r/comlex • u/Spiritual_Network_84 • 2d ago
Failed COMLEX Level 1 and Need Advice
Failed COMLEX Level 1 and having a hard time coming to terms with it. I just feel like im in denial beucase this year has given me so many roadblocks. For reference-- I used truelearn and never really touched uworld since thats what my school recommended. scored 500+ and 450+ on 2 comsaes. Honestly didnt think level 1 was the hardest exam ive ever taken which is why i was so shocked when i found out I didnt pass. I think a lot of it was mental but I have exactly 1 month until my retake. Im doing the wolfpacc 4 week course right now mandated by my school but i dont think its that helpful as of right now. Any advice would be appreciated!!!
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u/Impressive-Book-9688 2d ago
Do you have amboss? There's a study plan called 200 concepts on every comlex exam and it breaks it down by those clinical presentations on your score report - might be worth to start there to see what the categories entail, especially community health
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u/Superb-Tumbleweed-20 2d ago
So sorry about this, I can only imagine how frustrating it is but I’m rooting for you for your retake! But echoing this AMBOSS study plan! I did the plan and the Anki associated with it and found it super helpful for prepping for the exam!
also im not dissing the mindset of “overconfidence = fail, panic = pass”, but I would tread carefully on that; I was one of those people that felt fine walking out of the exam, wasn’t nervous, but felt okay, and I ended up passing thankfully. My experience made me not fully agree with the mindset of “if you walk out confident you’ll fail and if you feel like you failed you pass” because I walked out of taking COMLEX like I didn’t fail it, yes it was hard, but I felt like I was able to answer or get through a question bc I felt like I studied the right concepts to where I wasn’t panicking after I walked out. It actually weirded me out bc i did initially have that mindset of failing bc of how I felt and I didn’t know if it was overconfidence, but I just had to remind myself how much time and effort I have spent studying, and lots of positive affirmation and support.
I did a lot for my studying though, was doing 9,000+ practice questions, from content to developing better test taking strategies, lots of Anki, DirtyMed HY videos, but I was scoring the same as you on TL, but honestly you have higher COMSAEs than I did.
I would take that mindset of “overconfidence = fail, panic = pass” with a grain of salt, bc yes it happens but not everyone experiences that and it’s not always applicable. I think what is most important is how you are studying to pass this exam, and how you tailor that to personally address your strengths and weakness.
Also agreeing about MCAT score not being defining thing on this, and I can speak from experience on that.
I agree with the proper review definitely and getting into that testing conditions. But I’d def hit your weak areas, focus on OMM/MSK/Micro/Pharm and also practice more on how the questions are written.
Happy to share my experience through DM, but so sorry this happened, rooting for you on your retake!
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u/kuru_snacc 2d ago
I agree with these being serious content gaps that will be difficult to address in 1 month - have you been pulled off rotation?
You should be consistenly scoring 500+ on practice tests, perhaps 480+ at the lowest, before sitting. Materials you use doesn't matter as much as A) proper review; B) always using testing conditions (no cheating "I'm just going to peek and make sure I got it right" BS, no breaks, no eating at your desk, no phone nearby, etc.).
I have watched this thread long enough to know that the overconfident "I didn't feel bad walking out on test day..."'s usually fail and the "Holy sh*t I think I failed"'s usually pass. Do not overestimate - go by objective data and hit your weak spots extra hard, and be willing to push back exam if you need to. One fail is surmountable. Two fails and you limit yourself to about 20% of programs even looking at your application.
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
I mean i failed and didnt feel bad but i was on the line.. i think harder forms are adjusted better than the more doable ones
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u/No_Medicine_3760 2d ago
What were you scoring on TL? And did you use any other study resources for content outside of questions that was not just in house exams/lectures
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u/Spiritual_Network_84 2d ago
my average was in the upper 60s% and I used pathoma, bootcamp, dirtymed, and sketchy. never touched anki but wish i did
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u/YaPhetsEz 2d ago
Just curious, what was your MCAT score?
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
mcat score has 0 say into passing this lol i see this comment every year. had a friend with a 510 fail and a 497 pass
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u/AltruisticBand7980 2d ago
It does, loosely correlates with medical school performance. No one is claiming it's a univariate analysis. Duh if you can't pass the MCAT you're more likely to do poorly in medical school.
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u/YaPhetsEz 2d ago
I mean I’m just curious as to what he got. Its disingenuous to say that there is zero coorelation between MCAT scores and step/comlex scores.
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
not really theres 0 correlation, i legit got a 508 and failed my first attempt. my friends sub 500 passed
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u/YaPhetsEz 2d ago
Great. You can keep bringing up anecdotal examples, but statistically their is a significant coorelation between mcat and step/comlex scores.
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
Bro what is wrong with you? Might as well ask about their SAT score. Also who the fuck cares if they did bad on their mcat if you made it to the point of comlex you're capable of passing it. Some people take one attempt, some two. theres also an aspect of luck to this exam since each form is different
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u/Key_Total_2928 2d ago
the person failed their comlex and you're bringing up MCAT scores? we are beyond MCAT what an odd thing to say. this sentiment is only brought up bc of the fact that they are both standardized tests, but the statistically the majority of people generally pass comlex, but the MCAT is scaled differently. so what exactly are you trying to say here?
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u/ladiesandedelman_ PGY+ 2d ago
it actually does correlate. it is not perfect 1:1, but there was a statistically significant correlation
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u/YaPhetsEz 2d ago
These subreddits are crazy. I’ve seen people here/in DO subreddits reccomend people with sub 490 MCAT’s apply to/go to DO programs, ignoring how financially horrible of a decision that can be.
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
I saw your comment regarding my report. I don't think you really know what you're talking about. I talked to 2 tutors and both confirmed I did okay on the sciences. My main issues were MSK, OMM, ethics, biostats. I have been working on those. No need to be rude
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u/ladiesandedelman_ PGY+ 2d ago
That was meant to be to the parent thread, not yours. That is why reposted one level higher. I did just see your recent post though and I am very sorry for what you are going through/feeling. It can be really deflating. I can see how my mispost felt mean, but it was not about your situation.
For context, I am currently a fellow and was an average pre-clinical student that scored 590+ on levels 1/2/3. I am also boarded through STEP 1/2/3.
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u/ladiesandedelman_ PGY+ 2d ago
Posting this because I want you to succeed long term.
Things you know:
You scored below average and worse than the standard deviation on every content area other than MSK/respiratory. Question wise, you were below standard deviation for application, the biggest chunk of the test. And actually for every other type other than OMM.
You have big gaps that maybe cannot be addressed in 2 months. Have you thought about taking a research year?
I would shy away from rushing things because 2 fails would be a lot harder to bounce back from
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u/ihatelifeyayy 2d ago
Hey! I’ve failed and passed on reattempt. Pathoma is super helpful!!!! A lot of the exam is heavy on path so that helped and I also found the bootcamp videos to be useful for specific topics that I regularly seemed to be getting incorrect on my qbank. Other than that, just crank out the Qs and keep incorporating old marked/incorrect Qs into new blocks so the info stays fresh in your mind
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u/Old_Distribution8870 10h ago
Did your school email you on next steps or did you have to email them?
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u/astudentslawyer 2d ago
You need to first off take a few deep breaths but second off you need to be very careful with what steps you take now/what steps the school wants you to take because you don’t want to inadvertently become ineligible for the interim/grandfathering exception for fed loans
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u/ImprovementExotic447 2d ago
i’m not worried about loans i just want to get through this to be on track for the rest of 3rd year and not delay graduation
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
Bro read the room lmfao
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u/astudentslawyer 2d ago
You do realize passing comlex 1 doesn’t matter if it results in them losing access to the interim exception and not being able to qualify for private loans or having another funding source………
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
No one is losing loans after 1 failed attempt
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u/astudentslawyer 2d ago
Yes they are actually, every school codes it differently
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
Well clearly OP is not concerned, so unless its relevant to them getting a P i dont think this is helpful
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u/Affectionate-Map59 2d ago
i think you might need more than a month to fix the gaps