True or false: A 240 on the USMLE will make one competitive for any residency.

[Ruban]

---

Members don't see this ad.

In other words, is a score of 240 sufficient to be considered for a residency slot in any field at the majority of programs?

 

[Harrie]

Considered...yes. Competitive...not necessarily. A 240 won't close any doors, but you need to have a 240+ step I combined with a lot of other stuff to be competitive for some uber-competitive residencies.

 

[bigfrank]

Since some programs have a cutoff of 245 (UCSF Rads comes to mind), I would change the 240 to 250. But there is so much more to the application and YOU as a person/applicant than the Step I score.

Good luck

 

[scootad.]

240+ is necessary but not sufficient for the most competitive residencies. like bigfrank said, i actually think a 240 isn't that high these days (like it was 5 years ago). so really its 250+, +research/pubs, connections, AOA, etc.

 

[carrigallen]

I urge caution against believing everything on SDN, especially in regard to certain posters. Although I do not have an extensive background, I have never heard of programs that literally screen applicants past 235 (using the computer cutoff).

I think that most programs operate on a threshold, and once the threshold is reached, the step exam score is no longer an issue.

 

[Mirror Form]

Since some programs have a cutoff of 245 (UCSF Rads comes to mind), I would change the 240 to 250. But there is so much more to the application and YOU as a person/applicant than the Step I score.

Good luck

If that is indeed true, it's still just one particular program. His question was about specialties and 245 is very competitive for a typical rads program.