How bad of an idea is this? I could take step 2 without pediatrics to get it over with in July (or I could take it in the middle of pediatrics). I'm trying to take it early since I need to do a lot better than I did on step 1. If I decide to take it after pediatrics that will mean I take Step 2 in August. Is there a big difference between taking step 2 in July vs August? Any thoughts? Should I wait for it to be over with and take it in August or does that compromise the match since I want PD to see a much improved score from Step 1. I appreciate the advice.
Taking step 2 without pediatrics??
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I guess my question is when they say take step 2 early if you want to compensate for step 1 - what does that mean exactly, take step 2 by august, by july?? when is the earliest date that PD will see our score and how long does it take to process scores? is there a different between july and august and even september? Thanks for the clarification.
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The Step 2CK is reported in about 4 weeks.
Your ERAS application is usually opened for submission around September 1. You do not have to submit at this date.
You could take the test in August and have the score for ERAS back potentially by September 1.
The answer to your question depends on what match you will be entering. If it is something like urology, then you need to have your act together well and early as it is an early match. For something like medicine, then it would be ok to submit it a little later.
As far as pediatrics is concerned, the content of the exam will vary. My exam ended up to have a good number of peds questions on it... which was unexpected (I heard the exam was like 90 % medicine). I think it is a good idea to have the pediatrics clerkship under your belt before taking it, especially if you want to improve your score,
I would talk to an adviser about what match you are entering and when you need to have your score by.
Your ERAS application is usually opened for submission around September 1. You do not have to submit at this date.
You could take the test in August and have the score for ERAS back potentially by September 1.
The answer to your question depends on what match you will be entering. If it is something like urology, then you need to have your act together well and early as it is an early match. For something like medicine, then it would be ok to submit it a little later.
As far as pediatrics is concerned, the content of the exam will vary. My exam ended up to have a good number of peds questions on it... which was unexpected (I heard the exam was like 90 % medicine). I think it is a good idea to have the pediatrics clerkship under your belt before taking it, especially if you want to improve your score,
I would talk to an adviser about what match you are entering and when you need to have your score by.
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I'm not entirely sure what I want to do but one of the specialties I am considering (rads) is obviously very competitive and I need to get my score in early.
Do PD start looking and inviting literally on September 1st? I'm wondering how stringent of a date this is?
If I must do pediatrics beforehand then that means I will be done third yr 2 wk of August (peds from July - 2nd wk august) and then I could in theory take it at the end of August but I feel like that is too late???
Do PD start looking and inviting literally on September 1st? I'm wondering how stringent of a date this is?
If I must do pediatrics beforehand then that means I will be done third yr 2 wk of August (peds from July - 2nd wk august) and then I could in theory take it at the end of August but I feel like that is too late???
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I'm doing rads, so I can give you some insight into the importance of applying on September 1st. The following applies to rads only (I don't know about other specialties):
The issue isn't that they start looking at applications on Sept. 1st, but rather that when they do start looking at applications, they evaluate them in the order they come in. Apps are looked at on a first come first serve basis, even if they start looking at them in November. It might sound crazy, and I'm not trying to increase the neuroticism on these boards, but even submitting a few days later can hurt your chances significantly because often times programs will have decided to give out all of their interview invites before they get to you.
Here's what I would do. Take Step II after you do your peds clerkship and submit as early in the day as you can on September 1st. By the time most programs actually start to look at apps (I'd say most rads programs don't start looking at apps until October), your score will have already come back and your file will have been updated. You'll also get evaluated early since you submitted on the first day possible.
One thing you need to keep in mind is that many programs have filters in place. If your Step I score is crap, your application may be discarded no matter how good your step II score is.
Good luck!
