step II timing

The thinking is that with a good step I score, you should get the interviews you need. On all of my interviews, I only had 1 ask for my step 2 scores out of 10!

Taking Step 2 after the interview process takes some pressure off you early, but you will slowly begin to forget the stuff you learned during your third year clerkships.

There are A BUNCH of posts like this, use the search function for others responses.

IMHO, put it off, if you get a crappy test generated (and I know some who rocked step I and went down quite a bit on Step II) by the computer, and go down quite a bit, that could hurt you.

Wait until after your rotations and interviews. I wasn't asked for it and I'm pretty sure most programs are going 99% on Step I. You've already proven you can do well on tests and in school. My school of thought is you have very little to gain and everything to lose. Even with a sweet score on StepII it just says you do well on tests which you probably have already proven with a long track record. I don't think you'll drop that much in taking it later anyway. I took it in March, used 2 days for Crush the Boards, 2 days for NMS questions and went up 25 points. Granted I pulled a good test for me but if you studied hard for the shelf exams and did well it'll come back to you. My other advice is to go with the horses. Step II does not try to throw you off with too many distractors like Step one. If you get half way through the question and feel like you know what it has to be, go with it and never second guess.

I took step II in december and wasn't asked about it except one interview (though I did match there). I agree with BigPiece, take it after interviews and ortho rotations, with a step I score that's solid all you have do is pass. But, I would take it very soon after interviewing as you don't want to spend your spring break "studying"--trust me since I just spent the week skiing Colorado. 4th year is awesome and you should enjoy it. :pimp:

I am in the minority here, but I say take it now and get it out of the way. I took it early (a few weeks before I finished 3rd year), and improved my score, so I decided to submit the score. I had a couple interviewers that commended me for taking it and improving my already solid score (237 on step I).

Taking it early can't hurt you. You don't have to submit the score if you don't do well on it. Almost everyone I have spoke with that spent more than a day or two studying for it (I spent about 2 hours a day for 1 week) has done as well, or improved on their score. If you take it early, the material will most likely be fresh in your head. I could go on forever, but I think the most important reason to take it early was the fact that I didn't have to take another exam after I finished my last shelf and I could let all that peds, psych, and ob slip into oblivion.

as a 4th year who is currently studying for step 2, I would tell you to take it now. You do not have to release your score. Given your score on step 1, I probably would not bother releasing it. It sucks studying now. It has been almost 2 years since I've looked at peds/ob and I've forgotten everything. Just my 2 cents.

That's all really helpful, but still don't know which way to go. If I were to take it early and not release until late, does that look bad?? IF asked about it on an interview, what do I say? "Yea, I took it but didn't want you to know what I got"? How does not releasing work?? Thanks again everyone.
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take it late: no explaining of why you did not release or why you did bad. you will not remember as much, but who cares? just pass; you do well, than that's a bonus.

yeah, i know people say that scores don't matter, but it is just a pain to take it late. you seriously forget everything. don't worry about not releasing your scores. your interviewers don't have to know that you took step 2. i interviewed at 14 places and not one of those places asked me about step 2. my advice, get it over with and don't release your scores. in the long run, either way, you'll be alright.

My current dilemma...230 Step 1, currently planning on 3 ortho rotations, have time for a 4th but was wondering if I should use that month to study for Step II and really try to kick butt or do another away to increase my chances there? What do you guys think? How much can doing better on Step II help me? Thanks.

Four ortho electives is probably pushing it quite a bit. Some may even consider three (some schools even put caps on the #) to be above the upper limit of normal. I've been told by peers/ortho docs that doing too many ortho rotations may make an applicant look too desperate. Most programs want people who are relatively well rounded individuals (aka take a variety of electives fourth year, as I've been told), this may be difficult to do with four months already wrapped up with ortho electives.

Schedule something else during that extra month or two, then plan on taking that as vacation towards the end of the year. I think many would agree that taking vacation time to study for step II is overkill and probably a waste of fun time, most schools offer some type of anatomy or pathology elective that should provide you with more than enough time for step II prep. Plus remember, depending on the number of interviews you pull, you may need to take some vacation time for that --which seems like a better investment than using it for step II to me. That will make the second half of fourth year even more enjoyable and give you time to wrap up logistical things like where to live for residency, drinking beer, etc...
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