Is it known whether the step II CK gets harder in Dec/Jan as opposed to July/Aug... Wouldn't this make sense as people who take the exam later have more time to study and how does USMLE account for this? 😕
Increased step II CK difficulty later in season
- Thread starter JKP
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JKP said:
Without being able to compare tests given at different times of the year it would be hard to really know the answer to that. However, I just took it at the end of December and it seemed much harder than what my classmates that took it earlier in the year told me about. In the end all you can do is study your best for it and then go for it!
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What an excellent question, because this is exactly what I've suspected from personal experience. I took the exam last June and did not feel good about it, got a 179...took it again in December after getting a 196 on the NBME assessment, came out feeling pretty confident, and you know what I ended up getting? A devastating 173. So, though the exam felt much doable this time around, somehow the scoring was much tougher it seems. What else would explain the perceived improvement yet the decline in outcome? Do you think the percent correct needed to pass goes up at the end of the year??? Sources do say the range of 60-70%. So maybe this time it was 70...
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FYI, that 94% pass rate is for US/Canadian M.D.s. And I assume you are joking about them "having to fail" a certain percent of examinees. And I do not appreciate your humor. 😡TaiShan said:
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They don't make the damn thing harder. Having said that, not every test is of the same difficulty. The idea that people have more time to study later in the year is silly. No one sits around and studies all 4th year to take Step2 - and if they do, it is probably for a reason. If anything, people who take it later in the test taking season (i.e. right now) probably study less than people who take it earlier in the year b/c taking it now has no impact on rank lists, etc. This thread smells of conspiracy.
