i'm no elder, but i'll give you my 2 cents: if there is a prelim spot you REALLY would be happy at, then rank it last. If not, i would probably take my shot at scrambling since there's still a chance of doing ortho, and then you could still find a prelim spot too.
ARe there usually a few spots left open after the match? i remember reading stuff about wisconsin last yr (or year before) but that was an error by the secretary or someone? I would guess there are usually a few every year???
I'm sure you'll be fine anyway......good luck

I'm no expert either, but I kinda agree with chee68. Like chee68 stated, if you'd be REALLY happy than rank the prelim. My reasoning for that is that there usually are very few unfilled spots each year to scramble for. Just looking back at the match results (found some numbers on scutwork.com), there were 7, 3 and 8 unfilled spots over the last 3 years. And I think the Wisconsin thing last year was a fluke. I think every program is gonna be super careful with their list after what happened to Wisconsin. I'm not even sure if those numbers are all that truthful either. Some programs may not have filled because they gave away spots outside of the match (it's hard for me to believe that Joint Disease didn't fill all their spots in 2001).
What I'm saying is that if you don't match and don't rank a prelim, then you're pretty much just playing in a lottery with like 200-300 other people for like 3 spots at places you might even not wanna be at, and you're prelim spot that you may have been happy at might be gone. just something to think about.

Thanks for the reply guys

I ws thinking along the same lines...
I'm a above avg guy - but no superstar
if there are a few empty spots, probably go to inside people
or superstars that happen to fall through the cracks.

I debated the whole research vs. prelim thing also, decided
to go prelim. Figured at least I would have a CHANCE even though
small at picking up a PGYII spot the following year and not have
lost anything. I have done a good amount of research in the past...
its just to hard to get anything real done and published in one year - esp
at a place where u have spent NO time.

I will likely just rank the prelim spot, since its probably the only one
I really want to go to if the worse happens. Mostly due to location.

On "Monday" is there anyway at all to find out if I matched
prelim vs. categorical...just don't want my family and friends there
on thursday..without having any idea.

Thanks again.

Yes, there is a way. When you log into the computer website
it will say congratulations, you matched to a 1 year position or you matched to a 5 year position. Then you will know. Hopefully, you will not have to deal with adverse circumstances. Best of luck.

Wrisberg (or anyone else in the know)... do you know if the same holds true for 5 vs. 6 yr spots? Is there a possibility of getting a "congratulations, you matched to a 6 year position"?
Thanks...

wrisberg44
Thanks! that helps a lot..didn't know that.

As was said, my school coordinator also said that the monday email will specify prelim vs categorical match. Then you know whether to scramble or not. I ended up ranking my school's prelim year last. Hope I don't need it. ranked 9 ortho spots. good luck guys,

Jason

so the email today did not specify ortho vs. prelim

asked our dean - he said he didn't even know.
called nrmp - they said they could not tell me.

very happy i matched - not so happy that i was told I woudl know...
now i have to wait 3 more days to know if i matched ortho!

sucks.

Voltage, Congratulations, Im sure you matched in ortho. I told you you could tell because 2 years ago when I did it it told me a one year position when I logged into the NRMP website. Try doing that and you might find out. IF not, they have changed it and I am sorry

I looked on the NRMP website - all it said was
Congrats! You Matched!

Did not say anythign about one year etc vs. 5 year vs. 6 year

Thanks for the kind words - I will let u guys know what happens on thursday.

congrats to all that matched! gotta question for those that applied for prelim and/or categorical gen surg spots...about how many gen surg programs on top of your ortho programs did you guys apply to? And what did that mean for interviews - an insane & unmanageable number of invites? i understand it's a crazy week, so just get back to me when you all get over your match day-st. patty's hangovers

I applied to around 50 ortho spots
check my stats later in the week - i will tell all

I applied to ONE prelim general surgery spot

like i said above got 9 offers for interviews; made 7
ranked 9 numbers and one prelim

prelim is not that hard to get ..and I got paranoid and applied to
one just in case - they interviewed me and actually offered me
a categorical spot which i turned down...nothing against gen
surg..but just something i did not want to do.

any other questions chikdok let me know - obviously with my # of interviewes the suchedule wasn't bad at all.

Voltage, if they offered you a categorical then I bet you were strong enough to match Ortho. Congrats. I know of quite a few people that didn't match Gen Surg.

Hope you get your first choice,

HJ

Unless this has changed since last year - NRMP emails you specifically if you only match a prelim spot. I forget the wording but it says that you have matched to a one year position. This makes sense, because if you only match one year, you will still be eligible to scramble. I don't know for sure, but I would bet money that you matched to ortho and just got the standard email "congrats! you matched!" Good luck on Thursday!!!

djd, you are right, I got the longer email. congrats to all.

thanks for the info voltage. don't know your geographic loc, but any info on whether it's that easy to get a prelim and/or categorical spot in Calif? i always hear that the Cali schools are more competitive all around (for any specialty).

i rotated with a guy who goes to Irvine - he told me the same deal.
sort of mini-cali match over there - even more competitive than nationally..
how important is it for u to stay in cali?

if you look - i think like 300 open categorical general surgery spots around the country this year... and prelim is even easier to get.
If you felt u were qualified enough to apply for ortho - than I don't think u will have any problem picking up a gen surg spot if something bad happens..

i know cali is nice..esp since we got 6 inches here in the midwest in the last two days...but - u may be better of venturing out of state.
let me know if I can be of any help.

peace

i'm on the e. coast for school but am orig from cali. i guess if i couldn't match in ortho this year, i'd consider a prelim spot. i'll go anywhere virtually for ortho, but if i have to do the prelim, i figure i might as well be back home in ca. i hear ya about the weather volt, we just got a few inches of snow this week too.

I have a question for you Voltage, are prelim spots really that easy to get into? I'm asking because I'm wondering if I should be doing an away in general surg in order to get some letters. I'll already have one great letter (trauma surg) in my pocket soon, but will I need a few? I don't even know if I'll end up ranking a prelim, but I'm trying to assess all my options. BTW, I'm not the strongest ortho candidate in the world, but there's definately nothing I'd rather do. Thanks.