Hey BoneBoy,
I'm in a similar situation, and the programs I've called have been giving me responses like "we will consider you," "it shouldn't count against you..." And to my question of whether prelims have matched in the past, only a handful have said "it's happened," while most say they (obviously) get prelim applicants or others applying the 2nd time around. In short, not much concrete info, but it's not totally discouraging.
Have you gotten any info worth sharing? Sucks that no one has replied in this thread...
Good luck!

In a similar situation, but doing research instead of prelim. Were you able to rotate in ortho during your prelim year? I am very interested to see the extent that programs look negatively on reapps. Keep us all posted. Good luck this year.

Hey, I did not match my first year and managed to match after a prelim spot. Your best chance is obviously going to be at the place you do your prelim year. Many of the schools that I interviewed at the first time around denied me the second. However about 1/2 of the schools I interviewed at the first time offered me another interview. From what I learned in speaking with the schools- the ones that offered me an interview the 2nd time were interested in me the first time around, however I was just not quite high enough on their list to match. Also, I received interviews the second time around at many schools that denied me as student, so take it from there. Also, I'm not sure how many people know this but Oklahoma actually takes 1 prelim every year and takes them into a 2nd year spot. Hope this helps.

Thanks Crosscheck. Congrats on finding a spot after doing a prelim year. Thanks for the Oklahoma info. Any other words of wisdom for us going through it this year. Did you end up at your prelim program? How was it to schedule other interviews?

DJD- In my program, I get to do two months of Ortho in the first half of the year. I made sure of this when I scrambled into the spot (I also made sure my prelim school had a good ortho program) There have been two programs that I contacted that came right out and said that they don't take prelim's due to funding issues(both in Ohio- Summa and Mt. Carmel.) The other programs I contacted did not seem to have any issues with prelim's, but it also did not sound like the prelim year would help us either.

Thanks for the info and keep it coming!
BB

Being a current ortho resident at Wayne State University after a transitional year myself and with the number of our current residents who have completed prelim surgery years (at least 5 out of 40 residents) I would have to say that our program is prelim friendly.

Boys, you know there was an opening in Akron a couple weeks ago.

I was not very smart and did not apply to any general surg
prelim spots. I am a avg ortho applicant and do not have very
many interviews setup..not to many replies to come..so I have to
be realistic with myself.
Problem is I can't see myself doing anything besides Ortho..even
if it means an extra year workin my ass off to prove I am worthy.

I don't know how the process works with me now; since I didn't
apply to any prelim spots..can anyone shine some light?

How do I "scramble" into a prelim spot when I didn't apply to any?
How do I do that and when?

Thanks for your help guys..being realistic and have to be prepared
for what I might not want to except right now..

Peace.