USMLE Step 2CK- significantly lower than step 1- advice?

[owldocta]

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HI Everyone

I've read previous posts related to this topic- and none really seemed to address my current predicament. Any advice would really be greatly appreciated.

I received a 249 on USMLE Step 1.

I am scheduled to take USMLE Step 2 CK in 10 days, and just took practice NBME#4- which gave me a 217/204.



Obviously I plan on continuing to study, but even if I could pull off some miracle, it seems like realistically my USMLE Step 2 CK will end up at 230-235 hoping for the very best.

I've heard from many resources that it is looked down upon to have such a large drop in step 2 as compared to step 1.

Just looking for any advice and/ or any truth to these rumors (specifically, if so true- what exactly is considered a significant "drop").

Thanks so much ahead of time for checking this out.

 

[aprilrain]

how are your UW scores?

Seems like NBMEs are not that accurate, so take it with a grain of salt. I took NBME 6 with about a week before and got a 237 i think. Real score 272.

 

[owldocta]

I have not taken any UWORLD assessments yet.

HOwever, 5 weeks ago, I took NBME Assessment #2 and got a 200.

 

[aprilrain]

I meant UW average..not the self assessment. sorry for the confusion.

i would say UW avg is the most predictive of your real score (check out the pinned "100 cases" on top of this thread) and followed by UWSA score.

 

[owldocta]

I did that, and it gave me a 220.

I do feel like the scores are accurate.

My predicament though is-- assuming I apply with a 230 Step 2CK and 249 Step 1 - this is still a very large drop.

Does anybody have insight as to whether or not a significant decrease in one's step 2 ck as compared to step 1 will decrease application competitiveness?

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

HI Everyone

I've read previous posts related to this topic- and none really seemed to address my current predicament. Any advice would really be greatly appreciated.

I received a 249 on USMLE Step 1.

I am scheduled to take USMLE Step 2 CK in 10 days, and just took practice NBME#4- which gave me a 217/204.



Obviously I plan on continuing to study, but even if I could pull off some miracle, it seems like realistically my USMLE Step 2 CK will end up at 230-235 hoping for the very best.

I've heard from many resources that it is looked down upon to have such a large drop in step 2 as compared to step 1.

Just looking for any advice and/ or any truth to these rumors (specifically, if so true- what exactly is considered a significant "drop").

Thanks so much ahead of time for checking this out.

How were your shelf grades? What is your UWORLD average? Do you know why you are getting the nbme questions wrong? 10 days is a still a lot of time but you have to do damage control. if its lack of info i'd skim a review book like mtb2. (2-3 days to finish)

 

[owldocta]

How were your shelf grades? What is your UWORLD average? Do you know why you are getting the nbme questions wrong? 10 days is a still a lot of time but you have to do damage control. if its lack of info i'd skim a review book like mtb2. (2-3 days to finish)

"How were your shelf grades? What is your UWORLD average? Do you know why you are getting the nbme questions wrong? 10 days is a still a lot of time but you have to do damage control. if its lack of info i'd skim a review book like mtb2. (2-3 days to finish)"

My shelf grades have all been above average (with some honors)- and letter grades being an A.
As for why I am missing some questions- it is partially due to lack of knowledge and partially to stupid mistakes.


Sure 10 days will get my score up, but nowhere near a 249. I heard that a lower step 1 ck will actually hurt the applicant if applying for a competitive residency-- do you know anything about this?

 

[thefritz]

How were your shelf grades? What is your UWORLD average? Do you know why you are getting the nbme questions wrong? 10 days is a still a lot of time but you have to do damage control. if its lack of info i'd skim a review book like mtb2. (2-3 days to finish)

You need a lot more time than 2-3 days to absorb the info from MTB. OP, consider delaying your exam. You don't need to take it before ERAS submission with that step 1.

 

[evilbooyaa]

OP - By the time you take the exam you will not have your scores back until after your ERAS is submitted. Therefore, you should take it, and if the scores are not an improvement, just don't release them. You WILL need to release them prior to being ranked, however.