Question about Residency Application for Plastics

[PRS2014]

Hello all,

Long-time SDN lurker posting for the first time. In the past 6 months I've fallen in love with plastics and am now set on applying the Integrated Plastics route despite not having too much research under my belt.

My question is about Step 2. Everybody going into competitive specialties at my school is putting off Step 2 until later because they scored well on Step 1. I also scored well above the national plastics average so I'm wondering if I should postpone as well.

How much of a drop, if any, would hurt an applicant? If you did well on Step 1, is there any benefit to taking Step 2 early and having it show up (i.e. jumping 5-10 points on Step 2)? If I took Step 2 right now, I would be at a somewhat sub-optimal study schedule, but I feel I would probably get around my Step 1 (+/- 5-10 points).

Appreciate any responses since my school doesn't have a plastics department and everyone seems clueless to help me. Thanks SDN Plastics.

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[PRS2014]

Hello all,

Long-time SDN lurker posting for the first time. In the past 6 months I've fallen in love with plastics and am now set on applying the Integrated Plastics route despite not having too much research under my belt.

My question is about Step 2. Everybody going into competitive specialties at my school is putting off Step 2 until later because they scored well on Step 1. I also scored well above the national plastics average so I'm wondering if I should postpone as well.

How much of a drop, if any, would hurt an applicant? If you did well on Step 1, is there any benefit to taking Step 2 early and having it show up (i.e. jumping 5-10 points on Step 2)? If I took Step 2 right now, I would be at a somewhat sub-optimal study schedule, but I feel I would probably get around my Step 1 (+/- 5-10 points).

Appreciate any responses since my school doesn't have a plastics department and everyone seems clueless to help me. Thanks SDN Plastics.

Bump. Almost 300 views and no help?

 

[56473938]

check the other posts on the plastic surgery forum, this topic has been discussed extensively on here, so it would be easier to defer to those discussions. good luck!

 

[rueby25]

Hello all,

Long-time SDN lurker posting for the first time. In the past 6 months I've fallen in love with plastics and am now set on applying the Integrated Plastics route despite not having too much research under my belt.

My question is about Step 2. Everybody going into competitive specialties at my school is putting off Step 2 until later because they scored well on Step 1. I also scored well above the national plastics average so I'm wondering if I should postpone as well.

How much of a drop, if any, would hurt an applicant? If you did well on Step 1, is there any benefit to taking Step 2 early and having it show up (i.e. jumping 5-10 points on Step 2)? If I took Step 2 right now, I would be at a somewhat sub-optimal study schedule, but I feel I would probably get around my Step 1 (+/- 5-10 points).

Appreciate any responses since my school doesn't have a plastics department and everyone seems clueless to help me. Thanks SDN Plastics.

If your scores are "way over the national plastics average," that means you are 260s or higher, right? If yes, you likely won't help your cause with any step 2 score. The cases where higher step 2 scores help is when step 1 is low-ish. No one is going to look at a 270 on step 2 and say "wow, you really got it together for step 2. That 260-something just wasn't up to par."

That being said, some places require step2 for ranking (UCSF). So if you have time and feel prepared, you might just take it.

 

[kaleerkalut]

If your scores are "way over the national plastics average," that means you are 260s or higher, right? If yes, you likely won't help your cause with any step 2 score. The cases where higher step 2 scores help is when step 1 is low-ish. No one is going to look at a 270 on step 2 and say "wow, you really got it together for step 2. That 260-something just wasn't up to par."

That being said, some places require step2 for ranking (UCSF). So if you have time and feel prepared, you might just take it.

When you say they require it for ranking, do you mean by February 20th or in order to grant interviews?

 

[rueby25]

When you say they require it for ranking, do you mean by February 20th or in order to grant interviews?

Exactly what I said: require for ranking. So by February, not for granting interviews. It's a consideration because sub-I season goes directly into interview season, which lasts until early Feb.