August 14 Step 2 CS results

[Monkey Jones]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to wish everyone luck that will be getting results tomorrow on Step 2 CS. I know this exam is rough with the new passing margins. Hopefully we all pass. Gather here and share your results once you get them!

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[ipizzy]

I dunno if that's true. I only listened to to
Two places on heart, two places for lungs and definitely waited about one half a second before moving to the next maneuver.

I also did a pretty shoddy exam, definitely didn't auscultate for 3 sec in each location still passed. No one truly knows how they grade the exam, everything on the internets is pure speculation...

 

[Transposony]

It's not speculation, it's Kaplan.

 

[ipizzy]

It's not speculation, it's Kaplan.

Kaplan makes money by telling people to be overly detailed because it's a safe bet; of course people who are overly thorough are going to pass the exam. Clearly you don't need to do everything Kaplan lists to pass (I sure didn't). I don't think they have insider knowledge about how CS is graded.

 

[Esprit00]

It's not speculation, it's Kaplan.

Agreed. It was in the first 80 pages of Kaplan Step 2 CS Core Cases which I think should be mandatory reading for anyone about to take the exam even if you ignore the cases themselves.

 

[Transposony]

I have read on various USMLE forums lot of people who fail CS but don't know the reason.
Above I just explained the reasons why they might have failed. Just because some people get away with it doesn't mean that it is okey to go for CS underprepared i.e. to do an inadequate PE.
I also explained how much the "likeness" factor matters in this particular test being a subjective test. So, if the SP likes you then they might ignore your mistakes and give you the points on the "checklist" despite doing an inadequate PE.
IMHO I would rather go overprepared than underprepared for a test and not rely on luck to pass but YMMV.

 

[ipizzy]

Agreed, better to be overprepared but I wouldn't want to give people the impression that they'll certainly lose points for not auscultating a full 3 seconds. It just fuels anxiety for people who have taken the test and didn't do their exams to that standard. I just don't think there's a way for us to know how CS is graded.

 

[Transposony]

First of all, I have no choice but to believe Kaplan due to lack of any other authentic source.
Secondly, it is not my intention by posting here to increase anxiety for people who have already taken the test but to help people who are preparing for this test.
The good thing about CS is that you don't have be 100% and can still pass comfortably. I certainly wasn't and passed with high performance in all 3 components.
But the days of passing this test just by talking good English certainly seems to be over.

 

[Ronin786]

First of all, I have no choice but to believe Kaplan due to lack of any other authentic source.
Secondly, it is not my intention by posting here to increase anxiety for people who have already taken the test but to help people who are preparing for this test.
The good thing about CS is that you don't have be 100% and can still pass comfortably. I certainly wasn't and passed with high performance in all 3 components.
But the days of passing this test just by talking good English certainly seems to be over.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Whenever I told someone that I was talking CS, there response was "You speak English and you look like you know something about medicine, you'll pass". Granted I only studied for a few days and managed to pass, but I feel a lot more is involved.