VUSMLE Vault←All guides
For IMGs aiming for a 260 or a 270 on Step 2 CK because they think it buys the Match.
By Dr. Marish Asudani · Published
No. A 270 on Step 2 CK doesn't guarantee a match. Everything after a 250 is basically the same, and after that threshold your clinical experience, research, interviews, CV and personal statement start mattering. This Match cycle, multiple students of mine with 240s got 9 to 10 interviews. Chasing a 270 can delay you a year in the Match.
Read this first90% of the people I see want to get a 260 or a 270, and they forget that it takes them 1 year to get that score.
What you should be focusing on, rather, is matching in the US. If your goal is matching, then your actions will reflect that.
"Basically, everything after a 250 on Step 2 is literally the same."
If you're getting in the high 250s, the 260s, they're all the same. Yes, a 270 might be looked at differently. But after a certain threshold, the things apart from your score start making a lot of sense.
All of these things start mattering. You have to have a holistic look at your application.
▶Dr Pannu's Interview Prep That helped her MATCH!My channel, UsmleMatch. Interview prep, from a student who matched. ▶Action Potential Mentoring · ERAS Master GuidePlaylist. Your CV and personal statement, inside ERAS.Just in this Match cycle, I've had multiple students with 240 scores get around 9 to 10 interviews. Now, if you don't believe me, that's fine. This is coming from someone who's seen multiple students go unmatched with 260 scores, and students with 220 scores go matched.
This is not fear mongering. This is the reality.
▶How We Helped Dr Aser Match in SOAP!My channel, UsmleMatch. How a student of mine still matched, through SOAP.If you just keep focusing on your 270, then yes, you might get your 260s. But you will delay yourself a year in the Match. That means you will delay yourself $300,000. Keep that in mind.
For scale: 250+ is doable in 4 to 5 months. 260+ needs 6 months or more.
Get to an efficient 250+The Step 2 CK NBME Booster Anki: NBME 9 to 16 and the Free 120 as cards. Run it after every NBME.
Open the deck →I scored 254 on Step 2 CK in 20 weeks. My application carried 3 US clinical experiences, zero publications, and 3 interviews. I matched in Internal Medicine, in Florida.
3 interviews is not a comfortable number. It meant every one had to convert. So I stopped treating interviews as a personality test and started treating them as a skill with a method.
Interviews, as a methodThe Ace Interview Program: how to open, how to answer the questions that decide the rank list, and how to deliver it.
See the program →MBBS to Match, the full timeline → · 10 habits that helped me match in IM →
Still on Step 1? Want a day-by-day schedule that tells you exactly what to study next? The Vault builds it around your exam date, so you reach Step 2 CK on time, with no year lost.
10 habits that helped me match in IM — habit 1 is this page.
MBBS to Match — the timeline, month by month.
Step 2 CK: the 6 resources — for an efficient 250+.
Step 3: 5 resources = 230 — the next exam, in 25 to 45 days.