Interested in peds, average step 1 score. Advice?

[BronzeEagle]

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[Stellar Clouds]

Average step 1 for peds is low 220s step 2 is mid 230s. You will have no problem matching. If you are looking to go to Boston Children's or CHOP, that will be more difficult. Try to take step 2 before ERAS submission and kill it. You can also try to do an away at one of those places and shine like an all-star (plus get a good letter). If you are going to do an away, the schedule your home AI in July (to prepare) and then do an away in August (early so you can get a good letter).

 

[BronzeEagle]

Thanks for responding!

I get the month of June, too, so should I try option A or B?

Option A
- June: extra study time for Step 2
- July: AI
- Aug: Away at top tier institution

Option B
- June: AI
- July: Away at mid-tier
- Aug: Away at top-tier

I'm not sure how much study time I'm going to need for Step 2. I'll have about 2 weeks between M3 and M4 year, though I'm going to end M3 year with neuro, so I might be able to study for Step 2 during that time as well.

 

[Stellar Clouds]

I think you need to decide a couple things. Do you think that if you do option B, that you will have sufficient time to study for step 2? If you are really trying to knock step 2 out of the park, you may want the extra time.

Also, with option B, do you want to do 2 aways? If they are in a different city from where you currently are, it can be quite costly to find a place to live for a month at a time.

 

[BronzeEagle]

I'm not sure about Step 2 yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to determine how well I'm doing, since there doesn't seem to be a good correlation between UWorld score and actual score. I did all right on my IM shelf; I was in the ~75th percentile, so not stellar, but not terrible either (it was my first shelf and my first rotation).

I was planning on doing two aways regardless, both before October-- I realize it will be expensive, though I have places to stay (one with family, the other with friends) for the places I would like to go so that will cut down on the cost a bit. Do you think that is excessive?

 

[Stellar Clouds]

Not excessive. Sounds like you have thought it through. A lot of people fail to realize how expensive an away rotation can be.