It is disturbing that your assumption is that those without their Step 2 present at the date of their interview or when ranking have something to hide...what is more twisted is that someone with your thought processs is involved in the selection of future residents. There are many reasons why a candidate may not have their Step 2 score in time for the ranking process. I realize you took a risk and were able to score higher with half the time-good for you! Now you can stop trying to inject your twisted logic into expectations for other applicants. Not everyone is as 'risky' as you; perhaps risk avoidance is a good thing for a future surgeon. Also, I found it humourous how you start your post with a distinction between medical student 'linear thinking' and your newfound thinking as a resident-it's quite clear you'll full of yourself even using linear thinking.
Crap like this is why I post less and less on this forum.
In fairness, I guess it would be appropriate for everyone who posts advice on this site to first disclaim "I am only one person out of many and this is just my opinion" but I guess we assume people already know that. In my "twisted" way of thinking, I further assume people posting questions on this forum actually want honest responses from people who have gone through the very things they now face.
To your post - first, I am not implying that people who don't take Step 2 early have something to hide. I DO think that taking Step 2 builds the case to programs that you are confident and that your performance on Step 1 was not a fluke - sorry if that offends you. No one may look down on you for not taking it early, but I definitely think more people are impressed when you do. That's all I was saying.
Amazingly, people with my thought process ARE the ones at least partially responsible for selecting future residents. Of course, I find it hard to believe that you have any grasp on my thought process from a single post - more accurately, you disagree with one statement I made.
Next, I'd be interested in all the "good reasons" you can come up with for not taking Step 2 early. The material tested comes from your 3rd year, thus you'll never know it better than just after 3rd year. My med school did not even give us time to study for it - I took 3 weeks of vacation to prepare. The only valid reason for not taking Step 2 early is "I didn't want to" - which is fine! As other posters have said it probably won't affect whether you match. But don't get mad at me that there actually are programs out there that do want to see a Step 2 - that's not my opinion that's just the way things are.
You're right - risk avoidance is a good trait in a surgeon - but so is confidence. Choosing not to walk into Step 2 without studying is risk avoidance; walking in after solid preparation is confident and that's how programs are going to see it.
The only thing i'm "injecting" is my opinion and I've never claimed it's anything more than that. From the time I was a pre-med until now I've never had anyone who took offense to it the way you did. Well, let me take one more chance to clarify: EVERYTHING I POST ON THIS SITE IS MY OPINION - THE OPINION OF ONE GUY WITH ONE EXPERIENCE. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT EVERYTHING I SAY IS COMPLETELY WRONG.
Lastly - I'm full of myself??? You attacked me for giving a solicited opinion. Do you think I care AT ALL when you take Step 2? Do whatever you want bud and when you match (or don't) you can get on here and give YOUR personal opinion about how things worked out. And you know what - i'll respect YOUR experience.
How could you misconstrue what I said about linear thinking as being "full of myself"? Every person who has ever gotten on a forum and posted a "what are my chances" question is proof of linear thinking - and that includes ME! We all want to be comforted by the fact that a good MCAT = med school, a good Step 1 = lots of interviews, and lots of interviews = match my number 1 choice. It's not residency that has shown me the fallicy of that thinking - it's experiencing the match for myself!
I'm sorry you took such offense with my opinion - just a tip: next time you have a problem with a post, try questioning the opinions of the poster; not attacking them.