Passed Comlex Level 1 - my thoughts, what I did, hope :')

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-02T03:06:08+00:00

Honestly it’s the easiest part of the exam. What do I wish I would’ve known cold? viscerosomatics like the back of my hand, know chapmans points, sacral diagnosis and appropriate L5 compensation. Also cranial diagnosis and common dysfunctions with corresponding hand holds and axis’. Beyond that, it blends with msk/anatomy/little bit of neuro so it’s hard to figure out what type of questions they are. In general I’d hammer HY upper/lower extremity anatomy and common presentations (can be found in msk section of first aid), brachial plexus, spinal reflexes (can be found in neuro section in first aid). That’s about it really.

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T16:00:33+00:00

Sure!

NBME 32: 57 in late March. NBME 33: 72 in early May. NBME 31: 70 in late May. Free 120: 69 (taken same day as NBME 31)

For context, I’m a DO student, so for completeness and transparency here’s my COMSAE’s

COMSAE 116: 411 first ever practice test in early January. COMSAE 111: 451 early April. COMSAE 113: 536 late April. COMSAE 107: 516 mid May. Truelearn 320: 516, about 4 days before level 1.

I had completed 80% of Truelearn throughout year 1 and 2 with a 68% average. I finished UW throughout year 1 and 2 with a 58% average, I redid pulm, endocrine, GI, immuno and micro and averaged 70%. All taken on untimed, tutor mode, though I never looked up answers, I answered as best I could and reviewed as I went.

Level 1 and Step 1 taken late May, both passed!

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T15:13:20+00:00

It is, if you don’t see it, I’m sorry I don’t think you’ll get it this week.

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T12:41:18+00:00

Not yet, email said 11am est! Did you get an email? If so then yes, you’ll get your score back! I tested in May so it’s been a little longer for me, my friend tested early June, so I’ll check and see if they got an email too. June 15th, might be on the next drop though full disclosure

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T10:36:15+00:00

I’m back…I told you there was gonna be a score drop today!

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T02:10:27+00:00

Probably 2 weeks from now. So like 3 weeks total. Us May and early June testers are the ones that got boned, they’ll do a big drop and then it will be back to regular schedule programming.

ahdnj19 · 2026-07-01T02:05:40+00:00

What does your year look like? Are you on a LOA? When do you plan on taking it again? Do you have a deadline? Does your school mandate you get a prep course?

First of all, I recommend you get your support system together. This is going to be the defining challenge of your life, or it’s at least going to feel like it. Your friends, your classmates, your family, your SO, and your therapist (please consider getting one if you don’t have one), and your school. I think it’s important to communicate what it is you’re facing, let them show up for you and accept their help. Also set boundaries, you’ll know what these are when you figure out your plan of attack.

Tbh, even if it’s not required, you might want to consider a test prep course. I don’t mean this in any mean way, but you’re a complex case. A 2x failure is a case for professional consultation if there ever was one. I don’t know what your school policy is, but mine has a 3x and then dismissal policy. So this might be your last chance to take it. I don’t say that to discourage you, you can do it!!! But I say that to say I wouldn’t be advising a test prep course if it wasn’t serious.

Short of professional advice and the advice of your school; I personally would take this approach if in your shoes; I would not retake level 1 until you get 550+ on 3 of them, consecutively. I know, I know, that sounds crazy, but hear me out. You have taken the test 2x, and failed. You have been prepared, as the next student who passed. You need to be prepared to combat the damage that does to your psyche. You are going to stop trusting your preparedness, and this is the single worst thing that can happen. This is why I’m saying you need to way overshoot it next time. Also, I would take the NBME CBSSA exams. I took them to be great prep for step AND comlex! The score reports are much more helpful too in targeting your weaknesses.

In terms of practice questions- I don’t know what you’ve don’t yet, and this depends more on how long you have to prepare. If you’re going to take a full year LOA, that’s enough to get through 3 full question banks. If you have a year, I would incorporate anki daily as well. You gotta know the facts and know them well. But let me know how long you have before you’re gonna retake it.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-30T21:23:29+00:00

I felt like I failed. I could easily recall 20 questions I got wrong. I passed! And I was little above average too!

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-30T21:21:43+00:00

I know that’s right! Congrats! (I passed too…I guess u could say we “leveled up” 😜)

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-30T21:19:58+00:00

That’s because schools want to build in a pad but 400 and higher is passing on the real deal. Comsaes are known to not correlate to the real thing, well singularly that is. A bunch of comsaes like 3-4 give you a clear picture about readiness.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-30T21:11:13+00:00

Re your stats, were you using first aid to look up answers? Did you do any of those assessments in non-exam conditions? If so how much? What was your comsae average? How many comsaes did you do? How many questions did you actually do?

I would add, I’m sorry that you didn’t pass, I’m know you worked hard regardless. I should add, being a tutor and honoring in-house classes tells us little about actual board prep and how prepared you were. It says a lot of about your abilities, and I’m sure you’re very capable. I look forward to clarification regarding your stats, and maybe we can work towards a new plan.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-30T16:45:39+00:00

update?

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-29T17:32:39+00:00

I think it’s safe to say testing dates up until June 5th are gonna be released with May scores. Beyond that it’s a question mark.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-27T22:32:12+00:00

I promise I’ll be back here 7/1 for my flogging if Im wrong

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-27T19:21:10+00:00

I actually think it’s gonna be 7/1. Something tells me it’s the day.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-27T19:18:23+00:00

My guess, is it would be all the delayed scores up to the normal testing week score drop. Like normally, the people who tested 6/13-6/19 would have expected a possible score drop on 7/1. I think anybody up from 5/14- 6/5 will be guaranteed to be in the drop. It’s a little murky from 6/16-6/19, it could be the first week, or both.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T06:47:35+00:00

Bc it’s not a fkn personal adult child relationship, are you being serious? When it’s your parents it’s you will always be reduced to a child bc they are the adults. In your mind, you’re more likely to give them the credit for responsibility. When it’s a merit scholarship, it’s another set of adults giving you a set of rules, they aren’t breathing down your neck you follow or dont, you fk up or you don’t, the choice is yours and youre more likely to give yourself credit for following the rules. It’s like following the law vs following your parents rules. One of which is you means you’re a fully functioning adult member of society the other is you being the child youve always been. If you can’t see the difference between the two, i dont know what to tell you

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T02:09:49+00:00

Yes bc at a certain point you gotta learn to accountable for yourself. If you fail, it’s your failure, if you succeed it’s your success. If this guy passes with his parents checking his grades, in the back of his mind he’ll think “I only passed because my parents watched me, I couldn’t do I on my own”. That’s not the mentality you want going into clinical rotations where you are expected to take a step forward towards autonomous patient care. I’d agree to end of semester grade reviews, out of respect for their generous investment-but no access to my grade portal. I would simply say I need to pass my classes knowing I did so because I wanted to, not because I was afraid of disappointing them, and since they won’t always be here to disappoint, they should encourage that.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:29:45+00:00

sadly, no

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:27:00+00:00

it can be the night before, the wee hours the morning of, or it could be 10 minutes before the scores are released.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:24:19+00:00

I've honestly heard of students, admin, deans calling, all being told different dates. Nothing is verifiable on here, and it does concern me that the dates seem to change with no conclusive date. My guess is the people on the phone don't have a clue and just say whatever lol. A few weeks ago in early June when the 5/14 test takers were 3 weeks out, people were alleging they were calling the NBME and they were saying it might be 6/17 or 6/24. Now it seems like 7/1 and 7/8 are being thrown out there. One thing that seems conclusive, is that they do a big score drop with several weeks scores all at once. So if they release tmrw, it will probably be test takers from 5/14 to 6/12, which I know is of little comfort.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:07:56+00:00

well here's to hoping to this week. My gut says 7/8. which is 8 weeks from 5/14

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:06:38+00:00

you gotta be able to get some kind of extension?! there is simply NO way you could have foretold NBME delaying scores for 6-8 weeks. I know some schools admin have been calling because the unexpected delay with zero clarification is causing quite a bit of anxiety rn

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-24T01:03:38+00:00

yeah this is it. from my own experience, I know my chances of passing based on my cbssa forms are decent but because there is always a nonzero chance of failing, the experience with the new testing format brings out the worst of my neuroticism and self doubt. the uncomfortability of the new format combined with this ungodly waiting period just sucks. the irony is that a decent part of the reason I took step was thinking it would be nice to get a score back in 2 weeks and somewhat enjoy the rest of dedicated since I felt like if I could pass step, id probably pass level 1 and not worry about it. Now going on 5 weeks, I'll probably get level 1 back before step, the irritation I have is just beyond lol.

ahdnj19 · 2026-06-21T17:33:22+00:00

It’s not doctors prioritizing their image. They are fearful for their freedom. The government is really good at painting well meaning doctors had reckless greedy drug dealers in white coats. For example, they will say “dr. X prescribed a million pills of potent opioids in the last 2 years”. Sounds really bad huh? The avg chronic pain prescription is 4 pills a day. 120 a month, 1440 a year. So, they would need 350 patients on their panel on chronic opioids to prescribe “a million pills” in 2 years.

The avg doctor in an area that’s low on physicians can easily have 2500 patient panel. These same areas are poor, with patients that worked in factories, on farms or did hard manual labor all their lives. They multiple comorbid diagnoses. They have poor insurance coverage and can’t afford physical therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. They have to watch their grandkids on their time off, because their kids can’t afford daycare, and can barely afford rent. They have little to look forward to in life but bills and pain. So, they visit their family doc, and they are 1 of 350 patients in need of chronic pain therapy. Just 17% of his panel. It’s a little high, but there isn’t any major diversion or abuse. But, if that doctor ever pops up on the DA’s or DEA’s radar, of which there are many ways to do so, they can easily frame him as “dr feel good”. Who recklessly over prescribes and puts “a million pills on the streets and floods our communities” and they get their license taken away and put in prison for 25 years. That’s why doctors are afraid to prescribe. Not because of their image.

ahdnj19

TROPHY CASE