step 2 cs by match list time (mid feb)

[bd290]

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How important/critical is this? I've been trying very hard to get a decent date to take this stupid thing and I haven't had any luck in the last few months. I feel like it's going to be impossible for me to sit for it before January?

 

[Rogue Penguin]

I'm not sure how relevant this is, but one of my friends matched into a top 20 radiology program after failing CS. He didn't get his passing score back until April.

I was able to jump my date from late December to September by setting up email alerts for the three closest testing sites and compulsively checking my email. It does require a certain degree of luck, but I was seeing at least one spot open up per day at that time. It took me about two weeks to actually get one of those open spots. I think it's worthwhile to get it out of the way if you can, so you won't have to worry about whether it will affect your match results.

 

[bd290]

I'd love to get it out of the way, and I have alerts set up, my school is awful for a variety of reasons, but one of which is we can't even get a day off for step - it's not an excused absence. Meaning even when I do see something it's going to be hard for me to grab it and go, especially if it requires a flight.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'd love to get it out of the way, and I have alerts set up, my school is awful for a variety of reasons, but one of which is we can't even get a day off for step - it's not an excused absence. Meaning even when I do see something it's going to be hard for me to grab it and go, especially if it requires a flight.

You're a 4th year -- that's ridiculous. Any way you could route around your school with just clearing it with the folks you're working with. If you're not doing a SubI, I can't imagine anyone would care.

 

[Jorje286]

Have you tried check4change? It's a Firefox addon that will automatically refresh and immediately flash when a spot opens up. It's better than email alerts, cause by the time you check your email and log in to the page the spot is gone.

 

[bd290]

You're a 4th year -- that's ridiculous. Any way you could route around your school with just clearing it with the folks you're working with. If you're not doing a SubI, I can't imagine anyone would care.

They also limit our # of interview days to a ridiculous proportion I'm really not sure why we have all these policies in place to hinder students, but we do. It's possible and obviously a lot of attendings/preceptors are much more open to you missing for legit stuff, but some of the course coordinators are known for being zealots and destroying people if they find out about it.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

They also limit our # of interview days to a ridiculous proportion I'm really not sure why we have all these policies in place to hinder students, but we do. It's possible and obviously a lot of attendings/preceptors are much more open to you missing for legit stuff, but some of the course coordinators are known for being zealots and destroying people if they find out about it.

I've got to say I went to the most awesome school ever for clinicals. No one would ever think about placing limits on interview and steps and important stuff like that. That is just super lame.

 

[bd290]

I've got to say I went to the most awesome school ever for clinicals. No one would ever think about placing limits on interview and steps and important stuff like that. That is just super lame.

The clinical rotations are really high quality and there are a lot of fantastic attendings. This is all school administration BS sadly.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

The clinical rotations are really high quality and there are a lot of fantastic attendings. This is all school administration BS sadly.

The place that I did residency at seemed a little more like your school. Lots of uptight rules and lots of hassles thrown at 4th years. Consequently I really did rotate with 4th years who had to navigate around the system some, and we just looked the other way. You go to medical school to be a doctor -- that means you've got do what you've got to do to match.

 

[Rogue Penguin]

Yeah, I agree with Dr. Bagel. Your school is being ridiculous. It just makes them look bad if you don't match or don't graduate. They shouldn't be hindering their own students. I didn't even ask for an excused absence for CS. I just told my resident and attending that I'd be taking the exam that day. Whatever penalty the administration might give you is probably worth it unless it's an F or an expulsion. Maybe you could appeal to the dean or some other higher up if things get ugly. Do you guys have a student government? They should be trying to get this ridiculous policy changed for sure.

 

[bd290]

Ugh.... the perfect date and time and location opened last night at like 10:30 and I had already fallen asleep and of course it's gone already... 4th year gets fun when again?

 

[bd290]

How the hell am I supposed to get a date even when I get an email about it? Since my school expects that we actually do work during 4th year apparently unlike many other people (got to <3 12 hour FM clinic days... oh wait no... you don't... please stab my eyes out). I've made it to the site in <5 minutes the last 2 times and both times the date has already been gone. I can't sit around with a computer that has check4change up during the middle of the day for this stuff either. I'm starting to pull my hair out over it.