Bizarre advice

[Labslave]

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So after talking with one of the higher-ups in the radiology department at a "top tier" institution, I was shocked to hear that she strongly recommended taking Step II early on in the M4 year (despite scoring a 250+ on Step I). According to her, when evaluating an application, she often wonders why people haven't taken the exam yet - "Is it because they think Step I was a fluke? Could they not integrate and synthesize clinical knowledge?"

This strongly contradicts the advice given on here and on AM. My problem stems from the fact that this is my home institution and I would definitely be interested in matching here.

Has anyone else gotten this advice from the higher-ups? This seems ridiculous...I have no desire to take Step II early.

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

I heard the same thing from the PD of a top-tier program. So many people with good step I scores take step II early, that you really are at a disadvantage if you don't take it. Its another piece of information. Applicants like to think it doesn't mean anything, but its another data point, pure and simple.

If you have two applicants who are otherwise equal, but one of them has a 260+ step II and the other hasn't taken it, who are you going to go with? Of course, this is assuming that the program in question is comparing the merits of people with equally stratospheric step I scores, so logically not having a step II score will only be a potential problem at the top-tier programs.

I was told straight up by the above PD that she didn't like it that applicants delayed taking step II, and said it looked favorably on me that I had taken it. For whatever that's worth.

 

[Labslave]

I heard the same thing from the PD of a top-tier program. So many people with good step I scores take step II early, that you really are at a disadvantage if you don't take it. Its another piece of information. Applicants like to think it doesn't mean anything, but its another data point, pure and simple.

If you have two applicants who are otherwise equal, but one of them has a 260+ step II and the other hasn't taken it, who are you going to go with? Of course, this is assuming that the program in question is comparing the merits of people with equally stratospheric step I scores, so logically not having a step II score will only be a potential problem at the top-tier programs.

I was told straight up by the above PD that she didn't like it that applicants delayed taking step II, and said it looked favorably on me that I had taken it. For whatever that's worth.

Insanity. I wonder if we were talking to the same PD. 😉 I'm not necessarily worried about doing poorly on Step II but I just have a lot going on during the earlier part of the M4 year and hence would like to push it off until later.

Your argument does make logical sense. I might have to rethink my schedule...

Thanks for the response.

 

[hans19]

Insanity. I wonder if we were talking to the same PD. 😉 I'm not necessarily worried about doing poorly on Step II but I just have a lot going on during the earlier part of the M4 year and hence would like to push it off until later.

Your argument does make logical sense. I might have to rethink my schedule...

Thanks for the response.

Unless its a general trend for applicants to take Step II before 4th year, I wouldn't do it. Especially if you rocked a 250+ on Step I

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I did 250+ Step 1 and took Step II early (school policy.) During my interviews it was either:

A) Never commented on.

B) Asked why I'd taken it so early with a good Step 1.

(I improved, BTW)

 

[Amxcvbcv]

I did well on Step 1 (232) and took Step 2 CK early (June 27) to get it out of the way. I did not improve, but I don't think it had much affect on my application. (In my defense, I did not prepare properly, but I only had one person ask me about it on the interview trail, and it was the PD that worked with me on an away and wrote me a recommendation letter.)


I still stand by the advice I was given, which is just get it out of the way. Take it more seriously than I did, though, and give it some real prep time. 😛 It didn't help that I was getting in the car the next day for a 2-day drive or that I only had 4 days off after my last 3rd year rotation. 😉

 

[UCLAstudent]

I did 250+ Step 1 and took Step II early (school policy.) During my interviews it was either:

A) Never commented on.

B) Asked why I'd taken it so early with a good Step 1.

(I improved, BTW)

Ditto.

 

[Labslave]

Thanks for the responses, guys and gals. Almost everyone I know went up on Step II and this year's class average was a 241, so I'm definitely picking up what you're putting down. 😉 I'm just more concerned with whether or not I'll have the time to actually study for the stupid thing earlier on in the year. I feel like I should at least dedicate two weeks of solid studying time to it...and that's two weeks that I won't have...and don't want to have. 🙂

 

[PublicEnemy]

My impression is that it will not really hurt you to take it later. Seriously the most important thing is to have your application in early. A ton of the interview invites come in the first few weeks, and honestly by that time very very few 4th years have taken and received their scores back. Now some programs do wait til later to send off invites and some, probably a minority, will wait til after the dean's letters are available on nov. 1st, so those programs may factor in step 2 score more so than others just because there may be more applicants that have a step 2 score available by then. Also, even after the interview process when it comes to ranking people programs may factor in the step 2 as was mentioned since its another "data point"

All in all I wouldn't reccommend it with a 250+ score. If you're really thinking about taking it early, I would reccommend taking Step 2 only relatively early, like if you take it in September or October, your application will already be in, then you have the option of seeing your Step 2 score before deciding if you want programs to see it or not. If you rock it, you can release it, but if you don't, USMLE gives you the option of not resending your scores, so the programs you applied to will just have your Step 1 and from those programs view it'll just look like you're just one of the many waiting til later to take it.

 

[jpro]

If you do take it early then set a date for step II before interviews start. Don't fool yourself thinking you can study on the plane, hotel, .... The problem is if you are doing many away rotations and if tour school has tougher MS4 core requirements then it will be challenging to take it early. We had guys from my class match to top tier school and took step II after interviews but I'm sure that the scores were in before programs made the match lists.

 

[UCLAstudent]

If you do take it early then set a date for step II before interviews start. Don't fool yourself thinking you can study on the plane, hotel, .... The problem is if you are doing many away rotations and if tour school has tougher MS4 core requirements then it will be challenging to take it early. We had guys from my class match to top tier school and took step II after interviews but I'm sure that the scores were in before programs made the match lists.

Good point. I had originally planned to take Step 2 in December, but once interviews started coming in during September, I realized how big of a time commitment interviewing would be. I ended up taking the test in October and am so glad that I did. It would have been really hard to study during interview season!

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

Good point. I had originally planned to take Step 2 in December, but once interviews started coming in during September, I realized how big of a time commitment interviewing would be. I ended up taking the test in October and am so glad that I did. It would have been really hard to study during interview season!

I'll third that advice. I took it in September because it was strongly suggested that I do it early, while I still remember anything at all about medicine. Had I tried to study for it during interview season, it would not have happened. I shudder to think of studying for Step II right now. Horrifying, just horrifying.

No offense to anyone out there, but its so much easier to do well on Step II than Step I, I can't imagine your score dropping if you put time into it, even if you're sitting on a 250+ Step I. So I would advise people to look at it as an opportunity to get a solid score down before interview season.

 

[penguin24]

Word on the streets is that the sooner u take Step II, the higher the score, which makes sense b/c 4th year electives usually have no Step 2 material & your knowledge will dwindle away.

 

[OHMAN0125]

Word on the streets is that the sooner u take Step II, the higher the score, which makes sense b/c 4th year electives usually have no Step 2 material & your knowledge will dwindle away.

Dont know about that, unless you had a chance to finish USMLEWORLD. That's all I did and Step 2 CK was eerily similar.