Failed Step 2 CK and CS - please advise.

[ratchet3500]

Hi. I'm a 4th year med student at a top 20 U.S. med school in the south. I've failed part of my 2nd year which was remediated. I did very mediocre (Bs and Cs) during 3rd year. I failed step 2 ck (not a surprise) and cs (surprise). Step 2 CS was remediated easily but I walked into the match in 2013 with a failed CK score and didn't match, which wasn't surprising but still hurt. I've been repeating 4th year and have struggled to focus and was advised by the dean to go see mental health (psychiatrist and psychologist both believe I've had depression and ADD of undetermined duration - they think it goes back before the match fiasco).

I'm studying now for step 2 ck and I've been advised to at least try for the SOAP to get a prelim med or surgery (I know prelim med is competitive but I was asked to try anyway by the dean) if not FM or psych. I want to do IM but obviously that's not gonna happen through SOAP so I want to try and get a prelim somewhere and then apply for IM next year with a backup like FM or psych. Thoughts? Chances at this happening? Please keep things constructive. My stats for your convenience:

Step 1 : 219 (1st try)
Step 2 cs: passed (2nd attempt)
Step 2 ck: failed (currently remediating)
Class rank: 4th quartile
LoRs: Have several lined up.
Research: 2 pubs in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) in college, 1 summer of research w/o abstracts or posters

Thanks guys! Best of luck to all who are applying this cycle.

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[ratchet3500]

I forgot to also add this question: should I reveal my being treated for depression/ADD? Will this hurt my chances? It's politically correct to say there's nothing wrong but my impression of people in general (not necessarily regarding this issue) isn't great. Thanks again.

 

[Nalx]

**** man sorry to hear you've been having such a rough time. I'm really not sure what the best way to approach your set of problems is but I just wanted to say stay strong. ****'s tough right now but it'll turn around eventually.

 

[Elisabeth Kate]

I don't know the chances of matching IM in the SOAP, but if you're not comfortable doing the SOAP, then I'd take that to heart. You could always apply to only one program to qualify for the SOAP and then try to get IM and see what happens. I wouldn't try for psych or FM in the SOAP if you're not really sold on them though because you'll always wonder if you could have gotten IM if you had waited another year.

Good luck!