Our school seems to waiver a bit with regards to the timelines for taking Step 2 CK and CS. For now, one must pass CK and attempt CS in order to graduate from our school. With regards to timing of Step 2 CK, it was recommended that one take CK by April 15th of the year of graduation in order to receive their diploma at graduation. The previous year, I believe they required that all student take CK by December 31st of M-4 year (i.e. 12/31/04 for student in the Class of 2005). One of our students did not follow this guideline. The school, initially, gave him a hard time about it (saying they were going to nullify the credit he received from 12/31/04 until the day he took CK, in Feb of 2005), but then they eventually awarded him credit for the work he completed during this time. I'd have to check the handobok (which I don't feel like doing) to confirm the most current policies, but this is what is in place, as far as I know. I would be surprised if schools strictly adhere to the policies such as the one you mentioned, just b/c it causes more trouble than it's worth to penalize someone who "breaks the rules." I'm currently taking an online Nutrition course where all the students (except myself) are going to be graduating in less than 1 month. A solid percentage of them have yet to complete their work for the course, but they know that the school is not going to fail them and held them back for a silly online Nutrition course! If you're thinking about taking the test after December of M-4 year, you should judt use your own judgement about how strict your school is, in general and with regards to such issues. Our school has gotten more strict on many things, but something like the online Nutrition class is unlikely to be rigidly enforced. Just try to figure that our from what you've seen from your own school and your hunch will, most likely, be correct.
