When to take Step II CS for class of '08

[NYU Med Stud]

When should I take step II CS? I plan to take CK early enough to have my scores available for when I interview for residency (I wasn't happy with my step I score). Should I do the same if I expect to rock CS? Will having a nice CS score help me make a better impression on paper? Or is it completely irrelevent and CS can be relegated to the end of fourth year?
Thanks for the help!

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[DarksideAllstar]

Do it early and get it over with. I match tomorrow and I still haven't taken the damn thing-- now its just kinda hanging over my head for another week. Ugh...

 

[NYU Med Stud]

Do it early and get it over with. I match tomorrow and I still haven't taken the damn thing-- now its just kinda hanging over my head for another week. Ugh...

I can appreciate that it's good to get it over with, but do you think it will help to have a great score for my residency interviews? Because it looks like I'll have a packed first few months of fourth year, and if it will be of ZERO help to me, I'll wait until after January. But if it will help even a little, I'd like to do it before I interview.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

For CS all you get is a pass--so it doesn't really matter (plus it takes anywhere from 4-8 weeks to get the results back. If you are referring to CK, well, there is a thread about that somewhere around here...

 

[NYU Med Stud]

For CS all you get is a pass--so it doesn't really matter (plus it takes anywhere from 4-8 weeks to get the results back. If you are referring to CK, well, there is a thread about that somewhere around here...

Oh, I didn't realize that it was pass/fail. If that's the case, then I won't take it so soon, I'll just wait until 4th year settles down a bit and I'm waiting for the match. I've already decided to take CK in time to have my scores before I interview.

 

[Moozer]

I just took it Feb 23rd, and I think that taking it earlier is better. I'm still waiting on scores, but I think the closer you are to third year, the sharper your physical exam and SOAP skills are. Plus, if you're taking CK early anyway, it will benefit you to take both close together because you will already have differentials in mind from studying. If I had it to do again, I think I would have taken it earlier.

 

[Neurotica]

I just took it Feb 23rd, and I think that taking it earlier is better. I'm still waiting on scores, but I think the closer you are to third year, the sharper your physical exam and SOAP skills are. Plus, if you're taking CK early anyway, it will benefit you to take both close together because you will already have differentials in mind from studying. If I had it to do again, I think I would have taken it earlier.

second that.

 

[jjbmsiv]

It totally would have helped studying for CS while learning all that stuff for CK. Also, almost no residency program gives a rat's ass about what CS means, except as a pre-req to take Step 3, so don't sweat it. Take it close to your school's own OSCE, or as close to the start of 4th year as you can. The later you get in your 4th year, the less of a crap you start to give. And, AFAIK, nobody wants to spend 1000 dollars twice!

 

[pillowhead]

I just took it Feb 23rd, and I think that taking it earlier is better. I'm still waiting on scores, but I think the closer you are to third year, the sharper your physical exam and SOAP skills are. Plus, if you're taking CK early anyway, it will benefit you to take both close together because you will already have differentials in mind from studying. If I had it to do again, I think I would have taken it earlier.

I second that, too. It does help to do them together. I wouldn't take CS any later than early December because if you unfortunately fail, you have surprisngly little time to take it again and pass before residency. It takes forever to get scores back and it can be difficult to find an open slot for taking it.

 

[QuinnB]

I'm taking it 2 weeks after third year ends just b/c I don't want to think about it for the rest of the year and focus on relaxing/sleeping more

 

[stxnstns]

I think it is best to take CS early, especially if it is a requirement at your school to graduate. It take at least three months to get your scores back. Although failing this exam is highly unlikely, taking the exam a second time would take at least six months to get the score report before graduation (assuming you could book a date rapidly). Some schools require that their student to take the exam by December of senior year. The test is easy just get it over with early. Best of Luck.

 

[poloace]

if your med school has an OSCE set up at the end of 3rd year... i'd reccomend taking it the day afterwards... no reason to wait til 4th year to take the test.

p

 

[Medical123]

I agree with taking it fairly early. I took it in mid-October and got my score back in mid-December. Due to the limited number of sites available, it can be kind of difficult to schedule. You want to be safe and make sure that you have enough time to take it over again in time to graduate and start residency in case something happens and you fail. Also, a couple of the programs where I interviewed at stated that they preferred that you have taken the test by the end of December because they don't want to get someone who failed the test and can't start residency on time.

 

[DW]

I will seventh or however many responses there are saying TAKE IT EARLY. I took in January and I didn't get my score back until late March. I passed it, like the overwhelming majority of med students do, but if I had failed it I would have been absolutely screwed as there pretty much no spots available at this time of year. Every thing turned out fine but I could have saved myself a lot of risk and anxiety by not putzing around and getting it over with last fall.