What if...

[swing]

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Suppose you get a somewhat marginal score in Step 1, like around 200.
Now you decide you want to get into a bit more competitive specialty, but not Opthalmology of Derm - maybe something like General Surgery, ER med, PM&R, etc.
Will REALLY GOOD evaluations and Honors on rotations, and greatly improved Step II scores make up in any way for the lackluster Step 1 score?
This has not happened as I have yet to take Step1, just wondering how it would work out.
Thanks!

 

[Alias]

PM&R Competitive?

 

[R U SED 8]

Originally posted by swing
Now you decide you want to get into a bit more competitive specialty, but not Opthalmology of Derm - maybe something like General Surgery, ER med, PM&R, etc.
Will REALLY GOOD evaluations and Honors on rotations, and greatly improved Step II scores make up in any way for the lackluster Step 1 score?

Swing,

More so than your question, I am rather surprised/puzzled/confused by your thoughts on what the "bit more competitive" specialties are... especially general surgery!?! And you didn't even list anesthesia anywhere!? What's up?? (J/K!)

But seriously though, good evals, honors, etc will certainly always make you a much stronger candidate. However, the more competitive a specialty, the more weeding out the residencies need to do. And what better a tool than to start with objective numbers like board scores?? Chances are once the better board scores are taken into consideration, then other factors will be considered.

There are certainly always exceptions to this rule, but this generally holds in most situations. Hope this helps! 🙂

 

[OldManDave]

What ever you do, do not go into the Board exam or even start Board preparation with such a defeatist attitude. If you do, it will certainly kick your ass. Be confident and KNOW that you will perform to the best of your own abilities.

 

[H&P-Stat]

Here's what I've noticed about Step 1 vs. Step 2 scores. I know of only one person who scored ridiculously higher (i.e. 25 points)on Step 2 than he did on Step 1. However, this seems to be the excepton. Most people I know scored approximately the same on both exams, give or take 2-5 points. Even the people who took a month off to study 12 hours/day didn't improve by much.

Basically, I think you're either an awesome standardized test taker, and average one, or you're not so good. If you scored a 200 on Step 1, my observations would suggest that you're probably gonna score a 200 on Step 2. I'd rather have the residency committees think that I could have done better and my Step 1 score was a fluke. If you score below average twice, you'd lose the benefit of the doubt.

Or, you could just ignore my advice, crush Step 2, and tell me I'm an idiot. Roll the dice buddy.

 

[swing]

Thanks for everyones replies!
I just picked the rankings off the top of my head based upon various discussions I've read here.
Also, I'm not anticipating doing poorly on Boards, just interested in how various situations might work out in a given set of circumstances. Since i'm not yet sure which direction to go - I figure rotations are good for that - I'm going to try to score as highly as possible. This was a good point about having confidence.

 

[suks2bu]

I hope this helps, on average my friends scored 10-15 points higher on step2. I scored around 20 points higher, my step 1 was close to the national average. But I took it early, right after 3rd year with my final rotation being medicine.

 

[Future GI Guy]

Suks,

I'm finding the same trend with my friends (by the way, I'm in St Louis, as well)

A buddy of mine went from a 200 to a 228. He studied hard.

Similarly, another friend of mine went from a 238 to a 260, and actually studied LESS than for Step I.

I think the level of training is much more intensive during the third year clerkships, so all of that information "sticks" better.

I'm hoping for a bump in score as well.

GI Guy.