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Answered
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Fourth year schedule
- Thread starter BugEye
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Path experience and good letter would likely carry more weight (assuming you are an AMG with otherwise solid application but minimal pathology-related things on it). The Step II is unlikely to be back in time to have much of an impact on interview granting, as interviews are sent out in september-october mostly, with some later on.
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I'd want a strong path letter up front to show your interest.
A path letter is probably more important, but taking step2 early is not a bad idea. I had a step 1 in the high 220s, decided to take step 2 early (around the end of july) and ended up with a score in the high 240s. I never did amazing on any of the shelf exams during 3rd year, but I knew my stuff decently and studied hard for about a month.
The curve I believe is much more forgiving for step 2 because less ppl take it seriously compared to step one, and just doing 3rd year alone gives you a good knowledge base that quickly disintegrates the farther along you are in 4th year. And at least in my experience, program directors did mention my step 2 score in the same breath as step 1, which made the "step 1 or bust" mentality among med students a little dubious after the fact.
So anyway, if you have time to study early and hard for step 2 along with the path elective I'd say go for it, because I think you have a good shot at improving on your step 1 with similar effort and strengthening your app like mine.
The curve I believe is much more forgiving for step 2 because less ppl take it seriously compared to step one, and just doing 3rd year alone gives you a good knowledge base that quickly disintegrates the farther along you are in 4th year. And at least in my experience, program directors did mention my step 2 score in the same breath as step 1, which made the "step 1 or bust" mentality among med students a little dubious after the fact.
So anyway, if you have time to study early and hard for step 2 along with the path elective I'd say go for it, because I think you have a good shot at improving on your step 1 with similar effort and strengthening your app like mine.
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