Advice: Taking Step 2 before 4th year!!

[USMELL]

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Okay, I have a weird schedule, and I won't have taken Surgery and OB/GYN till end of 3rd year and beginning of 4th year. Since I have electives now, I was thinking of taking Step 2 CK. Do you think it is a bad idea to take Step 2 before finishing 3rd year course work, or would intense studying and practice questions, help me do well. Another reason is I want to go into a competitive residency, and getting a good Step 2 score early might help, but I don't want to screw up my chances with a poor showing. My Step 1 was in the 220's and while my 1st and second year grades were just average, my 3rd year grades have been really good. Okay, sorry to spill all that out, but any advice, tips on step 2, what are my chances for a competitive residency etc. would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[USMELL]

Okay, I have a weird schedule, and I won't have taken Surgery and OB/GYN till end of 3rd year and beginning of 4th year. Since I have electives now, I was thinking of taking Step 2 CK. Do you think it is a bad idea to take Step 2 before finishing 3rd year course work, or would intense studying and practice questions, help me do well. Another reason is I want to go into a competitive residency, and getting a good Step 2 score early might help, but I don't want to screw up my chances with a poor showing. My Step 1 was in the 220's and while my 1st and second year grades were just average, my 3rd year grades have been really good. Okay, sorry to spill all that out, but any advice, tips on step 2, what are my chances for a competitive residency etc. would be appreciated.

thanks

 

[manta]

Personally, I would wait. Step 2 was in a way easier than Step 1 because between patient care and shelf exams, we study for it all of third year. A lot of the questions are concerning basic patient management, and it helps if you've done it (or seen it done) before.

What month will you be finished? I took Step 2 late-ish (October), but my Step 1 score was good enough for what I'm applying for. If your Step 1 score will be a liability for you, then you may want to consider taking it early enough that your Step 2 score will be on you application.

Good luck!

 

[lord_jeebus]

I think it's a bad idea. If you take it early (ie. before January of 4th year), you should be targeting the highest score possible. The best prep for OB/Gyn and Surgery questions on 2CK are the shelf exams in those subjects.

 

[USMELL]

I think it's a bad idea. If you take it early (ie. before January of 4th year), you should be targeting the highest score possible. The best prep for OB/Gyn and Surgery questions on 2CK are the shelf exams in those subjects.

I was worried about that, but what if I do lots of questions on those topics, won't that help?

 

[USMELL]

Okay, I have a weird schedule, and I won't have taken Surgery and OB/GYN till end of 3rd year and beginning of 4th year. Since I have electives now, I was thinking of taking Step 2 CK. Do you think it is a bad idea to take Step 2 before finishing 3rd year course work, or would intense studying and practice questions, help me do well. Another reason is I want to go into a competitive residency, and getting a good Step 2 score early might help, but I don't want to screw up my chances with a poor showing. My Step 1 was in the 220's and while my 1st and second year grades were just average, my 3rd year grades have been really good. Okay, sorry to spill all that out, but any advice, tips on step 2, what are my chances for a competitive residency etc. would be appreciated.

thanks

Bueller, Bueller, anyone anyone .......EChoooooooooooooooooo 🙂

 

[lord_jeebus]

So strange, I thought I replied to this but apparently I didn't.

Don't do it. You need strong Surgery and OB/Gyn background to maximize your score. I see no advantage to taking it this early. As long as you do it by October it will be seen in time for residency interview invitations.

 

[CanIMakeIt]

So strange, I thought I replied to this but apparently I didn't.

Don't do it. You need strong Surgery and OB/Gyn background to maximize your score. I see no advantage to taking it this early. As long as you do it by October it will be seen in time for residency interview invitations.

I second that....i haven't taken step 2 yet but surgery and ob-gyn are important for ck ... waiting a few months is not going to make your chances go one way or the other.....take the test by september begining and the programs will still have your scores before they download your application on Nov 1st (or at least that is the day when programs download Dean's letter)

Good Luck

 

[Blade28]

In most cases, you should be taking Step 2 CK early only if you're looking to improve upon a not-quite-stellar Step 1 score. You definitely don't want to do worse.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I guess my question is, what do you think you will gain from taking it now instead of sometime between September and December?

 

[MadameLULU]

Merging with the same thread OP started in another forum.

 

[Acherona]

So strange, I thought I replied to this but apparently I didn't.

Don't do it. You need strong Surgery and OB/Gyn background to maximize your score. I see no advantage to taking it this early. As long as you do it by October it will be seen in time for residency interview invitations.

In 2009, Nov 1 is a Saturday, is this still the dean's letter download date?

When is the latest I can take the exam so that the score is available Nov 1? 3 weeks? 4 weeks? Is it better to take it on a Wednesday?

 

[Rogue_Leader]

In 2009, Nov 1 is a Saturday, is this still the dean's letter download date?

When is the latest I can take the exam so that the score is available Nov 1? 3 weeks? 4 weeks? Is it better to take it on a Wednesday?

The scores for the CS are released depending on which block you take them in. Here is the score release dates for 2007 and 2008 (2009 hasn't been released yet).

http://www.usmle.org/Examinations/step2/step2cs_reporting.html

If you want to guarantee that your score is available before Nov 1, you should take it before September. Even though they say that score release for that period that period can extend into early November, I think most people get their results right on the first day of the score release period (I had mine at 10 minutes after midnight on the first day). If you want to be 100% positive that you'll have your score before November 1, then you'll have to take it by mid-July.

 

[USMELL]

The scores for the CS are released depending on which block you take them in. Here is the score release dates for 2007 and 2008 (2009 hasn't been released yet).

http://www.usmle.org/Examinations/step2/step2cs_reporting.html

If you want to guarantee that your score is available before Nov 1, you should take it before September. Even though they say that score release for that period that period can extend into early November, I think most people get their results right on the first day of the score release period (I had mine at 10 minutes after midnight on the first day). If you want to be 100% positive that you'll have your score before November 1, then you'll have to take it by mid-July.

thanks. Did anyone else feel that the practical knowledge from Ob and surgery helped them on step 2 ck?

 

[Rogue_Leader]

thanks. Did anyone else feel that the practical knowledge from Ob and surgery helped them on step 2 ck?

Oh yes. OB and Surgery are very important on in the CK. I wouldn't recommend taking the CK before having taken those rotations. Studying for those shelf exams are really the core of studying for the CK portions of those subjects. Unless you're going to spend a solid week or 2 studying each of those subjects before taking the shelf, I'd wait until 4th year before taking the CK.

 

[USMELL]

thanks all for posting, so going over this again, the latest one can take the test so that it can be available for programs to download would be early to mid september, so scores will be out by October in time for Nov 1st. Question is do all programs wait till Nov 1st before deciding who to send interviews too or do they have access to applications before then?

 

[Kubed]

I'm taking my step 2 this month (in 18 days actually) but only becasue I've finished all my core rotations, I've killed all my end of the month exams, and I've got the time to study for it. I can't imagine studying for this exam without having been though all the rotations.