You need to provide some stats for anyone to give you relevant/personalized advice.

Good point. Here's my breakdown:

MS3 at a top 20 MD school, taking a year off for basic science research.

Preclinical: All passes (school only does P/F). AOA released until after match so no impact.

Step 1: 255

Clinical: HP in Surgery and Medicine, Honors in everything else. All cores taken.

Research:
- 2 first author basic science papers (one ortho, one non-ortho)
- 6 poster presentations (2 ortho-related, all basic science)
- 1 oral presentation (non-ortho basic science)
- Currently working on an ortho clinical project that may be ready for submission by interview time.

I am hoping to match somewhere in the Northeast, NYC preferably. What would be good away options for me? Right now I have NYU, Tufts, Thomas Jefferson, U Penn, Hopkins, NY Presbyterian as my tops. HSS and Harvard would be great but I hear it is hard to stand out at those programs on an away.

You have a good pedigree, step 1, and research background. Clincal grades are good, but not great. Sounds like you want a place with strong basic science research.

In the northeast, I think you should consider Penn, NYU, and Brown. All 3 have strong clinical experiences as well as abundant basic science research resources. You may want to consider the 6-year research tracks at NYU and Penn. Jeff is mostly clinical outcomes research. Tufts is not very research oriented. Columbia is probably somewhere in the middle, but I think the operative experience here is not as good as some of the other places I mentioned already. If you are willing to go outside of the northeast, think about Hopkins, Pittsburgh, and WashU. Again, good clinical and basic science research experiences.

I have similar stats to AspiringOrthoSurg and am wondering if the HP in Surgery (I have Honors in Medicine) essentially mandates a year of research if I want to match at a mid-tier program?

absolutely not. i know students who have matched with HP in surgery. just be sure to rotate smartly and apply broadly. it might get you screened out as a non-rotator at upper-tier programs, but it is by no means a dealbreaker.

Any thoughts on worth of rotating at places in completely different regions and how much it'll help at that program and how much it might hurt locally? i.e. even with good stats, if coming from a school in Georgia, would you be wasting a rotation by going to UCSF? Likewise, would local programs look down on you if they find out on interview day or via LsOR that most/all your rotations were outside of your region?

People always say to look at where people from your school have matched in the past, but if it's a state school and people generally tend to want to stay in the area, it doesn't necessarily help people gauge your competitiveness for a non-local program.

I feel like variations of these questions get asked a million times, but it's only now that it's so close to finalizing a decision that I realize I'm still not really sure about anything.

I'd say that what school you come from does play a role for sure. If you crush a rotation at a higher-name place, and get a LOR from there, it could help though. Because many of your interviewers will glance at who wrote your letters and where they're from.

I'd recommend spreading out where you rotate it if you were planning on leaving Georgia.

1. Rotate where you really want to go but BE REALISTIC
2. Try to figure out how many rotators will be on with you, if that program historically favors rotators (or historically does the opposite), and if that program will interview you while you are there
3. Have 4 letters of recommendation prepared prior to starting your away rotations because you may not work with someone long enough to get one and some programs will discourage you from even asking for one. If you really need an additional letter of recommendation, be sure to rotate at a program that is willing to provide one early on because it may take 2-6 weeks for them to complete it.
4. I was asked about where I rotated at every interview (and I rotated all over the country), but no one who interviewed me seemed to have that information beforehand. The majority of my interviews were in regions I had ties to, so if there is a region you really want to be in and that fact is not obvious from your application you should rotate there.
5. BE REALISTIC

Does anyone have insights into which programs interview students while they are on their away rotation?

Thanks!

Stanford and WashU I know for sure

However, I would caution against using this as a criteria for selecting an away. Just because all rotators get an interview does not mean they will even rank you. In some ways, I think it is a disservice to the applicant, since you know so much less about what you want from a program while you are on your subI's.

Absolutely. Definitely not criteria for selecting an away. Just was curious about this in the case of potential late season rotations. Thanks for the info.

anyone know if there's a strong preference for a program wanting a LOR for an away rotation in terms of whether it comes from dean vs non-ortho vs ortho vs gen surg docs? I don't really want to ask anyone in my department so early... feel that it could rub them the wrong way to ask for a letter before even rotating, even though it won't be the same as a letter I'd be asking for to submit to residency programs.

Duke asks for an LOR to rotate. Totally retarded but that's the only one I came across. It just needed to be from any ortho attending.

Yale needs 1. Wake wants 2.

LoR for an away = a check box. Its just to weed out non-serious people.

It has nothing to do with seriousness. That individual was obviously serious enough to seek out the program. But expecting a 3rd yr to ask for a letter in March and then ask that person again in July is stupid at best, for multiple reasons. And what if you haven't done a home sub-I yet?

This whole process is just a series of hoops to jump through, so get used to it. LORs should be from an orthopod. If you are a MS3, I would recommend sitting down with your department chair now even if you haven't rotated through ortho yet. 1) It is good to let the chair know you are interested in ortho early on so that you are on his radar (you will need a strong letter from him next year) and 2) he can usually provide a stock LOR that is suitable for the purposes of applying to aways...usually. If you are a MS1/MS2, do not think you have to wait until your ortho rotation to find mentors. You will have better LORs if someone has known you for 4 years versus a 4 week rotation.

Are we circus animals to jump through hoops? Lol

If you're not set that one of those programs would be your #1, you can find better programs to rotate at.

Truth, but I don't know what's worse: going through a little extra effort and being 1 of 4 rotators that were actually vetted by the program or not and being 1 of 10+ rotators who weren't.

Truth, but I don't know what's worse: going through a little extra effort and being 1 of 4 rotators that were actually vetted by the program or not and being 1 of 10+ rotators who weren't.

Also very true. I guess there's no winning