'd asked me 6 months ago haha

WashU: where you will feel insecure telling people about your puny 260 score.

 

[WashMe]

WashU: where you will feel insecure telling people about your puny 260 score.

Yeah dude for sure -- if I get lucky and score in line with my NBMEs and land at, say, 240-245, it'll sort of be ruined by knowing that probably 50 people in the class absolutely pounded me without breakin a sweat

 

[MossPoh]

Yeah I've heard UWSA#2 doesn't overestimate AS much as UWSA#1. I really hope it will be my best predictor .

I really hope that is true for me as well. I'd literally crap my pants. Yes, the intended meaning of "literal". I'd have a big brown log slip out into my scrubs and roll down the leg of my pants...(I start on surgery)

Once again, it comes back to poo.

As I mentioned before, NBME 7 just felt weird to me. It was a lot of the "What's this random fact for X?" type questions. They seemed like the types of questions that they were TRYING to move away from a little bit.

 

[lackli]

I really hope that is true for me as well. I'd literally crap my pants. Yes, the intended meaning of "literal". I'd have a big brown log slip out into my scrubs and roll down the leg of my pants...(I start on surgery)

Once again, it comes back to poo.

That's a really disgusting image...made me lol tho

Haven't posted here before but took NBME 7 yesterday so have three data points now:

UWSA1 4 weeks ago: 240
UWSA2 2 weeks ago: 253
NBME7 yesterday: 247 (180/200; 610)


One more week to go! I think in the last week I'll be going over my UW wrong answers, maybe do NBME 11 because everyone has been saying how many repeats there are. In between just hit first aid hard.

 

[ATrim7]

4 weeks out - NBME 6 - 224
3 weeks out - NBME 12 - 235
2 weeks out - UWSA 2 - 256
8 days out - NBME 7 - 233 (85.5%)
7 days out - NMBE 11 - 240! (87%)

After going through my answers from NBME 7 yesterday, I realized I missed a few questions from pure lack of attention. I told myself I would take 11 today, remain fully focused for every minute of the test, and see if I improved - and I'm glad I did.

I am really pleased to have hit the 240 mark. I have one week until the test. I plan on completing a third pass of FA and focus on my problem areas mostly. I may also try to finish a second pass of UW though i may not get through the last 100 questions or so.

I really want to pay 50 bucks and move up my test to Tues to give myself an extra few days of freedom....but that's probably not gonna happen

 

[mrmandrake]

Taking mine tomorrow. Here's my progression so far.

School CBSE: 245 (5 weeks out)
UWSA1: 770/264 (4 weeks out)
NBME5: 182/200 =~250 (4 weeks out) (I took this offline so the score is just a guess)
NBME6: 180/200 =~247 (3 weeks out) (I took this offline so the score is just a guess)
NBME11: 245 (2 weeks out) (took this online)
Free 150 at Prometric: 92% (1 week out)
NBME12: 245 (1 week out) (took this online)
NBME7: 181/200 =~247 (1 week out) (I took this offline so the score is just a guess)

Praying for a 250+ but we'll see what happens. Thanks for all the help guys. I'm headed on vacation right after but will post as soon as I can.

 

[Isis24]

I couldn't be happier right now. Just took NBME 11 and I'm really happy with the result

NBME 7 (5/8): 212
NBME 12 (5/25): 226
NBME 11 (6/10): 240

My test is in a little over a week. My goal is to be above 240 (I'd be ecstatic with a 241). I can't believe it's possible! I went up 14 points the first two weeks of studying, and then another 14 points the second two weeks. Now I'm crossing my fingers for 7 more points this last week.

SDN has really been helping me with motivation. All it takes is a few minutes of reading this thread...reading about all those people getting 260s... That'll make you study harder. And it did. I really really hope this trend continues. One more week!

 

[winkleweizen]

Finished UW today with an average of 70% with my last 15 blocks or so averaging 77.

Nbme7 5 weeks out-220
UW1-3.5weeks-254
Nbme12-2.5 weeks-240
DIT predictive1.5 weeks-246
Nbme11-1.5 weeks-242

Taking UW2 tommorow. So what do you guys think I should with this last week? Marked questions of UW and one last run through of FA?

thanks

 

[dude1344]

Well my plan (I have about 1.5 weeks left) is to finish up UW (should take about 2 more days) and go through FA really well one last time. I've annotated UW into FA, so I'm just going to go through that. I've saved one unused block for day before the test to get me in the right mindset.

 

[quepatho]

Finished UW today with an average of 70% with my last 15 blocks or so averaging 77.

Nbme7 5 weeks out-220
UW1-3.5weeks-254
Nbme12-2.5 weeks-240
DIT predictive1.5 weeks-246
Nbme11-1.5 weeks-242

Taking UW2 tommorow. So what do you guys think I should with this last week? Marked questions of UW and one last run through of FA?

thanks

Depends on how many run-throughs of FA you've done. If you've only done 2, I'd say do a third within the last 5-6 days of studying; you'll have the nitty gritty details stuck into your brain for the test.