step II: my school makes us take it early

[PamIsHorny]

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I am hoping that someone in the know could help me out with this.

My med school has a policy of having us take Step II before the Dec of our 4th year. I worked very hard for Step I. I am happy with my Step I score and wish that programs would just evaluate me based on that. I am worried about the possibility of doing worse on Step II and it negatively affecting my match. If I take Step II in November, programs will be using that score for evaluation at some point after I interview, right? Some people tell me that programs don't really look at Step II unless you alert them that you took the test and want them to take it into account.

Does anyone know how this works? Is it possible to not release the step II score without programs knowing that I'm witholding?
thanks
PamIsHorny

 

[lord_jeebus]

It is possible to keep ERAS from automatically reporting your Step II score, but only if you submit it before your score comes out. This generally means taking it no earlier than September.

My school required me to take it by August (!), but it was a lot easier than Step I and it worked out well. I think having a strong Step II was a little beneficial (ie. I got a few comments on it) but the risks of having a low Step II may outweigh them.

I think your 3rd year shelf exams are a very good predictor of how well you will do on Step II. Having a couple of weeks to dedicate completely to preparing for this test also makes a huge difference.

 

[WhoopDeeDoo]

I completely agree that shelf exams at the end of clincal rotations are great predictors of how you will do on Step 2...and how you did on Step 1 as well.

Step 2 is easier than the shelf exams so if you are doing well on those, you will do well on Step 2. Doing well on Step 1 shows that you are probably a good standardized test taker.

Personally...I think most people who take Step 2 CK as close to the end of 3rd year end up doing better because all that knowledge is fresh. I took my exam in the beginning of August and all I did was USMLEworld for about 5 days straight. That was a ton less than I studied for Step 1 and I improved significantly on Step 2. However, I was fresh off my Internal Medicine shelf and felt pretty good about my fund of knowledge.

I would just take it early unless you are not doing so well on the shelfs (which I would guess are scores <75)

 

[happyabe]

Hi Pam:

I would highly recommend that if you have to take it early, don't take the Step II lightly. People will always claim that it's an easy test. This leads one to study less and you'll end up doing worse than you did on Step I. I think that if you were to devote the same amount of time as you did on Step I prep, then you'll score a lot higher. I spent one month on Step II prep vs. about three months for Step I prep. The Step II exam is easier to prepare for, but it's not an easier test. Work hard, do well on it, and blow the interviewers away.

HA

 

[Dr Serenity]

Hi Pam:

I would highly recommend that if you have to take it early, don't take the Step II lightly. People will always claim that it's an easy test. This leads one to study less and you'll end up doing worse than you did on Step I. I think that if you were to devote the same amount of time as you did on Step I prep, then you'll score a lot higher. I spent one month on Step II prep vs. about three months for Step I prep. The Step II exam is easier to prepare for, but it's not an easier test. Work hard, do well on it, and blow the interviewers away.

HA

Very well spoken. You don't need to spend three months preparing for step 2, but I would recommend doing as well as you can on the shelf exams, and then make sure you devote adequate time to prepare for the exam. If possible, it may be good to take a month off and use that time to prepare while you don't have rotation commitments. Now that may not be possible for you; in that case, just be sure to devote consistent, quality time to studying.