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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[tymont12]

Hey,
Can anyone speak on the test day experience.
as far as breaks, noise, longevity... I know some of this may vary due to different test taking center policies and different test takers but just want to see what peoples general input is
thank you

Personally, I had no problems with longevity and didn't even use up all of my break time. 5 minutes for the bathroom and water whenever I felt I had to pee. I did some sections back-to-back but no more than that. The stress of the test kept me going. I brought a water bottle, a thermos of hot coffee (KEY!) and luna bars. I planned on bringing a sandwich but left it at home . Either way, I felt energized and ready to go. Bottom line is, don't do anything too out of the ordinary from your usual day-to-day.

I think the biggest variable is ambient noise. My seat was next to a wall that was shared with the outside hallway. I.E., I could hear anyone who walked down the hallway or opened the door. Normally, this would have bothered the SH** out of me, but I desensitized myself by doing uWorld questions without earplugs in. If you practice wearing earplugs, bring them with you since Prometric's suck. Likewise, I wouldn't expect to wear the ear muffs they supply as they gave everyone I know a headache. Ironically, they were the same style I used 5 yrs ago for my MCAT. Either way, practice uWorld with whatever ear hardware you expect to wear during the real exam!

 

[greensward]

Hey,
Can anyone speak on the test day experience.
as far as breaks, noise, longevity... I know some of this may vary due to different test taking center policies and different test takers but just want to see what peoples general input is
thank you

While I was preparing for step, I would take 2-3 UWorld blocks after an NBME to build some endurance. I don't know if that really helped. I was a little tired later in the evening after the real deal.

I also used all of my break time. You get 45 mins + up to 15 mins if you skip the directions. I took smaller breaks at the beginning and a 20 min break after block 4 for lunch. I mainly used the breaks to relax and to purposely slow myself down. I recommend using them but everyone is different.

I got lucky and got a seat next to a window and farthest from an interior wall. Noise wasn't an issue. The only time I used Prometrics headphones was when I had a cardio question that required it. They worked fine for that.

I did finish each section with less time remaining than I did on my NBMEs. During 1 break, there were 2 people taking another exam in line ahead of me to get back into the testing room. My break was slightly longer that time which was fine, but just be prepared in case that happens.

 

[mymembernames]

Took nbme 16 today, thought it was much harder compared to 13 and 15 and my score dropped

 

[Event_Horizon]

Took COMSAE D and NBME 17 as baselines 2 weeks ago and just looking to get some advice on expected improvement for Step I and COMLEX. My study schedule is basically UFAP with SketchyMicro/Pharm and some biochem and biostats supplementation. I am currently 55% done with my first pass through Uworld and I plan to finish it and then go through it one more completely before the end of my dedicated. Currently at 63% average that is slowly going up as I get more material under my belt. (I have no full passes through FAP/sketchy yet; will be done with my first past next week). I have exactly 8 weeks until my exam date.

COMSAE D basline: ~500
NBME 17 baseline: ~210
Uworld (only 55% done): 63% --> will be finishing in the next 3-4weeks and then go through 1 full pass again before my test in June.

My hope is a 550+ COMLEX (600+ dream) and a 235+ USMLE (245+ dream). Would anyone care to comment on the realistic nature of my goals and study timeline?

 

[drwatson1575]

I have my exam in less than 3 months (includes > 6 weeks of dedicated prep time). I have not finished a single pass of FA (> 50%), Pathoma (> 75%) or Uworld (~50% complete).

These are my metrics so far:
1) UWorld - 67% (completed nearly 50%) - plan on doing at least 2 passes before the exam
2) USMLE Rx - 68% - Nearly Complete
3) NBME 13 - 194 (Took it in March)
4) NBME 15 - 203

I made a lot of silly mistakes during my NBMEs and I am working on it by trying to slow down a bit.

I need help/advice/brutal honesty from any and all of you. I am working for a score >230.

Thank you in advance!!

 

[midav8]

No, it doesn't

Ok, I need to ask you a question lol
It's been bugging me all day.
Does Hb become less cooperative in beta thalassemia? I know there is an increased affinity to oxygen but what about the cooperativity? There is a change in Hb but enough to change cooperative binding of oxygen?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile[/QUOTE

Folks what do you think about kaplan bank regarding vierd and vogue questions? I heared a lot that kaplan has many low yield questions with style being way different than uworld and nbme, maybe doing kaplan will get us closer to the real deal? If the quantity of people stating that they get many vogue questions will keep rising I will think about doing kaplan bank. I am curious how can we get more prepared for the vogueness. I am thinking about doing the kaplan after mastering ufap, only after being really sure and comfortable with ufap. Maybe I am wrong about the kaplan and it will not get me anywhere regarding the solving process of vogue quesitions. Any opinions?

The Kaplan qbank IMHO is not that much about weird and vague questions but about lower yield ones. They not only test the specific knowledge, but also the ability to make a decision in a vague situations . In other words , they test both your knowledge and your intelligence . Any qbank can provide you with the knoledge but it has nothing to do with the intelligence.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Hey guys its been a while since ive posted. Just took Nbme 13, got a 215 on it. Legit surprised i did that poorly, ive been doing really well in Uworld im about 6 weeks out. Any suggestions or is 13 not that predictive ? ive been on the UFAP train for about a week now but ive been board reviewing for a bit

 

[Skyrocket254]

Anyone can't sleep since taking step 1. I just keep having racing thought. I feel like I made a lot of mistakes and I'm going to fail. I felt my exam was hard and tricky. At first I tried to suppress all things step 1 but it's slowly making me go crazy

 

[Desmin]

Anyone can't sleep since taking step 1. I just keep having racing thought. I feel like I made a lot of mistakes and I'm going to fail. I felt my exam was hard and tricky. At first I tried to suppress all things step 1 but it's slowly making me go crazy

Me too. I feel like throwing up. Did not even enjoy the night when i came back from exam.. The mistakes i made are just freaking me out..! I feel like coming 3 weeks will be real torture for me. But lets hope we all get through this and score great..

 

[Theppunisher]

If it makes you guys above me feel any better I take mine in early may and I have to wait 2 months to get my scores back so imagine how depressed ill be for that period... depending on how I feel after the exam which will most likely not be good

 

[Rahas]

If you all did terribly you'll all score well since the exam is curve based, so sleep well!!

 

[TheOther]

If it makes you guys above me feel any better I take mine in early may and I have to wait 2 months to get my scores back so imagine how depressed ill be for that period... depending on how I feel after the exam which will most likely not be good

Me too, fam. Me too.

 

[dempty]

If you all did terribly you'll all score well since the exam is curve based, so sleep well!!

The exam is not curved, it's scaled. Tests like this aren't curved for several reasons, one of which being that you could theoretically get a better score by testing with candidates who are less prepared or that you could perform worse because you took the exam when people were relatively more prepared. The exam doesn't work that way.

 

[673441]

The exam is not curved, it's scaled. Tests like this aren't curved for several reasons, one of which being that you could theoretically get a better score by testing with candidates who are less prepared or that you could perform worse because you took the exam when people were relatively more prepared. The exam doesn't work that way.

Also, we're assessed based on the previous YEAR cohort!

 

[LAK84]

The exam is not curved, it's scaled. Tests like this aren't curved for several reasons, one of which being that you could theoretically get a better score by testing with candidates who are less prepared or that you could perform worse because you took the exam when people were relatively more prepared. The exam doesn't work that way.

What does it mean to be Scaled?

I got what you meant by it not being curved but if you can shed light on the scaled part...I'm a bit confused lol

 

[673441]

What does it mean to be Scaled?

I got what you meant by it not being curved but if you can shed light on the scaled part...I'm a bit confused lol

USMLE has mathematically determined a preset value that they multiply your score by to adjust for perceived difficulty of individual examinations. Common example of scale, is the algorithm for comparing UW to Step 1: (%correct x 2.4) + 84. Statistically you can use the "F" value to multiply an examiners score by (the greater the F value, the lower the adjustment) which is dependent on relative ease from previous administrations of the exam (usually from last year).

 

[673441]

Hey guys its been a while since ive posted. Just took Nbme 13, got a 215 on it. Legit surprised i did that poorly, ive been doing really well in Uworld im about 6 weeks out. Any suggestions or is 13 not that predictive ? ive been on the UFAP train for about a week now but ive been board reviewing for a bit

Btw, how early did you take it?! You posted it at 10:50 lmao

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

Hey guys,

I don't understand autonomic pharm. Like at all. Didn't understand it when we covered it in classes and still missing a majority of questions I come across in UW. Anyone have any tips or resources?

 

[Rahas]

Thats pretty interesting. Are you saying there's an individual multiplier for each question, based on how difficult that question is perceived to be?

@567WingsO'Heaven

 

[TheOther]

Hey guys,

I don't understand autonomic pharm. Like at all. Didn't understand it when we covered it in classes and still missing a majority of questions I come across in UW. Anyone have any tips or resources?

SketchyPharm. It changed my life.

 

[dempty]

Thats pretty interesting. Are you saying there's an individual multiplier for each question, based on how difficult that question is perceived to be?

@567WingsO'Heaven

There isn't one way to determine the scoring and scales. Statistical scaling and equating is more difficult than multiplying the score but some factor. Your best bet is to ask the appropriate people in charge of scoring the Step exams how they scale the exam and what kind of equating they use, but I don't think they'll disclose too much. I believe it's possible to do the scaling based on per question and based on the exam overall.

 

[673441]

Thats pretty interesting. Are you saying there's an individual multiplier for each question, based on how difficult that question is perceived to be?

@567WingsO'Heaven

Something along those lines. It explains how many ppl can get really difficult questions wrong and end up doing just as well as they do on practice exams. There is a degree of assumption to this calculation but like the person above me said, it's impossible to know for sure unless you ask the graders of the exam.


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[Brorthopedic]

I believe this is how it's done, to a certain extent:

Each question, when created, a panel of experts decide (or use it as an "experimental question" on random tests) to determine its difficulty (i.e. easy, medium, hard). Easy questions are answered correctly by 70% of test takers, while hard questions will be answered correctly by 20-30% of test takers. Then, each question is given a multiplier, so for example you get 1 point for answering an easy/hard/medium correct, regardless of difficulty. But, if you answered a medium question say you get a "bonus" i.e. 1 + 0.2 or if it was a hard question you get 1 + 0.4

Once the value of each question is determined, it is dumped into a pool of other questions (a giant USMLE "Qbank"). On test day, a program will generate questions randomly from this Qbank, giving you 7 blocks of pre-determined, valued, questions.

I think this is why some people get an "easy" form versus others who get a "hard" form. This doesn't explain how they get around giving different students different # of questions though... I could be way off lol but I don't know how else they would do it fairly.

 

[Dr.Jekyll75]

Btw, how early did you take it?! You posted it at 10:50 lmao

start at 6 am

 

[673441]

I believe this is how it's done, to a certain extent:

Each question, when created, a panel of experts decide (or use it as an "experimental question" on random tests) to determine its difficulty (i.e. easy, medium, hard). Easy questions are answered correctly by 70% of test takers, while hard questions will be answered correctly by 20-30% of test takers. Then, each question is given a multiplier, so for example you get 1 point for answering an easy/hard/medium correct, regardless of difficulty. But, if you answered a medium question say you get a "bonus" i.e. 1 + 0.2 or if it was a hard question you get 1 + 0.4

Once the value of each question is determined, it is dumped into a pool of other questions (a giant USMLE "Qbank"). On test day, a program will generate questions randomly from this Qbank, giving you 7 blocks of pre-determined, valued, questions.

I think this is why some people get an "easy" form versus others who get a "hard" form. This doesn't explain how they get around giving different students different # of questions though... I could be way off lol but I don't know how else they would do it fairly.

That sounds similar to the Hoffsee method! Ya, that makes sense actually. I'm guessing that the algorithm on the computer generated forms would adjust the questions to form an approximate bell curve distribution in scores??? Personally, I don't trust the experts lmao. Imagine the bias there.

 

[mymembernames]

Hey guys its been a while since ive posted. Just took Nbme 13, got a 215 on it. Legit surprised i did that poorly, ive been doing really well in Uworld im about 6 weeks out. Any suggestions or is 13 not that predictive ? ive been on the UFAP train for about a week now but ive been board reviewing for a bit

Got a 213 on that one. Was pretty surprised until I did even worse when I took 16 Been doing above average on Uworld. I think the curves are pretty brutal.

 

[pathlologist]

Now that I've had the weekend to decompress, had some thoughts on step:

The testing center was nice but there was someone taking an exam requiring a LOT of typing in the same room for the first half of the day. There were noise-canceling headphones, but they gave me a headache so the environment was not ideal (but it could have been worse). I had 7 blocks of 40.

Block 1 - Not bad. Only marked a few, had plenty of time to review. Kind of felt like doing a UWorld block
Block 2 - A little harder, marked a few more, had less time to review
Block 3 - Awful. I wanted to cry after the block ended. I marked more than half of the questions and didn't have time to review some of them before I ran out of time. In the middle had to stop for 10 seconds and just breathe to stay calm. Definitely took a 20-25 min break after block 3.
Block 4 - Hard, but not like 3. Had time to briefly review marked ones. I marked almost half, but a lot of those I just wanted to read one more time to be sure (block 3 psyched me out)
Block 5 - Marked a lot but had time to review and didn't change many answers
Block 6 - Like block 5
Block 7 - Like block 2

I've convinced myself I failed, did ok, and did great about 10x each since test day. I'm hoping when I get my score it's all going to be okay and that my NBMEs were predictive. Good luck to the others who took their test last week and are waiting for scores around May 10th, and thanks to everyone else who has shared their concerns over test day. It's good to know I'm not alone.

 

[Joanna1987]

I've convinced myself I failed, did ok, and did great about 10x each since test day. I'm hoping when I get my score it's all going to be okay and that my NBMEs were predictive. Good luck to the others who took their test last week and are waiting for scores around May 10th, and thanks to everyone else who has shared their concerns over test day. It's good to know I'm not alone.[/QUOTE]

THIS


Plus, my exam felt exactly the same way. Came out thinking I did surprisingly well and was chill about it. Then I started going through my mistakes and I don't think I did so well anymore

One question, I took the exam on April 18th, Tuesday. Do I expect results on May 10th (3 weeks) or a week later?

 

[Joanna1987]

Got a 213 on that one. Was pretty surprised until I did even worse when I took 16 Been doing above average on Uworld. I think the curves are pretty brutal.

How many mistakes did you guys make to get 213? I'm just asking cause I took it a long time ago and the curve didn't seem to be as harsh as it is now :/

 

[quincyfuturemd]

Just throwing my 2 cents in here since I also wrote this past week. I felt exactly the same as what others have been saying, going back and forth between thinking it went awful, ok, and pretty good. I felt it was much harder then any of my assessments and I took every nbme and uwsa and free 120. I ran through 90% of the questions on pretty much total instinct. I'm guessing since so many of us felt the same we will probably get about what we expect/what our practice tests predict and it will all be good. Good luck to everyone surviving the wait.

 

[mymembernames]

How many mistakes did you guys make to get 213? I'm just asking cause I took it a long time ago and the curve didn't seem to be as harsh as it is now :/

NBME 13: 39 mistakes = 80.5% gave me a 213 about a week ago

 

[TheOther]

NBME 13: 39 mistakes = 80.5% gave me a 213 about a week ago

Sounds about right. I got 74% correct 6 weeks ago for a 194.

 

[mymembernames]

Do we really have to know the Lac Operon? If it shows up I'm walking out

 

[Joanna1987]

Just throwing my 2 cents in here since I also wrote this past week. I felt exactly the same as what others have been saying, going back and forth between thinking it went awful, ok, and pretty good. I felt it was much harder then any of my assessments and I took every nbme and uwsa and free 120. I ran through 90% of the questions on pretty much total instinct. I'm guessing since so many of us felt the same we will probably get about what we expect/what our practice tests predict and it will all be good. Good luck to everyone surviving the wait.

Totally agree with you.
Fingers crossed and let's hope for the best!

 

[chromuffin]

Do we really have to know the Lac Operon? If it shows up I'm walking out

You mean you don't wanna know that LacZ has beta galactidose or whatever? Cmon man.. haha. Had a question the other day about the repressor of the lac operon. I'll probably cry if I get a question on exam day.

 

[Joanna1987]

Sounds about right. I got 74% correct 6 weeks ago for a 194.

Wow. So, I took NBME 13 a few months ago and made 38 mistakes = 220.

Weird. Maybe it depends on what questions we got wrong?

 

[673441]

NBME 13 shat on me too! I'm beginning to think the game is rigged


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[LAK84]

From the recent test takers can anyone shed light on the kind of Neuro that's been on the exam?

Anyone get questions related to neuroanatomy like what foramen a cranial nerve exits from or were they more related to pathways, etc...?

 

[midav8]

From the recent test takers can anyone shed light on the kind of Neuro that's been on the exam?

Anyone get questions related to neuroanatomy like what foramen a cranial nerve exits from or were they more related to pathways, etc...?

I had a question about a guy with Broca's aphasia. They labeled 8 or 9 points on the left hemisphere, you had to chose the right one. 2 or 3 of them were pretty close to the point.

 

[nanitch]

I had a question about a guy with Broca's aphasia. They labeled 8 or 9 points on the left hemisphere, you had to chose the right one. 2 or 3 of them were pretty close to the point.

I had a lot of neuro to be honest which i was surprised since normally i hear there isnt. But nop. No neuroanatomy for me. Like 4-5 questions on picks disease alzheiners prions. Alzheimer was repeated like 10 times. Epidural, a lot of path neuro. Easily in the exam a total of like 20-25 questions of neuro.

 

[nanitch]

I had a lot of neuro to be honest which i was surprised since normally i hear there isnt. But nop. No neuroanatomy for me. Like 4-5 questions on picks disease alzheiners prions. Alzheimer was repeated like 10 times. Epidural, a lot of path neuro. Easily in the exam a total of like 20-25 questions of neuro.

Omg wait i just remembered there was an identical question from uworld of inferior alveolar nerve and like 5 questions of facial nerve not joking. Also neuroanatomy from it. But thats it. Only those nerves. So i would say like 30ish questions.

 

[nanitch]

You mean you don't wanna know that LacZ has beta galactidose or whatever? Cmon man.. haha. Had a question the other day about the repressor of the lac operon. I'll probably cry if I get a question on exam day.

Omg i had a question in the exam and i guessed it. It was a wtf question about it. To be honest dont remember well. I guessed it. But it sounded like an experimental question.

 

[nanitch]

Anyone can't sleep since taking step 1. I just keep having racing thought. I feel like I made a lot of mistakes and I'm going to fail. I felt my exam was hard and tricky. At first I tried to suppress all things step 1 but it's slowly making me go crazy

You arent alone. Im the same way. Gets results this wednesday=2 days!! I cant sleep omg!!

 

[nanitch]

I see how people are worried of there score but see how everyone had time to review and i didnt have time to finish like 3-4 blocks the last 3 questions. Had to guess them which makes me really sad. now im freaking out.

 

[nanitch]

Ok, I need to ask you a question lol
It's been bugging me all day.
Does Hb become less cooperative in beta thalassemia? I know there is an increased affinity to oxygen but what about the cooperativity? There is a change in Hb but enough to change cooperative binding of oxygen?


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I had this question jn my exam. Options were polymerize fibrils or decrease binding or something of cooperative

 

[nanitch]

I had this question jn my exam. Options were polymerize fibrils or decrease binding or something of cooperative

Oh eait it says thalasaemia, mine eas sickle never mind

 

[Surgeria]

No, it doesn't


The Kaplan qbank IMHO is not that much about weird and vague questions but about lower yield ones. They not only test the specific knowledge, but also the ability to make a decision in a vague situations . In other words , they test both your knowledge and your intelligence . Any qbank can provide you with the knoledge but it has nothing to do with the intelligence.

So it means that doing kaplan makes no sense? ... I see that most of the people that score 240,250+ are not doing kaplan, from this chart (this is from reddit, survery from 200 examinees that I think most of them scored 240+) so only 25% of students use kaplan bank. I am going to use all the offline/online nbmes + all the free 150 from year 2006 in hope to grasp the feeling of vogue questions and final feeling about what nbme though is high yield. All nbme's + all free 150's is around 4500 questions, with a good google search we can find out great explanation sources. I hope this 4500 questions will bump me up. Anyway I will ever break 240 on nbme this way I will do kaplan bank, if not I will be doing ufap until I break/or not 240's. Maybe I am wrong, just me oppinion

 

[Rahas]

I agree with that description. I tried some Kaplan Qbank after having done UW, and I noticed the difficult questions centered around low yield information that I hadn't read anywhere. Ie these were the sort of questions where you either know it or you don't. NBME difficult questions are different. They're vague, but they still play around with stuff that you've read and feels familiar, so theres always the feeling you can figure it out. Most of the time, this is possible.

 

[Surgeria]

I agree with that description. I tried some Kaplan Qbank after having done UW, and I noticed the difficult questions centered around low yield information that I hadn't read anywhere. Ie these were the sort of questions where you either know it or you don't. NBME difficult questions are different. They're vague, but they still play around with stuff that you've read and feels familiar, so theres always the feeling you can figure it out. Most of the time, this is possible.

Considering all this I think it will make sense to do Kaplan only after mastering ufap, when I say mastering I meen really mastering, knowing all the concepts from the uworld even it will take 3 runs through uworld (which I am doing, now on 2nd run and scoring 78% right with 40% of bank done). So I will do it 3rd time to be sure that I know +- all the high yield concepts. After this I will think go or not to go with kaplan. Anyway kaplan will take one month, so If after mastering ufap + all the nbme + free 150's from all the years, if after all this I will have time I think it will be efficient to go with kaplan. Anyway people still say that mastered ufap can break 250 if you get adequate form. I mentioned that mastered ufap get you to 250 in nbme 18, and nbme 18 250 score can break 250 in real deal. Hope to get close to 240, will be extremely happy. I don't know this vogueness came up now or it was frequent thing earlier ...

 

[quincyfuturemd]

I see how people are worried of there score but see how everyone had time to review and i didnt have time to finish like 3-4 blocks the last 3 questions. Had to guess them which makes me really sad. now im freaking out.

I'm not sure what you mean by having time to review but I almost ran out of time each block and rushed through a good number of questions. I only had all this time to think about it days after the exam. As long as you answered all the questions I wouldn't feel bad about rushing or almost running out of time. I think that's normal. Also I know a handful of questions feels like a lot but when you are taking a huge almost 300 question exam it only comes down to maybe 1% at most. I hope it's not freaking you out too bad.