Will a Late Level 2/Step 2 CK Score Make me Unmatchable?

[GloryVA]

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Due to some very negative life/health reasons, I had to take the second set of boards late. Technically, I'm scheduled for December 18th but I don't think I'm better yet and I certainly haven't reinforced my studying as a result. I'd feel more comfortable with passing if I could move things to Jan 10th and get my scores in before the ROL deadline of Feb 20th.

I've been doing really well on interviews and am practically distraught at what this may cost me though. I've started slowly reaching out to some of the places where I've interviewed to ask when they intend to submit rank lists and to let them know that I still have scores trickling in.

If around mid to late January, I tell every program where I've interviewed that my results will be out by Feb 11th or 12th, is that too late to be ranked properly? @OldPsychDoc and other willing PDs, selection committee SDN members, chief residents, and whomever is gracious enough to chime in on SDN, may I please have a moment of your time for some advice about this?

(And please, everyone, no hating. My family and I've genuinely been through a lot of unfathomable heartache that I don't need to be piled on).

 

[OldPsychDoc]

It's a calculated risk. If your Step 1 was great, we'll assume you're less likely to fail Step 2. But if it was marginal...
I have one particular committee member who points this out every year about someone: "Everyone else got these scores in on time. Why should we give extra accommodation to someone who didn't?" That's what you're up against. Sorry to add to the heartache, but them's the facts.
OTOH, if we're SURE that those scores will be in by ROL day, we may provisionally rank you as though you passed (particularly if someone liked you more than Dr. Skeptic above) and my coordinator will be obsessively checking up to the ROL deadline to make sure it IS reported. But if for some reason it's not...you'll go to the bottom "Better to match than SOAP" row, or off entirely.

 

[GloryVA]

It's a calculated risk. If your Step 1 was great, we'll assume you're less likely to fail Step 2. But if it was marginal...
I have one particular committee member who points this out every year about someone: "Everyone else got these scores in on time. Why should we give extra accommodation to someone who didn't?" That's what you're up against. Sorry to add to the heartache, but them's the facts.
OTOH, if we're SURE that those scores will be in by ROL day, we may provisionally rank you as though you passed (particularly if someone liked you more than Dr. Skeptic above) and my coordinator will be obsessively checking up to the ROL deadline to make sure it IS reported. But if for some reason it's not...you'll go to the bottom "Better to match than SOAP" row, or off entirely.

Thank you for this. I appreciate the honesty and directness.
My previous grades were average. Nothing to write home about. My plan thus far is to try and keep going and see how I do on upcoming practice tests. If I'm not cutting it by a week beforehand, then I'm not going to risk a failure for either myself or my family's sake and I'll move things to the start of January. I genuinely thought about withdrawing myself from the match altogether to get my life in order but I'm so close to the end and I hated the idea scrambling, uprooting kids and a partner for only a year, etc, not to mention student loan payback without a position. I know my planned upcoming emails to programs likely won't make a difference, but hopefully I can address the "everyone else got scores in on time" portion when contacting them but I don't know how personal or open I should be without making people uncomfortable or coming off as I'm saying woe is me. If I have to I'll throw it all out on the line and say, hey I went to take one of the two tests and had to void it during the exam when I suffered an unexpected loss and needed time to physically and mentally recover, but I already re-sat the exam and here's the exact date of when the score will be sent to you. Hopefully, I can just keep things to, "Here's updates regarding my scores and accomplishments, and here's when to expect a final score coming in."

Anyway, when the rank opens, I'll have already taken my exams either way so thank you for the insight. I never really expected to be in this position so I'm at a loss for words otherwise (and all around). I also hadn't realized I was asking for a provisional rank, so thank you for clarifying that part of things. I sort of thought that's how the system functioned fundamentally - that committees just sort of ranked you and if you met the qualifications by the ROL deadline, then you held that rank steady.

 

[psychattending]

As OPD indicated some of the decision will be driven by your specifics, where you went to school, the reason for the delay, your Step 1 score, your performance in medical school. As the odds of you potentially not passing go up, your odds of a negative impact on your ranking go up. If I have already interviewed you, it becomes solely an issues of risk minimization (i.e. where you end up on the rank list).