COMLEX II August or January

[prwunecom]

I would be interested to hear when people feel it is the best time to take step 2. I realize this is a personal decision, but I am just gathering input to help make the decision.

Thanks.

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[DrQuinn]

I took COMLEX Step 2 in January of 4th year... I did very well on Step 1, and didn't want to jeopardize my application to residency (I applied to MD EM residencies only). If you are looking for a non competitive residency, then it doesn't matter when you take it.

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[prwunecom]

I am planning to apply for a Psychiatry residency.....I am a D.O. student who had to take Step I twice, and while I feel that I would really like to get Step II out of the way in August, I am afraid of not doing well enough and jeapordizing my residency applications. Thus at this point I amleaning toward taking it in January, but then I worry about the possibility of having to retake it in my intern year.

 

[DrQuinn]

You're stuck... here's why:

I thought COMLEX 2 was so much easier than COMLEX 1 (scored a 99%ile on 2, 93% on 1), and studied much less (like most of my counterparts). If you can set up easy rotations in July/August, you should do okay...

Psych isn't terribly competitive whatsoever... I was interested in psych (as a backup to EM, but never applied or researched it thoroughly), and did a second month of Psych as an elective. The attending told me "if you have a heartbeat, you'll get an interview." Now that's not to say you could get into Columbia or Harvard, but most programs I think would be open to having DOs...

that being said, it doesn't sound too important to do well on your board scores to get Psych interviews...

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