POUNDED on COMLEX II

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hooperg

hooperg

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Anyone else get totally and utterly slammed on COMLEX II? From those at my school with whom I've spoken that took form B09C specifically, their exam scores were terrible too.

Anyone else have problems with B09C? I was 150 points lower on Step 2 than Step 1 :thumbdown:
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More importantly, none of this talk about faulty data, blah blah blah, will even remotely change the outcome of the match this year, which is the only reason anybody could possibly care about these scores anyhow.

So who cares.
 
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ShyRem said:
Talk is just talk without backup. Even if you posted a "transcript" there is nothing official from NBOME and thus will likely be viewed as so much speculation and conjecture.
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Good point but PCOM asked us not to post it. As I stated before, PCOM has seen a tremendous impact because of this so Dean Veit and his fellow colleagues wanted to get to the bottom of it.
 
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IMDoc607 said:
Good point but PCOM asked us not to post it. As I stated before, PCOM has seen a tremendous impact because of this so Dean Veit and his fellow colleagues wanted to get to the bottom of it.
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Has there been any speculation as to why the NBOME did this? One can only wonder why they abruptly and without warning slammed us with this. Perhaps it was to force more students into ACGME residencies due to the crushing inadequacy/lack of Osteopathic ones. Or, more sinisterly, they are attempting to fill the primary care gap by putting specialties out of reach (Step 2 was traditionally the "redemption" exam whereby one could excel if step 1 was poor).

Any thoughts? I'll break out the tinfoil hats :)
 
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HooahDOc said:
Besides, it's not like the NBOME is going to say, "My bad" and give everyone who has taken the CE since June an additional 20-30 points.
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Technically, they could "re-center" the scores if there were a concrete reason to do so. The College Board set a precedent when they retroactively re-centered SAT scores many years ago. My college adviser told me my scores were about 100 points higher than I knew them to be. When I corrected her, she explained that scores before a certain date had been re-centered for truer comparison with more recent scores. I would never have known about the change if she had not informed me. Of course, it came too late to affect my college entrance opportunities. :)

I have no idea if there is a concrete reason to re-center NBOME scores from this year. If an error has been made, my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected. Best of luck to those who must re-take the exam!
 
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They are rescaling Level 1 and level 3 this year as well. Lets see if there is a drop in scores like level 2.


The great NBOME at work again.
 
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OMMFan said:
Technically, they could "re-center" the scores if there were a concrete reason to do so. The College Board set a precedent when they retroactively re-centered SAT scores many years ago. My college adviser told me my scores were about 100 points higher than I knew them to be. When I corrected her, she explained that scores before a certain date had been re-centered for truer comparison with more recent scores. I would never have known about the change if she had not informed me. Of course, it came too late to affect my college entrance opportunities. :)

I have no idea if there is a concrete reason to re-center NBOME scores from this year. If an error has been made, my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected. Best of luck to those who must re-take the exam!
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Umm, newsflash guys. The osteopathic match already happened. What the hell would this accomplish?
 
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superscreen said:
Thanks everyone for sharing your comments.
I made a 398 on step 2, wondering if I should request a rescore as most people have commented no change, I don't want to waste $50. Thanks for your advice.
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Did you request a rescore of your exam? If so, where you successful? I made a 398 as well and am REALLY frustrated.
 
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okayplayer said:
Umm, newsflash guys. The osteopathic match already happened. What the hell would this accomplish?
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Umm I really wish something could be done this year...true match has passed. but there are those of us out there like myself who have really had a crap year.

Comlex 2 x3
1st attempt at Comlex 2 was 384
2nd attempt 320
3rd attempt ?????

PE x2... I felt I performed worse my 2nd PE attempt and passed. ??? Has anyone ever failed their 2nd attempt at the PE? As far as i'm concerned, I would be less angry if NBOME just tells me ok you failed the PE. Just write us a another check for 1k and you'll pass.

not passing the 1st attempt not only screwed my match but my audition rotations. (I was withdrawn from rotations through the prime months for more boards prep) So I got 2 auditions and one interview. Now if by some miracle, the scores are recentered, then that truely would be the ultimate insult. I truelly hope I pass this 3rd attempt.
 
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shsgrad said:
Did you request a rescore of your exam? If so, where you successful? I made a 398 as well and am REALLY frustrated.
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I did that as well, with no luck. I dont know anyone who requested a re-score and successfully had their score changed.
 
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jakstat said:
not passing the 1st attempt not only screwed my match but my audition rotations. (I was withdrawn from rotations through the prime months for more boards prep) So I got 2 auditions and one interview. Now if by some miracle, the scores are recentered, then that truely would be the ultimate insult. I truelly hope I pass this 3rd attempt.
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I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. Reading your other posts it sounds like you have been through a nightmare because of this test and I give you a lot of credit for not giving up. I hope that things work out for you this time. :luck::luck:
 
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To all who have struggled with step 2:

Having taken this thing multiple times and finally having passed, I urge you to keep your heads up and not to let your previous attempts dictate your mindset while studying for the next round. I wish everyone the best of luck and thank everyone who gave me advise.



jakstat said:
Umm I really wish something could be done this year...true match has passed. but there are those of us out there like myself who have really had a crap year.

Comlex 2 x3
1st attempt at Comlex 2 was 384
2nd attempt 320
3rd attempt ?????

PE x2... I felt I performed worse my 2nd PE attempt and passed. ??? Has anyone ever failed their 2nd attempt at the PE? As far as i'm concerned, I would be less angry if NBOME just tells me ok you failed the PE. Just write us a another check for 1k and you'll pass.

not passing the 1st attempt not only screwed my match but my audition rotations. (I was withdrawn from rotations through the prime months for more boards prep) So I got 2 auditions and one interview. Now if by some miracle, the scores are recentered, then that truely would be the ultimate insult. I truelly hope I pass this 3rd attempt.
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Congrats on passing. I'm happy that burden is off your mind now. :)
 
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Third attempt at COMLEX 2 - just found out I failed for the second time. For those of you who have taken this exam more than once, please give me advice on what to do differently this third time around, and what do you recommend using as far as a comprehensive board prep? I am willing to travel if necessary.

Thanks.
 
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meduc said:
Third attempt at COMLEX 2 - just found out I failed for the second time. For those of you who have taken this exam more than once, please give me advice on what to do differently this third time around, and what do you recommend using as far as a comprehensive board prep? I am willing to travel if necessary.

Thanks.
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I just found out that I failed for the second time as well. I'm not even sure how to prepare again for this test. I did COMQUEST and COMBANK this time and still failed. I'm just hoping my residency will let me start let to allow me time to retake this test and pass. If anyone has any suggestions I would really appreciate it.
 
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DSTDO2BE - Unbelievable - Thanks for posting, felt like I was the only one out there. Can hardly sleep - which is why I'm posting at 5:35am EST.

I'm going to contact the Program Director this morning, we'll see what he says. I was told that I cannot start until this exam is passed - so who knows what he'll say.

It really is such a poorly written exam - don't feel like it tested my knowledge base well enough. As humiliated as I am, I'm willing to talk about it if it will help others out there.

Thanks again for posting.
 
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What did y'all do for prep the first time? I really recommend a total board prep course - whether Premier, or Board Boot Camp, or whatnot, but SOMETHING geared specifically toward comlex. (I did BBC and passed quite comfortably - a higher score than level 1 even after the new scoring - and it was nice and painless.)
 
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Can yal give more details as to what exactly you did studying and how much time was spent productively studying? That may help me make suggestions...
I know you guys can do this. Its just one more hurdle but you will get there and you will be doctors...Dont hate the circumstances, just push through and do the best you can to find out what youre missing/ or doing thats holding you back from being the best you can....Im here to try and help if I can...How did yal study for step 1? did yal pass step 1 comfortably?

Good luck!! Best wishes guys... Im sorry it happened but yal will pass this beast and be Docs!
 
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I passed!!! I freaking passed!!!!. Literally got results 3 days before graduation so I can attend that as well. This was a god damn freaking hell of a year.

final attempt: 450
 
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jakstat said:
I passed!!! I freaking passed!!!!. Literally got results 3 days before graduation so I can attend that as well. This was a god damn freaking hell of a year.

final attempt: 450
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SO VERY VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!!! CONGRATS!! Way to go~!! Enjoy your graduation and have a great next yr!! All the best Doc!
 
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I went down to my program last week and spoke with my program director and she tells me that she hopes I understand that I will never match anywhere because of this and proceeds to list a bunch of reasons why. Then today I received an email from her informing me that should I not pass on my next attempt I will be terminated as a new intern. Of course, this greatly adds to my stress and the pressure to pass this time has hit an unbearable level. I'm freaking out.

My school requires that we take Kaplan so I did the Kaplan course along with COMQUEST (although I didn't finish the bank) the first time and completely bombed it. This time I was determined to do a ton of questions so I did all of COMQUEST and all of COMBANK. I reviewed all the questions in depth. I went up 90 points this time but because of how bad I did the first time I still failed. I'm not sure how to study any harder than I did last time. Any all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Have you tried reading a textbook for more detail like Harrison's or Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment? Try using detailed books and review mostly weak areas (diff for everyone). Also, listening to lectures and making your notes may help. OMM is also a big portion of the exam.
 
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Having been in your situation, I empathize with your current situation.
I am not sure what benefit the kaplan course provided for you, nor do I have any idea what your weak areas were, but it sounds like it might be an issue NOT with your general knowledge base, but more so how to apply the knowledge to the vague comlex style q's. Might I suggest looking into another course geared towards the comlex? (ie boards boot camp). It might just be that you need to re-learn the material in a new light. At this point, youve done the qbanks, what other sources have you used?

Best of luck




DSTDO2BE said:
I went down to my program last week and spoke with my program director and she tells me that she hopes I understand that I will never match anywhere because of this and proceeds to list a bunch of reasons why. Then today I received an email from her informing me that should I not pass on my next attempt I will be terminated as a new intern. Of course, this greatly adds to my stress and the pressure to pass this time has hit an unbearable level. I'm freaking out.

My school requires that we take Kaplan so I did the Kaplan course along with COMQUEST (although I didn't finish the bank) the first time and completely bombed it. This time I was determined to do a ton of questions so I did all of COMQUEST and all of COMBANK. I reviewed all the questions in depth. I went up 90 points this time but because of how bad I did the first time I still failed. I'm not sure how to study any harder than I did last time. Any all suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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You probably won't have an oppurtunity to pursue a non-primary care field, but just be thankful you are DO student. Osteopathic primary care residencies almost universally never fill and will take anyone with a pulse.
 
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If you have the time...like 2 full months, check out boards boot camp. I went this route on my last attempt. 8+ hrs of study every single day. I found out from the boot camp schedule, I was missing alot of the details, and reasoning specific to the comlex. I too tried, step 2 USMLE, combank, comquest, before just using the bootcamp schedule.
 
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so glad I read this entire thread 2 days before I take my test and scared the sh#@ out of myself. I did so well up to now not getting up in arms. Oh well, all I can suggest to anyone that is taking it and is scared from this thread is that...if you put your time and hard work into studying and are exhausted and satisfied with your effort, then there really isn't anything else to do. It's out of your hands.......praying helps too!

btw, does anyone know if step 2 has been as hard recently as supposedly was from june09-jan10??
 
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radiodoc99 said:
Is the new score scale changed for COMLEX 2?
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They "reviewed and updated" their standards June of 2009 for the Comlex level 2 according to NBOME, not sure of what actually changed. 400 is still passing, 500 still the mean, but according to emails from our school for my class these standards were an increase from previous years and the pass rate went down, and so we're the lucky ones who had to come back for some board review/diagnostic tests this year so we didn't repeat the previous year's mistake.

From the NBOME site:

Every three to four years, the NBOME reviews the standards for minimum competency required to pass COMLEX-USA examinations. This process, typically referred to as “standard setting,” may result in a change in the “cut score” (or scores) needed to pass an examination.

The current schedule for review of the pass/fail standard is as follows:

COMLEX Level 1: Standard is being reviewed in early 2010, and will take effect May 2010.
COMLEX Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation: Standard was reviewed in March 2009 and took effect June 2009.
COMLEX Level 2-Performance Evaluation: Standard is being reviewed in early 2010 and will take effect July 2010.
COMLEX Level 3: Standard was reviewed in September 2009 and took effect February 2010.
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And apparently this is how they do it:

For multiple-choice examinations (e.g. COMLEX-USA Level 1, Level 2-CE, Level 3), the NBOME uses modifications of Angoff methodology, along with the addition of item-mapping and Hofstee methods.

* In the modified Angoff standard-setting procedure, panelists make judgments based on test content (e.g. the expected performance of a minimally qualified candidate on a given test item). The Angoff begins with a discussion of the candidate who is minimally qualified to pass the examination. Panelists then review the test items and estimate the probability this minimally qualified candidate will answer the item correctly. A passing score is derived for each panelist by summing these item probabilities. The final passing score is calculated by taking the average passing score across panelists.
* The Hofstee method does not require individual item judgments. Instead, panelists are asked to give their impressions of what the minimum and maximum failure rates should be for the examination, as well as what the minimum and maximum percent correct scores should be. These rates and percent correct scores are averaged across panelists and projected onto the actual score distribution to derive a passing score. The Hofstee method is often used to evaluate or adjust the passing score derived using Angoff methodology. When the two methods produce similar passing scores, they validate each other.
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since the pass rate was much lower last year, will nbome realize that they made the 400 too high and make the curve more lenient this year??
guesses welcome
 
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So, my step 2 also dropped 58 points from step 1 (>600)- funny thing is I never took USMLE step 1, but did better on USMLE step 2 (230/99) than COMLEX 2..... Whatever. That test was horribly written- and I thought I was in medical school not LAW SCHOOL! (medico-legal q's everywhere....)
 
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Akamu said:
So, my step 2 also dropped 58 points from step 1 (>600)- funny thing is I never took USMLE step 1, but did better on USMLE step 2 (230/99) than COMLEX 2..... Whatever. That test was horribly written- and I thought I was in medical school not LAW SCHOOL! (medico-legal q's everywhere....)
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This drop seems to be a fairly common occurrence from what I've heard back from classmates.

My step 1 was also >600 and I saw about a 40pt drop on step 2. Took USMLE step 1 but decided not to take USMLE 2.

And for those waiting on scores... I took COMLEX 2 on July 1 and my score was just posted today.
 
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No kidding, I had a ton of medical/legal questions. Some of them I couldn't even find definitive answers for after exhaustive Google searching after the exam. I had basically the same question asked on three separate occasions. There were two possible answers, one answer is the most commonly accepted guideline, however, one of the specialty colleges now recommends the other answer. So if the COMLEX is basing it's answers off of the latest guidelines (2-3 years old) then it would be one answer, and or if they go by what all of the review books like FA say, it would be the other answer.

I'm still waiting for my results. I took the USMLE 2 a week later. It was a breath of fresh air and a much better exam overall. :xf:
 
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kazuma said:
No kidding, I had a ton of medical/legal questions. Some of them I couldn't even find definitive answers for after exhaustive Google searching after the exam. I had basically the same question asked on three separate occasions. There were two possible answers, one answer is the most commonly accepted guideline, however, one of the specialty colleges now recommends the other answer. So if the COMLEX is basing it's answers off of the latest guidelines (2-3 years old) then it would be one answer, and or if they go by what all of the review books like FA say, it would be the other answer.

I'm still waiting for my results. I took the USMLE 2 a week later. It was a breath of fresh air and a much better exam overall. :xf:
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What was the question you kept getting so ppl in the future don't get it wrong?
 
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AdamWest said:
What was the question you kept getting so ppl in the future don't get it wrong?
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I believe it's a violation to post any questions from either the USMLE or the COMLEX. To keep it broad, just know all the fancy latin terms for legalese and you should be OK.
 
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hooperg said:
I don't want this to degenerate into a conspiracy theory spread, but what are your opinions on the following possibilities:

1. Crappy exam yielded crappy results for many takers, regardless of prior performance, test-taking/medical knowledge abilities/USMLE II performance. (most plausible)

2. Mathematical or computer errors have lead to statistical or grading anomalies. (remote possibility given the scoring time)

3. NBOME is fishing for money, hoping that the string of poor scores yields a number of students to give in and request rescores for $50 or so a pop. (most unethical)

4. NBOME is setting the mean low for step 2 in hopes of forcing more DOs into primary care by destroying chances for osteopathic specialty matching with decreased step 2 scores. (most sinister)

This post is half serious and half in jest as I'm thoroughly and unequivocally (Goljan voice) done with AOA/NBOME/etc... I hope it resolves successfully for everyone regardless and you get the matches of your dreams, but they sure do make it hard.
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Am also not into conspiracy theories but I just failed Comlex II for the 2nd time. I felt I knew enough to pass the first time and did not. To prep again, I did over 2500 practice questions (NOT exaggerating), studied my tail off and learned about 60% more on top of what I already knew. My first score: 362. My 2nd score: 360. THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE. I am outspoken and sometimes accidentally step on toes. Beginning to think my school has some hook in to the NBOME. NEED TO HEAR FROM ANYONE WHO FEELS THE SAME. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS.
 
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Since this irrational test over emphasizes medico-legal stuff what is a good source to learn this horrid subject? I dont think the USMLE books emphasize this stuff enough for comlex.
 
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I was told by a faculty that all step 2 questions are written and submitted by PCP's. This does seem to fit (in my head) with my overall feeling about step 2. I did meet a fellow 2011 graduate during interview season and he only studied FM review material and did quite well.

Not sure if I should go that route or pay for BBC or other course?

Any input ?
 
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sorry to necro this thread but i got close to the 100 pt drop. did the drop actually affect those of u in the allo match, given step scores have been fine (>250)?
 
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