<p>So, step 2 costs $1,200 and you have to travel to one of half a dozen centers, yay, hotel bills and plane tickets, too.</p>
<p>Any recommendations from those of you who know regarding timing? if your Step 1 is high, do you definitely want to take this later so it is optional to release it?
What about an average or low Step 1? Would everyone want to time it such that the residency interviewers could not have the score when inviting?
Prep classes? Kaplan, etc?
Time to study? Take a rotation off to study like Step 1?</p>
<p>I know approx nothing about USMLE, which is sort of on purpose because it’s looming in the near future and I don’t want to think about it. </p>
<p>For my school, our Step 1 scores are a few points above the national mean (natl 225, our avg 232). Our Step 2 scores are considerably higher (our avg 245). Many of our grads choose primary care or internal medicine; in other words, we don’t tend to choose the super duper competitive specialties. So, it seems like having above-average Step 1 scores and not gunning for a super competitive specialty means you can kind of take Step 2 whenever, which is what’s most common here. </p>
<p>I was under the impression that studying for Step 2 is NOTHING like studying for Step 1, in that it really only required minimal review because it’s theoretically all the stuff you did during third year. I was under the impression taking Step 2 early would be good if you had a low-borderline Step 1 score, so the usually-higher Step 2 score might offset that. </p>
<p>I believe you do CK before CS–or at least that’s the common pattern at my school.</p>
<p>I think if you didn’t do well on the step 1 test because you have problems with multiple choice questions and your strength is in the clinical aspects, you would do the CS first and postpone the CK until you have done an away rotation where you want your residency. This way you have an opportunity to make a good impression regardless of your ck exam that would be taken later.</p>
<p>If you had a high step 1 score (260+), you have little to gain by taking step 2 early. You can only go down.</p>
<p>If your step 1 score is too low for your specialty (for example if you have a 235 and you are applying for derm), you must take step 2 early and kill it.</p>
<p>UCSF residency programs require you to have a step 2 score in order to rank you.</p>
<p>If you take step 2 after you submit your residency application (after September for most people), you have the option of whether or not to release your score after you view the score. Essentially, score choice. You have little to lose. Of course, residency programs can always ask at an interview what your Step 2 score was.</p>
<p>Thanks! DD had to register today for her window, apparently you sign up for a 3 month window now. Her school requires the CK & CS be done by the end of September in 4th year so she chose that window and will angle for a late September date.</p>
<p>On CS, the OSCME is available in summer and she has been told to do the OSCME right before the Step II CS. Does that seem early to take CS in August and CK in late September? That seems to be the latest her school allows, but feels earlier than many SDN posters talk about.</p>