When to take step 2

[ballstrangler69]

So I don't know when to take step 2. I've had different people tell me different things. Thus far, school wise I made decent preclinical grades, honors/A's in first 3 rotations (Peds, OB/GYN, Fam med) and have some ongoing research which should yield a paper.

My step was 257 and I can't tell if this is "good enough" to just hold out and take step after applications. I have to take it by December and so I'm not sure what the best plan is. I'm planning on taking it in July, but if it would be better to just hold off, I may opt for that. I'll take the medicine shelf in April and surgery in June.

I talked to a friend's dad who is on a residency board at a well known program who told me that their cutoff was the 90th percentile, which my score fits in, but he also told me of people who were scoring higher than me applying. A different doc at my home program told me that pretty much everyone has step 2 on their application and while not taking it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, it would be more like "why didn't he take it, is he trying to hide something". And other med students are telling me, why risk it if my step 1 was good enough.

Any insight would be valuable.

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[JJMrK]

I'd take it early. Get it out of the way, show programs you have nothing to hide and are confident in your ability to do well on a standardized test. It would also pretty painful to study for during sub-I season, and after that's over you're just going to want to relax.

 

[waitlist22]

I recommend taking it in July especially since you will be coming off IM and Surgery as the shelf is largely populated by questions from these clerkships. It will be fresh in your mind. You get it over with and won't have to study/take it while you are doing away rotations, applying, interviewing, etc. and then you can enjoy the rest of 4th year instead of having it hang over your head. Also, if you check out the program director surveys, which are available for every specialty, it appears step2 score isn't that big of a deal for ortho (you will have to double check) and that if you don't bomb it you should be fine. If you did that well on Step1 in terms of preparation, aptitude and intelligence then step2 should be no problem. If you are performing well on your shelf exams you will excel on step2.

As far as people applying with scores higher than you... of course there are people with higher scores than you, there will always be someone with higher steps, more ECs, more research etc. It doesn't mean that 257 doesn't leave you with an excellent and very high probability of matching into ortho. Just take step2 and be done with it. Most people applying for ortho programs have no problem with this exam.

 

[ballstrangler69]

Ok thanks guys, that's where I was leaning

 

[massmocha]

Ok thanks guys, that's where I was leaning

I agree that you should take it early, but I did not and had no trouble getting interviews with a similar step score. There are without question applicants that are applying with 260/270+. With a 257 and all honors (most importantly in Med & Surg) you will definitely get many invites. I didn't want to risk scoring lower on Step 2, so I played it safe and took Step 2 in November and released the score before some of my January interviews. Almost everyone scores higher if you get through QBank. If I had to do it over I probably would have taken it right after 3rd year, but I don't think it cost me anything in the interview process.