Missed or Absent during an USMLE Exam : Does it Matter ?

For various reasons, some candidates are unable to take their exams at the date they book and it may be either too close to the exam date to book a new date or there may not be anymore eligibility period left to extend.

1. This is what USMLE.org says:

"If you register for but do not begin an examination, no record of the test will appear on your transcript" - which implies a missed attempt should not be of any consequence. Some people might confuse this with 'incomplete attempt' - an Incomplete attempt is when a candidate begins a block but does not complete it.

Even if a missed exam were to be reported on the USMLE transcript, it would not be a bad thing ..coz' you could always be absent coz' you were sick ;-) ..if you know what I mean..hehe - something you can easily justify during the interview. And secondly, your score is not averaged after future successful attempts.
[ Like an IMG wrote to me asking if he passed a step after being absent for the first time, would the scores be averaged as (zero + 90)/2 ? No - does not, the score is what your first successful attempt is :-)]

2. You will receive a letter saying that you missed the exam - but again, it is NOT reported on the transcript.

3. A Missed exam attempt is NOT refunded - which means you lose a lot of cash ! Which I think is the biggest drawback

4. Even with that monetary drawback, it may be a wise thing at times to not take the exam if the candidate is not sure of his/her preparation. At times, the candidate may in fact be well-prepared, yet, if the candidate does not feel sure about self - he/she may under perform - coz', he/she tends to go to the exam center with the mind-set of "Boy ! I am screwed"..hmmmm...USMLE takers will agree with me that this mindset tends to depress candidates, give them that sinking feeling and makes them lose patience when confronted with those long long long USMLE question stems.