I failed COMLEX PE but passed on the retake. I am wondering how bad will that look for applying to ACGME Anesthesiology residencies in the upcoming cycle? Should I take the CS so that I can "prove" to program directors that I can actually be a doctor? I plan to talk about my failed PE in my personal statement. It was a rough time in my life in which I had several acts of violence and several crimes done against me (I live in an urban environment) and even dealt with a death threat someone tried to act on . It was a really depressing and scary time in my life, but I was so afraid to move the exam). I took the exam with so much built up anxiety, obviously, and ended up standing up rather than sitting down during the history taking for all twelve patients even though I did soooo many things for empathy that few other people did. And I forgot to sit down because on clinical rotations, esp. in the hospital, no one really sits down when taking the history for a patient.