what should I do with my step 2?????

[mustang7848]

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I want to know what shoud I do with my score of the step 2? I have 230/93 in step 1, and just found out my score of 218/89 in step 2 but I don't have the official report of step 2 yet, only for step 1. I'm going to send my SF match application and I dont know if I should put it or wait for the programs that give me interviews if they ask for it.

Is this step 2 going to hurt my chances to get in a program??

 

[lilybriscoe]

Mustang,
Great question... I wish I could give you an answer. I have a related question that I have been meaning to post and I thought whoever is in the know might be able to reply to both of ours at once. I had a similar score as Mustang on Step 1 and was wondering when to take Step 2 and how to avoid being obligated to report my score before the match (just in case I do worse).
Thanks!
Lily

 

[monkey7247]

Mustang,
Great question... I wish I could give you an answer. I have a related question that I have been meaning to post and I thought whoever is in the know might be able to reply to both of ours at once. I had a similar score as Mustang on Step 1 and was wondering when to take Step 2 and how to avoid being obligated to report my score before the match (just in case I do worse).
Thanks!
Lily

I'm taking step 2 right before thanksgiving. While I could rock it, I'd rather be conservative and hold off on taking it, as my step 1 score was decent. It has a greater potential of hurting rather than helping for me.

 

[Pike]

I'm curious about these questions as well. One of the Deans at our school recently gave our class a little talk about how postponing Step 2 and riding on just your Step 1 score is no longer a viable option...that many programs are requiring submission of both scores, etc., etc. I was bummed to hear this because I came out at least kind of okay on Step 1. Now he wasn't talking specifically about ophthalmology programs, but how much if any truth is there to this?

 

[rubensan]

dear pike,
Not to discredit your dean, but I'm not sure how much his advice applies to the ophtho match. if your step 1 is adequate (around the mean of successfully matched apllicants in ophtho or higher) and your school does not have some silly Step II deadline, postpone step II until after the match. if anything, november and december is a good time to study for step II while you are waiting in airports or those lonely hotel nights before your interviews. not one interviewer for ophthalmology asked me why i had not taken step I at the time of my interviews. Don't let your dean stress you out too much! Good luck!

 

[Redhawk]

Since ophtho is an early match, most people won't have taken it by the time interviews roll around. I don't think most programs know what to do with step 2 scores. Having said that, they may compare your step 2 score to your step 1 score. If you score significantly lower on step 2 they may assume that you had a bad day for step 2, but they may more likely assume (if they were to assume anything) that you had a "lucky" day for step 1, regardless of whether the 2 test scores can even be compared on not.

In my case I did take step 2 early (and hardly studied) and scored significantly below my step 1 score. I asked my dean to remove the score from my dean's letter and this was done. No program asked for my scores for step 2.

 

[Ophtho24]

I am planning on taking step 2 in late september. I have done well on Step I (241). Don't really feel like messing up my chances of matching, but I am also feeling like I am rapidly forgetting everything I learned third year by doing ophtho rotations. If I botch this up, do you think programs will even find out my score seeing as how I will have already submitted my CAS?

 

[Pike]

dear pike,
Not to discredit your dean, but I'm not sure how much his advice applies to the ophtho match. if your step 1 is adequate (around the mean of successfully matched apllicants in ophtho or higher) and your school does not have some silly Step II deadline, postpone step II until after the match. if anything, november and december is a good time to study for step II while you are waiting in airports or those lonely hotel nights before your interviews. not one interviewer for ophthalmology asked me why i had not taken step I at the time of my interviews. Don't let your dean stress you out too much! Good luck!

Thanks rubensan & Redhawk. This is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Don't sweat it. It's no big deal. There are plenty of other factors to kill your application than a 218 step II score. Scores are used to compare your application to others. Most people don't have step II scores when they apply. Concentrate on your strengths, and don't worry about a 218 Step II score. Good luck!

 

[mustang7848]

thanks for the answer Dr. Andrew doan.