re: Interested in Peds, should I take Step II before Interviews?

[ganesha123]

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Hi,

I'm a UCLA Med student, with a 235 on Step 1. I wanted to know if you would recommend taking Step II early, or later, with this score. Since this is a peds forum, and I want to do Peds, I thought this would be a relevant area to post. I'm not that good with standardized tests in general.

Thanks

 

[deleted311769]

Hi,

I'm a UCLA Med student, with a 235 on Step 1. I wanted to know if you would recommend taking Step II early, or later, with this score. Since this is a peds forum, and I want to do Peds, I thought this would be a relevant area to post. I'm not that good with standardized tests in general.

Thanks

235 is around the 75-80th percentile for peds applicants. You will most likely pass through any "filter" for programs that do that, and you are within the group of highest scorers on step 1 within peds. You certainly don't have a desperate need to take step 2 early and If you are worried about your test taking skills, I would take step 2 late. I don't think an increased score can help you very much (you've already shown you are capable), and a score that goes down won't look great. You can always split the difference and take step 2 late enough that your score comes back after you submit ERAS but still early in the interview season, don't have it automatically released, and then share it if you are satisfied.

 

[ganesha123]

thank you very much for your thoughts

 

[Cuthbert]

Hi,

I'm a UCLA Med student, with a 235 on Step 1. I wanted to know if you would recommend taking Step II early, or later, with this score. Since this is a peds forum, and I want to do Peds, I thought this would be a relevant area to post. I'm not that good with standardized tests in general.

Thanks

I would not take it yet if I were you. You are very competetive with your score right now.

During residency, we would often have applicants who did well on step I and poorly on step II - this would indicate that the basic sciences were solid but when it came to clinical medicine, the applicant may have been lacking. I have even seen people fail step II who did amazingly well on the first step.

Conclusion: Quit while you're ahead. Take Step II later.

 

[Residency Pleas]

I couldn't agree more with taking it late. Take it so that your score won't come through until after the rank lists are submitted by programs. Although that score puts you around the 80th percentile for all test takers, it puts you much higher that 80% for peds applicants, whose average boards scores are lower than most specialties. At this point a good score won't help much, and a bad score will obviously hurt you.

 

[RySerr21]

at what point do you say "you should probably take step II early to boost your app." 220s? 210s? Lower?

 

[ganesha123]

I couldn't agree more with taking it late. Take it so that your score won't come through until after the rank lists are submitted by programs. Although that score puts you around the 80th percentile for all test takers, it puts you much higher that 80% for peds applicants, whose average boards scores are lower than most specialties. At this point a good score won't help much, and a bad score will obviously hurt you.

Thanks for the response..but just a quick clarification/questions. Don't schools require that they have your step II score before they rank you? In other words, I thought the whole point was delaying Step II so you can get an interview if you feel you would do poorly, but it was my assumption/understanding that your Step II would inevitably be seen before the rank list. OORR am i wrong, and schools just want to see you have taken Step II at the time of ranking?

Thanks

 

[Residency Pleas]

I had friends take step 2 after the match, so I don't think so. Unless things have changed in the last 3 years. That said, do you really want to take it after match? No.

As for the question about when to try to retake it early...I would say if you were below 210 and want a top tier program take it before programs get your applications. Some top tier programs might cut it there, but I think anything higher is ok. 210-225, go by your own preference. >225 wait until later. It can only hurt you at that point.

 

[cobalt314]

I have a somewhat-related question that I'm hoping people could advise about (OP, sorry, not trying to hijack the thread). I have a step 1 score of 225, plan to apply for peds, and am taking a year off in between M3 and M4 year for an academic opportunity. I was planning on taking Step 2 CK soon due to having a couple weeks for dedicated study time & wanting take it while information was still semi-fresh in my mind from 3rd year shelf exams. However, I'm considering rescheduling and taking it later in the year since I'll likely to have time to study in the evenings, although I probably won't get many days off for dedicated study time. I would be taking step 2 well prior to submitting ERAS regardless of whether I reschedule or not.

In this case, how important would it be that I score above 225? and how high above it should I hope to aim? I'll be taking a diagnostic exam in a few days; if I score below 225, should I just automatically re-schedule? What if I'm scoring at or just barely above 225?

I would appreciate any advice available since I'm not quite in the same boat as the OP with my lower step 1 score. Plus, I'm wondering what sort of impact it would be to have a step 2 score that's fairly equivalent to my step 1 score.

Thank you.

 

[ganesha123]

hijack away...🙂