Failed MCCQE1, does anyone have an estimation of the raw passing score?

[rgu12]

Hey everyone, 

I unfortunately failed the MCCQE1 on my first write (211/400) and am looking to re-write. I should have prepared much more but a lot of my friends convinced me that it was an easy exam to pass and ended up not preparing as much as I should have. I was wondering if anyone had a rough estimation of what the raw passing score might be. In retrospect, I feel like I maybe got around 50-55% on my first try, just a total guess.

I know it's hard to gauge but just looking for an estimation, how you were doing on practice exams, and what your final score was. 

Appreciate it!

[GH0ST]

1. A score of 55% supposedly would get you closer towards the avg passmark which is one std dev below the mean (250) at 226/400 (+/- 24 for each std dev) 

2. with a score of 211, you're about over 1.5 std dev below the mean ... that means when you're looking from the leftmost tail you scored approximately in the bottom 5%tile. 

Putting 1 and 2 together... I have my doubts that you got over 50% 

That said, I do think I found my practice better than my actual exam mark but not by much... just less stress and pressure and feelings of unfamiliarity when practicing on your own. My score however was average. 

- G 

[jb24]

That sucks. I'm sorry that happened to you.

What I would recommend is reviewing Toronto Notes for some of the major topics (OB/Gyn, peds, and some FM/IM) - do this relatively quickly (ie. 2 weeks). But also use a qbank (ie. amboss, uworld, canadaqbank (this one kind of sucks)) for USMLE step 2 material. Do as many questions as you can on all major topics. Then do a practice MCC test.

You will pass.

I had around 80% on my practice tests and ended up with a 95%tile score on the exam.

 

 

[Vendar]

25 minutes ago, jb24 said:

That sucks. I'm sorry that happened to you.

What I would recommend is reviewing Toronto Notes for some of the major topics (OB/Gyn, peds, and some FM/IM) - do this relatively quickly (ie. 2 weeks). But also use a qbank (ie. amboss, uworld, canadaqbank (this one kind of sucks)) for USMLE step 2 material. Do as many questions as you can on all major topics. Then do a practice MCC test.

You will pass.

I had around 80% on my practice tests and ended up with a 95%tile score on the exam.

 

 

I would disagree a bit about Canada Q Bank.

Take this with a grain of salt - many of my friends and I did just the easy and medium MCQ questions (almost all topics - but less so in peds and IM) and we ended up passing. Our goal wasnt to get the highest score, but to pass, and it proved to be fast method to retain the knowledge needed for most basic questions 

[rgu12]

11 hours ago, GH0ST said:

1. A score of 55% supposedly would get you closer towards the avg passmark which is one std dev below the mean (250) at 226/400 (+/- 24 for each std dev) 

2. with a score of 211, you're about over 1.5 std dev below the mean ... that means when you're looking from the leftmost tail you scored approximately in the bottom 5%tile. 

Putting 1 and 2 together... I have my doubts that you got over 50% 

That said, I do think I found my practice better than my actual exam mark but not by much... just less stress and pressure and feelings of unfamiliarity when practicing on your own. My score however was average. 

- G 

I appreciate your thoughts. Wow, I must have actually done quite poorly. I'm a CMG and being in the bottom of the entire graduating class through Canada has been very humbling. I was wondering where you got 55% for being an estimated average pass mark. That would make sense, it's hard for me to imagine given how hard the exam was that >97% of CMGs would pass on their first go if the minimum passing grade was 65-70%.

[1D7]

I remember of my former classmates a few saying they weren't going to bother studying much because it was easy... In the end most of us did "the bare minimum" of at least reviewing Toronto Notes and doing a qbank.

You will feel like most of the studying is useless, but as you can see, even if it helps you out for 15-30 questions, that's the difference between a pass and fail.

[Intrepid86]

It's been several years since I did the exam, but just wanted to add that I thought Canada qbank was decent. It's not the general consensus on this board though.

[rgu12]

Thanks for everyone's input, I've seen one 55% as a possible estimate of the passing score, does anyone else have any idea?

[dooogs]

On 9/23/2022 at 10:45 PM, rgu12 said:

I appreciate your thoughts. Wow, I must have actually done quite poorly. I'm a CMG and being in the bottom of the entire graduating class through Canada has been very humbling. I was wondering where you got 55% for being an estimated average pass mark. That would make sense, it's hard for me to imagine given how hard the exam was that >97% of CMGs would pass on their first go if the minimum passing grade was 65-70%.

Also 70% is the pass score for a lot of CMGs for our school exams so I guess it’s what we are used to 

[shikimate]

The rationale for the 70% passing score is that supposedly the royal college exam passing score is 70% (unofficial, not verified)

[indefatigable]

Unfortunately, I don't think there's an easy "raw passing score" since the model it uses is quite complicated (Rasch) which means some question are scored harder than others (and weigh more) which allows different tests to administered and have the same scale reported (in theory).  The scoring function equation uses an estimated Rasch level and a linear equation which I put below for completeness 

Practically speaking, I'd suggest  also using official preparation material (both practice MCQ and full lengths) using results to guide your review and reviewing high yield material like ethics (e.g. https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/education-events/resident-education/additional-resident-resources).  Despite the complicated scoring system, generally 60-65% raw would probably be a passing score.  

There are other threads on the forum that you can check out.  Canada Qbank isn't very good, but if using  try to do the CDM questions too.  I think UWorld is overkill (a lot of material isn't tested on the MCCQE), but it's a good test bank (although expensive).  

https://h5a9c8a9.stackpathcdn.com/media/MCCQE-Part-I-Annual-Technical-Report-2019.pdf

 

[rgu12]

On 10/2/2022 at 10:48 AM, dooogs said:

Also 70% is the pass score for a lot of CMGs for our school exams so I guess it’s what we are used to 

UofT only I believe is 70%. Other schools are 60%. Why wouldn’t other schools go to 70%?

[rgu12]

On 10/2/2022 at 2:41 PM, shikimate said:

The rationale for the 70% passing score is that supposedly the royal college exam passing score is 70% (unofficial, not verified)

I’m pretty sure I got like below 50% on my first try and I scored 210. It’s hard for me to fathom that the difference between a 210 and 226 is 50% and 70%. 

[rgu12]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:52 PM, indefatigable said:

Unfortunately, I don't think there's an easy "raw passing score" since the model it uses is quite complicated (Rasch) which means some question are scored harder than others (and weigh more) which allows different tests to administered and have the same scale reported (in theory).  The scoring function equation uses an estimated Rasch level and a linear equation which I put below for completeness 

Practically speaking, I'd suggest  also using official preparation material (both practice MCQ and full lengths) using results to guide your review and reviewing high yield material like ethics (e.g. https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/education-events/resident-education/additional-resident-resources).  Despite the complicated scoring system, generally 60-65% raw would probably be a passing score.  

There are other threads on the forum that you can check out.  Canada Qbank isn't very good, but if using  try to do the CDM questions too.  I think UWorld is overkill (a lot of material isn't tested on the MCCQE), but it's a good test bank (although expensive).  

https://h5a9c8a9.stackpathcdn.com/media/MCCQE-Part-I-Annual-Technical-Report-2019.pdf

 

Thanks for your input. I’m hoping you’re right about the 60-65% benchmark for passing. It seems reasonable. 70% is quite insane, I remember my medical school exams bring much easier than the MCCQE and for 97% of CMGs to get over 70% seems like a bit too hard for me to appreciate. 

[indefatigable]

1 hour ago, rgu12 said:

Thanks for your input. I’m hoping you’re right about the 60-65% benchmark for passing. It seems reasonable. 70% is quite insane, I remember my medical school exams bring much easier than the MCCQE and for 97% of CMGs to get over 70% seems like a bit too hard for me to appreciate. 

Sure - no problem.  Another way to look at it - for med school and even RC tests can be scored on straightforward % because everyone writes the same test at the same time.  For the MCCQE, everybody writes a different version - maybe if one tests has only "easy" questions then the pass % might be higher (like above 65%).  But probably most of the time there's a mix of hard and easy questions so getting 60-65% is probably enough.  Checking how you can do on real practices under time conditions is key though!  Good luck.