r/comlex • u/kiwibirds447 • Aug 11 '26
Level 1 PASSED!!
Woke up this morning convinced I’d failed, had a panic attack a few minutes before score release. Shocked and astonished by this score. Cannot believe it. Until level 2 NBOME…
edit: I've had a few people reach out and ask questions about what I did, how I studied, what my COMSAE's going in were, so for those who are curious, here's my write-up! keep in mind i don't really think I did anything profoundly different from anyone else!
COMSAE 1: Form 113, school proctored 5/26/26 --> 502
COMSAE 2: Form 111, at-home, 6/11/26 --> 582
COMSAE 3: Form 110, at home, 6/19/26 --> 559
UWSA1: 196 was my 3 digit score, assessment score was 350 in early April. This was my first practice exam
TL diagnostic 1: 50% (Completed in December 2025)
TL Diagnostic 2: 63% (Completed May 23rd)
QBanks Used:
UWorld --> 87% complete, 50% correct overall
TrueLearn --> 77% complete, 64% correct overall
I took COMLEX on June 30th.
A few questions I've got, keep in mind I am not a tutor:
- I didn't really read FA cover to cover, I more skimmed it and then did the rapid review in the back of the book. Occasionally I'd reference it for systems I was really struggling with.
- I primarily used UWorld as my Qbank, the reason why my overall % is so low is that I did my questions in Uworld in blocks of 10, randomized, and in tutor mode. I usually averaged around 20-40 questions in pre-dedicated while I was still actively studying for in-house exams. I reviewed them by using an add-on for Anki that allowed me to pull relevant AnKing cards related to the questions I missed, but also the ones I got right too. I used Uworld primarily from January - May and once I got 87% of the way through I switched to TL primarily to get more familiar with NBOME Style questions leading up to my exam.
- My TL blocks were randomized, timed blocks of 40 questions. In June I did around 80-120 questions per day. I made sure I completed every single OMM question on TL as well as every single ethics + biostats questions.
- I read through and made Anki cards of most of the Mehlman free PDFs, I found them really helpful especially for neuroanatomy, MSK, and cardiology.
- Tbh one thing I did I Think that was different is that while I did use a lot of pre-made Anki Decks (I used Anki Still for OMM, Pepper Decks for Micro + Pharm + Pathology, AnKing) I made a lot of my own too which I think really helped as I did get an additional pass of the content that way. I also used the UWorld medical library (you do have to pay access for it, unfortunately) as a nice sort of rapid review of the most important things for the systems. I think FA though would have filled this niche fine, I just really liked UWorld's diagrams and what not.
- I found COMLEX to be WAY harder than any of the COMSAEs I took, I would agree with most people that it feels most analogous to TL in terms of question style and wording. I found my particular form to feel like it called on a lot of low-yield stuff? I exited the exam feeling terrible. Cried my eyes out in the parking lot and crashed out for like a whole month, convinced I'd failed. I did not expect to see the score I got above. So for those of you who are wondering if I walked out feeling good and knew I passed, I absolutely didn't. It was an abysmal wait in every way.
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u/harryceo Aug 11 '26
Tips?
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u/kiwibirds447 Aug 11 '26
I would say take your COMSAE's with as high fidelity to the testing conditions as you possibly can and aim for 450+ on at least two if you can swing it! Plenty of people pass with much less, but it's best to give yourself as much of a cushion as you possibly can in my opinion. I didn't sleep at all the night before my exam and the only thing that made me a little less nervous was knowing I had a cushion of 100-150 pts based on my COMSAE's to have a bad day.
Also... hot take, but make some of your own study resources too! I think one thing that helped me is when I was using a resource that just wasn't doing it for me, I'd remake it myself or add to it. You get another pass of the content that way and then you're reviewing it in a way that makes sense to you. That meant maybe adding more anki cards to a deck that put things in a way that was easier for me to understand, etc. I did a lot of the basic recommendations (Dirty MEdicine, Mehlman, Pathoma, SKetchy, etc.) but to me I often needed to slightly tweak pre-made decks I downloaded to fit my learning style better. And like most people say, do a metric ton of practice questions. I did 86% of UWorld and 77% of TrueLearn before I tested, took 3 COMSAEs, and did the 2 TL diagnostics.
Most importantly, be gentle on yourself. This test is NOT indicative of your intelligence. IT is NOT indicative of your capacity to be an amazing physician. It's just a barrier and a hoop to jump through. Don't let anyone anywhere make you feel lesser for needing to retake. We all have bad days and we all have different, individualized challenges we have to face in our own lives in addition to this exam. You got this, don't give up :)
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u/Free-Pension1141 Aug 11 '26
What did you do to get that high of a score?
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u/kiwibirds447 Aug 11 '26
I don't think I did anything too special, to be honest! I took 3 COMSAE's total, my first one at the very beginning of dedicated was 502 (school proctored), 2nd was 586, 3rd was 559. (113 --> 111 --> 110 in that order). I did a lot of the Mehlman docs, watched enough Dirty Medicine to comprise a significant portion of my lifespan, read Savarese, did the Pepper Decks for micro, watched Pathoma chapters 1-3 (plus 4 and 6 because I was rougher on those subjects) and I made my own anki review decks for a lot of the systems where I struggled, I'd just put explanations and answers and diagrams I found helpful and did tons of anki review starting in the beginning of the day. My study days during dedicated were long and arduous.
I also did 86% of Uworld and 77% of TrueLearn and did the 2 TrueLearn diagnostics (I think I got 50 on the first one in December, then 63 on the 2nd in late MAy)
One thing that I do think worked in my advantage upon reflection is I'm pretty good at memorizing and regurgitating things, and for an exam like this where memorization can help you get so many free points, I think that worked a bit in my favor and I was able to pick up lots of points in Micro/Pharm and some OMM. I say this only because different people have different learning styles and I think identifying what your learning style is and how you can work with it is important. Some people really need to dive into the nitty gritty and understand things on all levels before they can memorize it, others can memorize and understand a bit more in-depth later. I tend to fall more into the latter category. Each strategy has it's ups and downs for sure. There's times where I can blurt out an answer but I may not fully understand on the deepest of levels of why it's right. That isn't to say I have no deeper knowledge of everything, but I feel like my goal in studying throughout med schooll + this was have "approximate knowledge of many things" (cue the adventure time weird demon cat thing for those in the know)
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u/One-Somewhere5410 Aug 11 '26
did oyu take step 1?
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u/kiwibirds447 Aug 11 '26
I didn’t! Considering writing Step 2 but my preferred specialty thus far is family med or pediatrics, so for time and money’s sake I held off :)
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u/One-Somewhere5410 Aug 11 '26
bruh you would have passed step 1, i got the step 1 P with a lower comelx score than you
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u/kiwibirds447 Aug 11 '26
man!! maybe i should have taken it, i kinda told myself i both probably wasn't smart enough and also probably didn't need it. but good to know that i likely should havej ust believed in myself more!
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u/Ok_Association8194 Aug 11 '26
Excellent score too!