When to take Step II CK?

Yes, if I were in your shoes I would be taking Step II CK early. Its not a hard test and most people improve their scores.

How long does it take for Step 2 scores to come back generally? I'm taking mine in mid-September.

YES..YES...take it early.....

I am a 5th year resident, who has had some experience with how applications are reviewed....

Your 229 is average.....noting special, but wont hurt you...

NO honors third year is not good......So you need to offset this by rocking step 2......

Some places only interview AOA people....those kids honored almost every rotation....so that will be a huge barrier to entry.....

Take it as free advice, but thats just my opinion.....

it took 2.5 weeks for me to get mine back this Feb/March. I'm sure it varies though.

Step 2 CK comes back the Wednesday of the third week following your test. If you take it on a wednesday, then 3 weeks. if you take it on a friday, like 2.5 weeks.

I am in a similar situation as you (220s), i took it already and did better, though not sure how much it is going to matter since I get the impression most programs are only looking at Step 1 for cutoffs.

Take it before your rotation if you can. 3 weeks is sufficient study time if you're just coming off your rotations

Thank you to everybody that replied.

Confussed

I think what was said about the stap 1 cut off is a grey area.

Yes there are programs where 229 will not get you past the screening.

But some places may use a 225 to actually read your application, and with limited to no clerkship honors.....you need every possibly thing in your application to get you an interview...and I think a nice solid step 2 score will improve your chances of an interview....

You are correct if you are sitting on 3 aces taking step 2 early will likely not add much to your hand....but you my friend would benefit from that feather in your cap....

Wow, really?

ya and dont even think about wearing a long white coat as a med student...you may as well write "Tool" across the back of the coat

I'm scheduled to take CK in mid-September. Now that ERAS opened I'm putting in some of my info and I see there is a box that says "Do you authorize the NBME to AUTOMATICALLY transmit your updated USMLE transcript to all designated programs when a new Step result becomes available?" I'm fairly confident that I can improve on my Step 1 score which may give me an extra bump in terms of getting interviews, but it looks like if you choose NO to this question you can still review your scores prior to releasing them to the programs you're applying to. Does anyone have any experience with this in the past? I mean can they see that you've taken it and haven't released your score (i.e. in the unfortunate event that you take CK early and your results aren't as good as you were hoping)?

I got in the 240's on step 1 but due to aways I will not be able to take step II CK until nov. Do you think that I should drop one of my aways and take step 2 in september?

if you got in the 240's on step I, there's really no need to take 2ck before November. Especially if it's an important away.

Read through the posts but would like some more opinions.

I thought about taking July off to study and take Step II then doing my home rotation in Aug followed by two aways in September and October.
Based on making a 239 on Step I, would that be logical approach or should I wait to take Step II later and start my ortho months in July instead.

Thanks

You're "above average" when compared to the latest Charting Outcomes in the Match. Will the end of your third year be relaxed enough to allow you to study without taking a month off? If not then I'd probably just do your ortho rotations early. I personally scored in the low 230s on Step 1 so I chose to take it early but I improved significantly (mid-270s) and was told by at least one chairman than they wouldn't have interviewed me if it weren't for my Step 2. If I was in your shoes and could study during a rotation at the end of MS3 I'd take it early, but if I didn't have that option I'd probably wait

October gets late for getting letters from that program and many programs require materials to be in before that month even starts. If you can take two weeks between 3rd yr and starting ortho electives, that may be a good time to take CK, especially if you can start reviewing in your final 3rd year rotation. I would NOT delay the electives with the score you have.

I am just a lowly med student, but what I have heard is that no matter the board score, it is good to take step 2 early and have it on your application. There are a few reasons for this:

You can to your step 1 score if it is low to average, it shows that you have confidence in yourself (a good quality for a surgeon), and it shows that you have clinical knowledge as well as basic science knowledge, which in most people's opinion is most important than basic science knowledge, if you had a high step 1 score - you show them that it wasn't a fluke, it also shows you to be a hard worker, because you're going to study harder for it if you know it's going to be on your app.

If I was looking at an app, and the person didn't have their step 2 score on there, I would think less of them because they were afraid to take it. Maybe they think they don't have a good clinical knowledge base or they themselves think that their step 1 was a fluke.

I made a 244, but I definitely plan on taking it in July. Again, just the opinion of a med student so take it for what it's worth.

Or maybe they were working their butts off July through October on ortho rotations.

I just finished all my interviews without my Step2 score and only two places asked about it, neither of them made a big deal about it. It is true that people can improve upon a poor Step1 score or demonstrate consistency with an already strong Step1 score, but I never had any indication anyone was thinking less of me for not having my Step2 score on my application.

i'd either take it early or take it just late enough so that it will be release right after sept 1 or whenever usmle transcripts are initially sent, that way you can see it and choose whether or not to release it. if you do the same or better send it on, if not, then hold it back. so like mid august or something. its also good to just have it out of the way, and the earlier you take it, the better you do.

Step 1 gets you interviews. Unless you did really bad on Step 1, I've heard from a couple of PDs that there's no need to take Step 2 super early. You can take it in November/December and still give updates if you liked your score.

My school matches very well and I think most students don't end up taking the Step 2 til Jan-March. So from personal experience, doesn't seem like you need to take it early unless you want it to boost your score. I'd do it after you start getting interviews, and if you do really well, update your application. If not, then don't update it and just coast on your Step 1.

I agree, I'm studying to take step 2 next week, and I never got asked about it once on interviews. I might have gotten more interviews had I had it, but I don't know that for sure. I definitely was not afraid to take it, but it wasn't a priority for me since I did very well on step 1 and had other areas to improve on my application instead of testing. For the record, I got enough interview offers despite not having step 2.