Thread: UW / NBME scores before step

Hello, I was wondering what people were getting in USMLE World, NBME exams, Kaplan ect.... before taking the Step. I just want to compare and see how I'm doing. I've been having internal struggles on when I should take the test. I don't wanna wait too long so I forget things but I don't wanna jump the gun. Thanks!

Originally Posted by proneptune

Hello, I was wondering what people were getting in USMLE World, NBME exams, Kaplan ect.... before taking the Step. I just want to compare and see how I'm doing. I've been having internal struggles on when I should take the test. I don't wanna wait too long so I forget things but I don't wanna jump the gun. Thanks!

here's the formula a lot of people use to predict their step 1 score off of UW -

(USMLEWorld avg. x 2.4) + 84 = approximate Step 1 three-digit score

For a lot of people, this formula is very predictive.

Yeah, I was browsing the SDN USMLE thread a few days back and it seemed like a lot of people with 240-260 range were averaging 70-75% on their UWorld - which fits with that formula. Also, most NBMEs I saw underestimated people's scores a bit.

For Step I, Kaplan Q-bank is good for practice but IMO, not a good indicator of readiness. For all of the steps, if you can pass the NBME practice exams (try to score more than just barely passing) on the 2nd or 3rd version of the test, then you should be ready to take the real thing.

Originally Posted by Scientific

For Step I, Kaplan Q-bank is good for practice but IMO, not a good indicator of readiness. For all of the steps, if you can pass the NBME practice exams (try to score more than just barely passing) on the 2nd or 3rd version of the test, then you should be ready to take the real thing.

why do you say 2nd and 3rd version specifically? I was trying to find out if some are considered easier or harder. I can't believe there's 6 of them. I did the first one and wanna do at least one more. I thought version 1 was easier than the kaplan comp but harder than the NBME comp

Originally Posted by jackdontknow

why do you say 2nd and 3rd version specifically? I was trying to find out if some are considered easier or harder. I can't believe there's 6 of them. I did the first one and wanna do at least one more. I thought version 1 was easier than the kaplan comp but harder than the NBME comp

The first one for me was the most representative, but most people recommend doing 1, 3, and 4. These were the three that I did. For me, all three scores were below my actual score, but I found 3 and 4 to underestimate my score more than 1.

If you are in the know, you should be able to find a few of the answer keys floating around for the NBME forms. It's best to go over the test right after taking them. I actually saw quite a few real step 1 questions that were very similar. Also remember to do the 200 question sample program that you can download for free from the nmbe. That was almost identical to how the actual questions were. I did this a few days before i took step 1, and it really helped me gage the question level.