What score on step 2 can make up for a bad step one?

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pandoraone

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I scored in the low 220's for step one; what kind of step 2 score would make up for it and would help me match at more competitive places?

I know I dug myself into a hole but want to try and do right by myself and get out as much as possible.
 
shoot for > 1 std above average which im guessing these days is probably ~260. it will help to show improvement, but will not erase your score. the average for step two is higher so just having a higher numerical score on step 2 isnt necessarily an improvement.
 
It will take more than a high step 2 ck obviously, but I would shoot for 250+ with 260+ pretty solidly demonstrating your ability to perform well on an exam.

With a low Step 1, you will need to make sure the rest of your application is pretty stellar if you want to aim for very competitive fields/programs. That means research, preferably good research with solid pubs to show for it. It means strong letters of recommendation, letters that glow so much you could use them for emergency lighting. Strive to honor all of your MS3 clerkships.

The truth is that most top students with 250+ on their step 1 will also be doing all of this stuff, so it's still an uphill battle. The end goal is to have your 220 be the ONLY thing on your application that anyone can say anything bad about. I've seen people match to good programs in competitive fields with an isolated ding like that, but they invariably had an otherwise flawless application. You need to start today (well, it's sunday - start tomorrow morning) with networking in your department of choice, getting involved with research, and being the rockstar you want people to think you are.

This time next weekend you should be doing one of the following: 1) finishing a rough draft of your protocol for IRB submission, 2) data collection/analysis, or 3)finishing the rough draft of a manuscript. Depending on what projects you find, aim to grab one by the horns and start getting something done asap. If something needs to be done in 2 weeks, turn it around in 2 days. There are few things that faculty at academic centers like more than a motivated med student who can get s--t done fast. This is what leads to glowing letters and great relationships.

Oh, and make sure you're working/studying hard enough to honor everything from here on out.

This will entail an insane amount of work on your part -- work that, based on your step 1 score, you have hitherto been unwilling or unable to do. Now's the time to change that.
 
You forget that average = bad in the minds of med students.
Yeah, I realized I forgot that. All medical students come from Lake Wobegon, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
 
depends on the context, but in some cases probably none, especially with programs that might use blind filters before reading your app
 
I scored in the low 220's for step one; what kind of step 2 score would make up for it and would help me match at more competitive places?

I know I dug myself into a hole but want to try and do right by myself and get out as much as possible.
So the average person goes up ~15 points from step 1->2. To get a "significantly" better step 2 than step 1, you need to go up substantially more than 15 points. 25 or 30 would do it.

That said, your step 1 is not bad, so even if you go up only 15 points, you'll be fine. Right around the national average for both.
 
So the average person goes up ~15 points from step 1->2. To get a "significantly" better step 2 than step 1, you need to go up substantially more than 15 points. 25 or 30 would do it.

That said, your step 1 is not bad, so even if you go up only 15 points, you'll be fine. Right around the national average for both.
Why is that?
 
Why is that?
Because the score distribution is different. The average score for step 2 is 240 and the minimum passing mark is something like 207. So if your score stays the same, you went down a fair bit relative to the mean test taker. You need to go up 12-15 points to stay even.

As for why the score distribution is different, you can debate that back and forth if you want. I think the test is just substantially easier. Step 1 tests a lot of minutia and bull****, step 2 has its fair share but is a LOT more clinically relevant.
 
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