Question about Uworld average

[MadScientist95]

Hey everyone. So this semester I started Uworld (I take step I and comlex the middle of June). I am about 20% done with it so far and my scores have been persistently between 48-55%. I plan to start COMBANK later in the semester. I know Uworld is a learning tool and that the NBME practice tests are the best predictors of your score. However, considering that Uworld has the most "test-like" questions, how does this average look for someone aiming for a 230 on step? I have been torn between general surgery and internal medicine for a while and want to make sure I score high enough for either one. Thanks!

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[Deecee2DO]

Hey everyone. So this semester I started Uworld (I take step I and comlex the middle of June). I am about 20% done with it so far and my scores have been persistently between 48-55%. I plan to start COMBANK later in the semester. I know Uworld is a learning tool and that the NBME practice tests are the best predictors of your score. However, considering that Uworld has the most "test-like" questions, how does this average look for someone aiming for a 230 on step? I have been torn between general surgery and internal medicine for a while and want to make sure I score high enough for either one. Thanks!

Stop using UWorld immediately! Wait until 8-10 weeks out to start UWorld. Switch to Amboss Rx or Kaplan for now and only do untimed tutor mode. You are scoring lower because its UWorld and its still Feb especially if you havent finished another qbank yet. Yes UWorld is a learning tool but its also for assessing your test taking strategy which you arent ready for yet since you want to use Uworld to simulate test day settings during dedicated on timed random. You want a good foundation of the material first before starting UWorld. I cant recommend any DO specific banks like combank or comquest unless you are a DO who needs a mega high comlex to match AOA Derm, ortho or NS or something of that nature since those specialties comlex sorta matters because chances of matching MD residencies in those specialties is a complete shot in the dark lol unfortunately (it happens but its not common). If you feel you want/need personalized tutoring/want a schedule made for you for Step 1 you can PM me and we can talk. I can help you bump those UWorld avgs up much higher than 45-55%

PS-saw from previous posts youre shooting for GS. In that case a 240+ would open a heck of a lot of doors for you and you have until June to take Step which is mucho time. Considering the avg MD step for GS is a 238 a 230 as a DO may limit you

 

[CocoMelon0531]

Hey everyone. So this semester I started Uworld (I take step I and comlex the middle of June). I am about 20% done with it so far and my scores have been persistently between 48-55%. I plan to start COMBANK later in the semester. I know Uworld is a learning tool and that the NBME practice tests are the best predictors of your score. However, considering that Uworld has the most "test-like" questions, how does this average look for someone aiming for a 230 on step? I have been torn between general surgery and internal medicine for a while and want to make sure I score high enough for either one. Thanks!

Combank/Comquest + Amboss for now. Start UW in April-May doing 200-250 Qs a day. Yes, I'm serious about those 200-250 Qs/day. At that point, you need to build up your stamina for testing taking, and get your brain wired for the big day.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Combank/Comquest + Amboss for now. Start UW in April-May doing 200-250 Qs a day. Yes, I'm serious about those 200-250 Qs/day. At that point, you need to build up your stamina for testing taking, and get your brain wired for the big day.

Ill be dead honest with you-you have the right mindset and idea trying to simulate test day but doing more than 120 qs per day is not the best idea. I promise you youll burnout doing that. 120 is all you need to build stamina for all of dedicated. Trust me on this you have a special stamina on test day that will carry you through all 280 qs

 

[USMLE_Pro]

Don't worry about your UWorld average, seriously. Yes, you should see it improve, but the actual percentage will really depend on the approach you are using. Personally, I jumped into questions early and started at 45-50%. This improved over time, and I ended up scoring a 262.

Practice tests are your best bet. If you're getting near 230s on NBMEs and 240+ on the UWorld Self Assessments you're in a good place (obviously, you won't be here at the beginning, I mean once you're within 2 weeks of your exam). If you're within 3 months of the test, take a practice test.

I completely agree, avoid doing more than 120 UWorld questions per day. You don't need to do both AMBOSS and UWorld; many are successful with just UWorld. Personally, I was doing 80 UWorld questions a day and took days off. I made Anki flashcards based off of my incorrects, as well.

 

[slowthai]

Don't worry about your UWorld average, seriously. Yes, you should see it improve, but the actual percentage will really depend on the approach you are using. Personally, I jumped into questions early and started at 45-50%. This improved over time, and I ended up scoring a 262.

Practice tests are your best bet. If you're getting near 230s on NBMEs and 240+ on the UWorld Self Assessments you're in a good place (obviously, you won't be here at the beginning, I mean once you're within 2 weeks of your exam). If you're within 3 months of the test, take a practice test.

I completely agree, avoid doing more than 120 UWorld questions per day. You don't need to do both AMBOSS and UWorld; many are successful with just UWorld. Personally, I was doing 80 UWorld questions a day and took days off. I made Anki flashcards based off of my incorrects, as well.

What was your process for making cards based on your incorrects?

 

[Isoval]

I was doing 120 - 150 a day during dedicated. Don't bother if you're not in dedicated. I did like 20-40 per day until then alongside my normal classes, starting in around March.

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Don't sweat the percentages. Everyone loves to tell other people how to do UWorld, but the truth is you just have to do what works best for you. I know most people use UWorld for 8-10 weeks leading up to their exam, but my med school didn't have dedicated so I started UWorld about 4 months prior to my exam.

For step 1 (which I assume you're asking about), the percentages tend to get better over time. Be sure to study your incorrects and make flashcards from them. The general recommendation is to use UWorld as a way to test your knowledge. Your percentages will tend to reflect your knowledge-base and test-taking ability, but they aren't predictive by any means! Focus on the questions you get wrong, spend more time reading about those topics and making sure you don't get them wrong again. Every question you get wrong on UWorld is an opportunity to never get that question wrong on the actual test!! For reference, I got a 253 on my step 1.

For shelf exams and step 2, I used UWorld as my primary learning tool. You just don't have time to set aside all the questions leading up to the shelf and the explanations are too good not to read right away. So, the percentages don't matter much at all during clerkships. I got a 275 on my step 2 CK.

Your mileage may vary, so figure out what works best for you! The best piece of advice I ever got in medical school was "don't listen to any advice, including this advice." Cheers! Lmk if you have any questions.

- Eric, Elite Medical Prep Tutor

 

[Deecee2DO]

Don't sweat the percentages. Everyone loves to tell other people how to do UWorld, but the truth is you just have to do what works best for you. I know most people use UWorld for 8-10 weeks leading up to their exam, but my med school didn't have dedicated so I started UWorld about 4 months prior to my exam.

For step 1 (which I assume you're asking about), the percentages tend to get better over time. Be sure to study your incorrects and make flashcards from them. The general recommendation is to use UWorld as a way to test your knowledge. Your percentages will tend to reflect your knowledge-base and test-taking ability, but they aren't predictive by any means! Focus on the questions you get wrong, spend more time reading about those topics and making sure you don't get them wrong again. Every question you get wrong on UWorld is an opportunity to never get that question wrong on the actual test!! For reference, I got a 253 on my step 1.

For shelf exams and step 2, I used UWorld as my primary learning tool. You just don't have time to set aside all the questions leading up to the shelf and the explanations are too good not to read right away. So, the percentages don't matter much at all during clerkships. I got a 275 on my step 2 CK.

Your mileage may vary, so figure out what works best for you! The best piece of advice I ever got in medical school was "don't listen to any advice, including this advice." Cheers! Lmk if you have any questions.

- Eric, Elite Medical Prep Tutor

Hey Eric-I am concerned about my avg for UW step 2 CK bank. I am about 1/3 of the way through and only scoring around a 67% avg. I had a 254 Step 1 and my clerkship shelf avg is ~98th percentile however I dont understand why my Step 2 ck avg in UW is so low. My goal is a 260+ based on my step 1 score. I plan on doing UW 2x thoroughly for step 2. How likely is it to score 260+ with such a low first pass avg in UW (most of the people I know and that ive seen on the reddit data who got 260+ on CK finished the bank with 80%+ avg and I dont see how that would be possible given I have completed 1/3 of the bank and still havent even hit 70% yet). Am I doing something wrong? I am applying to competitive IM programs so I really need at least a 260

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Hey! I would say you're in a good position. Don't sweat the UWorld percentages. The content is what's important. I always reminded myself that it's not realistic to get a question right on a subject I've never seen before. Use UWorld to learn the content, not to try and predict your score (like you might have done with Step 1). You shelf percentage(s) are reassuring.. 98th% is phenomenal (what shelf?). I got similar scores.

I don't remember what my average was (I think 60 at first?), but when I went back through for dedicated it was 90+. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Just focus on how best to improve yourself, tackle your weaknesses, and not make the same mistakes twice! The test-writers are your friends! They are giving you all the info you need to answer the question, you just have to sus it out. Good luck!

 

[Deecee2DO]

Hey! I would say you're in a good position. Don't sweat the UWorld percentages. The content is what's important. I always reminded myself that it's not realistic to get a question right on a subject I've never seen before. Use UWorld to learn the content, not to try and predict your score (like you might have done with Step 1). You shelf percentage(s) are reassuring.. 98th% is phenomenal (what shelf?). I got similar scores.

I don't remember what my average was (I think 60 at first?), but when I went back through for dedicated it was 90+. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Just focus on how best to improve yourself, tackle your weaknesses, and not make the same mistakes twice! The test-writers are your friends! They are giving you all the info you need to answer the question, you just have to sus it out. Good luck!

Thats very reassuring thank you! Did you use anki for CK? I have never used it at all and was wondering if just sticking to questions is okay (primarily UW and watching OME/Divine)? I plan on doing UW 2x very very thoroughly. Oh and to answer your which shelf question-All of them (OB im taking this week so Idk yet what ill score on it)

 

[JimBone905]

What do you guys think about UWSA1? I'm 6 weeks out and got a 225 (64% correct) with a 60% avg on uworld qbabk (20% questions done)... is this a decent pace/start?

 

[Deecee2DO]

What do you guys think about UWSA1? I'm 6 weeks out and got a 225 (64% correct) with a 60% avg on uworld qbabk (20% questions done)... is this a decent pace/start?

UWSA1 tends to overpredict a bit for Step 1. Id say youre definitely over 200-210 right now which is a fine baseline. You still have 6 weeks so your UW percent will creep up. Mine for step 1 climbed about 7% from start to finish but that was after finishing a previous question bank so Id imagine yours may rise more than that

 

[Isoval]

I scored about 15 points under UWSA1 on the real deal and closer to 10 points under UWSA2

whoops forgot to quote.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

I scored about 15 points under UWSA1 on the real deal and closer to 10 points under UWSA2

whoops forgot to quote.

What were the scores if you don't mind sharing? And how did you do on NBMEs in comparison

 

[Isoval]

What were the scores if you don't mind sharing? And how did you do on NBMEs in comparison

UWSA2 was 241.
My most recent NBME was 17 I think, which was a 217.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

UWSA2 was 241.
My most recent NBME was 17 I think, which was a 217.

So you got around a 230 on Step 1?

 

[Isoval]

So you got around a 230 on Step 1?

+/- 5

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Thats very reassuring thank you! Did you use anki for CK? I have never used it at all and was wondering if just sticking to questions is okay (primarily UW and watching OME/Divine)? I plan on doing UW 2x very very thoroughly. Oh and to answer your which shelf question-All of them (OB im taking this week so Idk yet what ill score on it)

My pleasure!

I used Dorian deck as a base deck throughout the year for CK and shelf exams. I also used the clockwork deck based on divirgilio for surgery shelf, and I made my own decks for OB/Gyn (for UWise) and for pediatrics and family medicine (my school used Aquifer ). Other than that, UWorld is all you actually need. Don't make it too complicated! You won't have time for much of anything else during clerkship anyway.

Good luck on OB!

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Thats very reassuring thank you! Did you use anki for CK? I have never used it at all and was wondering if just sticking to questions is okay (primarily UW and watching OME/Divine)? I plan on doing UW 2x very very thoroughly. Oh and to answer your which shelf question-All of them (OB im taking this week so Idk yet what ill score on it)

Yea, I used anki for shelf exams and CK throughout my M3 year. There's definitely no *right* way to study for CK, but UWorld and anki are the gold standard!

 

[Deecee2DO]

Yea, I used anki for shelf exams and CK throughout my M3 year. There's definitely no *right* way to study for CK, but UWorld and anki are the gold standard!

Oh wow ok lol Ive never used anki for M3 at all just UW and another qbank for all my shelves if i want to score 260-270+ do you think I need anki on top of multiple qbanks?

 

[Redpancreas]

Stop using UWorld immediately! Wait until 8-10 weeks out to start UWorld. Switch to Amboss Rx or Kaplan for now and only do untimed tutor mode. You are scoring lower because its UWorld and its still Feb especially if you havent finished another qbank yet. Yes UWorld is a learning tool but its also for assessing your test taking strategy which you arent ready for yet since you want to use Uworld to simulate test day settings during dedicated on timed random. You want a good foundation of the material first before starting UWorld. I cant recommend any DO specific banks like combank or comquest unless you are a DO who needs a mega high comlex to match AOA Derm, ortho or NS or something of that nature since those specialties comlex sorta matters because chances of matching MD residencies in those specialties is a complete shot in the dark lol unfortunately (it happens but its not common). If you feel you want/need personalized tutoring/want a schedule made for you for Step 1 you can PM me and we can talk. I can help you bump those UWorld avgs up much higher than 45-55%

PS-saw from previous posts youre shooting for GS. In that case a 240+ would open a heck of a lot of doors for you and you have until June to take Step which is mucho time. Considering the avg MD step for GS is a 238 a 230 as a DO may limit you

Agree with this, but also do think UWorld has a role pre-dedicated in the following situations:

1) Your school goes systems based from anatomy/histo-> micro/pharmacology/pathophysiology in units. Then you can start right away with systems

2) Your school is a tradition normal/abnormal curriculum but you’re winding down and have done most the abnormal stuff of M2 but then start systems. At this point you should have a solid foundation for UW.

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Oh wow ok lol Ive never used anki for M3 at all just UW and another qbank for all my shelves if i want to score 260-270+ do you think I need anki on top of multiple qbanks?

It's kind of hard to tell if you *need* anki, but I felt it was necessary for me. I have also used UW and anki for everything since basically day 1 of medical school, so YMMV.

How have you been doing on your shelf exams? If you don't mind me asking. And how much time do you have right now? Anki can take up a good chunk of time.

- Eric

 

[Deecee2DO]

It's kind of hard to tell if you *need* anki, but I felt it was necessary for me. I have also used UW and anki for everything since basically day 1 of medical school, so YMMV.

How have you been doing on your shelf exams? If you don't mind me asking. And how much time do you have right now? Anki can take up a good chunk of time.

- Eric

Oh ok thanks for the insight! Yeah ive never really used anki at all in med school except for sketchy pharm and micro. To answer your question Ive honored all of my shelves my average is about 97%ile on all of them except OB which I got 89th percentile and my step 1 is a 254. But yes anki does take a lot of time thats why i asked lol thanks again!

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Oh ok thanks for the insight! Yeah ive never really used anki at all in med school except for sketchy pharm and micro. To answer your question Ive honored all of my shelves my average is about 97%ile on all of them except OB which I got 89th percentile and my step 1 is a 254. But yes anki does take a lot of time thats why i asked lol thanks again!

Yea sure thing! Anki was a godsend for me, basically saved my relationship

That's fantastic about your shelf exams! That bodes well for CK for you. Good luck, and don't be afraid to reach out if you need anything else.

- Eric