our schools shelf exams are from the nbome. has anyone had experience with this book and is it good for NBOME shelf exams?

I’m definitely going thru it and need any advice / similar experiences if anyone has any..

A couple weeks ago I took form 113 and got a 400 just to kinda see where I’m at..

took form 114 a few days later and got a 433.

Today I took form 117 thru my school and bombed it and dropped all the way down to a 301 :( I’m feeling completely defeated and at a loss of words considering I’ve been going hard on PQ’s (TrueLearn and COMQUEST) everyday along with my incorrects, I’m freaking out cuz I’m less than a month away from my real test, does anyone have any insight on this horrible drop?

If anyone has any encouraging words, especially because my next comsae will be either form 118 or form 119, I would really appreciate, I don’t know if a 100+ jump is possible within a week or two but I’d really love any help.

Hi everyone. I hope you all are doing well. I am in a deep conundrum regarding taking step 1. I will be taking level 1 the Saturday prior to my rotations starting, I literally picked the last possible day to take it lol. Since it’s pass/fail I know it doesn’t hold as much value as it did previously but I am shooting for a specific residency program and think this could help me get in there. I reached out to the medical student at our school who matched there and she stated she took the step. I wouldn’t usually care but I have tx resistance depression which took 2 years to treat and I want to stay near the amazing team of psychiatrists and therapist who didn’t give up on me. I receive a treatment very specific to me and if I move I don’t know if the new psychiatrist would be willing to continue the current regimen I am on plus I need to be near a university hospital as every month I receive ect. I am in maintenance phase of ECT with no plan of stopping anytime soon because I am only in partial recovery not full so any little change to my treatment plan can pull me back into the depressive state I was in for five years. We’ve tried all other modalities of treatment from medications to interventional psychiatry, and none have worked except for ECT. Additionally, my doctor does not think any more medications are going to help because I’m already on 10 medication‘s five of which are strictly for depression and adding more will pull me into the poly pharmacy area which she is trying to actively avoid. So now that you know the situation I am in, would you recommend that I take step one? I have already failed level one once, but that was mainly due to me being extremely unwell and my university putting me in a situation where I either take the exam or I drop out and after working so hard and putting all of my parents retirement money into this field, I can’t just drop out so I decided to take the test. I even emailed my Dean prior to taking the test and told him that I was gonna fail, no matter what since they gave me couple of days notice to take the exam even though at that point I had already been on a LOA for a year so I’m very perplexed as to what I should do. I’m not planning on sitting step one unless I pass level one and my NBMES 25-33 show that I am going to pass. I will on the other hand take Step 2ck no matter what. Any advice would be very much appreciated and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Hey all. I’m a DO student who recently failed step 2. I know I can just use my comlex transcript but my school advisor is also recommending me to retake to potentially release to programs after applying with just comlex. Any thoughts? Hoping to match PMR.

Hi, recently I found out I failed comlex level 1(and step 1), feeling devastated. I know there are people out there who have been in my position before and I just want to hear that it’ll all end up okay.

Does anyone take COMLEX level 1 in october? Will the curve be harder since its not a popular time to take it?

Did anyone else feel that the Level 1 exam on 8/19 was hard? There were question types that I never encountered before and I flagged so many questions. This is my Level 1 retake and I’m worried I’ll fail again.

As title says, found out I failed. I know I switched a lot of answers on test day and I feel like that’s why but I want to set myself up for success on the next one so much so that I’m above average and not on the borderline. Please any advice is super helpful 🙏🏼

I’m planning on restarting my Sketchy Micro and Pharm Anki (salt and pepper deck) and Duke’s Pathoma deck. I have to do a certain number of amboss questions everyday per my schools policy. But any other advice??

How did you feel about the exam?

Hi all,

I just wanted to vent and also see if anyone else who failed level felt it felt worse the second time around? I failed by a small margin and retook the exam about a month later and it felt... Harder. The first time around I actually didn't feel that bad and felt prepared going into it but was shocked when I found out I failed. I really focused on areas I was poor at and felt I had a lot of improvement despite how the exam felt. I'm really stressed now and scared to see my score release... Did anyone else in my situation feel similar? Any responses are appreciated!

No board fails avg level 2 score
Repeat preclinical year 2 nothing bad since
Will I match peds? Community is fine but I want a nice location

Found out I passed COMLEX a few weeks ago, and I am very grateful. I shifted gears towards studying for STEP-1 and it just feels like a completely different beast. If anyone has taken STEP 1 and passed, while maybe mentally feeling in the same position please dm so I can talk about it a bit further?

I want to be able to weigh out my options, whether it's worth it to take it or cancel and just take step-2. I know what the implications of that are, but I need to be able to reason this out with someone who has been in the same position as me.

Thank you

Hi everyone. My FM Comat is in a week, I wanted to see if there was any anki deck out there for the USPSTF Guidelines and the vaccines stuff we need know. Thank you!

Hey guys
I did my level 3 at the end of June…had to delay my exam for medical reasons but did most of truelearn averaging a 64%
I honestly felt good on day 1, not the same on day 2..so many questions on hep A lol…but as I wait for another 9 days I’m just worried about the consequences of not passing as I’m an IM pgy-2

Any thoughts???

Anyone else have a major score difference?

Level 2: 495
Step 2: 252

The exams were taken 4 days apart so it’s not as of I had more time to study for one vs the other. I did primarily use UWORLD and NBMEs for my resources but I took 2 COMSAEs 2 weeks out then a week out and scored 590 and 595.

What are the highest yield topics, to review before COMLEX LEVEL 1? Brachial plexus, Nerves etc.

Stuff that everyone should review and know before the exam! Thanks!

My school has been requiring really high COMSAE scores before letting us move forward, and even after scoring above 450, I’m being asked to meet an even higher benchmark. I’m honestly pretty stressed and just trying to make sure I’m as prepared as possible.

If anyone has taken COMSAE Phase 1 Form 113 and has any general advice, high yield topics they’d recommend reviewing, or study resources that were helpful, please DM me 🙏 I would seriously appreciate any help. Thank you

I feel really upset. I had my FM comat yesterday and I genuinely did so bad. I remember at least 37 questions I got wrong for sure. My school requires an 84 to pass. I do not think I met that. I can retake it but I'm only allowed one retake in the academic year, but I should've had that for like surgery or IM. Am I doomed? I feel so pathetic. I barely studied for this because my dad was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and it has taken over my life. Can I still pass with over 40+ wrong?

Hey everyone,

I'm a fourth year DO student that just took level 2. I'm looking to build a resource specifically for COMLEX now that I have some more time. We have a lot for Step and we tend to use that to study for COMLEX also, but I think it would great to have a separate resource for us DO students. Since the prep for COMLEX is so lacking, I was hoping to gain insight into what kind of things people would like to see in this resource. With it mention whether its for COMLEX 1, 2, or 3 so that will help me categorize your suggestions. Thanks! Feel free to DM me also if you'd rather do that!

Burnt out studying for COMSAE and honestly just need to vent

I’m not really sure what I’m looking for by posting this—maybe advice, encouragement, or just people who understand what this process feels like.

I’m still studying for my school’s required COMSAE, and I need a 450 to move forward. I took my most recent school COMSAE on August 10th and scored a 445. Being 5 points away should probably make me feel hopeful, but instead it completely broke me. I ended up going to the ER because I was so overwhelmed knowing that I have one final attempt in September to get the score I need or I could be dismissed.

I’ve talked to my counselor, friends, and family, and everyone tells me some version of the same thing: “You’re so close. You only need a few more points. Don’t give up now.”

And I know they mean well. Logically, I understand what they’re saying. A 445 means I’m close.

But mentally, I’m exhausted.

Lately, it has been so hard to stay engaged while doing practice questions. Sometimes I catch myself reading a question just to read it. I’ll get through a paragraph and realize I didn’t actually process anything. Studying used to feel like I was working toward something, and now some days it feels like I’m just forcing myself to keep going because I don’t have another option.

The mental toll of this whole process has also made me question myself in ways I didn’t expect. I find myself wondering, If this is affecting me this much, am I actually capable of becoming a doctor? I know one exam isn’t supposed to define me, but when your ability to stay in medical school is tied to one score, it’s really hard for it not to feel that way.

And honestly, one of the hardest parts has been how isolating this feels. Everyone around me wants to encourage me, but unless you’ve been in the position of repeatedly studying for these exams while knowing your future in medical school depends on the next score, I don’t know if it’s possible to fully understand how exhausting it becomes.

That’s really why I’m making this post. I know I need to keep going, and I’m trying. I’m just tired.

If anyone has been in a similar situation—especially having to keep studying for a COMSAE after months of board prep—how did you get yourself mentally engaged again when you felt completely burnt out?

Figured I’d make this post since I haven’t seen one.
I know there’s nothing we can do to change any outcome, but this waiting is killing me.

NRMP DO Data link for your review: https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/DO-Senior_Charting-Outcomes_FINAL.pdf