I was at the AAOS meeting a couple of weeks ago in San Fran and cam across an interesting study that is relevant to this forum. Some people in Nebraska (Dr. Susan Scherl, et al.) presented a study that talked about what was the MOST important in YOUR APPLICATION to those looking at the mountains of applications that come across their desk. They did a big ERAS cohort study. They found that of all the stuff that is on an application including AOA, grades, research, extracurricular activities, etc. that GRADES (ie. number of HONORS in clinical rotations) and number of "catch phrases" in your recommendations (such as BEST MEDICAL STUDENT I HAVE EVER WORKED WITH) were the only two factors that correlated directly with an INCREASED chance of obtaining an interview. AOA, research, extracurricular activities amazingly enough showed no significance SO IF you wnat to get in DO ONE THING AND DO IT RIGHT, BUST TAIL IN YOUR THIRD YEAR!!! Clinical rotations are KEY in getting those glowing recs and glowing grades....Remember, just about everybody does research, volunteer work, saves babies, did well in college and can write a decent essay.
