ERAS question re: release of Step 2 and Personal Statement(s)

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Pox in a box

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2 questions:

1. Who is making a separate personal statement for each program he/she applies to (to "personalize" the statement)?

2. If you receive your Step 2 CK score and decide you'd like the programs you applied to to receive it, how do you release this to them? Do most people choose to not show their scores?

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Pox in a box said:
2 questions:

1. Who is making a separate personal statement for each program he/she applies to (to "personalize" the statement)?

2. If you receive your Step 2 CK score and decide you'd like the programs you applied to to receive it, how do you release this to them? Do most people choose to not show their scores?


I personalized a few of of the statements for individual programs, particularly the ones for programs where I had rotated. I believe at two short paragraphs I had the shortest personal statements ever submitted through ERAS. But if you're going to apply to a lot of programs it will be difficult to personalize them all.

Most people show their scores. Not showing it is a red flag. The programs will want this piece of information before they finalize their rank list of applicants in February. You probably don't need to even have taken Step 2 get interviews starting in November.

Still, it is my personal opinion that you should take Step 2 as early as possible after third year while everything is stil lfresh in your mind.
 
Panda Bear said:
I personalized a few of of the statements for individual programs, particularly the ones for programs where I had rotated. I believe at two short paragraphs I had the shortest personal statements ever submitted through ERAS. But if you're going to apply to a lot of programs it will be difficult to personalize them all.

Most people show their scores. Not showing it is a red flag. The programs will want this piece of information before they finalize their rank list of applicants in February. You probably don't need to even have taken Step 2 get interviews starting in November.

Still, it is my personal opinion that you should take Step 2 as early as possible after third year while everything is stil lfresh in your mind.

My residency advisor said that most people at my school choose not to release their scores...I thought the same as you, though. I can't understand the logic behind it.
 
As a followup question, how do we go about NOT RELEASING our scores on ERAS? part of the app asks to release the USMLE transcript, and I clicked yes. By the time i submit my application, my step 1, and CS will have been taken, but not my step 2 ck. Does this mean that they will not submit my CK automatically, or does it mean that they will? I was told since I have a good step 1 score to apply without my step 2CK, and I'm wondering how I can go about releasing my step 1 and CS without my CK...sorry to be so longwinded. I write outloud.
Thanks
 
foodcoma said:
As a followup question, how do we go about NOT RELEASING our scores on ERAS? part of the app asks to release the USMLE transcript, and I clicked yes. By the time i submit my application, my step 1, and CS will have been taken, but not my step 2 ck. Does this mean that they will not submit my CK automatically, or does it mean that they will? I was told since I have a good step 1 score to apply without my step 2CK, and I'm wondering how I can go about releasing my step 1 and CS without my CK...sorry to be so longwinded. I write outloud.
Thanks

There is an option to choose whether or not to automatically re-release your scores if new tests are taken. If you opt not to have it done automatically, you can go in and re-release it on your own if you choose to do so.
 
so to review, which options do we choose to show our step1 but not our step2?

Carefully read the questions and instructions below. Once ERAS processes your request,
your selection CANNOT be changed.
Yes
No
Do you authorize the transmission of your USMLE transcript, by the NBME, which includes a complete Step history and, if applicable, the release of your NBME passing Part scores?

Select yes to automatically transmit your licensing examination results, as stated above, to the residency programs you designate in Programs. (FLEX scores are not available through ERAS). Later you will need to assign the USMLE transcript to each program that you want to receive your results. If you do not assign the transcript to a program, the program will not receive your results. (See Programs).

Your USMLE transcript will include your complete results history of all Steps and Step Components that you took and your history of any examinations for which no results were reported.

If you have not taken any USMLE Steps at the time you submit your transcript request via ERAS, or you have taken an exam but your result has not yet been reported, your transcript request will be held until such time your first result becomes available. If you answer yes to this question, your result will be sent to all programs you selected as soon as it becomes available, even if you choose "no" for automatic retransmission (see below).

Attention US Students/ Graduates: It is recommended that you include your US Social Security Number (SSN) in the Profile section of your ERAS application. A missing SSN impacts NBME's ability to verify your identify, and thus could significantly delay USMLE transcript processing.

Note: Inadvertent delays caused by operational problems at your medical school, the ERAS Post Office or the NBME, while unlikely, could delay the processing of your transcript beyond an upcoming score release date.
ATTENTION

* Be very careful when answering the question below - it CANNOT be changed.
* By checking yes, you forgo the right to see any newly included examination results before the transcript is sent to the residency programs.
* If unsure, check no. If, after you have seen your new examination results, you want it transmitted after all, you can do it yourself. You will need to go to Documents and click on "Retransmit USMLE Transcript".
* Updated examination results cannot be transmitted to only a subset of programs. If you request an updated USMLE transcript be retransmitted, it will be sent to every program that previously received it.
* Please be aware that only you can re-transmit your transcript. Nobody can do that for you.

Yes
No
Do you authorize the automatic retransmission of your USMLE transcript if Step results, which were not available at the time your request was processed, become available during the current ERAS cycle?

Select yes to automatically transmit previously unreleased USMLE Step results, as they become available to programs you designated in Programs. This option is IRREVOCABLE, affects ALL programs to which you assign USMLE transcripts, and transmission may occur BEFORE you receive notification of the results of the examination.
 
the dumbest question ever:

if i click yes for the first part, and no for the 2nd, how would this scenario be played out:

the day i submit my application on sept 1, i will have taken step 1, and CS. If I take step 2 CK on sept 2 (i.e AFTER I SUBMIT MY APPLICATION!!!), will my scores be automatically transferred to my programs, or will i have to do it myself?

funny how english is my first language and yet.......
whats funnier is how i could make it thru 4 years of a US MED SCHOOL AND YET......
 
foodcoma said:
the dumbest question ever:

if i click yes for the first part, and no for the 2nd, how would this scenario be played out:

the day i submit my application on sept 1, i will have taken step 1, and CS. If I take step 2 CK on sept 2 (i.e AFTER I SUBMIT MY APPLICATION!!!), will my scores be automatically transferred to my programs, or will i have to do it myself?

funny how english is my first language and yet.......
whats funnier is how i could make it thru 4 years of a US MED SCHOOL AND YET......

I believe that almost anyone (who doesn't already know they scored awesome on Step 2) would want to click NO for the automatic release option. If you get an awesome score, you always have the option of releasing it. But what if you just get an OK score? Or a crappy one? Why deny yourself the opportunity to review your score before releasing it? Especially since ERAS makes it abundantly clear that your decision to automatically release is binding. I absolutely said that I did not want to automatically release my score.
 
allylz said:
I believe that almost anyone (who doesn't already know they scored awesome on Step 2) would want to click NO for the automatic release option. If you get an awesome score, you always have the option of releasing it. But what if you just get an OK score? Or a crappy one? Why deny yourself the opportunity to review your score before releasing it? Especially since ERAS makes it abundantly clear that your decision to automatically release is binding. I absolutely said that I did not want to automatically release my score.

Then when you get your score, can you release it that day for download?
 
I'm not sure about being able to do it same day as it is received, but it seems likely that it would be available immediately or soon afterwards.
 
So if you answer YES to question 1 (release) and NO to question 2 (auto-retransmission), how would this scenario play out?

What if you took Step 2 CK on say August 30th. You submit your ERAS on September 1. Your Step 2 CK will obviously not be graded yet. But will those Step 2 CK scores be sent automatically when the grade becomes available, even though you answered NO to automatic retransmission?

I guess the rule I'm trying to figure out is: when you release your transcript, does it include the results of ALL steps(1, 2CK, 2CS, etc) you have currently taken prior the day you released them even if a test isn't graded yet (ie they send the results of that test automatically after it is graded)? OR does releasing your transript only release scores that are CURRENTLY available (ie even though you took Step 2CK 2 days ago, only Step 1 will be released because Step 2CK hasn't been graded yet)?
 
when you release your transcript, it includes scores of steps that are on record up til the time you released it.

so for example I released my transcript 2 weeks ago and can now see it's available in ERAS. so if I took Step 2 on Aug 30th, it would not be included in the release, any new scores after I answer 'NO' to auto-releasing have to be approved separately. does that make sense? hope that answers your question. the release is not a pre-release for the date that I send my applications (Sept 1), as far as I know, it is a release for the day that I released it in ERAS.
 
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