How much does school matter?

A stellar applicant from directional state university will be looked at more than a mediocre applicant from Harvard or Hopkins. I came from a lower tier medical school and we have had guys match at Jeff, HJD, and Hopkins to name a few.

All other things being equal, however, the guy with the better name on his diploma will get ranked higher. Name recognition plays a big part, plus the increased probability that the guy from Harvard worked with bigger names in the field.

I agree with Pompacil, there is way more to an applicant than the name of their school. But if I had a choice between a well known institution and a lesser one, all things equal I would pick the one with the reputation. It will help you several fold, the first and foremost is the obvious name recognition, but, as Pompacil said, it will also tend to have big name orthopods on staff (which in my opinion will matter more in the end than the name of the school.) The way those of us that come from "lesser" programs is to do aways at "big name" places and get the letter of rec by busting our a$$ for 4 weeks. (Not to say the home students don't work hard too)

If you have a big draw (ie. family/significant other in the the area, large difference in cost, ect...) to a lesser known school, it is not the kiss of death for someone interested in ortho. You just might have to work a little harder than you competition from the big dogs!

what if you go to an average state school with an very well known ortho department?

Pretty sure if you did a good job and had people in your corner writing letters you'd be in a good position to go anywhere.