When to take step II

[jordews]

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Hey whats up.. I'm considering choosing emergency medicine for residency, but I'm having a little trouble deciding when I should take step II and was wondering if any of you guys have any advice. First question, by what date do you need to take step II so that residency directors can see your score before they grant interview offers. Secondly, is it worth taking step II after residency director's would see your score in time for interviews to go out, but before they make their match list. And third, and i guess this is a little more personal to me, but I have around a 3.5 from a fairly decent medical school (top 20) and a 229 on my boards.. any recommendations?
Thanks for your help.

 

[Sessamoid]

And third, and i guess this is a little more personal to me, but I have around a 3.5 from a fairly decent medical school (top 20) and a 229 on my boards.. any recommendations?

Yeah, don't risk taking Step 2 early enough that it could sabotage your application. You've already got a solid application, and any benefit you get from a good Step II score would be minimal to none. The danger of you having a bad day and screwing it up is higher than the value of the minimal/no benefit.

 

[GeneralVeers]

Agreed. With a 229 you're in excellent shape to apply for Emergency Medicine. Take your Step 2 in January or February. That way you'll guarantee the results won't come in before the match. As long as you pass the exam there's no worries.

I took mine in June (as my Step 1 sucked) and did about 10 points better. Didn't help me as I still didn't match.

 

[WilcoWorld]

I would recommend not taking Step 2 right away, as a 229 probably wont keep you out of the vast majority of residencies, if any. However, if you take it soon after you submit your ERAS app, then you can get your score before interview season really gets going & decide whether or not you want to resubmit your score at that point. That's basically a risk-free opportunity to improve your score.

 

[LotaPower]

I too am in a similar situation but because of scheduling constraints, the latest I can take Step II CK is near the end of October. I did pretty decent on Step I (230's) and don't want to take the step II risk either. Does the end of October provide any safe buffer?

Thanks 😉