any shot?

[wingedhelmet]

Hey everybody, I need some realistic opinions and advice. Im US citizen at a middle tier MD institution, and came to med school with the sole purpose of going into surgery. Unfortunately I took some bad advice regarding studying for Step 1 and scored extremely poorly - 198. Obviously I was upset, but took solace from the experiences of others who have posted here with similar step 1's and still matched, so I busted my butt in studying for step 2, with the knowledge that if I scored 240+, I'd have a realistic chance at a community program. However, I just got my score back today and was devastated when it popped up as 231. With a below-average step 2 and such an abysmal step 1, do I have any hope of matching? Other parts of my app:

-significant experience working in the OR's prior to and during med school
-1 clinical research project
-1 pseudo-publication (submitted - waiting to hear if it's been accepted)

I've applied broadly (75+ programs) but I fear that there's just no chance of over-coming my step1 score now. I'd greatly appreciate any opinions on my chances and thoughts on how I can in any way to significantly improve my app any way in the next couple months.

- wingedhelmet

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[radjo]

Many programs have a step 1 cutoff of at least 200 or 210. Your application will not even be seen at those places. Perhaps sending a letter of interest to some lower tier/community programs and adding more programs that don't have a cutoff (per FREIDA or program websites) would at least get your application viewed.

How many interviews do you have so far? Once you hit 10 you have decent chances of matching, but if you can't get 10+ then you should try applying to some prelim programs.

 

[deleted804629]

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[greg.house1408]

Any updates from OP about what happened?