COMSAE vs. COMLEX, How does the practice test correlate to the real deal?
COMSAEs are one of the most popular COMLEX preparation tools available for medical students, however they have several key issues. First, they do not provide correct and incorrect answers. The exams do not give explanations for each question, and there is no known scoring or COMSAE to COMLEX score comparison. This makes these tests some of the least useful exams to gauge your readiness for COMLEX, however students still use them simply because they are one of the only COMLEX preparation options available. In this article we outline some of the common questions students ask about COMSAEs, and how you can use them appropriately for your COMLEX preparation.
How do COMSAE scores relate to COMLEX scores?
Trying to use your COMSAE score to predict your future COMLEX score is like comparing apples to oranges. The COMSAE exam scores are highly variable and not very predictive of your actual COMLEX score. However COMSAE exams are good to use for two things when preparing for COMLEX.
Question Format
The first takeaway you should have from taking a COMSAE is the question format. The questions on COMLEX are notorious for being very long, very short, and/or very vague. Trying to read through a question stem that is 9 lines long, with labs, can be very time consuming and be an easy way to be crunched for time during the last few questions of your block. Extremely short, 1-2 sentence questions can also be very vague, leaving students unsure of what the question is actually asking and therefore how to answer it. Becoming comfortable with these types of questions takes time and practice, and the COMSAEs will give you plenty of practice with these, somewhat poorly written, question formats.
Likelihood to Pass
The second item you should takeaway from the COMSAEs is whether you are able to pass COMLEX. While COMSAE scores are not accurate predictors of your actual COMLEX score, they are more reliable in predicting whether you will pass the COMLEX or not. Most schools will require students to pass a COMSAE with a score of 450 before being able to sit for COMLEX. The reason for this is because if you are able to pass a COMSAE with a significant amount of extra points (50 points in this example), then the likelihood of you passing COMLEX is relatively high. Because of this you should use your COMSAE exams to gauge your ability to pass the COMLEX, and 2-3 COMSAE exam scores in the 450+ range should give you great odds at passing COMLEX, and several consistent scores in the 500+ range indicate your are very unlikely to fail COMLEX.
Assess Strengths & Weaknesses
Finally, you can use the final score report to assess your strengths and weaknesses. As we previously mentioned, the COMSAE scores are not great indicators of how well you will perform on COMLEX. Using the score report to determine which areas you have performed well on and which areas you need to put more time into studying can be very helpful in directing your next steps. Ultimately the COMSAE exams are an imperfect way to assess your readiness to take COMLEX, but with many schools requiring students to attain a minimum score, it is likely you will be required to take at least one form. Use the exams to guide your individual section readiness and likelihood to pass COMLEX, but understand that the 3 digit score is not an exact science and does not have a strong correlation with your score on COMLEX.
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