COMLEX Official 2018 Comlex 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

[ThrowAwayStepDO]

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[cassis_Cake]

Took the exam on 6/25 and all I can say is that it was a lot more difficult than I thought. First two blocks were easy and I thought it would be like that for the rest of them but it was not the case. Then again, my mind was definitely not performing that day as I made numerous silly mistakes.. passages were long and highlighting tool sucks. Definitely left the exam feeling like I could fail.. I took step 1 couple days before that and didn't feel too bad after that but after leaving Comlex, I felt just horrible.. I averaged 250 on all the NBME and higher on UWSA1&2 and the only comsae I took 2 months before dedicated was 570 so I was confident I was gonna get at least 500 but now I’m just hoping I passed lol.. I think it’s different for everyone but I was definitely caught off guard

Following up on my previous post, I somehow got a 645.. didn’t care as much about what score I got as long as I passed because I got my step 1 score back earlier and got a 252.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

Bottom quintile of class, used board resources more than class material throughout MS1-2
Comsae D (1 month out): 500
UW: started 40s, ended with low-mid 60s
COMQUEST: 73% (all timed, 50 blocks, exam simulated, heavily post Comsae)
COMLEX: 560

I’m estatic about this score because it has been an uphill battle from day one for a number of reasons. I credit boards & beyond, sketchy, comquest mainly, though I also did UFAP.

 

[ASGD1983]

Bottom quintile of class, used board resources more than class material throughout MS1-2
Comsae D (1 month out): 500
UW: started 40s, ended with low-mid 60s
COMQUEST: 73% (all timed, 50 blocks, exam simulated, heavily post Comsae)
COMLEX: 560

I’m estatic about this score because it has been an uphill battle from day one for a number of reasons. I credit boards & beyond, sketchy, comquest mainly, though I also did UFAP.

Imho you need to credit yourself, you made this possible. B&b is a crapshoot, I'm in group of several people who are still trying to pass Comlex and couple of us took 1.5 month b&b course and only improved by laughable 15 points (on Comsae scale).

 

[HoodBank]

I love SDN. all the posts are either:

"I read half of first aid, did 25 UW questions, and didnt take any practice tests: COMLEX score 850. USMLE 270."

or...

"comsae A: 610, comsae E: 690, comsae D: 715, UWSA1: 240, NBME 18: 255. Real COMLEX: 410, USMLE: 205."

Something weird happened this year. lolz

 

[YesPlease8]

I am legit the second half of that lol... scored <450 when doing well on everything. Don't know what to do/think about anything anymore

 

[jpmiz]

I am legit the second half of that lol... scored <450 when doing well on everything. Don't know what to do/think about anything anymore

I’m right there with you. I had an unexplained huge drop and am so confused =[

 

[Carbon090]

In to share the weird trend.

Last couple NBMEs in the 230s and UWSA2 in the 250s. Got 225-230 on the real thing.

COMSAE 560 ish over a month out, got a 650 ish on the COMBANK assessment a few weeks later. Scored between 540-560 on the real thing.


Not as much of a drop as a lot of you guys, but I feel for those of you that had major drops. I'm honestly confused just like a lot of you. Just have to move forward and keep your head up.

 

[AE_19_]

Step 1: 221
Comlex: 526

Hoping for IM. From the match data it seems my scores ok but I’m pretty disappointed in my comlex. Goal was over 550. Step over 220.

Idc about where I go for residency. Probably Midwest. Any thoughts on if this score has hurt me? Feeling anxious about, as why I’m posting lol

 

[OnionRing2018]

Imho you need to credit yourself, you made this possible. B&b is a crapshoot, I'm in group of several people who are still trying to pass Comlex and couple of us took 1.5 month b&b course and only improved by laughable 15 points (on Comsae scale).

Was this the Wolfpacc course?

 

[073116]

Step 1: 221
Comlex: 526

Hoping for IM. From the match data it seems my scores ok but I’m pretty disappointed in my comlex. Goal was over 550. Step over 220.

Idc about where I go for residency. Probably Midwest. Any thoughts on if this score has hurt me? Feeling anxious about, as why I’m posting lol

Pack your $hit and start applying for Ronald McDonald night cut crew at the butcher house in South Montana. We all know that you need at least 250+ and 750+ comlex for rural FM. IM is not even possible below 270 usmle. To get into specialties you need to have 289+ 950+ 117 publications in well respected med.journals, at least 3 research nominated to Noble Prize and a uncle Program Director. Even then it's a gamble.

 

[AE_19_]

Pack your $hit and start applying for Ronald McDonald night cut crew at the butcher house in South Montana. We all know that you need at least 250+ and 750+ comlex for rural FM. IM is not even possible below 270 usmle. To get into specialties you need to have 289+ 950+ 117 publications in well respected med.journals, at least 3 research nominated to Noble Prize and a uncle Program Director. Even then it's a gamble.

This is why I hate this site. I say in my post I’m anxious about my score. I wanted some decent feedback. Instead you’re the worst part about SDN. Honestly bro, did it make you feel better giving that response? Med schools hard enough without people being like that for no reason. Have fun bringing people down on the internet

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Step 1: 221
Comlex: 526

Hoping for IM. From the match data it seems my scores ok but I’m pretty disappointed in my comlex. Goal was over 550. Step over 220.

Idc about where I go for residency. Probably Midwest. Any thoughts on if this score has hurt me? Feeling anxious about, as why I’m posting lol

You should be good. Apply broadly and I would say you shouldn't have any problems matching somewhere.

 

[AE_19_]

You should be good. Apply broadly and I would say you shouldn't have any problems matching somewhere.

Thanks. I was feeling pretty down about it. Had 580 on last comsae. Appreciate it

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thanks. I was feeling pretty down about it. Had 580 on last comsae. Appreciate it

Your USMLE is more important and you did fine on it. Dont worry about it

 

[realmadrid23]

I'll hop in:
UWORLD 1st pass: 70% give or take (did about it about 1.5x)
school provided COMBANK did that probably 2x but that was all during individual system
NBME 13: 215 (440) about 2 months out
NBME 15: 211 (420) 1.5 months out
NBME 17: took offline came out a little over 220ish (guesstimating)
UWSA 1: 247
UWSA 2: 237
NBME 18: 230 (510) 2 weeks out
Truelearn Assessment: 710, also took some school required COMSAEs that I don't remember what I scored on, they seemed irrelevant to pretty much everything and I would never recommend spending your own money on them

real thing: USMLE (6/22) 239, COMLEX (6/29) 631
I did Bro's deck religiously starting January of 1st year and added each system deck as we entered new system, kept up with all reviews every day. Into 2nd year I used Zanki's pharm and phys decks instead as I liked them better but kept Bro's path. Will swear by the Bro's/Zanki approach. Watched Pathoma and Sketchy micro and pharm many times throughout my 2 years. Read First Aid in small chunks most nights when I had some spare time.
Good luck to all those waiting for scores/taking the exam. They're manageable and you're hard work will pay off!

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

COMLEX (6/7) - 647
USMLE (6/25) - 241

Uworld Self Assessment 1 & 2 : 256

NBME 13 - 211
NBME 15 - 221
NBME 16 - 225
NBME 18 - 223
NBME 19 - 230

uWorld 1st Pass % - 70-75 (i can't remember the exact percentage)
uWorld 2nd Pass % - 95%

COMSAE A: 581
COMASE C: 549

Free 120: 80%

Prep: Did uWorld during second year and then redid it again during dedicated. Did Boards and Beyond and Zankie during second year as well. Tried to read first aid but it didn't really stick for me. I used first aid more as a checklist of stuff that i should know. Hope this info helps someone. I know towards the end of my dedicated period I would try to predict what I would actually score on the real thing using other people's posts on here, so here is another data point to add to the list.

 

[Endorphins98]

I'll hop in:
UWORLD 1st pass: 70% give or take (did about it about 1.5x)
school provided COMBANK did that probably 2x but that was all during individual system
NBME 13: 215 (440) about 2 months out
NBME 15: 211 (420) 1.5 months out
NBME 17: took offline came out a little over 220ish (guesstimating)
UWSA 1: 247
UWSA 2: 237
NBME 18: 230 (510) 2 weeks out
Truelearn Assessment: 710, also took some school required COMSAEs that I don't remember what I scored on, they seemed irrelevant to pretty much everything and I would never recommend spending your own money on them

real thing: USMLE (6/22) 239, COMLEX (6/29) 631
I did Bro's deck religiously starting January of 1st year and added each system deck as we entered new system, kept up with all reviews every day. Into 2nd year I used Zanki's pharm and phys decks instead as I liked them better but kept Bro's path. Will swear by the Bro's/Zanki approach. Watched Pathoma and Sketchy micro and pharm many times throughout my 2 years. Read First Aid in small chunks most nights when I had some spare time.
Good luck to all those waiting for scores/taking the exam. They're manageable and you're hard work will pay off!

I'll *Hopp* in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Oreo#1]

I'm not going to be one of those that says "omg - no big deal.... got a 584 on my comlex... could have done better.. wahhh " ......

No

I'm ecstatic with my score. I worked my ass off to get that score and it was nothing but hard work and dedication. I walked out of that exam feeling like I failed it but got my score back and nearly cried. Not only because its a great score but because I am historically a terrible standardized test taker.

So many schools never took a chance on me when I scored a 497-499 on the new MCAT. They all saw me as a number and didn't give me a shot....... That. Is. Their. Loss. I know damn well that I will be a fantastic physician. Not because I did well on a different test getting a different number... but because I am tenacious and will not let anything get in my way.

I'm writing this for all of you that have been told "you're scores are not good enough so you're not good enough" F*CK that noise. Go out there and prove them all wrong.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

I'm not going to be one of those that says "omg - no big deal.... got a 584 on my comlex... could have done better.. wahhh " ......

No

I'm ecstatic with my score. I worked my ass off to get that score and it was nothing but hard work and dedication. I walked out of that exam feeling like I failed it but got my score back and nearly cried. Not only because its a great score but because I am historically a terrible standardized test taker.

So many schools never took a chance on me when I scored a 497-499 on the new MCAT. They all saw me as a number and didn't give me a shot....... That. Is. Their. Loss. I know damn well that I will be a fantastic physician. Not because I did well on a different test getting a different number... but because I am tenacious and will not let anything get in my way.

I'm writing this for all of you that have been told "you're scores are not good enough so you're not good enough" F*CK that noise. Go out there and prove them all wrong.

I’m right there with you Oreo, congrats!

 

[Oreo#1]

BOARDS WRITE UP

December 2017 Baseline (before endo, repro, GI, Derm, and others)= UWSA1 = 228

January COMSAE E Baseline = 579

COMBANK Assessment 1 April 2 = 700-720

COMBANK assessment 2 April 23 = 720-999

COMSAE B (3 wks before comlex) = 748

COMSAE D (2 wks before comlex) = 702

COMBANK Questions: 82% correct

USMLERx = 82% correct

UW First pass = 82%

UW 2nd pass = 98%, only did half this time around

NBME 13 (2 months before Step 1) = 250

NBME 15 = 255

NBME 16 = 252

NBME 17 3 wks out from Step 1 = 257

NBME 18 2 wks out from step 1 = 257

NBME 19 1 wk out = 257

UWSA2 1 wk out = 258

COMLEX Level 1 = 705

USMLE Step 1 = 260

Resources:
"Dedicated" period = 04/09- 5/31 (COMLEX), -6/30(USMLE)
FA x3 before COMLEX, FA x4 before Step 1
Pathoma x2 before Comlex, x3 before Step 1
All of Rx, UW (1.5x), 30% of COMBANK,
75% B&B.
50-75% DIT vids (BEFORE dedicated!)


Hey everyone! Just wanted to share my thoughts about studying for boards and my experience with the exam:

I didn’t start “studying” until the end of the first semester of 2nd year (Winter break). Then, I purchased USMLE Rx but did maybe about 100 questions throughout the break. I watched all of Pathoma once and annotated my Pathoma book. I also watched half of DIT while driving (its great for audio since these guys mainly speak to you). I took my UWSA1 before doing any practice questions at all just for a very rough baseline at the start of winter break.

Come 2nd semester of 2nd year, everyone is freaking out and feels as if there is never enough time to study for boards. Lemme tell you, some of this is true, but most of it isn’t, and it depends on how efficiently you study, really. I took my COMLEX May 31st and USMLE June 30th, and as you can see from NBME 17-19, I “plateaud” super hard after taking my COMLEX. I did about half of UWorld during my 2nd semester and finished my first pass during “dedicated” starting 04/09. At first it took me about 6-8 hours to do a block and annotate everything/digest the info. As I became more comfortable, it took about 3-4 hours a block.

Now dem meat and potatoes: 04/09 was the beginning of dedicated for us… And by dedicated, we mean tons of classes on top of ACLS, BLS, PALS, TBLs, the whole 9 yards. So it was quite fun, of course. My basic schedule was wake up at 7 am and study until 9:30 pm. I told myself to run everyday….. I think I worked out ONCE during dedicated and have never been so out of shape… I would read 1 section of First Aid TWICE in one day. I Highlighted the crap out of my first aid (it was a PDF, which I recommend getting over textbook). In addition to my own notes, any question from Rx, Combank, UWORLD, etc, I would add into the respective first aid section. This is where PDFs have an edge over the books- I have unlimited space to add tons and tons of “high yield” notes into my review book. By the time I was done annotating, my PDF file was incredibly laggy. The next day I would do 3 blocks of RANDOM Uworld and review EVERYTHING, then annotate into First Aid. This took all day of course, and the “edge” you get by doing everything timed/random is that you are less likely to forget a concept you haven’t reviewed in ages. For example, If it takes 2 weeks to study all of Cardio in First Aid, you are quite likely to forget the stuff you learned on day 1, unless you happen to hit those concepts by doing RANDOM questions in your Q-bank. This method really helped me in terms of space repetition.

My basic schedule was wake up at 7 am and study until 9:30 pm. I would have only coffee until 1 pm. My first meal was always some 250 cal burrito thing, and I’d have about a 30 min break where I’d watch youtube videos and such. My method was to always eat LIGHT during dedicated. This means small meals, about 300 cal lunches and snacks, and maybe 1 large meal come dinner time (730 pm). This helped me combat “bloat” fatigue, and I never needed to take any naps/crazy long breaks. I studied as much as I could, and it was torture. I think I had about 3-4 days off during dedicated in which I studied nothing/barely anything in order to decompress. Come June 1st, I was feeling burnt out, but I cannot claim that the extra time didn’t benefit me at all. This extra time allowed me to do 4 more NBME’s, more practice questions, 1 more pass through FA, and 1 more pass through Pathoma.

During dedicated I watched PATHOMA 1 more time all the way through. 2 weeks before the Step 1, I solely READ pathoma all the way through, which was much faster than the vids. This was EXTREMELY helpful, as I will mention in a bit. I also watched about 75% of Boards and Beyond only during Dedicated. This resource is money for Biochem, Immunology, Biostats, and helpful for many other Systems.

BIGGEST piece of advice is to UNDERSTAND concepts and don’t feel like you absolutely need to study come the beginning of 2nd year… I am proof that you can do 90% of your work during “dedicated", with other school-work juggled into your "dedicated" 6 week period as well! Do your best to FOCUS on your coursework even though your mind is telling you to start freaking out over boards, its natural to feel anxious during 2nd year!

COMLEX on May 31st felt like the hardest exam I’ve ever endured. It felt like a rush against time. Someone likened it to a “flashcard” exam, and I agree with this statement…. AKA, you have NO time to sit there and ponder about a question, no time to sift through a pathological process, no time to rule out other answers… That means 75% of this exam felt like you were answering with your GUT response… Click it and quit it, move on, repeat. This made everything nerve racking since you can’t even verify if you read the question correctly, or if you misinterpreted an important detail. I left that 9 hour exam thinking I missed 50% of it. My topics that were hit the most was Peds GI, HEME, Neuro, OMM (obviously), and endo. Oh yeah, and someone next to me accidentally clicked out of his GRE and had 2 proctors come in to troubleshoot right next to me… I had to vigorously mouth my vignettes because I simply couldn’t hear myself think anymore… Overall this exam room was the LOUDEST exam room I’ve ever sat in on.

Now, the USMLE was MUCH better…. And when I say MUCH better, I mean I went up to the proctor at the end and gave him a hug. It was quiet, proctors were FAST in letting you in and out of the room for breaks and lunch. Absolutely no noises or hiccups.
The first block felt very easy, from then on out, every block got progressively harder. I did 2 blocks, took a break, 3rd block, break, 4th block, lunch… At this point, I was telling myself, “OK, this exam is picking up, its getting harder, but you’re off to a great start, just keep doing what you’re doing.” The last 3 blocks were the hardest blocks, with the last being the worst block. By the end, I totally only focused on the last 3 blocks and thought I missed a ton of questions in total (I tend to freak out and focus on those questions missed, but who doesn’t?). Overall the content on this exam was fairly distributed. People have told me about tons of reused NBME or Free 120 questions... I got Nadda. The timing was so much better, I never felt rushed unless I intentionally took tons of time on certain questions.The ethics was much more straightforward than crazy-Comlex ethics, but still tougher than your practice Q-banks. There were literally 10-15 questions straight from Pathoma, and I highly recommend reading this 1 week before your step. My highest performance was in Physiology and Pathology.

On exam days: I ate a very light breakfast of plain Greek yogurt with a cup of coffee. During breaks, I’d take a bite/bites out of a cliff bar. During lunch, I had only Turkey slices with me to prevent dat carby bloaty feeling we all fear (or is this just me?). I also had 2 red bulls with me, which I would periodically drink in a nicely DOSED manner. Don’t just chug a red bull and then start burning yourself out from caffeine!

DO NOT blow off 2nd year, it is SUPER important to apply your basic understanding from first year into the systems. TREAT EVERY SYSTEM LIKE YOURE BOARD STUDYING. Try to do your absolute best in every course, and you should be pleasantly surprised come dedicated. That last semester you’re going to hear people doing 50% board studying, 50% Course work…. I did about 90% coursework and 10% board study during 2nd semester of 2nd year, and did my bulk of board studying in dedicated. DO NOT FALL into a trap o “low yield”/"high yield" info. While it is true that First aid and Uworld covered about 90% of the Step 1 and Comlex, there is a grab bag of topics that comprise the other 10%, and the only way you’ll know about it is if you keep an open mind and learn as much as you can. Don’t shun any knowledge from your memory due to a preconceived notion of “low yield,” it can really come back to bite you and cost you easy points.

Oh yeah, I also used Savarese (GREAT), all of my school's review ppts(SUPERB) and OMGOMT(Absolute TRASH of a resource!) to help prep for OMM, and did every COMBANK OMM question…

GOOD LUCK studying! Make yourself GOALS before taking ANY baseline practice exam… AFTER your baseline exam, reassess your goals!
For example: My goal was to hit around a 240 come dedicated. When I took my first NBME 2 months out and hit a 250, my readjusted goal was a 250.

TL;DR

 

[Oreo#1]

USMLE step 1: 257
COMLEX level 1: 624

I am trying to figure out if my COMLEX will hurt me. I promise I am not trying to come off as pretentious because I know both my scores are solid, I just feel like the 624 was an underperformance (I took comsae E a month out and scored a 745). I would like to go into general surgery with a possibility of specializing.

Dude seriously? STFU. You got in the 90th percentile. You know exactly how pretentious you’re being

 

[Oreo#1]

Smart enough to get close to a 260, dumb enough to not realize the significance

Pretty much sum up 50% of med students. I can’t wait to start my 3rd year rotations Monday and see the real world hit most of my classmates

 

[Black Coffee 24/7]

Dude seriously? STFU. You got in the 90th percentile. You know exactly how pretentious you’re being

Guaranteed now that the same person will get mediocre grades during third year w/ that garbage attitude.

 

[FAdoc2020]

Guaranteed now that the same person will get mediocre grades during third year w/ that garbage attitude.

good call. probably right

 

[Nonam22]

Like I said before, COMSAEs aren't necessary.. Seems like everyone that either didn't do any COMSAEs or at least did one, did well on the exam, while those who did several of them, or did them all, underperformed. I'll say it again for any future readers, prepare for questions, both USMLE and COMLEX, with Uworld!! This isn't about saving money any more bc I got ripped apart for saying that... It's about doing well.

 

[Nonam22]

I did multiple and they underpredicted greatly for me (got about 600), wish I did them all. And wish I did more comquest and less uworld. Uworld was useless for my comlex. Literally didn't help for one single question.

Congrats you're the only person that's ever said that.

 

[Nonam22]

Perhaps but most definitely not the only person who ever thought it. Med students are sheep who just do as everyone else does without the ability to think for themselves. Thus, perpetuating the same song and dance, as seen in your previous remark.

And for the record, I've never met anyone irl who the comsaes overpredicted for.

Have a great rest of your night

Maybe everyone thinks Uworld is the best qbank to learn from because it is the best qbank to learn from.

And I'm sure all the med students here love your generalization and name calling.

 

[Nonam22]

For the usmle yup. It was irrelevant for comlex. Maybe, just maybe, sdn isn't a representative of the average med student. Especially DOs. Shocking thought I know.

Lol, do you know what generalizing means. Like, literally reread your first post. And if the shoe fits?... name calling/reality: Po-ta-to, po-tah-to

Uworld is a qbank to LEARN from.. It's not going to be identical to any one test. You thinking it was irrelevant is maybe why you scored lower than those who studied from it.. SHOCKING THOUGHT, I KNOW!!

 

[cassis_Cake]

Like I said before, COMSAEs aren't necessary.. Seems like everyone that either didn't do any COMSAEs or at least did one, did well on the exam, while those who did several of them, or did them all, underperformed. I'll say it again for any future readers, prepare for questions, both USMLE and COMLEX, with Uworld!! This isn't about saving money any more bc I got ripped apart for saying that... It's about doing well.

I agree with this, only did one comsae because the school required it but other than that only did Uworld and savarese for comlex and it was enough to get a good score.

 

[Nonam22]

I agree with this, only did one comsae because the school required it but other than that only did Uworld and savarese for comlex and it was enough to get a good score.

@NecFasc92

 

[Oreo#1]

For the usmle yup. It was irrelevant for comlex. Maybe, just maybe, sdn isn't a representative of the average med student. Especially DOs. Shocking thought I know.

Lol, do you know what generalizing means. Like, literally reread your first post. And if the shoe fits?... name calling/reality: Po-ta-to, po-tah-to

Aside from the biochem Uworld was identically to Comlex. Not because it regurgitated the EXACT info (sorry, the days of power point spoon feeding you are over after you start rotations) .... it was great because it covered all the main topics and how to critically think through them.

 

[IntheClouds4ever]

Uworld fan, here. Going with Uworld and comquest for level 2. I think people need to do multiple qbanks for level/step 1. It’s the same material for comlex and usmle. Doing multiple qbanks let’s you see how various topics can be approached in a given question over the same disease/med process. The real value is identifying the commonalities across the qbanks to have a solid understanding for a question asked in a myriad of ways... unless you are one of the few that can memorize it all and great at test-taking. If that’s you, then keep paddling your boat, lil homie.

 

[tunicaexterna]

I thought u world was very helpful for comlex - it was like a textbook of all the main points we need to know. I also though combank was helpful (in its own way)for OMM and understanding the question format.

I only did 1 comsae because I didn’t find them to be helpful. I couldn’t even see what questions I got wrong - I couldn’t learn from my mistakes. Rather than doing those I did the nbme and uwsas and used those to assess my progress.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[ayyoDO]

I'm not going to be one of those that says "omg - no big deal.... got a 584 on my comlex... could have done better.. wahhh " ......

No

I'm ecstatic with my score. I worked my ass off to get that score and it was nothing but hard work and dedication. I walked out of that exam feeling like I failed it but got my score back and nearly cried. Not only because its a great score but because I am historically a terrible standardized test taker.

So many schools never took a chance on me when I scored a 497-499 on the new MCAT. They all saw me as a number and didn't give me a shot....... That. Is. Their. Loss. I know damn well that I will be a fantastic physician. Not because I did well on a different test getting a different number... but because I am tenacious and will not let anything get in my way.

I'm writing this for all of you that have been told "you're scores are not good enough so you're not good enough" F*CK that noise. Go out there and prove them all wrong.

This post is fantastic, thanks for the positivity and truth that most of us who normally don’t post on SDN feel.

 

[ASGD1983]

BOARDS WRITE UP

December 2017 Baseline (before endo, repro, GI, Derm, and others)= UWSA1 = 228

January COMSAE E Baseline = 579

COMBANK Assessment 1 April 2 = 700-720

COMBANK assessment 2 April 23 = 720-999

COMSAE B (3 wks before comlex) = 748

COMSAE D (2 wks before comlex) = 702

COMBANK Questions: 82% correct

USMLERx = 82% correct

UW First pass = 82%

UW 2nd pass = 98%, only did half this time around

NBME 13 (2 months before Step 1) = 250

NBME 15 = 255

NBME 16 = 252

NBME 17 3 wks out from Step 1 = 257

NBME 18 2 wks out from step 1 = 257

NBME 19 1 wk out = 257

UWSA2 1 wk out = 258

COMLEX Level 1 = 705

USMLE Step 1 = 260

Resources:
"Dedicated" period = 04/09- 5/31 (COMLEX), -6/30(USMLE)
FA x3 before COMLEX, FA x4 before Step 1
Pathoma x2 before Comlex, x3 before Step 1
All of Rx, UW (1.5x), 30% of COMBANK,
75% B&B.
50-75% DIT vids (BEFORE dedicated!)


Hey everyone! Just wanted to share my thoughts about studying for boards and my experience with the exam:

I didn’t start “studying” until the end of the first semester of 2nd year (Winter break). Then, I purchased USMLE Rx but did maybe about 100 questions throughout the break. I watched all of Pathoma once and annotated my Pathoma book. I also watched half of DIT while driving (its great for audio since these guys mainly speak to you). I took my UWSA1 before doing any practice questions at all just for a very rough baseline at the start of winter break.

Come 2nd semester of 2nd year, everyone is freaking out and feels as if there is never enough time to study for boards. Lemme tell you, some of this is true, but most of it isn’t, and it depends on how efficiently you study, really. I took my COMLEX May 31st and USMLE June 30th, and as you can see from NBME 17-19, I “plateaud” super hard after taking my COMLEX. I did about half of UWorld during my 2nd semester and finished my first pass during “dedicated” starting 04/09. At first it took me about 6-8 hours to do a block and annotate everything/digest the info. As I became more comfortable, it took about 3-4 hours a block.

Now dem meat and potatoes: 04/09 was the beginning of dedicated for us… And by dedicated, we mean tons of classes on top of ACLS, BLS, PALS, TBLs, the whole 9 yards. So it was quite fun, of course. My basic schedule was wake up at 7 am and study until 9:30 pm. I told myself to run everyday….. I think I worked out ONCE during dedicated and have never been so out of shape… I would read 1 section of First Aid TWICE in one day. I Highlighted the crap out of my first aid (it was a PDF, which I recommend getting over textbook). In addition to my own notes, any question from Rx, Combank, UWORLD, etc, I would add into the respective first aid section. This is where PDFs have an edge over the books- I have unlimited space to add tons and tons of “high yield” notes into my review book. By the time I was done annotating, my PDF file was incredibly laggy. The next day I would do 3 blocks of RANDOM Uworld and review EVERYTHING, then annotate into First Aid. This took all day of course, and the “edge” you get by doing everything timed/random is that you are less likely to forget a concept you haven’t reviewed in ages. For example, If it takes 2 weeks to study all of Cardio in First Aid, you are quite likely to forget the stuff you learned on day 1, unless you happen to hit those concepts by doing RANDOM questions in your Q-bank. This method really helped me in terms of space repetition.

My basic schedule was wake up at 7 am and study until 9:30 pm. I would have only coffee until 1 pm. My first meal was always some 250 cal burrito thing, and I’d have about a 30 min break where I’d watch youtube videos and such. My method was to always eat LIGHT during dedicated. This means small meals, about 300 cal lunches and snacks, and maybe 1 large meal come dinner time (730 pm). This helped me combat “bloat” fatigue, and I never needed to take any naps/crazy long breaks. I studied as much as I could, and it was torture. I think I had about 3-4 days off during dedicated in which I studied nothing/barely anything in order to decompress. Come June 1st, I was feeling burnt out, but I cannot claim that the extra time didn’t benefit me at all. This extra time allowed me to do 4 more NBME’s, more practice questions, 1 more pass through FA, and 1 more pass through Pathoma.

During dedicated I watched PATHOMA 1 more time all the way through. 2 weeks before the Step 1, I solely READ pathoma all the way through, which was much faster than the vids. This was EXTREMELY helpful, as I will mention in a bit. I also watched about 75% of Boards and Beyond only during Dedicated. This resource is money for Biochem, Immunology, Biostats, and helpful for many other Systems.

BIGGEST piece of advice is to UNDERSTAND concepts and don’t feel like you absolutely need to study come the beginning of 2nd year… I am proof that you can do 90% of your work during “dedicated", with other school-work juggled into your "dedicated" 6 week period as well! Do your best to FOCUS on your coursework even though your mind is telling you to start freaking out over boards, its natural to feel anxious during 2nd year!

COMLEX on May 31st felt like the hardest exam I’ve ever endured. It felt like a rush against time. Someone likened it to a “flashcard” exam, and I agree with this statement…. AKA, you have NO time to sit there and ponder about a question, no time to sift through a pathological process, no time to rule out other answers… That means 75% of this exam felt like you were answering with your GUT response… Click it and quit it, move on, repeat. This made everything nerve racking since you can’t even verify if you read the question correctly, or if you misinterpreted an important detail. I left that 9 hour exam thinking I missed 50% of it. My topics that were hit the most was Peds GI, HEME, Neuro, OMM (obviously), and endo. Oh yeah, and someone next to me accidentally clicked out of his GRE and had 2 proctors come in to troubleshoot right next to me… I had to vigorously mouth my vignettes because I simply couldn’t hear myself think anymore… Overall this exam room was the LOUDEST exam room I’ve ever sat in on.

Now, the USMLE was MUCH better…. And when I say MUCH better, I mean I went up to the proctor at the end and gave him a hug. It was quiet, proctors were FAST in letting you in and out of the room for breaks and lunch. Absolutely no noises or hiccups.
The first block felt very easy, from then on out, every block got progressively harder. I did 2 blocks, took a break, 3rd block, break, 4th block, lunch… At this point, I was telling myself, “OK, this exam is picking up, its getting harder, but you’re off to a great start, just keep doing what you’re doing.” The last 3 blocks were the hardest blocks, with the last being the worst block. By the end, I totally only focused on the last 3 blocks and thought I missed a ton of questions in total (I tend to freak out and focus on those questions missed, but who doesn’t?). Overall the content on this exam was fairly distributed. People have told me about tons of reused NBME or Free 120 questions... I got Nadda. The timing was so much better, I never felt rushed unless I intentionally took tons of time on certain questions.The ethics was much more straightforward than crazy-Comlex ethics, but still tougher than your practice Q-banks. There were literally 10-15 questions straight from Pathoma, and I highly recommend reading this 1 week before your step. My highest performance was in Physiology and Pathology.

On exam days: I ate a very light breakfast of plain Greek yogurt with a cup of coffee. During breaks, I’d take a bite/bites out of a cliff bar. During lunch, I had only Turkey slices with me to prevent dat carby bloaty feeling we all fear (or is this just me?). I also had 2 red bulls with me, which I would periodically drink in a nicely DOSED manner. Don’t just chug a red bull and then start burning yourself out from caffeine!

DO NOT blow off 2nd year, it is SUPER important to apply your basic understanding from first year into the systems. TREAT EVERY SYSTEM LIKE YOURE BOARD STUDYING. Try to do your absolute best in every course, and you should be pleasantly surprised come dedicated. That last semester you’re going to hear people doing 50% board studying, 50% Course work…. I did about 90% coursework and 10% board study during 2nd semester of 2nd year, and did my bulk of board studying in dedicated. DO NOT FALL into a trap o “low yield”/"high yield" info. While it is true that First aid and Uworld covered about 90% of the Step 1 and Comlex, there is a grab bag of topics that comprise the other 10%, and the only way you’ll know about it is if you keep an open mind and learn as much as you can. Don’t shun any knowledge from your memory due to a preconceived notion of “low yield,” it can really come back to bite you and cost you easy points.

Oh yeah, I also used Savarese (GREAT), all of my school's review ppts(SUPERB) and OMGOMT(Absolute TRASH of a resource!) to help prep for OMM, and did every COMBANK OMM question…

GOOD LUCK studying! Make yourself GOALS before taking ANY baseline practice exam… AFTER your baseline exam, reassess your goals!
For example: My goal was to hit around a 240 come dedicated. When I took my first NBME 2 months out and hit a 250, my readjusted goal was a 250.

December! baseline 228 and 250 just before dedicated - I stopped reading after that. You are in top 1% and I don't think you should advise anyone here (except for others like you who got 230+ in January and 250+ before dedicated lmao). When guys like you will understand that everything you say is not relevant for us mere mortals. You scored 260/705 not because you did outstanding work during dedicated time and have some secret formula, but because you already were at 250 lol. You basically improved only 10 points during dedicated.

 

[Preston Garvey]

The only good thing is that all the sdn mentality kids here will get their brains and arses ****ed hard in real life on rotations and residency. They will finally start seeing the light and become more normal persons unlike snob pretentious lil ****boys they are right now lol. Yep, all that crap you get in your head - soon will be beaten out by attending and residents. It's really interesting how they change talking from living on a ramen and crying and licking snots for pricey (oh no) $60 exam and "oh no I got 250 - how will I be able to even get into FM" mentality - to some real life positive normal people mindset. Can't wait for it.

You salty Bro?

 

[Nouseforausername]

I know this forum doesn't have a high opinion of COMSAEs but were form B and E close to your real COMLEX scores for those who have taken it?

Form D was required for us and overestimated a lot of people in my class.

I got a 707 on form E and a 714 on my actual COMLEX

 

[ASGD1983]

You salty Bro?

Salt goes with my sweet arse personality bro
Not sure same can be said to salty ones who complained to mods lol

 

[Mikeyyd34]

So ive stayed off here for awhile, but I thought id try and chip in between all the bickering, actual genuine posts, and E-bragging.
-My exam was extremely long stems with very conflicting information in terms of what they were actually getting at. So bottom line, if your form of COMLEX ends up having super long stems, read the last sentence, look at the answers, and circle back to the rest of the stem. This is coming from someone who absolutely hates to do that and actually never did that on any other exam, UWorld block, etc.
-If somehow you do get lucky and your form is like COMSAE's, a few short sentences and what is this? Okay cool, you're prepared and in a good spot. But take your time and make sure you dont miss anything because I guarantee your form is going to have a wayyyyyyy harsher curve.
-For everyone else concerned about "does my COMSAE score transfer to the real thing?!" The COMSAE's I took and my actual COMLEX were on complete opposite spectrums in terms of structure. However, the knowledge you need to answer those questions correct on COMSAE transfer to the knowledge needed to answer questions on the longer, convoluted stems on COMLEX. It just happens to be an entirely different format that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Reference: mid 700s on COMSAES, 790 COMLEX, 254 STEP

 

[#stressedout]

Anyone have any thoughts about if when you take your COMLEX affects your score? I had some mentors tell me to choose a date in the middle of a scoring period because you'll have a better score than taking it earlier/later in the period. Not sure how truthful that is but at this point I'm willing to do whatever strategy might help.

I'm 2 weeks out from my exam and have been pretty borderline so far. If anyone has any suggestions on what topics might be a saving grace I'd appreciate it. I know Micro is probably a given but any other suggestions or obscure things that might be good to know would help.

 

[deleted645092]

Anyone have any thoughts about if when you take your COMLEX affects your score? I had some mentors tell me to choose a date in the middle of a scoring period because you'll have a better score than taking it earlier/later in the period. Not sure how truthful that is but at this point I'm willing to do whatever strategy might help.

I'm 2 weeks out from my exam and have been pretty borderline so far. If anyone has any suggestions on what topics might be a saving grace I'd appreciate it. I know Micro is probably a given but any other suggestions or obscure things that might be good to know would help.

I don’t have much advice about actual material other than saying micro and pharm are highest yield, plus the bread and butter glucose, lipid, and mucopolysaccharide diseases are pretty much all the biochem you’ll see.

As for strategic scheduling; from what I’ve heard from my friends who have taken it throughout different testing cohorts, everyone seems to have almost identical tests in a single cohort. If you’re going to try and schedule it to boost your score relative to your testing cohort, try and schedule it near the end of your schools testing period. For example my school has us schedule COMLEX between the end of June to the end of July. They actively “encouraged” (forced) the weaker students to take it as late as possible. So hypothetically my score should be boosted because I had to schedule it during the block where the weaker students were taking it, since I took COMLEX 1 week after Step 1, and ended up in the first day of the new testing group. Obviously it isn’t perfect but hypothetically it can help a little.

 

[triggapointtrey]

Thought I'd finally create an SDN account after all these years lurking just to share my results and contribute to proving just how flawed the COMLEX is. (And yes, I'm extremely salty, upset, angry, and mostly just plain confused about this test is graded) I took my COMLEX on 6/7/18 and received my score on 7/18/18. I was also planning on taking the USMLE, but was advised against it by my school until I received the results of my COMLEX. Read all the 700+ scores on here and decided I should probably try to figure out what went wrong. Not sure how many people on here post their ACTUAL practices scores and final exam score, but like one previous poster stated, the trend seems to be "practice tests: 398,422,490,520 real thing 710! No idea how!" or "comsae A: 600, B: 650, C: 800, D: 700, X: 654, Y :999, PhD in microbiology, anatomy, physiology, actual COMLEX: 407". I think the saddest part is that I'm confident that it's not untrue (not to that extent, but I digress).

ANYWAY, I'd like to share my scores and dates on here so maybe someone could provide some kind of explanation of my performance.

I've always done well on school exams, rank is in the top 25%, but I get that rank doesn't truly dictate much of your score and that all schools are different, so I approached boards knowing I shouldn't be expecting a certain score, but to stay true and dedicated during the process, as I'm sure we all have done.

COMSAE Form A 1/16/18 (school administered, assessing baseline, no board prep at this point, just focused on school exams): 492, this was by far the easiest one, but was taken far before board prep. After this COMSAE I started to develop a game plan.
COMSAE Form E 3/31/18: 522 (had just started dedicated, just some Q banks, nothing intensive, but this one felt tough and ambiguous)
COMSAE Form C 5/15/18: 598 (this one felt a bit easier than Form E , but I also developed a consistent study plan and began to understand the "language" of COMSAE's, so I learned how to study more efficiently (again, for COMSAEs specificaly, because it definitely didn't feel like I was learning to critically think or understand medicine. Just got better at remembering random questions they tend to ask)
COMBANK Q Bank: Started doing some question sets here and there in February 2018, but began doing lots of sets around April with UWorld as well. Combank averaging around 55% correct initally--> ended with 72% near the end of May (around the time I took Form C). But Q Banks can only tell you so much about where you stand. Used it more as a learning tool. (Also, so many random "guideline" questions that apply to literally like 1 scenario, so you either just know it or don't) didn't have time to reset and redo questions.
UWorld Q Bank: Did about 75% of the questions, 76% correct by 5/22 (about 2 weeks out from my test, decided to go over incorrect and start doing more USMLE/NBME/SA practice tests from here on out), mostly timed 40 Q blocks. Started UWorld mid-April, which I think was a bad idea on my part. Wish I had gotten through all the questions so I could thoroughly review them and possibly 2nd pass them, but I needed to practice test taking at this point.
NBME13 5/16/18: 219, wasn't happy but I had just taken COMSAE Form C the day before, and it was my first taste of a USMLE formatted exam (aside from the UWorld questions stems, which I used more for learning)
NBME15 5/20/18: 234, happy with this one. Improvement based really on just going over similar questions in UWorld and trying to learn how to think through questions.
COMBANK Self-Assessment 1 (5/31): 620 (really couldn't find any valid data on how accurate these things were, but they gave you a %tile and 3-digit score) Felt easier than COMSAE, felt just like a 200 Q COMBANK exam.
COMBANK Self Assessment 2 (6/2): 642, 5 days out before my test. This one felt more "COMSAE" like, and I had marked much more than the 1st Self Assessment, but I did better. Again, idk how they scored these. I also did some thorough content review between the two days.
UWORLD Self Assessment-1 (6/5): 246. This was the last practice exam I had taken before COMLEX day (6/7). I was appalled that I scored a 246. Didn't think I was capable of breaking 230 on a USMLE styled exam, but I also read up on SA1 being inflated. Did not take SA2 because of time, and wasn't 100% set on taking USMLE at that point. (Was told DO students should hold off until completing COMLEX 1st)

Either way, I took note of my strengths, weaknesses, and esentially tried to be realistic with my goal. I had never worked so hard in my life, I knew I was the farthest thing from a genius, but I just stayed committed to putting everything into this. I used First Aid, Pathoma, Zanki, SketchyMicro, SketchyPath and some lecture notes for content, but most of the learning came from UWorld/COMBANK questions, and the practice tests.

COMLEX Test Day (6/7): Was able to sleep fairly well the night before. Had a quick episode of panic driving to the testing center, but I put on some music and just tried to tell myself that anxiety and fear isn't an option right now. Got to the center, things went smooth,and before you know it I'm reading questions stems that were twice as long as any question I had done before, but I didn't let it throw me off. My test consisted of Micro, OPP(seriously felt like OA was in every choice I marked...idk), Neuro (literally my worst) OPP again (obscure terms used to unnecessarily confuse you, even if you know how to do a treatment), random bio-terrorism questions that had me wondering if I had signed up for the right test, way too much biochem (which I thought COMLEX barely tested, luckily UWorld prepared me for it), more vague Micro stems, straight forward pharm I thought, and just odd scenarios on what to do next, except it just seemed way too out of scope. Maybe I just didn't review enough on CDC related questions like vaccinations, reportable diseases, etc. Walked out feeling like a zombie, but upon reflection, it didn't feel too bad. Harder than the COMBANK SA, similar to COMSAE, and UWorld/NBME questions helped in terms of biochem/pharm/physio.I think I had a total of 1 Heme/Onc question. Not kidding. The test definitely had some theme to it in terms of the content tested. Anyway, enough of this excessive prefacing of my COMLEX score. Scores came out on the 18th during a rotation, and I immediately checked.

COMLEX score: 466. Was devastated. I had hoped for a 600+, realistically would have still been happy with a 550+ at this point. But a 466? I just don't get it. Not sure where to go from here, but I'm finally just accepting my score. Maybe I just wasn't used to that many questions back to back, but idk. All I know is that I don't feel like I deserved the score I got, and I understand that I passed, but not passing wasn't my concern after all the studying and practice I had done.

tl;dr --> COMLEX score was 150 below my averages.

 

[blah2468]

Thought I'd finally create an SDN account after all these years lurking just to share my results and contribute to proving just how flawed the COMLEX is. (And yes, I'm extremely salty, upset, angry, and mostly just plain confused about this test is graded) I took my COMLEX on 6/7/18 and received my score on 7/18/18. I was also planning on taking the USMLE, but was advised against it by my school until I received the results of my COMLEX. Read all the 700+ scores on here and decided I should probably try to figure out what went wrong. Not sure how many people on here post their ACTUAL practices scores and final exam score, but like one previous poster stated, the trend seems to be "practice tests: 398,422,490,520 real thing 710! No idea how!" or "comsae A: 600, B: 650, C: 800, D: 700, X: 654, Y :999, PhD in microbiology, anatomy, physiology, actual COMLEX: 407". I think the saddest part is that I'm confident that it's not untrue (not to that extent, but I digress).

ANYWAY, I'd like to share my scores and dates on here so maybe someone could provide some kind of explanation of my performance.

I've always done well on school exams, rank is in the top 25%, but I get that rank doesn't truly dictate much of your score and that all schools are different, so I approached boards knowing I shouldn't be expecting a certain score, but to stay true and dedicated during the process, as I'm sure we all have done.

COMSAE Form A 1/16/18 (school administered, assessing baseline, no board prep at this point, just focused on school exams): 492, this was by far the easiest one, but was taken far before board prep. After this COMSAE I started to develop a game plan.
COMSAE Form E 3/31/18: 522 (had just started dedicated, just some Q banks, nothing intensive, but this one felt tough and ambiguous)
COMSAE Form C 5/15/18: 598 (this one felt a bit easier than Form E , but I also developed a consistent study plan and began to understand the "language" of COMSAE's, so I learned how to study more efficiently (again, for COMSAEs specificaly, because it definitely didn't feel like I was learning to critically think or understand medicine. Just got better at remembering random questions they tend to ask)
COMBANK Q Bank: Started doing some question sets here and there in February 2018, but began doing lots of sets around April with UWorld as well. Combank averaging around 55% correct initally--> ended with 72% near the end of May (around the time I took Form C). But Q Banks can only tell you so much about where you stand. Used it more as a learning tool. (Also, so many random "guideline" questions that apply to literally like 1 scenario, so you either just know it or don't) didn't have time to reset and redo questions.
UWorld Q Bank: Did about 75% of the questions, 76% correct by 5/22 (about 2 weeks out from my test, decided to go over incorrect and start doing more USMLE/NBME/SA practice tests from here on out), mostly timed 40 Q blocks. Started UWorld mid-April, which I think was a bad idea on my part. Wish I had gotten through all the questions so I could thoroughly review them and possibly 2nd pass them, but I needed to practice test taking at this point.
NBME13 5/16/18: 219, wasn't happy but I had just taken COMSAE Form C the day before, and it was my first taste of a USMLE formatted exam (aside from the UWorld questions stems, which I used more for learning)
NBME15 5/20/18: 234, happy with this one. Improvement based really on just going over similar questions in UWorld and trying to learn how to think through questions.
COMBANK Self-Assessment 1 (5/31): 620 (really couldn't find any valid data on how accurate these things were, but they gave you a %tile and 3-digit score) Felt easier than COMSAE, felt just like a 200 Q COMBANK exam.
COMBANK Self Assessment 2 (6/2): 642, 5 days out before my test. This one felt more "COMSAE" like, and I had marked much more than the 1st Self Assessment, but I did better. Again, idk how they scored these. I also did some thorough content review between the two days.
UWORLD Self Assessment-1 (6/5): 246. This was the last practice exam I had taken before COMLEX day (6/7). I was appalled that I scored a 246. Didn't think I was capable of breaking 230 on a USMLE styled exam, but I also read up on SA1 being inflated. Did not take SA2 because of time, and wasn't 100% set on taking USMLE at that point. (Was told DO students should hold off until completing COMLEX 1st)

Either way, I took note of my strengths, weaknesses, and esentially tried to be realistic with my goal. I had never worked so hard in my life, I knew I was the farthest thing from a genius, but I just stayed committed to putting everything into this. I used First Aid, Pathoma, Zanki, SketchyMicro, SketchyPath and some lecture notes for content, but most of the learning came from UWorld/COMBANK questions, and the practice tests.

COMLEX Test Day (6/7): Was able to sleep fairly well the night before. Had a quick episode of panic driving to the testing center, but I put on some music and just tried to tell myself that anxiety and fear isn't an option right now. Got to the center, things went smooth,and before you know it I'm reading questions stems that were twice as long as any question I had done before, but I didn't let it throw me off. My test consisted of Micro, OPP(seriously felt like OA was in every choice I marked...idk), Neuro (literally my worst) OPP again (obscure terms used to unnecessarily confuse you, even if you know how to do a treatment), random bio-terrorism questions that had me wondering if I had signed up for the right test, way too much biochem (which I thought COMLEX barely tested, luckily UWorld prepared me for it), more vague Micro stems, straight forward pharm I thought, and just odd scenarios on what to do next, except it just seemed way too out of scope. Maybe I just didn't review enough on CDC related questions like vaccinations, reportable diseases, etc. Walked out feeling like a zombie, but upon reflection, it didn't feel too bad. Harder than the COMBANK SA, similar to COMSAE, and UWorld/NBME questions helped in terms of biochem/pharm/physio.I think I had a total of 1 Heme/Onc question. Not kidding. The test definitely had some theme to it in terms of the content tested. Anyway, enough of this excessive prefacing of my COMLEX score. Scores came out on the 18th during a rotation, and I immediately checked.

COMLEX score: 466. Was devastated. I had hoped for a 600+, realistically would have still been happy with a 550+ at this point. But a 466? I just don't get it. Not sure where to go from here, but I'm finally just accepting my score. Maybe I just wasn't used to that many questions back to back, but idk. All I know is that I don't feel like I deserved the score I got, and I understand that I passed, but not passing wasn't my concern after all the studying and practice I had done.

tl;dr --> COMLEX score was 150 below my averages.

Hey man I really feel you here. I took only one comsae and scored a 590 3 weeks before COMLEX. Ended up scoring a 490. But I did take USMLE a couple days later and scored a 230. Take the USMLE. Apparently the theme on SDN is that ACGME doesn't care about COMLEX nor do they know how to interpret it.

 

[Black Coffee 24/7]

Thought I'd finally create an SDN account after all these years lurking just to share my results and contribute to proving just how flawed the COMLEX is. (And yes, I'm extremely salty, upset, angry, and mostly just plain confused about this test is graded) I took my COMLEX on 6/7/18 and received my score on 7/18/18. I was also planning on taking the USMLE, but was advised against it by my school until I received the results of my COMLEX. Read all the 700+ scores on here and decided I should probably try to figure out what went wrong. Not sure how many people on here post their ACTUAL practices scores and final exam score, but like one previous poster stated, the trend seems to be "practice tests: 398,422,490,520 real thing 710! No idea how!" or "comsae A: 600, B: 650, C: 800, D: 700, X: 654, Y :999, PhD in microbiology, anatomy, physiology, actual COMLEX: 407". I think the saddest part is that I'm confident that it's not untrue (not to that extent, but I digress).

ANYWAY, I'd like to share my scores and dates on here so maybe someone could provide some kind of explanation of my performance.

I've always done well on school exams, rank is in the top 25%, but I get that rank doesn't truly dictate much of your score and that all schools are different, so I approached boards knowing I shouldn't be expecting a certain score, but to stay true and dedicated during the process, as I'm sure we all have done.

COMSAE Form A 1/16/18 (school administered, assessing baseline, no board prep at this point, just focused on school exams): 492, this was by far the easiest one, but was taken far before board prep. After this COMSAE I started to develop a game plan.
COMSAE Form E 3/31/18: 522 (had just started dedicated, just some Q banks, nothing intensive, but this one felt tough and ambiguous)
COMSAE Form C 5/15/18: 598 (this one felt a bit easier than Form E , but I also developed a consistent study plan and began to understand the "language" of COMSAE's, so I learned how to study more efficiently (again, for COMSAEs specificaly, because it definitely didn't feel like I was learning to critically think or understand medicine. Just got better at remembering random questions they tend to ask)
COMBANK Q Bank: Started doing some question sets here and there in February 2018, but began doing lots of sets around April with UWorld as well. Combank averaging around 55% correct initally--> ended with 72% near the end of May (around the time I took Form C). But Q Banks can only tell you so much about where you stand. Used it more as a learning tool. (Also, so many random "guideline" questions that apply to literally like 1 scenario, so you either just know it or don't) didn't have time to reset and redo questions.
UWorld Q Bank: Did about 75% of the questions, 76% correct by 5/22 (about 2 weeks out from my test, decided to go over incorrect and start doing more USMLE/NBME/SA practice tests from here on out), mostly timed 40 Q blocks. Started UWorld mid-April, which I think was a bad idea on my part. Wish I had gotten through all the questions so I could thoroughly review them and possibly 2nd pass them, but I needed to practice test taking at this point.
NBME13 5/16/18: 219, wasn't happy but I had just taken COMSAE Form C the day before, and it was my first taste of a USMLE formatted exam (aside from the UWorld questions stems, which I used more for learning)
NBME15 5/20/18: 234, happy with this one. Improvement based really on just going over similar questions in UWorld and trying to learn how to think through questions.
COMBANK Self-Assessment 1 (5/31): 620 (really couldn't find any valid data on how accurate these things were, but they gave you a %tile and 3-digit score) Felt easier than COMSAE, felt just like a 200 Q COMBANK exam.
COMBANK Self Assessment 2 (6/2): 642, 5 days out before my test. This one felt more "COMSAE" like, and I had marked much more than the 1st Self Assessment, but I did better. Again, idk how they scored these. I also did some thorough content review between the two days.
UWORLD Self Assessment-1 (6/5): 246. This was the last practice exam I had taken before COMLEX day (6/7). I was appalled that I scored a 246. Didn't think I was capable of breaking 230 on a USMLE styled exam, but I also read up on SA1 being inflated. Did not take SA2 because of time, and wasn't 100% set on taking USMLE at that point. (Was told DO students should hold off until completing COMLEX 1st)

Either way, I took note of my strengths, weaknesses, and esentially tried to be realistic with my goal. I had never worked so hard in my life, I knew I was the farthest thing from a genius, but I just stayed committed to putting everything into this. I used First Aid, Pathoma, Zanki, SketchyMicro, SketchyPath and some lecture notes for content, but most of the learning came from UWorld/COMBANK questions, and the practice tests.

COMLEX Test Day (6/7): Was able to sleep fairly well the night before. Had a quick episode of panic driving to the testing center, but I put on some music and just tried to tell myself that anxiety and fear isn't an option right now. Got to the center, things went smooth,and before you know it I'm reading questions stems that were twice as long as any question I had done before, but I didn't let it throw me off. My test consisted of Micro, OPP(seriously felt like OA was in every choice I marked...idk), Neuro (literally my worst) OPP again (obscure terms used to unnecessarily confuse you, even if you know how to do a treatment), random bio-terrorism questions that had me wondering if I had signed up for the right test, way too much biochem (which I thought COMLEX barely tested, luckily UWorld prepared me for it), more vague Micro stems, straight forward pharm I thought, and just odd scenarios on what to do next, except it just seemed way too out of scope. Maybe I just didn't review enough on CDC related questions like vaccinations, reportable diseases, etc. Walked out feeling like a zombie, but upon reflection, it didn't feel too bad. Harder than the COMBANK SA, similar to COMSAE, and UWorld/NBME questions helped in terms of biochem/pharm/physio.I think I had a total of 1 Heme/Onc question. Not kidding. The test definitely had some theme to it in terms of the content tested. Anyway, enough of this excessive prefacing of my COMLEX score. Scores came out on the 18th during a rotation, and I immediately checked.

COMLEX score: 466. Was devastated. I had hoped for a 600+, realistically would have still been happy with a 550+ at this point. But a 466? I just don't get it. Not sure where to go from here, but I'm finally just accepting my score. Maybe I just wasn't used to that many questions back to back, but idk. All I know is that I don't feel like I deserved the score I got, and I understand that I passed, but not passing wasn't my concern after all the studying and practice I had done.

tl;dr --> COMLEX score was 150 below my averages.

Take the USMLE, dude.

I scored like garbage on the COMLEX, about your range, but did about average on the USMLE.

I think you can break at least 220s on Step 1. A 220s+ USMLE Step 1 will erase all bs from the COMLEX.

I thank the heaven that I manned up and took the USMLE for this cycle.

During dedicated, there was a lot of self-doubt me being ready for the USMLE and straight up temptation just to focus on the COMLEX. However, if you have been using Zanki, SketchyMicro, SketchyPath, SketchyPharm, and UW, you are more ready for the USMLE than the COMLEX.

While the USMLE was hard, I thought that the written questions were clear and concise. There was never a single USMLE quest where I'm like wtf are you asking. It was either I know it, knowledge gaps, or stuff that require reasonable guesses from the provided info. On my COMLEX, there were like 30% quests where I'm like wtf are you asking.

 

[Oreo#1]

Take the USMLE, dude.

I scored like garbage on the COMLEX, about your range, but did about average on the USMLE.

I think you can break at least 220s on Step 1. A 220s+ USMLE Step 1 will erase all bs from the COMLEX.

I thank the heaven that I manned up and took the USMLE for this cycle.

During dedicated, there was a lot of self-doubt me being ready for the USMLE and straight up temptation just to focus on the COMLEX. However, if you have been using Zanki, SketchyMicro, SketchyPath, SketchyPharm, and UW, you are more ready for the USMLE than the COMLEX.

While the USMLE was hard, I thought that the written questions were clear and concise. There was never a single USMLE quest where I'm like wtf are you asking. It was either I know it, knowledge gaps, or stuff that require reasonable guesses from the provided info. On my COMLEX, there were like 30% quests where I'm like wtf are you asking.

People seem to think just because 2020 will have ACGME that all these historical DO programs will all of a sudden dump Comlex in favor of USMLE. giving someone the advice to take USMLE just because “just do it man” is terrible freaking advice. If you have focused on Comlex material and are not scoring well on USMLE practice test DO NOT take USMLE just to get a mediocre 210 because once you do that ... the 210 WILL take precedence over a 550, let’s say, and you just screwed yourself. Take Comlex if you’re unsure about USMLE .... and remember ... the beautiful thing about us having a choice ... is us having a choice to take step 1 after seeing our Comlex scores if you really want to

 

[swollcat]

People seem to think just because 2020 will have ACGME that all these historical DO programs will all of a sudden dump Comlex in favor of USMLE. giving someone the advice to take USMLE just because “just do it man” is terrible freaking advice. If you have focused on Comlex material and are not scoring well on USMLE practice test DO NOT take USMLE just to get a mediocre 210 because once you do that ... the 210 WILL take precedence over a 550, let’s say, and you just screwed yourself. Take Comlex if you’re unsure about USMLE .... and remember ... the beautiful thing about us having a choice ... is us having a choice to take step 1 after seeing our Comlex scores if you really want to

As an aside, is 550 a good score? Is it good enough to match Anesthesia or EM?

 

[dostudent545]

People seem to think just because 2020 will have ACGME that all these historical DO programs will all of a sudden dump Comlex in favor of USMLE. giving someone the advice to take USMLE just because “just do it man” is terrible freaking advice. If you have focused on Comlex material and are not scoring well on USMLE practice test DO NOT take USMLE just to get a mediocre 210 because once you do that ... the 210 WILL take precedence over a 550, let’s say, and you just screwed yourself. Take Comlex if you’re unsure about USMLE .... and remember ... the beautiful thing about us having a choice ... is us having a choice to take step 1 after seeing our Comlex scores if you really want to

I don't like the whole advice of "wait to see your comlex score before you take USMLE" because most people don't get their score back for 3-4 weeks. During that time, you're probably not going to be studying very hard and will probably forget a lot of information. Trying to study for step during rotations is pretty difficult. Studying for step during dedicated is difficult enough, I don't think taking a couple weeks easy and then doing board prep concurrently with rotations is going to help much.

You're already studying for both exams just by studying for one during dedicated. If you're okay with your practice scores, take step. If not, don't. I went in with the mindset that if I don't like my step practice scores during dedicated, I would cancel the exam (not push back) because I knew I wouldn't be able to take it as seriously during rotations. If you're not scoring well on practice exams when you're studying 12-14 hours a day for the exam, I don't understand how studying 3-4 hours a day during rotations + worrying about shelf exams will help you get a higher score. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure there's a bunch of people that were able to do it, so maybe their input will help out more.

 

[Black Coffee 24/7]

People seem to think just because 2020 will have ACGME that all these historical DO programs will all of a sudden dump Comlex in favor of USMLE. giving someone the advice to take USMLE just because “just do it man” is terrible freaking advice. If you have focused on Comlex material and are not scoring well on USMLE practice test DO NOT take USMLE just to get a mediocre 210 because once you do that ... the 210 WILL take precedence over a 550, let’s say, and you just screwed yourself. Take Comlex if you’re unsure about USMLE .... and remember ... the beautiful thing about us having a choice ... is us having a choice to take step 1 after seeing our Comlex scores if you really want to

It’s funny that you think the Comlex means anything in 2020.

 

[sophieea]

COMLEX Test Day (6/7): Was able to sleep fairly well the night before. Had a quick episode of panic driving to the testing center, but I put on some music and just tried to tell myself that anxiety and fear isn't an option right now. Got to the center, things went smooth,and before you know it I'm reading questions stems that were twice as long as any question I had done before, but I didn't let it throw me off. My test consisted of Micro, OPP(seriously felt like OA was in every choice I marked...idk), Neuro (literally my worst) OPP again (obscure terms used to unnecessarily confuse you, even if you know how to do a treatment), random bio-terrorism questions that had me wondering if I had signed up for the right test, way too much biochem (which I thought COMLEX barely tested, luckily UWorld prepared me for it), more vague Micro stems, straight forward pharm I thought, and just odd scenarios on what to do next, except it just seemed way too out of scope. Maybe I just didn't review enough on CDC related questions like vaccinations, reportable diseases, etc. Walked out feeling like a zombie, but upon reflection, it didn't feel too bad. Harder than the COMBANK SA, similar to COMSAE, and UWorld/NBME questions helped in terms of biochem/pharm/physio.I think I had a total of 1 Heme/Onc question. Not kidding. The test definitely had some theme to it in terms of the content tested. Anyway, enough of this excessive prefacing of my COMLEX score. Scores came out on the 18th during a rotation, and I immediately checked.

COMLEX score: 466. Was devastated. I had hoped for a 600+, realistically would have still been happy with a 550+ at this point. But a 466? I just don't get it. Not sure where to go from here, but I'm finally just accepting my score. Maybe I just wasn't used to that many questions back to back, but idk. All I know is that I don't feel like I deserved the score I got, and I understand that I passed, but not passing wasn't my concern after all the studying and practice I had done.

tl;dr --> COMLEX score was 150 below my averages.

I share your frustration - I scored <100 points compared to my comsae and UWSAs. This exam is ridiculous. Are you planning to take USMLE?
Also is 466 that bad for matching in primary care - what are your interests ?

 

[gergles]

It’s funny that you think the Comlex means anything in 2020.

I think its safe to say that some amount of formerly AOA programs will favor DO applicants. Its probably more like the USMLE won't mean much at these places than that the comlex means a whole lot. Its also by no means a reason for someone to advocate for only taking COMLEX. These programs are undeniably vastly outnumbered by programs where comlex means jack, but that doesn't mean that programs that have been exclusively taking comlex scores for years will suddenly see them as meaningless.