release lower step 2 ck?

[stevefrancis]

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Got a 267 on Step 1. just got step 2 ck back and i got a 263. I feel like this score won't help me at all as the average on step 2 (238) is so much high than step 1. I'm not applying to any programs that require step 2 released. Do you think I should release it?

 

[tco]

Got a 267 on Step 1. just got step 2 ck back and i got a 263. I feel like this score won't help me at all as the average on step 2 (238) is so much high than step 1. I'm not applying to any programs that require step 2 released. Do you think I should release it?

Would you release it if you would have scored a 270? There's a few question difference between a 263 and a 270.

I think you're being a little neurotic, but what do I know? I feel that any program that would look at a 267 step 1, and a 263 step 2, scoff, and throw your application in the trash is a program I probably don't want to attend.

 

[Trastuz]

I would release.

 

[EIHAY]

I got 251 on Step 1, but got 246 on Step 2 CK- Wondering about whether I should re-submit?

 

[sonofva]

A program that does not accept you because you scored 4 points lower on step 2 is probably not a program you want to be at anyway.

 

[Doctor D]

That is not a significant difference. I would release.

 

[tco]

Where can we see if our ERAS is set up to auto-release?

 

[improbable]

Auto release is not an option this year, you must manually release. This is different from prior years I am told.


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[tco]

Auto release is not an option this year, you must manually release. This is different from prior years I am told.


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Thanks. Do you know if we have to manually release each exam? Or if we do it once does it do it for both? For instance, I will receive the results for CK well before CS. Do I need to release both separately? Thanks again.

 

[Mac or Miller]

My sense is that you have to manually release both.

In answer to the above, programs will see a 250+ step 1 and think you are a one-trick pony if you hold back your step 2. So to me, this is a no brainer, and I think anyone who would withhold any 240+ step 2 regardless of what you got on step 1 is being neurotic.

If you beat the mean on the exam by 2 standard deviations twice, be proud of it.

 

[Rad2013]

Yea. Having two boards in the 260's is like having two ....

Well you get it.

 

[tco]

My sense is that you have to manually release both.

In answer to the above, programs will see a 250+ step 1 and think you are a one-trick pony if you hold back your step 2. So to me, this is a no brainer, and I think anyone who would withhold any 240+ step 2 regardless of what you got on step 1 is being neurotic.

If you beat the mean on the exam by 2 standard deviations twice, be proud of it.

I disagree with this completely. A program specifically told me that I could just with hold submitting my step 2 if I didn't do as well as expected.

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[Mac or Miller]

What program wouldn't want you to submit a step 2? That's like a dating website encouraging you not to submit a photograph if you are unhappy with your appearance.

For what program would a 267/263 be less than expected? There is no such program that averages higher than this, I'm pretty certain.

OP, I asked 16 current radiology residents in a reading room. All said to report it. Most said that you were only posting this thread to show off.

Where did you not get an interview that you wanted one at, and what place uses cutoffs greater than 260 for both steps? Nonsense.

 

[tco]

What program wouldn't want you to submit a step 2? That's like a dating website encouraging you not to submit a photograph if you are unhappy with your appearance.

Yeah, it's actually nothing like that.


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[Mac or Miller]

Yes because PD's don't actually want to see what your step 2 is if it is low. Inane.

 

[tco]

Yes because PD's don't actually want to see what your step 2 is if it is low. Inane.

Low is relative.

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[tco]

If the OP scored a 250, you could argue that it was a low score given their step 1. However, it is not a low score overall.

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[Mac or Miller]

You could argue that a 250 is relatively lower than a 267, but you would still be stupid to withhold it because it is not low compared to somebody who is typically matching into radiology. As noted in the OP, it would still be 12 points or roughly 1-2 standard deviations higher than the average.

It is certainly conceivable that a program director out there only cares about step 1 because in his or her experience, that has been the only predictor of success in his or her program. Overall, however, the proportion of those applicants reporting both steps has gone up over the past 10 years. At my current institution, the radiology program gets both step scores from about 3/4 of its applicants. Having 2 high scores to report is better than just 1.

USMLE is the only objective measure programs have to compare students from totally different schools. So sure, you may know of one PD out there who says withhold it, but you would then have to withhold it from 10 other programs who would like to see it.

 

[tco]

You could argue that a 250 is relatively lower than a 267, but you would still be stupid to withhold it because it is not low compared to somebody who is typically matching into radiology. As noted in the OP, it would still be 12 points or roughly 1-2 standard deviations higher than the average.

It is certainly conceivable that a program director out there only cares about step 1 because in his or her experience, that has been the only predictor of success in his or her program. Overall, however, the proportion of those applicants reporting both steps has gone up over the past 10 years. At my current institution, the radiology program gets both step scores from about 3/4 of its applicants. Having 2 high scores to report is better than just 1.

USMLE is the only objective measure programs have to compare students from totally different schools. So sure, you may know of one PD out there who says withhold it, but you would then have to withhold it from 10 other programs who would like to see it.

This argument is moot at this point. However, withholding a 240 Step 2 with a Step 1 of 260 would not be a bad move IMO. I had plenty of interviews at great places with only a step 1 that was UNDER 260 (255). You're going to hurt yourself more than help if you drop to a mortal number in step 2 from a 260 on step 1...Either way, it doesn't matter because we're arguing hypothetical situations that, quite frankly, don't happen.

Did I hurt myself by not having Step 2 CK done before interviews were sent out (I ended up doing better than Step 1)? Maybe, but I also could have bombed it and hurt myself just as much by releasing it...I was not confident at the end of the year at all. It's a double edged sword. I was more conservative and it worked out.

Just be reasonable when submitting scores. If you already have interviews, you can blast away with your reports as long as you didn't completely collapse on test day. OP is being neurotic.

 

[Mac or Miller]

Agree. OP is being neurotic.

 

[destructo151]

stevefrancis you are a docuhe for posting such a thread...

 

[anonymitas]

I wonder if the trends have changed since this thread was originally posted. Does anyone know any programs (rads or TY/prelim) that explicitly require step 2CK score release before interview invitation?

 

[vilae]

deleted