Step 2 riffraff

[HolyMoly]

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Hey guys, you all have been awesome over the past few months with helping students like myself with their questions. So I come to you now:

I am a 3rd year, go to a mid-tiered medical school and scored 219 on Step 1. My grades first 2 years were about average (possibly very slightly below even), and my grades this year have been mostly decent, slightly above average.

I have been hearing like 20 or more students in my class (of 175) wanting to do anesthesia, and it has me a little worried - does it matter that this many students from one school apply, with regard to my chances of matching? When should I take Step 2 and what sort of score should I be aiming for in order to have the opportunity to do my residency in a big city (not necessarily a top program, obviously, I just want out of the small town setting)? Thanks for any input guys!!

Holy Moly🙂

 

[amyl]

i don't think it matters how many from your school apply especially if you aren't concerned about your home program. Take step two as early as possible like july at the beginning of fourth year and bump your score up a bit. doing some aways at your fave places will also help

 

[PropoTAL]

Your step 1 score makes it a difficult decision to choose when to take Step 2. People who score below 210 should definitly take it early and those above 220 can wait on it until after interviews. I can tell you my take on all this and I am not sure how much that might help. I pretty much got your score on Step 1. I attend a mid tier med school that is well known in the anesth. world (due to research). I had Honors and High Pass all three years with more honors than high passes. In October when interviews started rolling in I was amazed to be offered interviews at top tier places since my score was mediocre. However, if you get great letters then schools like UCLA, UCSF, MGH, Brigham, OHSU, and Northwestern will look well beyone the score. I got offered interviews at all of these places because the rest of my applcation actually mattered. There are some places like UCSD that do have cut-offs and if they don't look at your application then you won't be offered an interview. I suggest you get strong letters especially from chairmans and wait on Step 2. You never know, you might get a lower score than your step 1 and kick yourself later about it. If October rolls around and interviews aren't piling up (which is unlikely) then take it at the end of Oct, get your score by Nov and release it. Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me. Of course none of my advice really matters until after I match.

 

[fascinoma]

Your step 1 score makes it a difficult decision to choose when to take Step 2. People who score below 210 should definitly take it early and those above 220 can wait on it until after interviews. I can tell you my take on all this and I am not sure how much that might help. I pretty much got your score on Step 1. I attend a mid tier med school that is well known in the anesth. world (due to research). I had Honors and High Pass all three years with more honors than high passes. In October when interviews started rolling in I was amazed to be offered interviews at top tier places since my score was mediocre. However, if you get great letters then schools like UCLA, UCSF, MGH, Brigham, OHSU, and Northwestern will look well beyone the score. I got offered interviews at all of these places because the rest of my applcation actually mattered. There are some places like UCSD that do have cut-offs and if they don't look at your application then you won't be offered an interview. I suggest you get strong letters especially from chairmans and wait on Step 2. You never know, you might get a lower score than your step 1 and kick yourself later about it. If October rolls around and interviews aren't piling up (which is unlikely) then take it at the end of Oct, get your score by Nov and release it. Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me. Of course none of my advice really matters until after I match.

i concur. interestingly, none of my concurrence matters until i match in march, either...

 

[scotchnwater]

Your step 1 score makes it a difficult decision to choose when to take Step 2. People who score below 210 should definitly take it early and those above 220 can wait on it until after interviews. I can tell you my take on all this and I am not sure how much that might help. I pretty much got your score on Step 1. I attend a mid tier med school that is well known in the anesth. world (due to research). I had Honors and High Pass all three years with more honors than high passes. In October when interviews started rolling in I was amazed to be offered interviews at top tier places since my score was mediocre. However, if you get great letters then schools like UCLA, UCSF, MGH, Brigham, OHSU, and Northwestern will look well beyone the score. I got offered interviews at all of these places because the rest of my applcation actually mattered. There are some places like UCSD that do have cut-offs and if they don't look at your application then you won't be offered an interview. I suggest you get strong letters especially from chairmans and wait on Step 2. You never know, you might get a lower score than your step 1 and kick yourself later about it. If October rolls around and interviews aren't piling up (which is unlikely) then take it at the end of Oct, get your score by Nov and release it. Hope that helps! Feel free to PM me. Of course none of my advice really matters until after I match.

I agree with much of what Prop says - I got about the same score and got interviews at every place I applied except for one. My third year went pretty well and I ended up with almost all Honors (no Honors at all my first two years though - all High Pass)

I did, however, opt to take Step 2 earlier than a lot of my friends. This was because I felt like I really could do better on Step 2 than I did on Step 1. Was it a gamble? Yes. Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. I improved my score by 20 points, and then didn't have to worry about it the rest of the year (plus...you're generally more prepared to take it after 3rd year than when you wait until later in your 4th year).

So in my opinion it should come down to whether or not you honestly think you can do better on Step 2 than you did on Step 1. If you think you have a decent chance at improving then go for it (a good gauge is to review how you've done on the NBME Shelf Exams throughout third year if your school offers them).

There is, of course, the standard disclaimer that all this advice could prove to be BS depending on what the envelope shows in March. 🙄

 

[HolyMoly]

Thanks for the responses guys! Keep them coming if you can🙂

 

[Leverage]

Holy..

I would take step 2 as early as possible. Having it behind you will feel nice and as mentioned above you will be better prepared at the end of your thrird year as opposed to waiting in fourth year. I think most people do better on step 2 anyhow. I scored about 20 points better too and I think I studied about 1/2 as hard. Having Peds, Surg, and OB-Gyn somewhat fresh in the mind was helpful...

Improving your score will plain get you more interviews. It was also mentioned that some schools have cutt-offs which is true. For example you need greater than 225 on step 1 or step 2 at Wake Forest. I think Emory has a 220 or 225 cutt-off for step 1 as well. Those are just a few examples in the rummor mill.

Best of luck and I think you will be fine even if you don't take it early.

 

[Dos Dedos]

Take Step 2 early. Study hard. Also Take Step 2 CS shortly after Step 2CK. Even if you waited until the last possible minute, you would probably take it sometime during interview season anyway. You don't want to be like some other posters who have had program (interviewers) ask them if they have taken Step 2; then when the scores come back 6 weeks later, they are wondering if they should email the results to the programs before ranking! Just take it early; no questions asked. I got 99% on step 1 and I remember at least one program ask when did i take step 2 and what the score was.

 

[HolyMoly]

😀you guys are awesome!!