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bubbles3030

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Hey guys,

Quick question, I did really well on my Step 1 (267) and have been trying to figure out timing of Step 2. When should I be taking it, I have 3 weeks to study after my internal med rotation in June which would be pretty prime but I've had a few people tell me to push it til October.

For people applying/interviewing who chose to push it, did this come up at all or hurt your chances in any way?
I just want to make sure I am not cutting opportunities by not having it when I apply/interview.

Thanks in advance!

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Congrats on your step 1 success. If you're looking to score as high as possible, take it early (June after IM would be ideal). If you're not wanting it to be on your application, take it late (November or December).

I had one person ask me about step 2 during the entire interview trail. Not having the score did not appear to affect the programs I received interviews from nor the interview experience.
 
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Don't stress out by taking it early. You killed step 1 and that will open doors. Doing less than that on step 2 could hurt you and there's really nothing to gain by doing well again.

I took mine today, after interviews finished up. Yes it sucked since I know I probably scored 20 points lower than if I took it after medicine, but the fact that it doesn't in any way influence my match is pretty nice.

The grey area is for students who do well but could potentially make their app better with a high Step 2. I know some who took it after CAS is submitted, but before interviews/ranking so they could update places if they did well, while not disclosing it if they didn't do as well as they hoped


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I had a program director tell me during interview season that two good scores look better than one good score, but I also wholeheartedly agree that step 2 is not super important to committees since a large percentage of applicants have not taken it. You rocked step 1, and that's what they care about. 267 is in the 95+ percentile, so you've already proven yourself there. I would put money on you that you could score in the 260s again having medicine last though. Depending how you set-up your schedule for 4th year, there is potential for some value to not have to worry about step 2 during interview season or aways. I also scored in the 260s on step 1, but also took step 2 in July and scored in the 260s again. I imagine most people would have advised me not to do that, but I wanted to get it out of the way and give my application any boost possible since I came from a lower tier medical school. I matched, but who knows if it honestly helped at all; I just enjoyed getting it out of the way during July when most programs don't seem to offer an ophtho rotation since the new residents are starting anyway. I also had medicine last, and I studied for 2.5 weeks for step 2 before heading out for an away. No one said anything about my step 2 score, but it was nice to have it out of the way so I didn't have to worry about it during aways and interview season. Also, if possible, it's not a terrible idea to knock step 2 CS out of the way early in 4th year (of course, don't let it take away anything from your application prep/interview season). I don't know if most people experience this, but it's crazy how much medicine you forget when you're trying to match into ophtho during your 4th year. Good luck with the rest of third year! Ophtho is a gem.
 
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Doing lower on step 2 will just stress out OP. Don't take it early. Spend your energy on something else.


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I had a program director tell me during interview season that two good scores look better than one good score, but I also wholeheartedly agree that step 2 is not super important to committees since a large percentage of applicants have not taken it. You rocked step 1, and that's what they care about. 267 is in the 95+ percentile, so you've already proven yourself there. I would put money on you that you could score in the 260s again having medicine last though. Depending how you set-up your schedule for 4th year, there is potential for some value to not have to worry about step 2 during interview season or aways. I also scored in the 260s on step 1, but also took step 2 in July and scored in the 260s again. I imagine most people would have advised me not to do that, but I wanted to get it out of the way and give my application any boost possible since I came from a lower tier medical school. I matched, but who knows if it honestly helped at all; I just enjoyed getting it out of the way during July when most programs don't seem to offer an ophtho rotation since the new residents are starting anyway. I also had medicine last, and I studied for 2.5 weeks for step 2 before heading out for an away. No one said anything about my step 2 score, but it was nice to have it out of the way so I didn't have to worry about it during aways and interview season. Also, if possible, it's not a terrible idea to knock step 2 CS out of the way early in 4th year (of course, don't let it take away anything from your application prep/interview season). I don't know if most people experience this, but it's crazy how much medicine you forget when you're trying to match into ophtho during your 4th year. Good luck with the rest of third year! Ophtho is a gem.

I would argue that the time spent studying for Step 2 would be much better served finishing up a paper, doing an away rotation at somewhere they really want to be, or fine tuning their personal statement. I scored similarly and a PD told me, "yea, I wouldn't have taken step 2 either." Sure it's always better to have 2 great scores, but the application is more than step 1.


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Thanks everybody! Taking what everyone had to say, yeah I think I am going to push it to early October (I'll also have 3 weeks to study then) and using the weeks after internal med to work on my application and finish research projects.

Good luck with the application season!
 
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