USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

WeedForLunch

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
51
Reaction score
25
I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August.. :)

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10 users
Exam date 8/4.Step 1 Score 228.
Uworld-68%, first and only pass.
UWSA 1-239
UWSA 2-241
KAPLAN FREE 150-74%
FREE12O -84%
NBME 19-228
NBME 18 -236
so disappointed with myself
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Members don't see this ad :)
I've been silently stalking this thread for a while, but now that my test day is finally approaching, thought I'd join the conversation.

Here are my stats so far:

UW only pass - 75% (Average of last 10-15 blocks around 81%)
Rx ~49% completed - 74%
UWSA 2 - June 19 - 241 (120/160)
NBME 18 - July 21 - 230 (163/200)
NBME 16 - July 28 - 236 (173/200)
NBME 17 - August 21 - 250 (185/200)
Will take UWSA 1 and Free 120 back to back tomorrow

My test is on the 28th. I'm hoping for a 250+, but we'll see how it goes. I've decided not to take NBME 19 since the curve on it seems so harsh, don't want to lose my confidence so close to the real deal. Is it available online in a pdf or something with reliable answers though?

Good luck! You will do awesome. A 250 would be awesome.

Hopefully UWSA will be a good confidence boost before the exam!

My thoughts on NBME 19: I don't know that the NBME 19 curve is any more harsh than 17. However, some questions are vague, which I have heard from friends is more similar to the actual test. For those with a bit more clinical experience there are a couple questions on NBME 19 that have 2 right answers from a clinical stand point (U-world probably wouldn't list both answer choices). It was nice to see what board examiners consider the more correct choice.

My fears are similar with 18. I have heard 18 has a generous vs more accurate curve than 19. If I get a 220 3 days before my exam with 18 I am gonna be a bit nervous . . . I actually meant to take 18 after UWSA2 yesterday but opened the wrong test.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
This forum really helped me through my study, so thought I should give some feedback.
I used Kaplan books and videos, pathoma videos, FA , kaplan qbank and uworld.
Of all, I thought Uworld was the most important learning tool and to integrate things I memorized from FA.
I went through uworld 1.5 times.
I made word document for the notes that took from uworld that I thought it was new to me (really helped me).
NBME 16 242 (20 days)
NBME 18 230 (10 days)
120 q. 85~
Real deal 230 ~
The real exam was really tough, I thought I could have done better, I went out from the exam feeling I might not even going to pass.
Different experience than uworld and NBME.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
USMLE SCORE CORRELATION

That stuff was accurate for many of my classmates

I don't think that this has something to do with reality, because I am now scoring average 80 in kaplan (excluding the new 120 questions about the hospital). So this chart I think is quite old (kaplan % not including questions from the new pool). 80% kaplan predicts 259? Really? No way for me geeting 259! I sat nbme 13 25 days ago and got 234 with 25 wrong answers. Before that I have done uworld second time and averaged 78% (after doing subjectvise for 6 month), I think first time uworld was 50%. And It really depends when you have done and which bank in order. If a person had 80% in kaplan before uworld, and then he has gone through uworld and improved even more, mayyyyybe this can corelate to 259 on real deal, but I score 80% in kaplan after doing 2 times uworld, this can never corelate to 259. This everything is so blur, people tend to give stupid advises. Nbme curve is crazy, 25 wrong on nbme 13 two 2-3 years ago was equal to 245, now only 234. What does this meen, that previously nbme was overpredictive and now it is predictive, or it was predictive 2-3 years ago but now the real deal curve has gone nuts? Bilion ways to think about this. I think new reedit chart will tell us about what's going on atm, are nbme's overpredictive now, or the real deal just gone crazy
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I don't think that this has something to do with reality, because I am now scoring average 80 in kaplan (excluding the new 120 questions about the hospital). So this chart I think is quite old (kaplan % not including questions from the new pool). 80% kaplan predicts 259? Really? No way for me geeting 259! I sat nbme 13 25 days ago and got 234 with 25 wrong answers. Before that I have done uworld second time and averaged 78% (after doing subjectvise for 6 month), I think first time uworld was 50%. And It really depends when you have done and which bank in order. If a person had 80% in kaplan before uworld, and then he has gone through uworld and improved even more, mayyyyybe this can corelate to 259 on real deal, but I score 80% in kaplan after doing 2 times uworld, this can never corelate to 259. This everything is so blur, people tend to give stupid advises. Nbme curve is crazy, 25 wrong on nbme 13 two 2-3 years ago was equal to 245, now only 234. What does this meen, that previously nbme was overpredictive and now it is predictive, or it was predictive 2-3 years ago but now the real deal curve has gone nuts? Bilion ways to think about this. I think new reedit chart will tell us about what's going on atm, are nbme's overpredictive now, or the real deal just gone crazy

The chart is supposed to be used with U world 1st pass cumulative score.

For me, it was amazingly accurate- and actually underpredicted for me. I did Uworld 1.25x (full bank+ incorrects), and my percentage after the 1st pass (not incorrects) was 74%. After I did Uworld, I did Kalpan Q bank in about 10 days, my percentage was 80%

My real score was 259, dead on with Kaplan.

Check my post history lol. I had the same doubts. But the key thing ISNT THE PERCENTAGE (which I know is hard to believe, as med students we have this inherent desire to compete). Use Uworld and Kaplan as a learning tool and READ EVERY WORD IT SAYS and make flashcards

Keep in mind, that it; supposed to be used as a 1st pass tool. If you do Uworld 10x, obviously you're gonna have a high percentage
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Hi all! just wanted to share my experience since I've been a long time lurker on this thread and reading other experiences helped me a ton throughout the process

NBME 17(10 weeks out) - 182 baseline
NBME 18 (8 weeks out) - 196
NBME 19 (5 weeks out) - 215
NBME 13 (3 weeks out) - 221
NBME 16 (1 week out) -228
Free 120 (2 days out) - 85%

Real deal Step 1 : 235

my NBMEs were not "predictive" since I was improving with every NBME, so I didn't have a reliable average to go off of. My real USMLE Step 1 was nothing like NBMEs or UWorld. If I had to pick one, I guess it felt most like UWorld because of the interface and longer question stems. I had a lot of questions that came out of left field and a very skewed test towards an organ system that wasn't considered high yield and that I was weak on. I felt like I was guessing on over half of the exam and it freaked me out because I was finishing the blocks right on time and could not go back to check any of my marked questions. Time had not been a problem for me on my previous NBMEs. Oddly, my score report performance feedback almost exactly mirrored my performance feedback from my practice NBMEs. So, I guess trust your NBMEs?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
The chart is supposed to be used with U world 1st pass cumulative score.

For me, it was amazingly accurate- and actually underpredicted for me. I did Uworld 1.25x (full bank+ incorrects), and my percentage after the 1st pass (not incorrects) was 74%. After I did Uworld, I did Kalpan Q bank in about 10 days, my percentage was 80%

My real score was 259, dead on with Kaplan.

Check my post history lol. I had the same doubts. But the key thing ISNT THE PERCENTAGE (which I know is hard to believe, as med students we have this inherent desire to compete). Use Uworld and Kaplan as a learning tool and READ EVERY WORD IT SAYS and make flashcards

Keep in mind, that it; supposed to be used as a 1st pass tool. If you do Uworld 10x, obviously you're gonna have a high percentage

Thank you for your reply, I am happy for you, great score! Ok, now I know that +- 80% in kaplan after uworld is not bad score.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Is it just me or does this year's Step 1 Experiences Thread have way less experience reports than previous years?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Hi all! just wanted to share my experience since I've been a long time lurker on this thread and reading other experiences helped me a ton throughout the process

NBME 17(10 weeks out) - 182 baseline
NBME 18 (8 weeks out) - 196
NBME 19 (5 weeks out) - 215
NBME 13 (3 weeks out) - 221
NBME 16 (1 week out) -228
Free 120 (2 days out) - 85%

Real deal Step 1 : 235

my NBMEs were not "predictive" since I was improving with every NBME, so I didn't have a reliable average to go off of. My real USMLE Step 1 was nothing like NBMEs or UWorld. If I had to pick one, I guess it felt most like UWorld because of the interface and longer question stems. I had a lot of questions that came out of left field and a very skewed test towards an organ system that wasn't considered high yield and that I was weak on. I felt like I was guessing on over half of the exam and it freaked me out because I was finishing the blocks right on time and could not go back to check any of my marked questions. Time had not been a problem for me on my previous NBMEs. Oddly, my score report performance feedback almost exactly mirrored my performance feedback from my practice NBMEs. So, I guess trust your NBMEs?

Congratulations on a good score. You have come a long way from your baseline, and that reflects consistent effort. To someone like me, that means more than a 260. So, well done!

Interestingly, your described trajectory somewhat mirrors mine: Similar progress through NBMEs (except I took nbme 18 just a couple days before my test and got 234, 16 and 17 three weeks prior to test were in 220s), same free 120 score as well. UW and Kaplan overall was in the 70s, with consistent scores on individual blocks.

My real test was an accursed and deeply traumatic experience: Desperately skewed towards two or three subjects, and the rest was really weird, low yield stuff. I kept waiting for a more even distribution of questions, but never happened. A whole lot more of Step 2CK type questions popped up, and not the good kind.

Suffice to say, I guesstimated through about half the test. I absolutely did not expect it to go the way it did - I thought I would firmly and confidently know the answers to a lot more questions, if qbanks/practice tests were anything to go by. At the end of it, I was simply devastated.

Everyone says trust your nbmes, but I dont see how I could score anywhere close to my latest nbme without divine intervention (are you there, God?). I already have marked out 20 questions that I actually or potentially got wrong. I predict I will be one of those poor souls who score much lower than their nbmes. Just have to wait and see, I guess. I'll be in the corner tweaking out like a mother* until then.

God help us all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
So I kind of just want to gauge what people think based on their experience:
7/20 UWSA1 234
7/22 NBME 13 215
7/29 NBME 15 246
8/18 NBME 16 220
8/20 UWSA1 243
8/25 NBME 17 248

I'm planning to do a final pass of FA this week and take NBME 18 and 19 over the weekend. My scores aren't exactly consistent and so I'm naturally paranoid. Really just shooting for 235 or above. Do you think it's safe to take the exam within the next two weeks? Heard the uwsa's over predict but so far they were lower than 15 and 17 for me . I'm more afraid of just clicking the button to confirm my appointment at the prometric center. Also, any tips for what to do the last week or so before the exam? Any people who were like, "oh I wish I would've just looked at that right before the exam?" Thanks guys!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
So I kind of just want to gauge what people think based on their experience:
7/20 UWSA1 234
7/22 NBME 13 215
7/29 NBME 15 246
8/18 NBME 16 220
8/20 UWSA1 243
8/25 NBME 17 248

I'm planning to do a final pass of FA this week and take NBME 18 and 19 over the weekend. My scores aren't exactly consistent and so I'm naturally paranoid. Really just shooting for 235 or above. Do you think it's safe to take the exam within the next two weeks? Heard the uwsa's over predict but so far they were lower than 15 and 17 for me . I'm more afraid of just clicking the button to confirm my appointment at the prometric center. Also, any tips for what to do the last week or so before the exam? Any people who were like, "oh I wish I would've just looked at that right before the exam?" Thanks guys!
Sounds like you just need someone to tell you to take it. Take it, mate. Your scores back you up. I haven't taken it yet so I can't say from experience but with your scores, I would be content with pulling the trigger. Good luck
 
Final Step 1 score: 252

I took 1 NBME practice exam at the beginning of my dedicated study time - did not score well. My school does not emphasize Step 1. I do not recommend NOT taking them as I did. I had awful anxiety about the NBMEs, such as that I would do an NBME and never look at my score. I did UWORLD 1.5x, listened to Pathoma ad nauseum (there were so many questions that drew from Pathoma knowledge it was ridiculous), and read through First Aid multiple times over (I would copy some sections by hand). The test itself (July) was ridiculous - there was a specific focus on several topics that would come up over and over again. There were 2 awfully hard sections where I felt I guessed on half the questions. There was a lot of emphasis on doctoring/clinical skills type questions. The last section I felt so tired my vision would go cross-eyed. Remember to practice auscultation of the heart. I did not take any breaks during the exam. I finished each section with 15min to spare to review questions. I marked A LOT of questions for review.
UWORLD 1st pass average: it was probably in high 60s. I ended up going through it probably 1.5-1.7x.
NBMEs: did not utilize the NBMEs properly to assess my knowledge, so any score I post here would not be helpful.
Used USMLERx Q-bank (did not complete - used heavily for microbiology, pharmacology, pathology): I'm not sure of the % correct, but probably around 70-80%.
Used MedBullets for occasional review.

Videos I found helpful:
Heart murmurs:
Rule of 4s for brainstem lesions:
This playlist for biostats/epi/doctoring type questions:

Any people who were like, "oh I wish I would've just looked at that right before the exam?" Thanks guys!
I had a lot of questions that emphasized content from Pathoma... but it could have been coincidence. I also used Lippincott Illustrated Q&A of Anatomy (read the explanations and did some questions), and I felt like it really helped me on some exam questions... but the questions on the exam were not as detail oriented or as difficult as the questions in the Q&A book. Good luck dude.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Final Step 1 score: 252

I took 1 NBME practice exam at the beginning of my dedicated study time - did not score well. My school does not emphasize Step 1. I do not recommend NOT taking them as I did. I had awful anxiety about the NBMEs, such as that I would do an NBME and never look at my score. I did UWORLD 1.5x, listened to Pathoma ad nauseum (there were so many questions that drew from Pathoma knowledge it was ridiculous), and read through First Aid multiple times over (I would copy some sections by hand). The test itself (July) was ridiculous - there was a specific focus on several topics that would come up over and over again. There were 2 awfully hard sections where I felt I guessed on half the questions. There was a lot of emphasis on doctoring/clinical skills type questions. The last section I felt so tired my vision would go cross-eyed. Remember to practice auscultation of the heart. I did not take any breaks during the exam. I finished each section with 15min to spare to review questions. I marked A LOT of questions for review.
UWORLD 1st pass average: it was probably in high 60s. I ended up going through it probably 1.5-1.7x.
NBMEs: did not utilize the NBMEs properly to assess my knowledge, so any score I post here would not be helpful.
Used USMLERx Q-bank (did not complete - used heavily for microbiology, pharmacology, pathology): I'm not sure of the % correct, but probably around 70-80%.
Used MedBullets for occasional review.

Videos I found helpful:
Heart murmurs:
Rule of 4s for brainstem lesions:
This playlist for biostats/epi/doctoring type questions:


I had a lot of questions that emphasized content from Pathoma... but it could have been coincidence. I also used Lippincott Illustrated Q&A of Anatomy (read the explanations and did some questions), and I felt like it really helped me on some exam questions... but the questions on the exam were not as detail oriented or as difficult as the questions in the Q&A book. Good luck dude.


This is probably the closest experience to mine. There's no organized way, you just go, right?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
This is probably the closest experience to mine. There's no organized way, you just go, right?

Yea, I went hardcore after my classes ended, and I was constantly adjusting my study schedule based on how well or poorly I was doing in certain sections. I think self-awareness of your strong and weak subjects is pretty important during dedicated study time. Don't be afraid to spend extra time on subjects you don't know well, instead of reviewing things you're comfortable with because you allocated a certain amount of time to them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Yea, I went hardcore after my classes ended, and I was constantly adjusting my study schedule based on how well or poorly I was doing in certain sections. I think self-awareness of your strong and weak subjects is pretty important during dedicated study time. Don't be afraid to spend extra time on subjects you don't know well, instead of reviewing things you're comfortable with because you allocated a certain amount of time to them.

A point about strengths/weaknesses. For me, my school tried to get me to buy into the concept of using NBMEs to predict strong/weak points, but I really don't think NBMEs can do that very well even with all of them combined. I ended up average in Anatomy and Biostats but on 2 NBMEs my highest section was biostats and another was anatomy. I think intuitive judgment is more accurate than NBME data. Also, I would be careful with strengths and not let them turn into weaknesses as they definitely oscillated during my dedicated period.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
A point about strengths/weaknesses. For me, my school tried to get me to buy into the concept of using NBMEs to predict strong/weak points, but I really don't think NBMEs can do that very well even with all of them combined. I ended up average in Anatomy and Biostats but on 2 NBMEs my highest section was biostats and another was anatomy. I think the judgment of what your good at is more intuitive than NBME data. Also, I was careful with strengths and not let them turn into weaknesses as they definitely oscillated during dedicated.

I had been doing consistently well in GI in every NBME I took (I took all but 1) and I tanked it on my exam. Like.... it was statistically lower than every other section and I believe it's what made me miss my target.

My point is that yes, the NBME exams are helpful, but you should still stay on top of your isht because the nbme exams are predictive in score, but the sections don't always line up. I did just above my best NBME exam.

Take that for what you will.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I had been doing consistently well in GI in every NBME I took (I took all but 1) and I tanked it on my exam. Like.... it was statistically lower than every other section and I believe it's what made me miss my target.

My point is that yes, the NBME exams are helpful, but you should still stay on top of your isht because the nbme exams are predictive in score, but the sections don't always line up. I did just above my best NBME exam.

Take that for what you will.

So true! Thank you for actually saying this. A lot of candidates dont truly appreciate this aspect.
 
Welp, took step 1 today, most likely failed, school is gonna kick me out, I always wondered what it was like being homeless... should be a cool experience I guess.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Welp, took step 1 today, most likely failed, school is gonna kick me out, I always wondered what it was like being homeless... should be a cool experience I guess.

Hey! I took my test recently and felt the same way. I thought my test had a larger proportion of wtf and further management questions, and fewer gimmes than others have described. We're in this together. Rest now, and post your experience if/when you feel up to it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I took step August 10 and I'm wondering if we are getting scores back tomorrow. I honestly feel like I failed too. I walked out of that exam devestated also wondering what I would do besides medical school haha.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
How do you guys go on about recognizing the heart sounds/murmurs etc.?
I never really paid too much attention to the sounds cuz I was always under the impression that the question stem usually gives it away. But I just came across a couple of qs in UWorld in which the question stem wasn't that clear and you needed to recognize the sound in the media (e.g. QID 2108).
In this question, I knew that the guy is having a heart failure based on the symptoms. Add to it the age and I was pretty confident that this was due to Aortic Stenosis. But turns out, no!

Can someone please shed light on this?
Thanks
 
I took step August 10 and I'm wondering if we are getting scores back tomorrow. I honestly feel like I failed too. I walked out of that exam devestated also wondering what I would do besides medical school haha.
You should be getting your scores tomorrow.
And about your feeling that you failed, I think most people feel the same way, but believe me your feeling after the exam correlate poorly to your actual score, best of luck tomorrow with your score.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Cases like yours freak me out lol. Below NBME average.

I also had offline 13, 15 done as well, and predicted 235 ish iirc. So perhaps if you take into account ALL my nbmes, then it's closer. Could've been worse though haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Olga posted her stats and results a few pages earlier. Now that scares me!! I feel for him/her ..

I'm too lazy, what was the deal?

I also had offline 13, 15 done as well, and predicted 235 ish iirc. So perhaps if you take into account ALL my nbmes, then it's closer. Could've been worse though haha

Jesus. Dodged a bullet I guess.
 
I'm too lazy, what was the deal

I tried quoting olgaw007 stats, but the reply field wont comply. IIRC she scored 260+ on nbme 17 a week before the test, and was scoring 76% on uworld. Real deal 192. There but by the grace of God go I.

I'm still 2 weeks away from my results, and I'm just curled up in a fetal position here. I cant stop obsessing over the questions I got wrong, and everyday I imagine getting more and more questions wrong. The wait is awful!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I tried quoting olgaw007 stats, but the reply field wont comply. IIRC she scored 260+ on nbme 17 a week before the test, and was scoring 76% on uworld. Real deal 192. There but by the grace of God go I.

I'm still 2 weeks away from my results, and I'm just curled up in a fetal position here. I cant stop obsessing over the questions I got wrong, and everyday I imagine getting more and more questions wrong. The wait is awful!
No offense to olga, but we obviously dont know her full story. If you look at her nbme score increase she essentially had a jump akin to taking PEDs in one month. Low 200s to 269 is almost unheard of. Search "olgaw007" in search forum by member name to see what i mean. When i read her post the first time before seeing her score i already saw something was fishy. If i had to guess, she cheated on nbme 17 by looking up answers before or during the exam. From my experience, this is a common practice and many do it especially near their exam date when they want to convince themselves theyre ready for the exam.
In terms of her other nbme scores which she obviously undershot as well by a ton - perhaps she did have some serious test day anxiety, who knows. All in all, i refuse to believe she legitimately scored a 269 and then scored a 192 on the real exam. I wouldnt put any stock into her story if i were you guys. Just be honest in your prep and work hard everyday.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Top