About the Qbank Scoring Estimator

By popular demand, Kaplan Medical has created the Qbank Score Estimator to help you estimate your future USMLE score based upon your cumulative Qbank performance. The goal of the Estimator is to allow you to track your progress over time, and to provide you with feedback as you study and practice with the Kaplan Qbanks for Step 1 and Step 2 CK.

How was the Estimator developed?

Because the Qbank is immensely popular, and because its question pool is the broadest and deepest available, Kaplan is uniquely positioned to provide a correlation of Qbank-to-exam performance. The preliminary data used to develop the Estimator is part of our ongoing research to help students estimate future USMLE exam performance. As we continue to gather data, the Estimator will become even more predictive.

We pulled data from US Med students and created correlations to exam performance.

• The Kaplan Qbank is used by most 2nd year US medical students to prepare for Step 1.
• Furthermore, we have spent years surveying these students to learn how they scored on Test Day.
• Finally, we researched the Qbank performance of these students to correlate with their USMLE scores.

Could the Estimator overestimate or underestimate my score?

It could. If you would like a closer estimate of your USMLE score, we offer several simulated exams that are administered under, timed conditions. The Qbank is a customizable database of highly realistic, exam-like questions--but it is not a simulated exam administered under timed conditions.

Several factors distinguish the Qbank from a simulated exam, and these could lead our Estimator to over- or underestimate your score:

• Many students do not use the Qbank under timed conditions
• The Qbank is customizable, and some students customize their experience to emphasize only their weak areas (or sometimes their strong areas)
• Some students take Qbank questions in tutor mode, consult reference materials, or take questions more than once
• Some students study a great deal of content prior to using Qbank, or afterwards

Given these caveats, can the Estimator really estimate my USMLE score?

Yes. For all the above reasons, we initially hesitated to create the Estimator, but the passionate interest of students like you led us to create it. The Estimator has several factors that allow it to provide a useful estimate of your score.

• There are many more questions in the Kaplan Qbank than on a single USMLE exam. This large sample provides a strikingly clear inventory of your strengths and weaknesses.
• Qbank questions are in-format, and are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are very similar to the questions you'll see on Test Day.
• The Estimator has a standard deviation of (+) or (-) 16 points.

Your Qbank percentage, and estimated score, will likely grow more precise over time, and will increase as you review content, answer more questions across all subjects, see more topics, and gain familiarity with the exam format and content.