How important are Step 3 scores?

QUESTION:Congratulations on your new book and i hope to meet you soon in the bay area! I was wondering though.how important are the step 3 scores? I mean, do PDs look for a pass or is there any optimum range of scores? I have 99 in both step1 & 2, and 85 on step3

ANSWER

When you have all three steps prior to applying, they are, more or less, averaged.

When you have a 99 on step 1 and 2 then a step 3 score of 85 may hurt you just a little.

If you have step 1 and 2 score of 79 and 79 or a failure on step 1 or 2 then a step 3 score of 85 will help you.