Step II Help! : )

[Babe327]

Hello! Just found out I passed Comlex step 2 but did pretty crappy and had a dumb test with ALOT of OMM BS I have never seen or heard of in my life....i was really pissed off that day and felt like nothing medically important was being tested! I felt really prepared and used Crush and USMLEWORLD and did pretty well so I'm thinking of taking the Usmle step 2....any suggestions? Anyone who took both? I've had really great interviews so far and I don't want my crappy step 2 score to bring me down...do the programs ask for the step 2 score before the match? I would appreciate your help!

 

[chintu]

hi,

I am in a similar situation in that I did crappy on step II compared to step I. You will probably get conflicting opinions in this matter. I am choosing not to release my score ( I didn't choose automatically release option on my initial eras app) now that i know I didn't do so hot. I was pretty much told by my top choice that I shouldn't have a difficult time getting in and so I am thinking a poor step II score can only hurt me. However, I have been told that we had to report on our eras when we take this test and if we listed oct or nov and by the time they submit final ROL and still don't have our stepII, it will be a red flag to the program as they will question why we didn't release our scores for an exam we took way back. If you personally feel like your app is strong as is then my advice would be to not release them. They know you have to at least pass it in time before your intern year begins so I don't think it will be that big of a deal. Also, so many students take the test after the rol is submitted in february that they will have many without their scores so you won't be the only one. And one may also argue that since you have the luxury to change test dates you may have actually taken the test much later than what you initially listed on eras, i know plenty of people end up deferring the test for many reasons, inadequate prep, travel for interviews, etc...So I am thinking about not releasing them.

 

[Babe327]

Thanks, Chintu...yeah, I was pretty irritated when I found out because I've already completed my interviews and many of them went very well. I think I'm just going to take the USMLE Step 2 just in case they do ask...I am in Michigan and peds is pretty competitive here and I want them to continue considering me as a candidate, esp since I've already been offered 2 spots!