Do the Step 2 boards matter as long as you pass?

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hucm2009

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Hi all, I was just wondering if the step 2 boards matter because everyone is always talking about how much they slack 4th year. Is it because you are already accepted into a residency program by the time you take them or what? thanks
 
hucm2009 said:
Hi all, I was just wondering if the step 2 boards matter because everyone is always talking about how much they slack 4th year. Is it because you are already accepted into a residency program by the time you take them or what? thanks


Definitely, depending on your residency of course.
 
Some students take them as early as possible to show improvement from step 1; for someone who doesn't match to a competitive specialty the first time around a substantially lower step 2 relative to step 1 could look pretty bad and decrease matching chances the following year; some programs (although not widespread) even require step 2 scores to apply
 
hucm2009 said:
Hi all, I was just wondering if the step 2 boards matter because everyone is always talking about how much they slack 4th year. Is it because you are already accepted into a residency program by the time you take them or what? thanks

Hi there,
All of the residency programs I applied to, wanted to know that I had taken Step II early (August 10th) and since most already had my Step II scores I was often praised for having done this. For some people, Step II can make the difference between getting into a good residency and not. I slacked after Match (nothing between me and graduation except to show up). I did not want Step II hanging over my head so I did it early. It turned out to be a very good decision for me.

njbmd 🙂

P.S. You are not accepted into a residency program until after the Matches (SF and regular match) so everything is fair game up to that point.
 
yes, they matter. Old thoughts where that they didn't, but more and more programs ask you when you took it, what your scores where, and if you improved how it looks great on your app, while if you did worse why (and it looks like poo).
 
I didn't take my 2nd step of the boards until after submitting my rank list...I don't even know if my residency program has seen my step 2 score (I never provided them this info, and no one has ever asked). But if I had taken it before interviews, they would've wanted my score.
 
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