USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[WeedForLunch]

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..

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[Joanna1987]

Congrats on the awesome score! Great advice as well.

Taking the exam in a few hpurs today and I know I should get the f*** off SDN, but I can't help it.


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How was it? I'm assuming you're done

 

[DrTacosMD]

12/23/16 NBME 12 - 215
2/4/17 NBME 13 - 219
3/17/17 NBME 15 - 236
4/15/17 NBME 16 - 248
Hoping for 250s by May when I take step 1...

Just took NBME 16 and got 600 - 248. I'm currently scheduled to take Step 1 on May 22 but I feel like I might want to take it earlier and the earliest dates I can do that would be May 11,12, and 16. I still have another 2 weeks of lecture (some endocrine pharm) and then 2 weeks of nbme and in house subject exams ending with a CBSE exam on May 10.

Do you guys think it would be wise to take my exam earlier?

 

[Brorthopedic]

Just took NBME 16 and got 600 - 248. I'm currently scheduled to take Step 1 on May 22 but I feel like I might want to take it earlier and the earliest dates I can do that would be May 11,12, and 16. I still have another 2 weeks of lecture (some endocrine pharm) and then 2 weeks of nbme and in house subject exams ending with a CBSE exam on May 10.

Do you guys think it would be wise to take my exam earlier?

What's your goal?

Your scores don't show signs of a plateau and unless you're honestly burnt out, just keep going. You might later wonder what your true potential was, or at least I would.

 

[DrTacosMD]

What's your goal?

Your scores don't show signs of a plateau and unless you're honestly burnt out, just keep going. You might later wonder what your true potential was, or at least I would.

That's true. I feel like I'm definitely close to burning out. I'm aiming for 250s.

The only things that keep me studying are our in house exams and doing UWorld questions. I only have about half of UWorld finished so far but am aiming to get it done by the end of this month and to move onto kaplan QBank.

 

[Brorthopedic]

That's true. I feel like I'm definitely close to burning out. I'm aiming for 250s.

The only things that keep me studying are our in house exams and doing UWorld questions. I only have about half of UWorld finished so far but am aiming to get it done by the end of this month and to move onto kaplan QBank.

If you're close to burning out, May 16th might not be such a bad idea. There's only so much a week of studying can improve a score that's already 250+ (which you'll likely be at in a month).

Take what I say with a grain of salt though, I sit for the exam in mid June haha.

 

[spaceballs23]

That's true. I feel like I'm definitely close to burning out. I'm aiming for 250s.

The only things that keep me studying are our in house exams and doing UWorld questions. I only have about half of UWorld finished so far but am aiming to get it done by the end of this month and to move onto kaplan QBank.

Take NBME 18/19 before you decide anything. I personally found 16 to be a fairly straighforward exam, 18/19 require more "integration." Don't take the score too seriously but just ask yourself if you're ready for that style of exam, and if you are, definitely move it up.

 

[anthonymmd]

Do you guys think it would be wise to take my exam earlier?[/QUOTE]
i would suggest you took it earlier to avoid a possible burnout. I think that taking it on may 22 is sort of an overkill since your score is solid and you have plenty of time to focus on your weak spots even if you pick may 11 as the date for it

 

[DrTacosMD]

thanks everyone! I'll wait to reschedule for now.
I'm hoping for a score jump after my comprehensive review/studying for those 2 weeks of subject exams in early may.


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[673441]

Quick question, if a patient presents with long-tract symptoms in addition to a tongue deviation, I would assume it would be a problem somewhere in the cerebral hemispheres vs a LMN lesion, right?

Lemme give the vignette

Patient with loss of temp and pain on the left and tongue deviation to the right. Would that be an UMN lesion or LMN?

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[Rahas]

Do you mind getting the exact vignette?

 

[mymembernames]

Hi Everybody, Any advice on how to improve over the next couple weeks? Would greatly appreciate it!

NBME 15: 3/16/17 - 188

NBME 13: 4/15/17 - 213

 

[TaroBubbleTea]

How was it? I'm assuming you're done

Definitely thought it was more difficult that any of the NBMEs (save NBME 19) and probably closer to UW style questions. The question stems were just plain long. One of them, I distinctly remember, took up almost the entire screen and I had to scroll down to get to the answer choices. I marked around 10/block and I feel like I straight up guessed on maybe 3/block. To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about my score at this point because I'm recalling so many stupid mistakes that I made

 

[Brorthopedic]

Definitely thought it was more difficult that any of the NBMEs (save NBME 19) and probably closer to UW style questions. The question stems were just plain long. One of them, I distinctly remember, took up almost the entire screen and I had to scroll down to get to the answer choices. I marked around 10/block and I feel like I straight up guessed on maybe 3/block. To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about my score at this point because I'm recalling so many stupid mistakes that I made

Everyone makes those mistakes man, I'm sure you hit your average.

Were there a lot of histology/gross/ct/mri/etc pictures on the exam?

 

[attar1990]

Hi Everybody, Any advice on how to improve over the next couple weeks? Would greatly appreciate it!

NBME 15: 3/16/17 - 188

View attachment 217808

NBME 13: 4/15/17 - 213

View attachment 217807

Foundation seems to be lacking.... Do sketchy for Micro and Pharm. Reread FA and supplement with BOARDS and BEYOND for all the hard concepts in FA. I personally did this and jumped from a 223 NBME baseline to a 251 NBME 16. UW first pass avg (timed/random) 78%.

 

[673441]

Foundation seems to be lacking.... Do sketchy for Micro and Pharm. Reread FA and supplement with BOARDS and BEYOND for all the hard concepts in FA. I personally did this and jumped from a 223 NBME baseline to a 251 NBME 16. UW first pass avg (timed/random) 78%.

Took my CBSE today... I feel ok. I recall about 6-7 I got wrong. Timing was rough. I felt good walking out but I don't feel as good now that I notice these dumb mistakes. Praying for the best. I'll let you all know how it goes


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[TheOther]

Took another NBME today and noticed something strange. Maybe this kind of feeling explains how people feel after taking the real exam.

The first 3 blocks felt pretty straight forward and I finished them with about 15-20 minutes to spare. The last block felt really tough so I took up the whole time. Turned out I only missed 4 on the last block and around 8-10 on the "easier" blocks. I wonder if I was too confident and didn't read the questions thoroughly or didn't take enough time to think enough. My brain is beat so I'm going over it tomorrow.

Anyone else go through this? How do you overcome it? Force yourself to slow down? Once I pick an answer choice and move on, I rarely go back and change it.

 

[673441]

Took another NBME today and noticed something strange. Maybe this kind of feeling explains how people feel after taking the real exam.

The first 3 blocks felt pretty straight forward and I finished them with about 15-20 minutes to spare. The last block felt really tough so I took up the whole time. Turned out I only missed 4 on the last block and around 8-10 on the "easier" blocks. I wonder if I was too confident and didn't read the questions thoroughly or didn't take enough time to think enough. My brain is beat so I'm going over it tomorrow.

Anyone else go through this? How do you overcome it? Force yourself to slow down? Once I pick an answer choice and move on, I rarely go back and change it.

NBME is tricky as hell man... sometimes it looks like it's easier but they know how to trip you up!


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[Joanna1987]

Definitely thought it was more difficult that any of the NBMEs (save NBME 19) and probably closer to UW style questions. The question stems were just plain long. One of them, I distinctly remember, took up almost the entire screen and I had to scroll down to get to the answer choices. I marked around 10/block and I feel like I straight up guessed on maybe 3/block. To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about my score at this point because I'm recalling so many stupid mistakes that I made

Wow! I don't want to take mine now

I shouldn't have asked Haha
But yeah, everyone feels the same. Your NBMES were awesome.
I'm sure you're good! Suppress it for now and relax!


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[160922]

Took another NBME today and noticed something strange. Maybe this kind of feeling explains how people feel after taking the real exam.

The first 3 blocks felt pretty straight forward and I finished them with about 15-20 minutes to spare. The last block felt really tough so I took up the whole time. Turned out I only missed 4 on the last block and around 8-10 on the "easier" blocks. I wonder if I was too confident and didn't read the questions thoroughly or didn't take enough time to think enough. My brain is beat so I'm going over it tomorrow.

Anyone else go through this? How do you overcome it? Force yourself to slow down? Once I pick an answer choice and move on, I rarely go back and change it.

Which NBME? How'd you score compared to any other practice one's you've taken? As long as you're seeing an upward trend, you're fine.

 

[pathlologist]

For those of you who have taken step 1 and took NBME 19 beforehand, how well did 19 predict your score? Since it came out so recently I assume anyone who has taken it and step took it fairly close to their step exam.

I know this has been discussed in other threads, but the discussions are scattered (and a lot from people who hadn't gotten their step scores back yet so they couldn't speak to this particular question).

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[KSbornandraised]

I am planning on doing 3 NBMEs 3 weeks out, 2 weeks out, and then 1 week out. Do you think doing 17, 19, and then 18 is the best option?

 

[attar1990]

Hey all!
My exam is coming up May 8th! For those of you who have taken the beast, I just want to make sure that rereading FA the last week is the best use of your time? Did you all find it helpful?

 

[Joanna1987]

Hey all!
My exam is coming up May 8th! For those of you who have taken the beast, I just want to make sure that rereading FA the last week is the best use of your time? Did you all find it helpful?

I'm taking the test on Tuesday and I'm re-reading FA + other things. I wanted to go through my Uworld notes but didn't have time Anyway, will let you know on Tuesday
Trying to keep calm, especially after reading more and more about how difficult the exam has been recently :/ I'd say have everything fresh. But my main problem is forgetting details and it really depends on a person

 

[pathlologist]

I wanted to go through my Uworld notes but didn't have time Anyway, will let you know on Tuesday

I'm in the same boat. I'm taking it Thursday and I don't have time to reread a lot of UWorld stuff since I'm focusing on FA.

 

[Joanna1987]

I'm in the same boat. I'm taking it Thursday and I don't have time to reread a lot of UWorld stuff since I'm focusing on FA.

Yeah, I honestly think what we can do is to have stuff like pharm, biostats etc. fresh. It's not the time for going through concepts. Fingers crossed for you! Let's hope for a very fair exam this week

 

[pathlologist]

Yeah, I honestly think what we can do is to have stuff like pharm, biostats etc. fresh. It's not the time for going through concepts. Fingers crossed for you! Let's hope for a very fair exam this week

Thank you much! It's nice to hear positive thoughts right now. Same to you

 

[Bigdreamer92]

Hey guys hoping someone can help me out, for those who have taken the test already, how would you say the step 1 compared to nbmes? Were they easy to understand or convoluted?? I'm afraid I will get all the weird questions and do poorly

 

[anthonymmd]

Hey guys, Question to those of you who have gotten their results back, what time on Wednesday should I expect them to come out?

 

[ridethecliche]

Some changes in the question pool for step 1. There was a news release on the usmle website about it but no real specifics were discussed. It said something about using the free 120 to gauge the type of questions you will see on test day. They're probably just making some minor changes to the question pool, I wouldn't think it's anything major.

Does this mean that they're coming out with another free 120 or that those are most representative now?

 

[wallaby524]

Does this mean that they're coming out with another free 120 or that those are most representative now?

It sounded like they "updated" the free 120 at the time of the news release. So the free 120 that is available now is the one that's supposed to represent the updates. I haven't seen it for myself but I read from those that took the 120 before and after the update that either the vast majority or the whole 120 remains unchanged. Based on that it just seems like the question pool updates shouldn't be major.

 

[Iceandmedicine]

I just got a 95% on the free 120... anyone know what score that corresponds to?? Is there is table/chart for free 120 correlations?

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

I just got a 95% on the free 120... anyone know what score that corresponds to?? Is there is table/chart for free 120 correlations?

Sounds pretty fantastic to me...

 

[673441]

I feel like I can't keep up as of late... I almost feel like I'm not cut out for this anymore. I can't achieve the stats that everyone gets and I wanted a high score on this exam. It seems out of reach for me


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[gilaze]

the free 120 is something you take in the Prometric center or is that another practice test?

 

[gilaze]

I feel like I can't keep up as of late... I almost feel like I'm not cut out for this anymore. I can't achieve the stats that everyone gets and I wanted a high score on this exam. It seems out of reach for me


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Why do you feel it is out of your reach? Did you finish studying/reviewing?

 

[673441]

Why do you feel it is out of your reach? Did you finish studying/reviewing?

I just feel like I'm burning out. Took an nbme a week ago and did terribly. Took a CBSE and I don't even know if I passed that yet. I'm starting to doubt myself and whether or not I'm even cut out for this path.


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[Iceandmedicine]

I feel like I can't keep up as of late... I almost feel like I'm not cut out for this anymore. I can't achieve the stats that everyone gets and I wanted a high score on this exam. It seems out of reach for me


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This process is extremely difficult and frustrating for every single one of us. You're not alone, and you ARE cut out for this. What has been most difficult for you?

 

[673441]

This process is extremely difficult and frustrating for every single one of us. You're not alone, and you ARE cut out for this. What has been most difficult for you?

I feel like NBME questions are absolutely daunting... like they'll have a presentation that looks so much like a genetic disease and then say there are no genetic abnormalities in the family... that'll throw me for a loop since I'll start thinking about what else could present the same way and not be genetic in nature. Maybe I'm overthinking the questions, but it's doing a number on my confidence


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[gilaze]

I feel like NBME questions are absolutely daunting... like they'll have a presentation that looks so much like osteogenesis imperfecta and then say there are no genetic abnormalities in the family... that'll throw me for a loop since I'll start thinking about what else could present the same way and not be genetic in nature. Maybe I'm overthinking the questions, but it's doing a number on my confidence


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Maybe you're overthinking, as you said it. Either way don't give up. Look at your weaknesses and make them your strongest subjects. Then after the next NBME look at those weaknesses and make them your strongest once again until all those damn bars are touching the right vertical line. Repeat and repeat until you feel powerful again. Picture yourself the day you see your test score and look how happy you'd be if you get your dream score. Now go work hard so that dream becomes your reality and you know all this **** was worth it

 

[673441]

Maybe you're overthinking, as you said it. Either way don't give up. Look at your weaknesses and make them your strongest subjects. Then after the next NBME look at those weaknesses and make them your strongest once again until all those damn bars are touching the right vertical line. Repeat and repeat until you feel powerful again. Picture yourself the day you see your test score and look how happy you'd be if you get your dream score. Now go work hard so that dream becomes your reality and you know all this **** was worth it

Thank you for the advice. I'm waiting for my CBSE score to come back. If my score is failing I only have one shot to pass it. I'm gonna pray for the best


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[gilaze]

Thank you for the advice. I'm waiting for my CBSE score to come back. If my score is failing I only have one shot to pass it. I'm gonna pray for the best


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When are you getting it back?

 

[673441]

When are you getting it back?

Tomorrow most likely


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[Major procrastinator]

Does this mean that they're coming out with another free 120 or that those are most representative now?

it was updated and released mid feb 2017

 

[pathlologist]

Took NMBE 18 one week ago and got a 232 (34 incorrects). Took NBME 19 today and got a 232 again (24 incorrects). Seems like 19 has a steep curve, kind of like 17. Anyone else have this experience? Trying not to feel discouraged by the lack of score improvement after what felt like a productive week of review

 

[Joanna1987]

Took NMBE 18 one week ago and got a 232 (34 incorrects). Took NBME 19 today and got a 232 again (24 incorrects). Seems like 19 has a steep curve, kind of like 17. Anyone else have this experience? Trying not to feel discouraged by the lack of score improvement after what felt like a productive week of review

You will definitely score more than 232 on a real deal.
NBME 19 is insane. Follow other NBMES.

Well, I'm taking the beast tomorrow. Will share my experience afterwards I hope, it's going to be a positive one!

 

[TheOther]

You will definitely score more than 232 on a real deal.
NBME 19 is insane. Follow other NBMES.

Well, I'm taking the beast tomorrow. Will share my experience afterwards I hope, it's going to be a positive one!

You got this!!! You're a champ for sticking out for an extra few weeks. Sending good vibes your way.

 

[ridethecliche]

Figured that I'd ask in here too since folks check this relatively often.

I'm taking my next NBME on sunday, then I have 2 weeks where I'll have a max of 4-6 hrs of time to study M-F and after that I have essentially 1 month till my target exam date. A lot hinges on how my next practice exam goes, but how would you organize yourself for the 2 week block of less study time and then the month after? I started working my way through uworld recently and I was planning on doing 3 days during the week of content review and 2 days of q banks, then doing tons of qbank over the weekend. I want to concentrate on stuff that UWorld is telling me that I'm weak on, but kinda overwhelmed on how to organize it all.

I know UWorld is a learning tool but my scores are pretty abysmal. Some of that has to do with timing and test taking skills (which are both improving) but...damn. My baseline NBME at the end of march was a 184. So this next exam will be at the end of a 3 week study block.

 

[Joanna1987]

You got this!!! You're a champ for sticking out for an extra few weeks. Sending good vibes your way.

Thank you!!!! I appreciate it



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[TheOther]

Figured that I'd ask in here too since folks check this relatively often.

I'm taking my next NBME on sunday, then I have 2 weeks where I'll have a max of 4-6 hrs of time to study M-F and after that I have essentially 1 month till my target exam date. A lot hinges on how my next practice exam goes, but how would you organize yourself for the 2 week block of less study time and then the month after? I started working my way through uworld recently and I was planning on doing 3 days during the week of content review and 2 days of q banks, then doing tons of qbank over the weekend. I want to concentrate on stuff that UWorld is telling me that I'm weak on, but kinda overwhelmed on how to organize it all.

I know UWorld is a learning tool but my scores are pretty abysmal. Some of that has to do with timing and test taking skills (which are both improving) but...damn. My baseline NBME at the end of march was a 184. So this next exam will be at the end of a 3 week study block.

I would actually recommend doing UW questions every day, even if it's only 5 or 10. I'm an advocate of spending a longer time getting familiar with the style of questions and how they like to test integration. Make sure to make Anki cards on incorrects/uncertains or take notes you can review regularly. Then spend the remaining time reviewing FAP during those 2 weeks. And of course you can bump up the question volume on weekends.

 

[ridethecliche]

I would actually recommend doing UW questions every day, even if it's only 5 or 10. I'm an advocate of spending a longer time getting familiar with the style of questions and how they like to test integration. Make sure to make Anki cards on incorrects/uncertains or take notes you can review regularly. Then spend the remaining time reviewing FAP during those 2 weeks. And of course you can bump up the question volume on weekends.

Ah, I see. So instead of trying to pick two days during the 'work week' to cram in questions, you'd recommend just doing a block of like 20 or so everyday just to keep the style going? Review the questions then use whatever time is left to FAP around?