COMLEX Official 2015 Comlex 2 CE Experiences and Scores Thread!

Your USMLE Scores Increased, Guaranteed!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
ghorn11

ghorn11

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Lets hear about study plans, best resources, and experiences for level 2.
Members don't see this ad.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
ilovemed1 said:
Touché.

Regardless, any pointers would help!
Click to expand...
I'll let you know in a month! Who knows what is in the heads of the COMLEX creators (besides that pic of AT inspecting a femur). What I do know is that all I can do is learn and practice and hopefully grow during the process. Daily discipline and trudging through thousands of questions (the right way) puts one's resolve to the test. Good score, bad score, someplace in between.,, I plan on exiting this part of the journey a bit smarter and stronger. /tangential mini rant
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
YANKEES88 said:
I did A, B, C

Of those I think C was the better test followed by B.

So did anybody who got their score back get a higher score than Level 1?
Click to expand...

I am personally gonna take it in July, but I've spoken to 4 people at my institution who have scored very similarly from their Step 1. Most were in the 600's, 1 scored 50 points higher, the 3 others scored between 20-40 pts lower.

For all the lurkers out there, you have to remember how self selective SDN can be. People who do about the same won't come here and post, just the people who were surprised by their results. This is not to say there may not have been some monumental screw up, but don't freak out just yet!

Also, everyone LOVES to hate on the COMLEX. I have always found very strong correlations between my COMLEX, USMLE, and most but not all of the COMSAE scores. There are always outliers, but it probably won't be you, so just study hard using the proven sources and give it your best. Not much you can do about it other than that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
OrthoPathic said:
I am personally gonna take it in July, but I've spoken to 4 people at my institution who have scored very similarly from their Step 1. Most were in the 600's, 1 scored 50 points higher, the 3 others scored between 20-40 pts lower.

For all the lurkers out there, you have to remember how self selective SDN can be. People who do about the same won't come here and post, just the people who were surprised by their results. This is not to say there may not have been some monumental screw up, but don't freak out just yet!

Also, everyone LOVES to hate on the COMLEX. I have always found very strong correlations between my COMLEX, USMLE, and most but not all of the COMSAE scores. There are always outliers, but it probably won't be you, so just study hard using the proven sources and give it your best. Not much you can do about it other than that.
Click to expand...

Because the COMLEX is a giant turd of a test. Make everyone take the USMLE, add a section at the very end for OMT, and be done with it.

Don't even get me started about COMATs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Fox800 said:
Because the COMLEX is a giant turd of a test. Make everyone take the USMLE, add a section at the very end for OMT, and be done with it.

Don't even get me started about COMATs.
Click to expand...
I agree. Doesn't compare to the USMLE. They need to let the CRAPLEX spin around the porcelain bowl and send its stank downstream to the land of the forgotten.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
Not to mention that since DOs are regarded as 100% equivalent to MDs, we should be taking the same licensing exam series anyways. The COMLEX needs to be phased out. If you're a DO student and you can't pass the USMLE, then one could argue that you shouldn't be able to get a medical license. None of this "oh I'm not going to take the USMLE because I'm going into a noncompetitive specialty".
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Not here to say that COMLEX is a better test, it's not. I also agree with your sentiments about needing a unified licensing exam, and I agree there should just be an extra component if only to stroke the ivory tower egos. That being said, time after time during second year I was told that COMATs and COMLEX were terrible, impossible to do well on or know what to study for. Except came actual test time, the COMLEX was about as easy as it gets, and the COMATs? I've never lost an honors and I rarely studied unless it was the weekend before the exam (and our school had pretty stringent requirements). Most people I know personally had very high correlations between their uworld precentages, their COMSAEs, their performance on the USMLE and their COMLEX score.

And before anyone else gets all starry eyed with the USMLE, it ain't that awesome! Thanks for the million labs and chapters of PMH so I can diagnose a basal cell carcinoma! For the record, I scored at 260+ on the USMLE and had a near 800 on the COMLEX step 1, and my COMSAE score were 740, and 776 before I took the COMLEX. All I did was UFAP. This is after freaking out from reading SDN and thinking I was going to get crushed on the COMLEX. All I want to do is provide another view point, it ain't all doom and gloom for the COMLEX. Except for a few outliers, most people will get a score that fairly accurately portrays their preparation and knowledge base. Unless of course, the NBOME screwed the pooch again, which is entirely possible as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dharma said:
I agree. Doesn't compare to the USMLE. They need to let the CRAPLEX spin around the porcelain bowl and send its stank downstream to the land of the forgotten.
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha.... haven't laughed that hard in a long time :D
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Since many people emailed NBOME...what did they say? They will re-release scores or you got what you got and no changes will be made?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
YankeeCandle1141 said:
My thought is that the test was actually quite easy. Compared to step one, there were very very few *ridiculous* questions if you know what I mean. Thats why I think i may have done worse than I expected. Instead of hammering the most common topics, i probably cast too wide a net when studying.

Really know your "hospitalist" IM, your Peds, Ob/Gyn, and gen surg.
And of course omm.

I think i spent too much time on cardio, endocrine, Heme/onc, etc.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "hospitalist" IM - I always thought that meant cardio, endocrine, heme/onc...just wondering! Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Any pointers from those who have taken it on what OMM to focus my last bit of studying on? Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took this fun exam today. Only did combank and green book questions. Took usmle 2 last month and kind of hoped some knowledge carried over, hence only studying from combank. Thought it was much better than comlex 1, with questions a little less out of left field but still occasional vague passages.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
Would also appreciate some info on where to focus my OMM time. I take it next week right after Step 2 so I've got the medicine down but I haven't looked at OMM since level 1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Moved my exam up last minute to 2 days ago cause I didn't want to wait another month when I was scoring very high on COMSAEs. Almost exactly like COMSAE D in terms of difficulty, definitely a few random questions about random toxicities but those are always expected. OMM is cake, there is nothing different about the OMM that is on level 2 than it is on level 1. I just used savarese and that was more than enough (except for chapman points, get a good source for that cause I had a few of those that were not in savarese), I didn't feel like I missed any OMM questions on the exam. Don't over think this exam as Uworld might make you do, the timing is still the most ridiculous thing there is (why penalize us for taking bathroom breaks?). O

Other than that, it was basic. IM = majority of the test. Know your basic management/first step questions. Imaging modalities etc. etc.
OB - know how to manage emergencies, when to C-section, when not to.
Peds - rashes blah blah, immunodeficiencies, know your different upper respiratory infections (bronchiolitis vs croup etc. and their management).
Surgery - when do you operate and when don't you operate. know your basic pancreatitis stuff.

Again, very reasonable exam, I expect to do well on it and near where I scored for the COMSAE, I took the USMLE a few days ago as well and felt like I got shafted after that one, but I got a 260+ on the UWSA so just gotta pray the correlations are there. There is no magic formula to this exam, you just have to know your stuff, do Uworld and Savarese, nothing else matters. If you really need COMLEX questions for practice, do some COMSAEs. Again, felt like COMSAE C and D were the most representative. A was way too easy and B was super random.

Will update with score when it is released in July.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
Taking the test on 6/23 and I am nearing the end of my dedicated study time. My study plan was as follows: I completed uworld over the course of the school year for the NBMEs and reset the bank and redid about 1000 questions from there averaging about 70%, completed combank with 76.9% average and scored a 510 on the Comsae C which the school mandated us to take. Working my way through Savarese right now for the first time since last year and I will probably reset Combank to do the OMM questions once again over the next day or so. Focusing heavily on cranial/sacral/facilitation levels. Will probably finish Savarese tomorrow and rewatch some pathoma videos to cram some last minute stuff, then Monday will do last minute review of things like chapman points, antibodies, asthma/DM drugs, stats formulas and then go see Jurassic World.

I scored a 611 on Comlex 1 so I wasn't thrilled with a 510 on the Comsae C, but I also scored a 498 on the Comsae C that the school mandated us to take for Comlex 1 and that Comsae didn't seem to correlate very well at all to my real Comlex 1 score so we'll see. Will update with post-test thoughts and maybe my scores later on if I think about it at that point. Sorry for the mundane details of my plan but I figured people are here to find out what others did and compare. Cheers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Wondering this as well...combank doesnt seem to cover everything and is a bit basic?

Jlaw said:
Would also appreciate some info on where to focus my OMM time. I take it next week right after Step 2 so I've got the medicine down but I haven't looked at OMM since level 1.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Savarese. Know savarese + Chapman points. It's the same OMM as on level 1. The OMM is really easy, sure there are 1 or 2 questions where they ask for the tender point of some random tiny muscle but for the most part its verbatim info out of savarese or just asking about a chapman point.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took the exam yesterday and it was just awfully written compared to the usmle. Had MULTIPLE EKGS where the did not label the leads. Felt like a lot of it was "guess what I'm thinking" type ?s. Messed up a couple of OMM but otherwise it wasn't bad. Got a 655 on comsae C two weeks ago. Hopefully I can break 600 on this thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just took the exam 10 minutes ago. It was a marathon lol.

Anyways. Here's how I prepared:
UWORLD: 68% (on tutor so it messes it up a bit)
Nbme 1-4 missed about 30 ?s per test
Nbme 7: 490/230
MBT2 AND 3, STEP UP FOR USMLESTEP2CK: READ twice through

Online med ed: watched a couple videos but not all of them. I wish I would've watched them though from what I'm hearing.
I read an OMM study guide for OMM PREP

Generally the OMM was pretty straight forward with a couple outliers.

I'll update with my actual grade later.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Newyorkgiants said:
Took the exam yesterday and it was just awfully written compared to the usmle. Had MULTIPLE EKGS where the did not label the leads
Click to expand...

I completely forgot about this, ugh bad memories. I had this same EKG and took me a minute to realize what was going on. Their method of making a question hard is to take away the labels. In fact most of the media on my exam were terrible and were not realistic at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just to contribute to the weird COMLEX 2CE score that some people have been getting. A friend of mine also got a >100 decrease from Step 1 to Step 2 score. she took hers on May 4th. So I strongly believe that there is something fishy going on, and there should be a recalculation int he offing later this year. However, I strongly urge anyone in the same boat to write to the COMLEX team so that they get to know how widespread this anomaly is.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Took it yesterday. Not a bad exam, I took Step 2 on Wednesday and was surprised by how short a lot of the question stems were and how seemingly straightforward the questions were compared to Step 2 and Uworld. In some cases I literally skipped back like 5 times to reread questions because the answer was so obvious that it felt like a trick. A lot of the "hard" questions were a bit frustrating because they would be totally left field stuff that isn't in any of the review books so you just had to guess and move on. Questions about FDA regulations, physician compensation, and artificial joints....you get the point, stuff that no 3rd year medical student is exposed to or expected to know. The OMM was very straightforward, I literally spent about 5 hours reviewing OMM after not doing a lick of it since 2nd year and that was more than enough to feel comfortable. Know your spinal levels, chapman points, and how to name dysfunctions. Sacral was very high yield, lots of naming dysfunctions there. Cranial wasn't as high yield as I thought it would be but there were a few questions. Had a few ankle sprain questions and the related findings in the fibular head. Also some random stuff like Muscle Energy, FPR and HVLA treatment positions. I punted those, there were only a couple, not worth the study time to try and relearn them if you've forgotten. Obviously ME and HVLA are pretty easy to figure out but I just guessed on the 1 or two FPR questions. Some of the OMM questions took some thinking because they would throw in so many findings that it would take a minute to get it all straight so you could name the diagnosis.

Anyway now hoping that I don't end up severely disappointed by my score as some of the earlier posters have. Good luck to everyone taking it, let me know if you have specific questions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Jlaw said:
Took it yesterday. Not a bad exam, I took Step 2 on Wednesday and was surprised by how short a lot of the question stems were and how seemingly straightforward the questions were compared to Step 2 and Uworld. In some cases I literally skipped back like 5 times to reread questions because the answer was so obvious that it felt like a trick. A lot of the "hard" questions were a bit frustrating because they would be totally left field stuff that isn't in any of the review books so you just had to guess and move on. Questions about FDA regulations, physician compensation, and artificial joints....you get the point, stuff that no 3rd year medical student is exposed to or expected to know. The OMM was very straightforward, I literally spent about 5 hours reviewing OMM after not doing a lick of it since 2nd year and that was more than enough to feel comfortable. Know your spinal levels, chapman points, and how to name dysfunctions. Sacral was very high yield, lots of naming dysfunctions there. Cranial wasn't as high yield as I thought it would be but there were a few questions. Had a few ankle sprain questions and the related findings in the fibular head. Also some random stuff like Muscle Energy, FPR and HVLA treatment positions. I punted those, there were only a couple, not worth the study time to try and relearn them if you've forgotten. Obviously ME and HVLA are pretty easy to figure out but I just guessed on the 1 or two FPR questions. Some of the OMM questions took some thinking because they would throw in so many findings that it would take a minute to get it all straight so you could name the diagnosis.

Anyway now hoping that I don't end up severely disappointed by my score as some of the earlier posters have. Good luck to everyone taking it, let me know if you have specific questions.
Click to expand...
650+ my guess! Sounds like you killed it. Again, all the reason more to attack the USMLE first! (Hope all you next-gen students take this to heart).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dharma said:
650+ my guess! Sounds like you killed it. Again, all the reason more to attack the USMLE first! (Hope all you next-gen students take this to heart).
Click to expand...

haha I hope but I'm not going to be that optimistic, especially with the grading controversy at the moment. Taking Step 2 first really made this feel much easier.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
So I'm using Step Up to USMLE Step 2 CK and Savarese for OMT...that and COMBANK and COMQUEST is sufficient for COMLEX Level 2 CE?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Just took the COMLEX a week after the USMLE. Not exactly sure how I did, but Level 2 seems much easier than Step 2. I finished COMLEX over 2 hours early and I'm by no means one of the speed demon test takers. On the contrary I may have finished Step 2 with 15 minutes to spare. Take home for the youngsters: prep for the USMLE (and take it if you're ready) and the COMLEX that follows will feel like a breeze. I'm not saying I killed it, but it was a much easier day than when tackling the beast a week earlier.

In terms of prep, it was all UWorld. None of the crapbanks. If you really use UW to the fullest- reading explanations thoroughly, taking solid notes, and reviewing said notes appropriately- you will be more than ready for Level 2. Sure, add in some Savarese but don't go crazy. The couple of hours I spent looking over cranial, facilitation/autonomics, and Crapman points were more than enough. I felt pretty confident w OMM beforehand so if it's a weak point, do spend more time reviewing. That said, I did ZERO OMM questions beforehand. Doing so may have earned me a few points (we'll see).

In terms of practice tests, I took UWSA (which I thought was very representative of the USMLE) and Comsae C (which my school required and would not have taken otherwise). In true UW fashion they offer great explanations of correct and incorrect answers. I highly recommend it! COMSAE... didn't help me one bit.

Biostats. Go back to your FA Step 1 and know all of it. Biostats will mostly be a cake walk if you follow suit. Yeah there will be some random questions with strange wording that will take you back to MCAT VR, but nowhere near as bad. Make an educated guess and move along., which brings me to my next point...

A lot of Step 2/ Level 2 is clinical "gut feeling" kind of questions. If the answer doesn't jump out to you (and it often wont) to with your gut, mark it, and get moving. Don't spend time fretting or getting flustered. Make a decision and get hoping! If you do this, time will not be an issue. Practice speed reading (scanning reading) during prep. This may not be necessary for Level 2 but it really comes in handy on USMLE Step 2.

All in all, it's not a bad exam. Who knows if I'll do well. Really just want to crack a 500 (660s Level 1) since it will hold much less weight than USMLE. And that's the beauty of taking USMLE... you really don't have to worry about COMLEX and all the NBOME's scoring issues. It becomes an afterthought. Just don't let that get you too confident and lead to a major goof-up on gameday (which I hopefully didn't do).

Well, good luck to all you about to take Level 2. Cheers!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
OrthoPathic said:
http://www.nbome.org/score-release.asp

They have a schedule at the bottom of the page. This has been accurate from past experience with level 1 and friends who have taken level 2 this year.
Click to expand...
Any word on if the scores may come out earlier than those dates? I got antsy and read the comlex 1 group info today...they have been getting their scores earlier than the projected release dates.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I think any info would be speculative at this point. I haven't heard of anything. Besides they send you an email so you'll know when they post it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
FutureDO2016 said:
Book wise was Step Up to USMLE Step 2 and Saverese OMT Review sufficient?
Click to expand...

They would be fine but if you did well on your shelf exams I would just focus on doing lots of questions + Savarese. USMLE Step 2 Secrets is a good quick hit review as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
For those that have already received their scores, did they give you a range of dates to expect your scores to be released? If so, when did you actually get your score? I'm anxiously waiting!! They said ours is due to be released July 20-27th. I took mine on June 29th.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
kortneeluv said:
For those that have already received their scores, did they give you a range of dates to expect your scores to be released? If so, when did you actually get your score? I'm anxiously waiting!! They said ours is due to be released July 20-27th. I took mine on June 29th.
Click to expand...
Also took mine on 29th. I'm just telling myself the score will not be reported until next week so I'll be pleasantly surprised otherwise. I know my PE score came back at the tail end of their window so I'll just count on that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Step 1: 758
Step 2: 777

Most likely going Allopathic EM, but its nice to see improvement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Not sure the utility of posting random scores, but here's what I did and maybe helps other osteopathic students gauge their studies.

Comlex level 2

step 1: 251
step 2: 260

comlex level 1: 640
comlex level 2: 630

Prepped for USMLE step 2 for about 4 weeks, 4-6 hours a day with 1 day off a week
USWA: 253
nbme exams around 250
Uworld: 1 pass for each shelf exam, 3 more full complete passes. First 2 times through I read everything, but took 0 notes. Only noted topics that I had trouble with (think biochem, immunodef, glycogen storage diseases) and looked those up 2 days before the exam.
Comquest: 2 passes through OMM questions
Green book: quick 1 hour pass
MTB 2: 2 full passes
secrets: 1 quick pass
medbullets: 1 pass of all step 2 stuff

Review of the exam:
Coming a day off USMLE this exam was much easier conceptually, mostly 1st order and memorization
-the actual medical questions were straight forward, buzzword, etc
- lots of unexpected surprises: holy hell, >10 questions on heavy metal tox; lots of step 1 micro identify the bug, bioterrorism (seriously more questions on anthrax than COPD and DM combined), lots of health policy/law/definitions (laws, gov't bodies, etc)

Overall, it was what I expected, 70% reasonable, 30% bs weird memorization crap. Uworld, MTB and comquest were plenty of prep. I don't know how I did worse on this than level 1, I attribute it to the randomness that is an osteopathic exam. My NBOME shelves were the same way, 2-3 std deviations above the average on some tests, barely passing on others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Got my scores back, improved about 50 pts from level 1. Improved almost 100 points from all the COMSAE's I took. My step 2 also went up a few points. For reference I scored in the almost 800 range.

My study sources: Uworld, step up to step 2 (huge waste of time), savarese + chapman points.

Recommendation - do uworld and do it right, read and memorize everything. Know savarese cold, free points. Find one book and stick to it if you must have a book. In my opinion all the books are a waste of time. Good luck.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

AceMedBoards
  • Question
Official 2020 COMLEX Level 2 CE Experiences and Scores Thread
Replies
9
Views
8K
getfat
getfat
Schwifty
  • Question
Official 2022 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread
Replies
47
Views
12K
scorpiondr_intospace
S
H
  • Question
Comquest or COMBANK for Level 2?
Replies
0
Views
249
HappyDoc510
H
M
Step 2 or Level 2 Practice Test - High Quality but cheap - TruCurio
Replies
0
Views
565
MEDWINNER1
M
E
  • Question
USMLE Official 2021 Step 2 CK Experiences With Scores Thread
20 21 22 23 24
Replies
1K
Views
91K
Chelsea FC
Chelsea FC
Top