Why not enough spots for Step2CS??!!

[Vacant]

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Ok, I'm venting here. I just found out that the only available spot is in Jan in all 5 testing centers. My school has a deadline for 12/30 for this exam. What the heck!

Why is it that they don't make enough space for all med students to take it on time? Why is it that they only have 5 centers for the entire nation? What is the rationale for this?

Ahh, what a perfect way to ruin my otherwise wonderful 4th year!

If anyone want to swap, I would be infinitely thankful. Mine is on 1/20 morning in LA.

 

[Medicineman20]

Could be worse, COMLEX PE has only 1 testing spot in Conshohocken Pa, which forty minutes Phili. My school told me to schedule my exam 1 year in advance.. good luck with your situation.

 

[Gute]

The system can notify you if a date opens up. Plenty of friends of mine have squeezed in earlier since dates have opened up, and I imagine it will be even easier in the coming few months once interviews start.

Did your school not warn you that the dates fill up? 5 months out from when I wanted to take it, cs spots were hard to find.

there does need to be more spots. now that more schools are requiring a pass on cs earlier, and some residencies requiring it to rank, there is now a mad rush to take cs in the fall of 4th year. ideally, our medical schools could just administer this test as most US schools do OSCEs and are perfectly able to assess this skill set.

 

[Vacant]

The system can notify you if a date opens up. Plenty of friends of mine have squeezed in earlier since dates have opened up, and I imagine it will be even easier in the coming few months once interviews start.

Did your school not warn you that the dates fill up? 5 months out from when I wanted to take it, cs spots were hard to find.

You give me hope!! Was it the case last year that spots opened up more during Nov-Dec interview season?

I don't mind taking it after Jan. It's just that my school put a deadline on 12/30 for some reason.

I did not really think that they will not have enough spots for all of us when the schools put a deadline. It just doesn't make any sense to provide no spots while requiring to take the test before certain dates. I trusted that the people in administration are minimally reasonable and logical. I was wrong in assuming so.

 

[rgerwin]

same here. we have the same deadline, and I signed up for it 12 months in advance after a doom and gloom warning from the school. They fill up super fast.

 

[notdeadyet]

I did not really think that they will not have enough spots for all of us when the schools put a deadline. It just doesn't make any sense to provide no spots while requiring to take the test before certain dates. I trusted that the people in administration are minimally reasonable and logical. I was wrong in assuming so.

Not to be harsh here, but there are actually PLENTY of spots for CS. They're just first-come, first-serve, and if you want to take the test during high-time (August-December), you need to book early.

And "early" is relative. Even though websites, google, and school administrators pushed for enrolling ASAP, I didn't bother until August, and I still found a November time-slot.

Take Gute's advice, go on the website, and request to be notified if a spot opens up sooner. In the spring, spots would open up occasionally, though they were usually with just a few days or couple weeks notice and they'd be snatched up pretty quick.

I'd be curious how often that's going to happen at this point. I think the reason slots opened up is that people were pushing out the test. That's not really an option now, since all the seats are full.

But I'd sign up for the notices and stay glued to a computer to get a slot that opens. I'm a little concerned about my November slot, as scores don't come out until February 2nd-February 23rd and some programs will refuse to rank folks without proof of having passed both Step 2's. If you have a January date, your scores won't come back until after the rank list, so that may close a couple of program options.

Good luck finding an earlier spot. I hope you hear good things...

 

[Vacant]

Just to update you all: I signed up for that email notification and in one week I was able to catch a spot on the day and location I've wanted! There are actually many spots that open up but it's too late to wait for such notifications. I was lucky in that after getting an email, I logged in to look but the notified spot was already taken, so I looked for other months and I saw one spot opened up and clicked on it before anyone else did.

So the key is to log in and check each month back and forth. Email notifications is just to give a sense of assurance that there are spots that open up.

Thank you all!