Step 1 score report error?

39769 Views 22 Replies 14 Participants Last post by qurat21, Sep 6, 2011

vvinodbabu

Discussion Starter · Sep 22, 2010

Hello all,
I have taken my STEP 1 on August 31st, 2010 at Chennai, India. I just received my step 1 score report and I am amazed to find a very low score. I have talked over phone with ECFMG agent and she suggested me to request for a recheck. The lady over phone also told me that there was no single case of any wrong score report in her 3 years of service with ECFMG.

I am a very bright student of my class. I have worked with many top universities including Yale university and I have always been consistent in my performance as a student in all the exams I have attended so far in my life. I was very confident about getting a "99" percentile (not even 98) in my exam. I have also scored 95th percentile in NBME and performed well in other third party Qbanks like USMLE world. I did not face any difficulty answering most of the questions on my exam day. At max, I might be wrong with 4-5 questions per block in the exam. One more suspecting aspect of my score report is, I got a very low performance in "Behavioral sciences", but I am VERY sure I did very well in that subject.

I know you might have seen a lot of mails like this and I know its extremely rare to get an erroneous score report for a fully automated exam like STEP 1. But of note, my exam started 30 mins late during the exam day and when I inquired, the system administrator informed me that there is "an error" in the software.

Is there any1 else who have had similar experience in this whole world or am I the only most unluckiest person here? Any1 who have had success with rechecking their scores, please take some of your time off to post a reply as it means a LOT to me as this stage. Thank you for reading.

Reactions: 1

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

lee-usmle

· #2 · Sep 24, 2010

The possibility is not zero%

Last year, I met a person who told me that her score was reported erroneously and it was corrected after she requested a recheck. That girl even went further by trying to sue the ECFMG because that low score had cost her a loss of matching season (in her opinion).

So, although it's extremely rare that your score get rectified after the request but the possibility is not flat 0% so it certainly worth a try.

Very importantly, is you mention to them the system failure that occurred in your exam.

Can I ask you what score did you get then? If it is still over 90 then you are still OK.

You can rectify your "low" score with great LoRs from Yale University and you can still get into the residency of your choice if the other areas of your profile are still high.

Please let us know the outcome of your score recheck.

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Reactions: 4

vvinodbabu

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 24, 2010

Thank you for reply

Your reply filled confidence in me as I have been searching restlessly on the web for any similar cases for the last two days and nights. So far, I came across some people who have had success with recheck in their CS score reports. You are the first person to mention that a human error can be possible in Step 1 too. I am very much aware of the probability of such an error in an exam like Step 1. But still could not accept the fact that I got "82" percentile with a 3-digit of 200, which is only possible when a student answers only 70-80% of questions correctly.

Even upon my best recollection of the questions from my exam, I never had difficulty answering at least 90% of the questions. I was in a dilemma or trilemma in the rest 10% too. I am unable to justify myself as to where I could have gone wrong to get such a low score. As mentioned in my original post, I have prepared extensively and exclusively for step 1, by even dropping my job and got 65-70% of questions correct in all subjects in tutor mode in Uworld without changing incorrect answers to correct to improve percentage.

On the exam day, the questions appeared to be too easy for me as most of them were touching just the basics except for 6-7 questions in a block.

One more point I am confident about is, I cannot screw up on behavioral sciences even if I want to. I got "lower borderline" there in the score report". I am the kinda person who values others' time and would not waste your time by making you read this post if I find any way where there is a possibility that I might have screwed up.

Please do me a favor by sending me the contact details of that person so that I can get some help from her.

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mithu16

· #4 · Nov 30, 2010

Hi

Hi Vinod

Just wanted to know whether you had any luck with improving your scores? Well i have heard of similar cases too. Would be of great encouragement to rest in future to know that your score improved..

vvinodbabu

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 30, 2010

Unfortunately, my score recheck came out with the same score. However, I am still not convinced about the significant score drop I have encountered. But I said goodbye to my dreams of being a physician in US and am planning to apply to MAHE and CoMed.

mithu16

· #6 · Nov 30, 2010

Ok thanks brother. Just took my Step 1. Have heard of such erroneus reports earlier. So wanted to know more about the same. Hope your CoMed and Mahe goes well. Just curious. Which Med Skewl are u from?

mithu16

· #7 · Nov 30, 2010

And just to add a note. Don be disheartened by this. I think if you can get a good Step 2 ck result, cs pass first time, step 3 good result with good LOR's then i am sure u can till make it. A senior of mine had low scores but still managed to get selected and have managed to get fellowships 2. Either way best of luck with watever decision u make..

Dr.Sidd

· #8 · Nov 30, 2010

Even i feel you shouldnt give up ur dreams so early! Remain focused, any one can have a miss fortune or a bad day on the exam day! If you are brilliant im sure ul excell in STEP 2 and 3. You have good LORs that will really help. And trust me the programme directors are looking for good all round physicians not just TEST TAKERS! Although i know etting a good score in the steps is the major criteria for getting interviews but you can always make up fpr that by other stuff and importantly a very well written personal statements and Medical school transcript!
Bets of luck for the future and keep workin hard!

Reactions: 1

Peewee

· #9 · Dec 1, 2010

Rechecks are just away for them getting more money. I bet you got a 2 line answer didn't you? I had a recheck and they assured me that they don't make mistakes and the computer is never wrong. Yet, when they switched over to the "new exam" in early may, scores were delayed becasue they had to adjust accordingly. Whats to adjust is your computer is never wrong.

ECFMG and USMLE are a cartel that has no oversite. They can do what they want, when they want and nobody can check what results they put out. I don't think the system is fair at all. Blackballing people since their inception

frustrated

· #10 · Jan 22, 2011

The same thing happened to me!!!! Omg!!!

vvinodbabu said:
Hello all,
I have taken my STEP 1 on August 31st, 2010 at Chennai, India. I just received my step 1 score report and I am amazed to find a very low score. I have talked over phone with ECFMG agent and she suggested me to request for a recheck. The lady over phone also told me that there was no single case of any wrong score report in her 3 years of service with ECFMG.

I am a very bright student of my class. I have worked with many top universities including Yale university and I have always been consistent in my performance as a student in all the exams I have attended so far in my life. I was very confident about getting a "99" percentile (not even 98) in my exam. I have also scored 95th percentile in NBME and performed well in other third party Qbanks like USMLE world. I did not face any difficulty answering most of the questions on my exam day. At max, I might be wrong with 4-5 questions per block in the exam. One more suspecting aspect of my score report is, I got a very low performance in "Behavioral sciences", but I am VERY sure I did very well in that subject.

I know you might have seen a lot of mails like this and I know its extremely rare to get an erroneous score report for a fully automated exam like STEP 1. But of note, my exam started 30 mins late during the exam day and when I inquired, the system administrator informed me that there is "an error" in the software.

Is there any1 else who have had similar experience in this whole world or am I the only most unluckiest person here? Any1 who have had success with rechecking their scores, please take some of your time off to post a reply as it means a LOT to me as this stage. Thank you for reading.

Hey vinod, evrything (almost ) what u say happened to me a month ago!

I too took the usmle but it was step 2ck last month in december end at chennai...
Listen.. i was just googling around whether somebody else had the same experience and i bang landed here!!!
I got 182/71 and I FAILED step 2ck.. was heartbroken when results came a few days ago...
I mean.. THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE...TOTALLY!

:scared:

My performance in medicine was LOW! NOOOOO WAY!!!!!
I was really really heartbroken... I consistently got 85 percent in USMLE WORLD and did quite well in kaplan qbanks!!!
then i saw your thread... man... i think something realllly fishy is going on with the score reporting... i mean... see whats common between you and me.. its more than a coincidence!!!! Its sorta spooky in fact!!!

1. You and me both took the exam in chennai
2. you and me both took it between august and december of 2010
3. you and me both had their exams started late - yes they started about 20 min late for me tooo!!! and i remember everytime i signed out, there was some fingerprint error of some sort... weird isnt it????
4. you and me both feel we did only 4-5 questions wrong in each block!

i feel so sad... sigh.. wasted effort... please reply vinod... please...
im takin manipal and comed too.. we are on the same boat... I WAS SOOO DAMN HAPPY AND SAD AT THE SAME TIME when i saw your thread...

im definitely sure of getting a 95th percentile plus.... sure sure sure....but these guys are probably putting a cap on the no. of people entering the states i guesss... im phoning ecfmg too.. dont know what will happen..

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mithu16

· #11 · Jan 22, 2011

Hi frustrated

try rechecking your score..try calling them and tellin your experience to..how were your step1 scores???maybe u can show it to them and show them that u did good for them or so...best of luck with it..

frustrated

· #12 · Jan 23, 2011

mithu16 said:
Hi frustrated

try rechecking your score..try calling them and tellin your experience to..how were your step1 scores???maybe u can show it to them and show them that u did good for them or so...best of luck with it..

no mithu, this IS the first time im taking the usmle.. step 2 ck was my first attempt... im definitely sure this isnt my score... feeling so sad... yeah i will call them up probably.. in a month.. have indian exams comin up next month.. hope i get somethin.. have been tryin for two years now... thanks for the wishes....

mithu16

· #13 · Jan 23, 2011

best of luck with them..sure youl do good..

JJtheMD

· #14 · Feb 4, 2011

I almost wanted to ask for a recheck after i got my grade of 212(89). I could swear i did way better in Behavioral Sciences when i saw i got a star in the lower performance.... I couldn't get it, i was shocked specially since it was one of my stronger subjects... If it wern't for that one subject on my exam, i would of honestly gotten in the 225-230 range which is my predicted performance.. But i choose 2 just settle with the grade i got and move on and destroy the step 2 CK/CS. Oh well, Wish the best to you guys

Haisook

· #15 · Feb 5, 2011

Overconfidence is dangerous

I see overconfident people going into the exam and expecting to ace it. This is a formula for failure. Although I can't completely affirm that there are no mistakes an automated and tested scoring system can make, the chances are technically almost zero percent. I'm sure you were too casual in your exam and you made serious mistakes. The exam is not as easy as it seems, as although I scored 99/241, I thought the exam was incredibly easy and that I'd score much higher than this, but I didn't. It's a tough, tricky exam, and you shouldn't be overconfident when taking it no matter how prepared you think you are.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but this is not a local medical school in a developing country where underground modifications are made to get kids of those 'important' people to the top.

Reactions: 1

khanar

· #16 · Feb 5, 2011

I agree and I don't agree with you

Haisook said:
I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but this is not a local medical school in a developing country where underground modifications are made to get kids of those 'important' people to the top.

Although I agree with you that the USMLE is a tough exam and should not be taken as a joke and we need to prepare for it very very well but I don't agree with other part of your post.
The people (FSMB and NBME and ECFMG) behind the USMLE scoring are regular people just like you and me.
In fact I've seen one of them, he's just a regular admin assistant typical middle class American with far limited knowledge than what you have. Such a person can easily make mistakes, humans are not flawless, they make mistakes.
Even the profs making the questions, they can make mistakes too.
So my dear, do not think that USA is a country without errors and their system is completely out of errors, this is a wrong assumption.

frustrated

· #17 · Mar 2, 2011

You are a real coward

Haisook said:
I see overconfident people going into the exam and expecting to ace it. This is a formula for failure. Although I can't completely affirm that there are no mistakes an automated and tested scoring system can make, the chances are technically almost zero percent. I'm sure you were too casual in your exam and you made serious mistakes. The exam is not as easy as it seems, as although I scored 99/241, I thought the exam was incredibly easy and that I'd score much higher than this, but I didn't. It's a tough, tricky exam, and you shouldn't be overconfident when taking it no matter how prepared you think you are.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but this is not a local medical school in a developing country where underground modifications are made to get kids of those 'important' people to the top.

This post has been deleted and its author has been banned because of inappropriate language which is a violation of Forum Rules.

frustrated

· #18 · Mar 2, 2011

mary said:
Although I agree with you that the USMLE is a tough exam and should not be taken as a joke and we need to prepare for it very very well but I don't agree with other part of your post.
The people (FSMB and NBME and ECFMG) behind the USMLE scoring are regular people just like you and me.
In fact I've seen one of them, he's just a regular admin assistant typical middle class American with far limited knowledge than what you have. Such a person can easily make mistakes, humans are not flawless, they make mistakes.
Even the profs making the questions, they can make mistakes too.
So my dear, do not think that USA is a country without errors and their system is completely out of errors, this is a wrong assumption.

Thanks for understandin me, MARY. I appreciate it very much. At least you are not a LOSER like HAISOOK who complains to admin like he complains to his MOTHER>>> HA HA HA HA

ganalaks

· #19 · Mar 3, 2011 (Edited)

Dear bright student/doctor,

vvinodbabu said:
Hello all,
I have taken my STEP 1 on August 31st, 2010 at Chennai, India. I just received my step 1 score report and I am amazed to find a very low score. I have talked over phone with ECFMG agent and she suggested me to request for a recheck. The lady over phone also told me that there was no single case of any wrong score report in her 3 years of service with ECFMG.

I am a very bright student of my class. I have worked with many top universities including Yale university and I have always been consistent in my performance as a student in all the exams I have attended so far in my life. I was very confident about getting a "99" percentile (not even 98) in my exam. I have also scored 95th percentile in NBME and performed well in other third party Qbanks like USMLE world. I did not face any difficulty answering most of the questions on my exam day. At max, I might be wrong with 4-5 questions per block in the exam. One more suspecting aspect of my score report is, I got a very low performance in "Behavioral sciences", but I am VERY sure I did very well in that subject.

I know you might have seen a lot of mails like this and I know its extremely rare to get an erroneous score report for a fully automated exam like STEP 1. But of note, my exam started 30 mins late during the exam day and when I inquired, the system administrator informed me that there is "an error" in the software.

Is there any1 else who have had similar experience in this whole world or am I the only most unluckiest person here? Any1 who have had success with rechecking their scores, please take some of your time off to post a reply as it means a LOT to me as this stage. Thank you for reading.

Dear Doctor,
Did u finally resolve the erronous results with USMLE?
I just got my results today-March 2, 2011. I was betting 95% or more.
But I got way below. I will never believe their system.
Is there any use in fighting with them to correct my score?

Will appreciate reply from you or any other affected members.

Marysol

· #20 · Mar 20, 2011

Step 1 score report error??

I was wondering if someone had an error on the report score.
I took the step 1 on feb 23rd 2011 in Jackson, Mississippi. I am an IMG.
The test started 30 mins late!!!
I was very confident during the exam, perhaps 5 questions or less with doubts in every block. Many questions were very very easy for me.
On March 17th I got an email with the score. It is very low!!.
I am very intriguing with the second page of the report. It shows a lot of disciplines with zero points!!
I can not believe it!!!
Please tell me if there is a way to recheck the exam!
Thank you very much for this thread!

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

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