So i hear from some people that if you did OK or well on step 1, you should take step 2 late if you are worried it will hurt you. I hear from others that many competitive IM programs want to see Step 2 early (talking about NYU/Sinai/Cornell etc). So now i'm torn about when to take Step 2. Even if I take it late, programs will eventaully see my score right? So how does taking it late really hurt my chances? Any advice? Especially about competitive IM places?
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Step II Step 2 CK time for possibly competitive IM program
Started by anbuitachi
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
Traditionally this holds true, especially if you did well and not merely OK on step 1. That said, step 2 does help and you have to weigh when to take it on the basis of a number of factors such as 1.) do you have enough dedicated study time to prepare well, based on how you've done on shelf exams so far and 2.) is the score likely to go up or down with respect to the step 1 score, and if so, by how much. If you got a step 1 of 260 and you're getting self-assessment projections of step 2 of 230, maybe hold off until a bit later in the year; if on the other hand you're doing better on self-assessments and practice exams, especially significantly so, then it might be a strength to have a markedly improved step 2 ck in your application.
That said, once programs have crossed the threshhold to interview you without step 2 ck, I think they do not find that the score matters all that much to them. I've noticed that in my case, where despite a 20+ increase in my step 2 ck vs. step 1, and a recent email notifying programs I interviewed at that the USMLE transcript is updated, very few programs have re-downloaded the updated transcript, which tells me that it's not a big deal for them at this stage of the game.
it shows if they redownload or not? perhaps they are waiting until ranking time before downloading? but thanks. thats really interesting to know
Last edited:
Yes, ADTS shows when they download it
Doesn't mean someone has looked at it. Usually its a computer. I had people DL my app 2 seconds after I updated my transcript in mid-December. Doubtful they were patiently awaiting me hitting the submit button.
Anybody know about Harvard and Hopkins IM programs? I know that step 2K aren't required, but I'm wondering if it's still "expected".
I'm thinking more and more so before ranking time. I think it's still de rigueur to just apply with a strong step 1 (and 230 in my mind is not that, more like 250+) and then take step 2 in November-January in time for it to be posted in early February.
sorry, i dont follow. if you want it to be released before the programs rank, wouldnt you might as well have it up as early as possible? otherwise just wait till after?
