Best Time to Take Step II

[kcumb10]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Here is my dilemma, I want to take step 2 early and get it over with, so I have it scheduled for June 10th, but at the same time I fee like I haven't studied that much my 3rd year so I'm afraid my score will go down...now I've heard some pple say to take it late so the scores are not in by match day, but then I contacted a few programs and they said they need a step 2 score b4 match day??? Can anyone clear this up for me and tell me what the best thing to do is?

 

[Law2Doc]

Here is my dilemma, I want to take step 2 early and get it over with, so I have it scheduled for June 10th, but at the same time I fee like I haven't studied that much my 3rd year so I'm afraid my score will go down...now I've heard some pple say to take it late so the scores are not in by match day, but then I contacted a few programs and they said they need a step 2 score b4 match day??? Can anyone clear this up for me and tell me what the best thing to do is?

For US educated applicants, most specialties don't require Step 2 scores prior to match day. For a few competitive specialties, however, the Step 2 is required before match day. (Folks going into ortho and gas seemed to need the scores earlier.) And for all IMGs/FMGs the Step 2 is going to be required as part of the residency application. Additionally, some suggest that if your Step 1 is low, you can partially redeem yourself with a high Step 2 that is in by application time. If you time it right, you get to decide after seeing the score whether you want to release it to residencies, which is win-win. So you have to decide which category you are in, in terms of needing step 2 earlier. One consideration is that some med schools require Step 2 to graduate, and all residencies will require you to pass the thing before you start, so you may want to take it early enough that if things don't go your way you have time to retake before the residency starts.