you can find this written a million ways all over orthogate and SDN - preclinical grades are not an important component of resident selection for any speciality. hence, most medical schools are switching to pass/fail for preclinicals. the usefulness of doing well in preclinicals is that it sets you up for success on step 1 and clinical year shelf exams, and puts you in the running for AOA.

your step 1 is average for ortho. your research is above average. if you can HP or H surgery and medicine, choose your away rotations wisely, and apply broadly, you should have a great shot at landing a spot next year.

Thanks, I kind of figured this was the case - as you mentioned I have seen similar information online. I appreciate the feedback!

For whatever it is worth. I have heard from the program directors at 2 institutions that their cutt-off this year is 238 and 240.
As in they told me they are not inviting people below this for interviews.

Wow yikes.

Not really that surprising, I guess. Rush has a 245 cutoff unless you do a rotation there, and there are apparently a few others with 240+ cutoffs.

Those cut-offs are rarities, I imagine. But no one really knows how programs use scores and such.

I'm only a fourth year, but step 2 is being talked about much more than it was previously. Doing well will obviously only help you, but I couldn't tell you how much.

Though you may have issues with the highest tier programs, I believe that you could be very competitive in general if you do well through your clinicals. Make sure to set up your aways for next year early (spring-ish) and really shine. Good luck!