I didn't sleep very well at all last night. I kept waking up at least once every hour, and I was having these totally bizarre dreams. In one of them, I had gotten a 34 on the MCAT, but it was a 15 VR, 4 PS, and 7 BS. (Note: VR = verbal reasoning, PS = physical science, BS = biological science.) I was worried that I wouldn't get into medical school because of the 4 in PS. (For the record, I know that these subscores only add up to 26, but somehow they added up to 34 in my dream!) In another dream, I was washing my favorite pet cat, now deceased. I had to wash him a little at a time so that he wouldn't struggle while I was bathing him. Because of this, it took me several hours to wash the whole cat. When I was finally done, he was emanating a soft, whitish light. People were crowding around and commenting about how silky and shiny his coat was.
Once my alarm finally went off at 5:20 AM, I got up and went to the computer. I had left it on all night so that I could check for my score as soon as I woke up. My heart was pounding when I logged into the NBME website and saw that the score report was indeed there. I opened it up, and the first thing I saw was the word, "PASS." This caused an immediate resolution of my palpitations (pounding heart) and tachypnea (faster than normal breathing). Then I scrolled down a little farther and saw my actual scores. Total, utter relief. I have been trying so hard for the past three weeks not to think about the USMLE that I hadn't even realized how anxious I was about it subconsciously. I feel like such a huge weight has been lifted off me. I know that this one test score is not the end-all, be-all of residency applications. But I am just relieved to know that if I don't get the residency of my dreams, it won't be because I bombed Step 1.
The score report breaks down your performance by subject area, just like the practice tests I took did. Interestingly, my best subject on Step 1 was micro/immuno, of all things. My worst? Yeah, it was anatomy. No surprise there. :-P
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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2 comments:
So, how much is the score?
$480, which was the cost of registering for Step 1 in 2008. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)
So seriously, are you offering me a residency position in the future specialty of my choice? If you are, I'd be more than happy to give you my entire CV, let alone my Step 1 score. ;-)
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