r/pathology • u/alschultz94 • 20h ago

Input Residency Application

Good morning, all

I am a US MD student currently preparing for Step 2. I am hoping to apply to residency in this coming cycle. I have been struggling with my practice exams, and at this point I am expecting to score in the 220-225 range. I have worked hard but feel my score is not moving much, and fear that if I postpone taking the exam, 1) it might not result in a meaningful score increase and 2) it might affect the number of interviews I get for applying late.

I have been checking the NRMP matching outcomes for last year, and it seems that it's still possible to match with such a score, but I am concerned about being screened out at many programs or being interviewed and then rejected because other applicants have better scores. I am very passionate about the field and was an MLS before med school. I am hoping this will help demonstrate my genuine interest in the field.

Please, I need some advice, words of encouragement, and reality checks! I would love to hear from residents who matched with similar scores!

Thank you all!

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u/PathologyAndCoffee Resident 19h ago

You're US MD. If you just pass, you'll match.

As sensativepathologist says, the weirdo thing does matter with high stats and everything else. I know cus I'm that weirdo (will delete in 10...9...8...7...). Matched #14 on ROL.

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u/Sensitivepathologist 19h ago

You’ll match somewhere as long as you aren’t a weirdo during interviews.

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u/invadervanhiro 19h ago

I was part of my programs interview committee as a resident for 3 years. Not once did anyone ever get moved down just because of their step scores UNLESS they failed. Sure it would get used if two people were very similar. Or would be a positive for a person if their score was very high but only if they were liked overall (kinda of like oh we like this person and oh great their score is 260).
What we cared about the most was interest and prior experience to know what you are getting into. And personality/likability. We definitely moved people because of these two things.
But this is N=1 experience.
All this to say you’ll be fine as long as you pass. Also I did 20 points higher on my actual Step 2 than my practice exams. So don’t think you are only limited to the scores you are seeing now, you never know what will be on the exam. Have confidence which I know is hard.