1 performance found that "Step 1 is neither precise nor does it predict student performance as residents beyond a certain threshold. With a standard error of eight points, two applicants with scores as far as 15 points apart may not be meaningfully different and yet several programs use singular cutoff points as screening tools." This, as well as the impact on student learning, cost of preparation, diversion of student time toward exam preparation, and desire to decrease racial bias, are amongst the reasons that the USMLE switched to Pass/Fail reporting of Step 1 at the beginning of 2022. Controversies Converting to Pass/Fail Scoring See Support for USMLE changes and Objection to USMLE changes in Changes to Step 1 scoring. USMLE response to COVID-19 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USMLE and NBME were met with criticism from some members of the medical community, including the American Medical Association (AMA), for miscommunication, delays and lack of flexibility during the COVID-19 global pandemic. They were also criticized for reducing the length of the exam at newly established testing centers in some U.S. medical schools to be able to accommodate more students for testing as those changes would diminish the standardization of the tests. There were concerns that these issues would lead to many applicants having incomplete applications during the 2021 match season which would then negatively affect the ability of program directors to effectively evaluate candidates. Prometric eventually added testing sites at some medical schools and re-opened testing centers with new safety protocols. USMLE also reverted the announced changes to the exams length. To accommodate these changes, the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) adjusted the application timeline to allow students an additional month to submit their applications. Experimental Questions On June 4, 2020, the USMLE announced a plan to administer tests at medical schools throughout the nation, but that these exams would notably lack experimental questions, while exams administered at testing centers during the same time period would still have these experimental questions. These experimental questions accounted for 80 of the 280 on the exam, which would have led to the decreasing the total test taking time from 7–8 hours to 5–6 hours. Some commenters expressed concerns since this practice would have "destandardized" the text and test-takers would have been "experimented" on without consent. The USMLE ultimately reverted the announced changes to the exams length,. Katsufrakis & Chaudhry comments on Step 1 changes