Failed COMLEX 2 PE and applying ACGME psych

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microshar88

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Hi,
So I intend to apply to ACGME psychiatry and I failed COMLEX 2 PE (humanistic portion). I feel awful about it and I have no idea what went wrong since my OSCE's at school gave me high scores on my interpersonal skills part of their evaluations.

I am waiting on COMLEX 2CE scores and I have not taken any USMLE exam.

That aside, what are my chances of matching into a decent Psychiatry program anywhere? Will this be a big hindrance to my application. I feel that they may think that I must have awful interpersonal skills based on failing an exam that >95% of people pass.

Should I try to write a note saying I'm scheduled to retake? Should I explain it in my PS or make an addendum anywhere?

I'm honestly not lying when I say I have no idea how I failed the humanistic domain. If I would fail this exam it would have been because of my notes, I wish I would get some feedback on this. But nonetheless I'm due for a retake.

Thanks for any advice.

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Having a failure on PE is tough given the #s who pass. A lot of programs will likely hold off inviting you until they see a pass. You best option is to schedule it quickly and then to make some kind of note in your PS about what happened/what you plan to do about it (I do not think there is anywhere else that you can do such a thing). Also does your school require you to pass PE in order to graduate? If it does not, the consequences for getting invited might be less.
 
Having a failure on PE is tough given the #s who pass. A lot of programs will likely hold off inviting you until they see a pass. You best option is to schedule it quickly and then to make some kind of note in your PS about what happened/what you plan to do about it (I do not think there is anywhere else that you can do such a thing). Also does your school require you to pass PE in order to graduate? If it does not, the consequences for getting invited might be less.

I wish I could tell you why I did not pass. It's not helpful when all I get in my score report is:

Biomedical domain: PASS
Humanistic domain: FAIL

During all my OSCE's I received good reviews on interpersonal skills. I won't get a pass on the 2nd attempt until December 10th. By that time, I'm sure most programs will have finished interviewing.

My school does require a pass to graduate. But I don't think I'm likely to fail on attempt #2.

Honestly, if you were to ask my classmates and some of the faculty, I'm probably one of the most soft-spoken and nicest kids in our class. The only possible thing I can think of is that I was tired and did not speak loud enough. Will drawing attention to this in the PS make me sound like I'm making excuses?

I genuinely wish there was something I could do to erase this in a timely fashion, but there isn't.
 
I don't know if there is any point to this... but may be I can ask the director of OSCE's to maybe write an LOR for me? I mean this person was supervising all the OSCE's and he failed some people. However, I was never one of those that failed his OSCE's and yet I failed the COMLEX PE. I'm checking relentlessly and nothing is available.
 
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