ok, in an effort to prevent another "damn computer..." thread, i'm going to step up the plate and try to tackle this issue in a nonconfrontational way that will (hopefully) help everybody on this board.
ms3's: congratulations on choosing what i feel to be the best field in medicine. ortho is very competitive, and i can understand why so many people are eager to know what their chances are. unfortunately, as has been noted in numerous other posts, there is no secret formula to matching in ortho. there is no cut off board score; you simply need to do as well as possible. there is no minimum number of honors; again just do as well as possible. in general clinical grades are more imporant than preclinical grades. in general, letters from orthopods who know you well are better than big names who don't know you at all. if you are interested in a particular program or two, away rotations may help. however, only go if you know you will shine. i asked every place that i did not rotate at if i was at a disadvantage because i did not rotate there. only one place essentially said yes, while about three quarters went on to tell me how lackluster their rotators were. finally, based on my own personal biases/pet peeve, do your research ahead of time and don't waste time and money applying to programs that are not a good fit (academically, socially, geographically, etc.) for you. my wife (not in medicine) and i spent hours pouring over all available information to come up with a relatively short list of programs to APPLY to. i can't tell you how many times on the trail i met people who had applied to 80+ programs but knew less about the place we were at than my wife did. that's got to come through in the interview.
if you are still really worried about your chances, keep two things in mind. number one, there are plenty of old posts arguing 220 vs 230. peruse them at your leisure. number two, with the exception of the handful of interns that post regularly on this board, none of us have actually matched for anything. try talking to your chairman or attendings at your school. how helpful they can be might surprise you, and expressing your interest in ortho is also a good way to meet these people.
ms2's, ms1's, college kids, high school kids, and anybody else reading: even if you came out of the womb thinking you wanted to do ortho, you are doing yourself a great disservice if you "commit" right now. until you actually get on the wards and see how you handle a surgical rotation, there is no way you can know that ortho is right for you. so just relax and do your best. as for goals, comebacks, or any other standards, i wouldn't focus on those. you should be doing your absolute best not because you might apply in ortho, but rather because you are investing a huge dollar amount and, more importantly, a huge portion of your life to medical education. when you get that ms3 after your name, then refer to the above.
hope all that helps.
