How screwed am I with a 230 Step2CK?

[Caltechstud]

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Hi everyone - I am not applying until next cycle. I am currently on a research semester. I recently took Step2CK, and felt HORRIBLE coming out of the exam. I guessed on roughly 1/3 of the Qs, raced through 5-6 Qs on half of the blocks due to time constraint, and know at least I got 15 Qs wrong when I checked the answers. The day before the exam, UWSA gave me a prediction of 254, but I may have only scored 230. I will not get my results back for another week or two, but IF I do indeed have only scored a 230 on Step2CK - is it a horrible red flag? I scored a 230 on Step 1. Thank you!! This wait is killing my soul!!

 

[evilbooyaa]

Hi everyone - I am not applying until next cycle. I am currently on a research semester. I recently took Step2CK, and felt HORRIBLE coming out of the exam. I guessed on roughly 1/3 of the Qs, raced through 5-6 Qs on half of the blocks due to time constraint, and know at least I got 15 Qs wrong when I checked the answers. The day before the exam, UWSA gave me a prediction of 254, but I may have only scored 230. I will not get my results back for another week or two, but IF I do indeed have only scored a 230 on Step2CK - is it a horrible red flag? I scored a 230 on Step 1. Thank you!! This wait is killing my soul!!

Dude chill. Come back and resume your panic attack if and only if you truly get a 230 on Step 2CK. Freaking out prior to the score coming back doesn't help at all.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

... if I do indeed have only scored a 230 on Step2CK - is it a horrible red flag?

No. Please calm down.

 

[BAM!]

No. Please calm down.

is 230 bad?

 

[filhodeinferno]

Hi everyone - I am not applying until next cycle. I am currently on a research semester. I recently took Step2CK, and felt HORRIBLE coming out of the exam. I guessed on roughly 1/3 of the Qs, raced through 5-6 Qs on half of the blocks due to time constraint, and know at least I got 15 Qs wrong when I checked the answers. The day before the exam, UWSA gave me a prediction of 254, but I may have only scored 230. I will not get my results back for another week or two, but IF I do indeed have only scored a 230 on Step2CK - is it a horrible red flag? I scored a 230 on Step 1. Thank you!! This wait is killing my soul!!

Your neurosis will probably hurt you more than that CK score.

 

[canigetawhatwhat]

You prob should switch specialities.

 

[SpacemanSpifff]

is 230 bad?

It's below the national average, so it's less than ideal, but not a "huge red flag".

In reality, many people (myself included) felt awful coming out of step2 and ended up doing just fine. OP has no need to freak out at this point.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

Hi everyone - I am not applying until next cycle. I am currently on a research semester. I recently took Step2CK, and felt HORRIBLE coming out of the exam. I guessed on roughly 1/3 of the Qs, raced through 5-6 Qs on half of the blocks due to time constraint, and know at least I got 15 Qs wrong when I checked the answers. The day before the exam, UWSA gave me a prediction of 254, but I may have only scored 230. I will not get my results back for another week or two, but IF I do indeed have only scored a 230 on Step2CK - is it a horrible red flag? I scored a 230 on Step 1. Thank you!! This wait is killing my soul!!

So comforting things:
1. Anecdotally myself and many others outscored the "expected" score from nbmes and uwsa.
2. I thought I did horribly (felt fine going in, but got suddenly ill and had to vomit during one of the blocks, lost close to 20 minutes) and ended up doing pretty well and beating my step 1 score

And additionally, if you got a 230 that's probably still ok even if it's a little below average. This isn't lake woebegone. Also, you have no control over it and you don't even know if you did badly yet

 

[JAFERD]

A 230 is not a bad score, and certainly not going to ruin your chances of getting in. There's a lot that goes into getting a residency spot, and numbers are just one part of it. A 230 isn't going to blow people away, but isn't going to rule you out either. The best thing you can do is get to know the residents and have them like you. It's easiest to do if you rotate in the department, but you can also stand out at the interview dinner, go back for a second look, or try to shadow for a day or two. If you seem like a good person to work with, the residents will like you, and that goes a very long way.

 

[evilbooyaa]

A 230 is not a bad score, and certainly not going to ruin your chances of getting in. There's a lot that goes into getting a residency spot, and numbers are just one part of it. A 230 isn't going to blow people away, but isn't going to rule you out either. The best thing you can do is get to know the residents and have them like you. It's easiest to do if you rotate in the department, but you can also stand out at the interview dinner, go back for a second look, or try to shadow for a day or two. If you seem like a good person to work with, the residents will like you, and that goes a very long way.

In the world of SDN, anything below the average score is immediately considered a failing grade obviously.

 

[Arcan57]

In the world of SDN, anything below the average score is immediately considered a failing grade obviously.

That's because every SDN poster scored higher on the Steps than the average of all SDN users.

 

[doggydog]

To somewhat derail the thread...

What I've discovered during interview season is that it's all about having things that impress people. Interesting work experience, AOA, long term volunteering, good research, honoring all of your EM rotations, basically anything that makes you stand out from the average applicant. Stuff like a slightly below average step score doesn't really matter. The only thing that it impacts is that you have one less thing that impresses somebody. So as long as you have other things that makes you stand out, you will be fine. The more interesting things you have the better interviews you will get.