Official Match 2007 List

Top 30 state med school

Preclinical: Honors or Near Honors in only 3 classes, Passed all the rest

Clinical: Near Honors: Surgery, Psych. Honors: Ortho. Passed all the rest

AOA: Not even close

Class Rank: nothing official, but definately middle of the road

Step I: 232

Step II: 224, taken in Sept., but didn't release score until after match

Aways: home program, wright st. (dayton, oh)

Couples match with Peds (above average applicant)

Applied to 59, invites 10, went to 10

ROL (in no particular order): Ohio state (5 and 6 year), Wright state (5 and 6 year), Cincinnati, Mt. Carmel, UT- San Antonio, New Mexico, Iowa, UIC

Did not rank 2 programs because my wife absolutely hated the program she interviewed at in that city.

Matched at my #1 Ohio State (5yr). Am absolutely stoked. I would have been very happy at any of the programs that I ranked, but my wife was in love with her program here. I really liked the residents here and loved how available they were during the interview day to answer questions. Rotate at the University hospital plus almost whole thrid year is spent at a very nice private hospital. Residents seemed to get plenty of operative experience and a very balanced exposure to all subspecialties. No holes in the program. The residents were great people that I can't wait to spend the next 5 years with.

Thoughts on other programs:

Wright st: Really liked this program when I rotated there. Great staff and residents. Not as good a program for my wife and didn't like 4 month long blocks for rotations, esp. in areas that you only get to see one time.

Cincinnati: Good people. Dr. Stern seems like a great guy. Residents didn't seem to hang out quite as much as other places. However, I think that they get very, very good training.

Mt. Carmel: Very friendly program. Really liked the people esp. PD. Lots of perks to working in a community program, interns went to AO fracture conf. in Switzerland! Decided I wanted a larger program in an academic setting.

UT- San Antonio: Dr. Carlisle is incredible as the PD here. Also like the residents here and they seem very well trained. Very friendly environment to train in. Lots of cool young staff as well as incredible names like Dr. Rockwood. Was a little leary of the trauma experience (q3 in house call as a pgy5.)

New Mexico: Loved this program. Lots of great residents. Great outdoor locations. Good operative experience. Life gets better throughout residency.

Iowa: Powerhouse program. Very academic feel. Amazing attendings. Not a great location for my wife and myself, although Iowa City is a great town.

UIC: Didn't get a great feel for the program since I couldn't make the night before event. Residents seemed happy and well-trained. Not as big a name as others in Chicago, but I think top notch training.

School: top med school
Preclinical: very, very few honors
Clinical: mostly honors
AOA: not even close
Aways: 2 aways – worked my butt off, got awesome evals (not rec letters); both places still didn’t even know that I rotated in their programs during the interview. I had to remind them.
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Step I: 240+
Step II: took it few days ago, I just want to pass with little bit of dignity.
Research: 5+ publications (all ortho).
Extracurriculars: a lot (bordering on hypomanic)

Applied: 50+ programs / ~45 interviews offered / 19 interviews attended / ~7-8 post-interview chairman phonecalls or equivalent.

Matched at #1.

Categorized, but not in particular order (all awesome programs, and mainly based on location and vibe)
2-5: Columbia, UPenn, HSS, Hopkins,
6-10: UCSF, UCLA, Brown, Wash U, U of Wash
10-15: NYU-HJD, UPitt, UMich, Case Western, Dartmouth

1. Harvard: This program is the Big Bang about to explode (I may be little exaggerating here). You rotate through 4 premiere hospitals (MGH, BWH, CHOB, BI) and I figure if I can take care of patients in these hospitals, I can take care of patients just about anywhere. 100+ attendings (actually this might not be true, but pretty close) who are all worldclass and a lot of them surprisingly down to earth. Zero weakness in any subspecialty. A combination of old school and young attendings who seem to understand what its like to be a resident. I also loved the residents... like really really loved them. They were all like Jedi Knights with the force that rivals Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi combined! Trust me, I felt the force.
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Obviously an academic powerhouse and I thought that the residents were given plenty of opportunities to thrive here and grow as an awesome surgeon.

Some nice perks: 1) $50,000 starting salary. While one should NEVER make decision based on money, it’s a nice gesture by the institution. I didn’t find this out until I got my contract. 2) Boston is an awesome city with plenty of chicks who dig star wars and Jon Favreau movies. 3) Journal club meeting with the editor of JBJS. 4) Free pitching lessons with Dice-K (just kidding, although a realistic possibility since Harvard covers Red Sox).
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My thoughts on selected programs, but I would have been happy with all the places I interviewed at. Not in particular order.

Columbia: Awesome, awesome program! I just loved it during my interview here. Great balance of the happy triad (research, operative experience, social life). I am nominating Dr. Levine for the coolest PD of the year award.
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He’s rocks like Gandalf who’s about to whop Balrog’s ass! The rotations were carefully designed to maximally benefit the residents, and the PD and Chairman seem very responsive to any concerns. Chiefs have impressive fellowship match across the nation, and Columbia is a huge name wherever you go and opens a lot of doors.

UPenn: UPenn is off the hook! with happiest and coolest residents around. The program has great operative experience and research. The relationship between the residents and attendings were extremely collegial with much less hierarchical than any other program I interviewed at. Philly is an awesome city and great for single life. I ran into quite a few hot, off the hook nurses during tour, and really fell in love with the program. The hospitals are located within the main UPenn campus which was a big plus for me. This program also fulfills the happy triad. A lot of fellow Jedi Knights here too, with skills like that of Legolas bringing down a mammoth with his triple arrow shot.
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HSS: It’s obvsiously a huge name in orthopaedic circle (although I didn’t know about HSS until my fourth year… kind of embarrassing for me actually). They have awesome group of residents. Great private hospital feel with academic affiliation and a full research facility. Housing is a huge plus. This place runs like a factory.

Hopkins: I loved this place. Residents were very, very cool and very funny. I spent the whole interview laughing my butt off. The attendings were also very cool and had a lot of pride working at an institution like Hopkins. Surprisingly for an academic place, there seems to be less pressure about publication and more emphasis on operating; so you get the benefit of the both worlds.

UCSF: This place is one of the few academic powerhouses with operative experience that tops the community programs. You operate early and you do majority of them as a primary surgeon. The new chairman (Dr. Vail) is a supernova about to explode. He was just so awesome to me and everybody else that I actually got little teary. I was so used to getting crapped on, and so I just didn’t know what to do with myself when I met this guy. San Francisco is an awesome city with plenty of hot girls; had difficulty driving around because I was busy staring.
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Case Western: I think this place is equivalent to Wash U (also a kick ass program), and one of the best in the Midwest. Dr. Marcus is the death star about take over a planet. He’s young, energetic, and loves the program as much as he loves his residents. Case Western also has very carefully designed system for the residents with excellent exposure to both research and OR. Residents were very polished and very cool. If you want to stay around Cleveland or around this region, this is the place to be.

Solid Med School
Pre-clinical: all A's
Step 1: mid 240's
Step 2: mid 250's (available for interviews)
Clinical: pass, high pass on core rotations; honors on 3 orthos
+ ortho, non-ortho research
++ extracurricular
Applied ~60
Interviews ~25
Attended ~18
Good interviews, IMHO
Ranked All

Barely Matched

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Here’s my info…

Med School: Midwest State School (Don’t know national rank, and don’t really care as it offered a solid education with in-state tuition at 1/3 cost of other places I applied…see explanation below)
Preclinical Grades: 2 B’s, the rest A’s
Clinical Grades: All A’s
AOA: Junior member, president of school’s chapter
4th yr ortho electives: Home program, HSS (both Honors, LORs from each)
Step I: 99/246
Step II: 99/262 (took in Aug, was available for ERAS)
Research: undergrad honors thesis (non-ortho); med school ortho project; 3 pubs (1 ortho in JOR, 2 non-ortho)
Other: undergrad athlete (basketball), various extracurricular activities (important to many programs and come up during interviews); took a year off in between 2nd and 3rd year for ortho research, med student pathology fellowship

Applied - 29, Offered - 16, Interviewed - 9 (ranked all of them)…See ROL 2007 thread for my post

Going to #1 Vanderbilt


A few things:

Where you’re from: don’t let people fool you…geographic bias is alive and well, so if you want to break out of an area you’ve lived all of your life, be sure to rotate in those geographic areas and get LORs from faculty in those areas. It proves your desire to live there. That doesn’t mean that people who aren’t able to rotate in other areas won’t match there, but you have to be a very competitive applicant. ALSO, don’t be intimidated into thinking that because you’re not at a top 20, 50, or whatever med school, that you’re at a clear disadvantage compared to those who are. Regardless of where you are from, you have to get solid USMLE scores, good LORs, do the extra things like research projects, and “prove” yourself on aways just like they do. Residency programs want people with a strong work ethic, a team player mentality, and someone who doesn’t feel entitled…and that can be someone from any school, not just a “Top 50” med school applicant.

Do things early: get your application in as early as you can. Do rotations as early as possible so you can get your ROLs completed and submitted on time. Don’t be afraid to take Step 2 in time for ERAS submission. While it’s still not as important as a strong Step 1 score, many argue that Step 2 is becoming increasingly important…not simply for those who have a low Step 1, but also to bolster an average or above average Step 1 score.

Be gracious/thankful and don’t burn bridges: ortho is a relatively small community of people, so don’t ever think that your actions at an away rotation, interview, etc. won’t ever follow you or catch up to you. I was shocked to hear some of the things I did on my rotations and interviews, and was amazed at how much people remembered about those applicants.

Post-interview antics: make a decision on your ROL that is the best for you and try to not get your pride wrapped up in that decision-making process. While it’s hard to not want to go to a place where a PD is telling you they’d want you to go, there are just as many programs out there that have decided not to “show their cards” and be as forward about how they feel about you. You need to be at a place that you’ve determined is the best fit for you based upon your interview, away rotation, etc. Don’t let that determination be trumped by someone calling and telling you “we really want you at our institution”, or by the fact that a PD hasn’t made a personal call to you but has to other people.


Best of luck to everyone who matched and those still in the process. If anyone has any questions about my ROL, Vandy, etc. please feel free to PM me and I’ll help however I can.

undergrad--ivy
took time off with interesting job
state med school
preclin: bottom 1/4 of class (169/200)
clinical: honored all rotations in 3rd and 4th yr including 3 ortho sub-is (graduated 100/200)
step 1: 194
step 2: 260
applied in 06 to 40 programs, offered 6, went to 4 before the Air Force made me withdraw from the match
applied in 07 to 15 programs, offered 4, went to all...

offered a 2nd yr position outside the match. he!!, yeah, i'm a gamecock.

it can be done.

School: State school, middle of the road

Preclinical: We are on an A, B, C, F scale (no honors) - 4.0

Clinical: Again, A, B, C, F scale - 4.0

AOA: Yes

Class Rank: 1

Step 1: 235/95

Step 2: 259/99

Aways: None. I tried to go to Nebraska (my home state), but couldn't get the insurance coverage (we only get $10,000 in coverage and they wanted $1 million)

Research: 1 project, will be published within the next 6 months or so.

Applied to: 33
Offered: 17 (JPS, Nebraska, UTHSCSA, UNC, UIC, Northwestern, Florida, UT-Houston, Baylor, Texas A&M (Temple), Southwestern, Galveston, Georgetown, KU-Kansas City, Minnesota, Campbell Clinic, Wisconsin)

Matched at University of Florida (Gainesville), and very excited to be headed there!


Here are my very honest thoughts on the programs:

a. JPS – Good, solid program. This program is community-based, and it’s main teaching locations are Methodist (private), Children’s, and JPS hospital (the county hospital). The residents seem to be happy, and the hours are probably some of the best of the ones I looked at. The weaknesses are probably that the attendings are good in that they are hands off, but perhaps too much. Many times it is purely resident to resident teaching. They also have a minimal academic structure and little research (for those that are interested).

b. UTHSCSA – Positives are mostly the residents and strong foundation of knowledge when you leave. Negatives are the very heavy focus on trauma and the lack of scoping experience. They have a new ambulatory surgery hospital that the University is building (as well as bringing in a new Sports faculty), so scoping may improve . The program is experiencing a fair amount of change as far as rotations, faculty, etc… and it will be interesting to see how that effects the resident experience.

c. UT-Houston – I'm not sure what to say about this program. Several of my classmates rotated there and in general the experience was not very positive. They are going through a big transition with the loss of their program director and some of their faculty. From my perspective, the operative experience is pretty solid and the residents seemed nice enough.

d. Baylor – Again, same story as UT-Houston. They were just taken off probation after interviews, they lost their program chair, and they lost their main teaching hospital (Methodist). There has been a big change in the faculty as well. On my interview, I did not get asked a single question, but was instead told all about the program, which was a bit disconcerting.

e. Galveston – Everyone talks about the call schedule. It’s like q9 or something. The “sell” of the program is the call schedule and the “island lifestyle”. I didn’t get it, to be honest. Location-wise, it wasn’t the program for me, and it almost seemed too laid back. Some of the guys in my class did rotate there, so they should have more specific feedback for you.

f. University of Nebraska – this is in my home city of Omaha and is affiliated with both the University of Nebraska and Creighton University (my undergrad). Solid program, good academic basis, good operative experience, and not too heavy in any one area. Residents are very nice. Omaha is a city of about 500,000 people, so there is quite a bit to do. If you are interested in the Midwest, I would give this program, KU-Kansas City, and Iowa a look along with the other programs I will talk about below.

g. University of North Carolina – seemed like a good program. They are definitely trying to bring in several faculty and improve their status to become one of the elite programs. They have a very specific grading scale for who they interview, which has been published in several journals. Dr. Dirschl is the author on most, so do an author search by his name and you will see who they interview, and how good of a chance you have at interviewing. They definitely interview the top applicants in the country. Anyway, the program was great, but I left knowing that I didn't fit in, so I ranked it very low.

h. Washington University – one of my favorite programs. A little bit more academic than some other programs I looked at, but not by much. The residents are outstanding, and the facilities are second to none. This program has A LOT of money and is able to offer quite a bit to the residents. They have now incorporated an abroad experience into the chief year, if you would like to take that (currently Italy, Australia, or India).

i. Northwestern University – another very good program. I love Chicago, so I’m a bit biased. This program is VERY difficult to get an interview at if you didn’t rotate. I think they interviewed 8 this year that didn’t rotate. They take 9 every year, so it is a bit bigger. The hospital is right off of the famous Michigan Avenue in downtown, and the facilities will blow you away. The weather is a bit rough, but the training is outstanding. You definitely need to rotate here if you are interested.

j. UIC (Chicago) – another strong program. They have “blue collar”, worker’s attitude. Their primary training facility is the infamous Cook County Hospital (which, by the way, was rebuilt 3 years ago and is very clean and very nice). They are a bit heavy in trauma. The residents were extremely nice.

k. Campbell – another bigger program. Again, the facilities are great, but very spread out in Memphis. The operative experience is heavy on trauma, but you will be well trained when you leave. They have an excellent name and will get you any fellowship in the country. Memphis is very poor and not the best place to live, particularly if you are married and/or have children.

l. Florida – I was led to this program by a well-known private practice doc in San Antonio, who believes this is the top program in the country. It is at UF, and they are the team physicians for all athletic sports (and also the team physician is the physician for the Miami Dolphins). The facilities are OUTSTANDING due to a $40 million dollar influx from the sale of a corporation that the Orthopedic department created in 1983 and publicly traded in 2000. They took some of the staff that has worked with James Andrews and created a very impressive motion lab, which is used to analyze gait disturbances, football throwing motions, baseball throwing motions, golf swings, etc… The program was just approved to take 4 per year and has a very balanced experience, probably the most of all the programs I interviewed at. The call is fair and mostly at home. The pay and benefits are very good. This was definitely where I felt I "fit in" the best of all the programs I interviewed with.

I hope this helps someone.

Average state med school.

Preclinical Honors: Biochem, Genetics, Pharm, Micro

Clinical Honors: Medicine, Surgery, Ortho X 3, Peds

AOA: Nope.

Class Rank: top 1/3 (barely)

Step I: 265 (you only need to get lucky once)

Step II: 250 (just got it; not available on eras)

Aways: home program, greenville, Florida (Gainesville)

Couples match with OB/GYN (above average candidate).

Applied to 47, invites to 18, went to 10.

ROL (in no particular order): U Florida, Mayo, SUMMA, WashU, Akron General, U Arizona, U Missouri, Galveston, Medical College of Georgia, Greenville.

Matched at my #1 University of Florida in Gainesville and couldnt be happier. This program had everything I was looking for in a program: awesome faculty/teaching, good lifestyle, cool residents, top notch facilities, and a residency that is a level 1 trauma center but trauma doesnt dictate the residency.

Anyone has any questions about Forida, PM me.

Congrats to all! This forum helped me a lot, I hope it helps others.

Med School: D.O. school in the Midwest
USMLE I: 249/99
COMLEX I: 720/91
COMLEX II: 715/97 (was available)
AOA: Not at D.O. schools, was president of my school's chapter of the D.O. equivalent
Class Rank: #1
Research/Pubs: 1 case report published, 1 case report & 1 research submitted

Aways: Mayo, Nebraska, Wilford Hall (I'm on the Air Force HPSP scholarship)

Applied to: 44
Offered: 11 (Mayo, Case Western, Univ of Rochester, Univ of Nebraska, UMKC, Mount Carmel, Henry Ford, Banner Good Samaritan, Med Coll of Wisconsin, Med Coll of Georgia, Union Memorial)
Waitlisted: 2 (Cleveland Clinic, Dartmouth)

Matched!!!!

I truly would have been happy anywhere on my list.

The DO vs. MD residency question weighed heavily on me. I thought the DO programs I looked at were top notch, but I want to pursue a career in academics.

If anyone has ANY questions, please feel free to pm me. I certainly may not have done everything the right way, but I can give you my thoughts.

Again congratulations to all, and good luck to those starting this process.

3. Rush]


man, they must pay the residents well to consider chicago "affordable".
I would think that to live anywhere reasonably close to rush you would be unable to buy a home/condo on a resident salary alone.

You're the first person I've heard of here or in the "real world" to have matched at HSS.

Well played.

School - Private med school (top 10)
Preclinical Grades - All Honors
Clinical Grades - Half honors/half high pass (no honors in surgery)
AOA - No
Aways - Home program, Northwestern, Rush
Step I - 244
Step II - Just took it (goal is 184)
Research: 4 Ortho Projects, 2 Publications

Applied - 45, Offered - 40, Interviewed - 17 (ranked all). Below is my list in the order I ranked them.

Matched at HSS. Good stuff.


1) HSS - Did not rotate here, but loved it during the interview. Great name that will get you any fellowship. Love New York. Residents are well-rounded and friendly. The program treats you like an attending, and it's in an excellent location with very cheap housing (about 25% the market rate). Lastly, almost all of your 80 hours are spent operating and the call schedule is great. Nothing negative to say about this place.

2) Harvard- Again, program has great name and is in a great city and you'll get any fellowship you want. Best didactics I've seen anywhere. Well-rounded residents that seemed like a lot of fun (getting absolutely toasted at the pre-interview dinner). Residents are pretty spread out as they cover many hospitals, which can lead to busywork that takes away from operating time and can make it difficult to get to know all the other residents well. But overall, a great program.

3. Rush: Very similar to HSS in terms of call schedule and program structure. I rotated here and loved it. This place had the best attending/resident interaction I've seen anywhere. The residents are close and go out a lot together. Also it's in the heart of an awesome and affordable city. Only limitation was the tremendous number of fellows, which on occasion interfered because the case volume wasn't always high enough to support both residents and fellows working independently. Again, excellent names in Sports, Joints, and Spine that will get you most any fellowship you want. Residents don't see much trauma.

4. Northwestern - Rotated here and loved it. These were the most friendly group of residents I met anywhere on the trail. Work hours weren't bad at all. The hospital is in the nicest part of Chicago. Didactics were very strong although did involve a lot of senior residents pimping junior residents, however they all score off the charts on OITE, so I guess it works. Negatives were lack of trauma experience and lack of big names that can help in securing top fellowships.

5. Wash U - Great program structure and huge names that will get you any fellowship you want. Operative experience seemed to come a bit later on, but still seemed reasonable. Excellent didactics with conference every morning. Work hours were very reasonable and St. Louis is real cheap for housing, although it's not quite a New York or Chicago for nightlife. Would have been very happy here.

The rest in order but without commentary: UCLA, UCSF, Pittsburgh, Duke, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, UMich, GWU, Arizona (I think that's everybody). I would have been happy at any of these programs.

Feel free to PM me with questions.

Middle tier private school
GPA- middle of the class
class rank- middle of the class
Step 1: 232
Step 2: 237
2 away rotation and one at home program

Applied to 60 programs
13 interviews and went on 11 UConn, UMD, Henry Ford, SUNY Upstate, Buffalo, UW, UC Davis, Jefferson, Temple, UMDNJ-Newark, St. Luke's

Ranked em all 'cause happy residents everywhere

Rotated and Matched at UMD, heading back home to the top trauma center east of the Mississippi

PM me if you have any questions about where I interviewed or about Maryland

Better late than never

School - Private med school (Definitely NOT Top 50)
Preclinical Grades - All Honors
Clinical Grades - Honors except for Psych and Fam Med (too much golf)
AOA - Yes
Aways - Home program, HSS, UVA
Step I - 256
Step II - Just took it

Applied - 24, Offered - 16, Interviewed - 12 (ranked all)
In no particular order - Georgetown, Emory, Vandy, UVA, Wake, UNC, Case, Harvard, Yale, Penn, HSS

1) Gtown - Going here and couldn't be happier.

2) HSS - Rotated here and loved it. Residents are top notch and well rounded.

3) UPenn - Was very impressed by the interview and the Chair as well as the residents. Thought I would have fit in well here.

The rest...all outstanding programs that train excellent orthopaedic surgeons.

Good luck to the MS3s! Three months to work on dropping my handicap.

Small unknown med school
GPA- basic sciences GPA -3.3 clinical- 3.7
class rank- barely top third
Step 1: 223
Step 2: 220
3 away rotations (no home program)

Applied to 50+ programs
14 interviews at (Mississippi, AMC, MUSC, Kentucky, St. Mary's, Hamot, Geisinger, Mt. Carmel, Wichita, Shreevport-LA, Wright St., Stony Brook, West Virginia, UI-Chicago)

Matched at Stony Brook- very excited.

One note: I didn't find the process to be regional at all even though that is what I have always heard. I applied pretty evenly in the east and then a handful of places out west. Interviews were scattered from 1 in the west, a few in the midwest, a few in the south and a few in the east. I'm not sure why my experience was different, but it supports the idea that there is a huge amount of randomness that goes into this process.

Good luck to the M3's

Nobody needs to know what med school you come from or where you matched. I know people from top 5 med schools who match at lower tier programs and people in lower tier programs who match at top programs. Also, exact ROL is also useless as this is individualized (I ranked Harvard #13 - what info does that tell you? Nothing, I have my own personal reasons). The reason this thread is informative because it gives 3's a "ballpark" idea of where people get interviews at with their given numbers. That being said, you can get interviews at top places with an average Step 1 score. If people really care that much about my exact numbers, medschool, my favorite meal, how much I bench, my favorite color, when I go to sleep, etc. I find it amusing - as this does not mean squat. I don't need to sit here and toot my horn with my exact info so that people could potentially know who I am.

Advice to 3's - Apply to where you want to go, wherever that may be. Don't ever sell yourself short because you think your board scores are not good, not AOA, or you think you go to a crappy medschool with no connections.

WASP male
unheard of undergrad
mid-tier private school
preclinical honors: 0, almost failed a few
clinical honors (top 25%ile of class): 5 out of 7
three ortho rotations, honored all
no AOA
step 1: 240’s
step 2: 240’s (took it early, people asked if I took the test at 4 different programs)
research: lots of basic science stuff with one pub--nothing clinical
outside activities: was asked a lot about my hobby, “shooting”… most of interviews end up being about unique stuff on my app and extracurriculars.
LOR were outstanding (supposedly)… were brought up in most every interview.

applied to 60, got 30, went on 12… matched at the top of my list

ROL: see other thread

my two cents:

0. aways... as above. trauma preferred. would recommend doing one academic, one community, one home in any order. dont get too crazy with taking call... Q2-3 is excessive-- all it does is make you look like a tard in front of your attending the next day, not to mention desperate. others may disagree.
1.get your application in early. i submitted one week after it opened... but i know a couple of guys that got burned (or at least appeared to have got burned) submitting near the deadline. make sure you give your letter writers plenty of time and realize it takes about 6 weeks or longer to get a letter back. although you can submit your app w/o your LOR in, asking for a letter in late september is probably not the best idea.
2. Step I-- do lots of questions for preparation... lots
3. AOA--opens lots of doors. if you dont have it, thats ok--does not close many doors
4. clinical grades-- even though catching babies and managing HTN might not be your thing, this is very important and more important than other posts on this site would lead you to believe. there are papers that show clinical grades have good correlation with residency performance. others may disagree.
5. letters-- go for a quality letter from a big name orthopod...
6. subjectives-- personality goes a long way. so do looks. don't wear purple... or pink. it makes you look, um, effeminate. vests and crocodile boots...foolish.
7. inroads at programs-- look where your school has sent its grads... i got interviews at most schools where students from my school have gone. so apply there, even if its not on your initial list
8. research-- would agree with above. research outside of ortho probably as good or even better in some instances. its just important that you have that skill set to do research. my advice, work with anyone who will get you published or send you to meetings.
9. extracurriculars-- very important once youre at the interview, probably not so much for getting the interview. don't exaggerate.
10. regionalism-- some programs pre-screen based on state the applicant is from...ive heard programs can set up filters for doing such. take this at face value.
11. apply broadly-- unless youre THE billy bad@ss, there is probably never a better time in your career to spend an extra 1K.
12. Step II-- as ive mentioned elsewhere, most people do around the same as step i. i also feel step II will become increasingly important. so take it early. others may disagree.
13. school-- if youre reading this then theres probably not much you can do now, but my limited experience suggests that this has a moderate effect on getting invites... especially if you have a great home ortho program vs ok program vs no program. if youre from the latter, maybe consider applying to more programs.
14. realize orthogate is a collection of nothing more than the opinions, rumors, hearsay of a seemingly endless supply of completely anonymous people who can debate god knows what all day (with anything controversial, preempt these guys with 'others may disagree'). that said, orthogate is the best resource available, so use it. and contribute responsibly. others may disagree.

best of luck to all.

OK... here it is
Undergrad: Ivy League
worked for a few years before med school
Med school: Top 5

Preclinical: All Hs except 2 HPs
Clinical: 7/7 Hs
AOA +
Aways: HSS, UCLA

Step 1: 255/99
Step 2: not yet

Applied to 35, interview offers at 25, went to 12. The list is on some forum somewhere.

Matched at Rush, my #1.

As for the rest -- some good advice from WISCite above. My compliments!

I love the old threads from previous years... my time to add.

School - Solid state school in midwest
Preclinical Grades - A's and B's, nothing good or bad
Clinical Grades - Honors in: Ob/Gyn, Surgery, Family Medicine. HP in Peds, and Pass in Medicine.
AOA - Nope
Aways - Home program, Univ Washington, UC Davis
Step I - 244/99
Step II - took late and never asked about
Research - was the strength of my paper application. One poster in ortho, the rest in another surgery field.

Applied - 70+, Offered - 18, Interviewed - 14 (ranked all including 6 year spots)
Interviewed at, in no particular order - Univ Rochester, Case Western, OHSU, Ohio State, Ocshner, Univ Washington, Johns Hopkins, Baylor, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, Wash U, UTMB, JPS. (could not attend: BU, NYMC, Texas A&M, Univ South Carolina, MCW).

Matched at my #1 - University of Washington!

in random order, some comments on the programs I saw:

University of Washington - Top notch program all around. The residents are awesome, the volume is impressive and the faculty are the residents friends. The Chair and Program Directors are amazing people and I cannot wait to train in Seattle for the next 5 years. The didactics on Monday were great - lecture, physical exam skills, then dissection with staff. Not to mention the scope lab AND the resident actually get to use it. The residents operated with precision and confidence... I can only hope to someday be half as good as the Chief Resident on my service when I am done! I knew this was my number #1 when I left my Sub-I.

UC Davis - Strong program. Operate a ton with plenty of volume to pass around. The residents are very busy during their second year, but they get to operate and the rest of the residency has a great call schedule. The new chair seems like a great guy and will take this program to a new level. The hospital has a great patient population and "acts like a private hospital during the day and a county at night." Great comradery amongst the different hospital services. Sacarmento very affordable for a California location.

Univ Rochester - great overall training. Residents very happy.

Case Western - one of my favorite programs. Loved the hospital and I liked Cleveland a lot. Would have been very happy here.

Johns Hopkins - had a great interview. Liked the residents and felt like it was a good fit for me. Baltimore was fun the weekend I was here.

OHSU - Loved this program. The faculty seem very enthusiastic about the program and it is no doubt a good one.

UC - Irvine - Good place. Did not feel like I was an Orange County guy. One interview room (the stress room) needs to go as it turns more people off than they know.

UCLA - Residents very happy. Nice interview day and the merger with the Orthopaedic Hospital has a lot of benefit for the program.

UTMB - Would have been happy to train in the program. Did not like Galveston.

JPS - Best community program I interviewed at. The residents were very happy and the program has great volume. I also liked Fort Worth a lot and it is very affordable.

Wash U - Great name, friendly residents. Research opportunites galore. Big name attendings.

Baylor - Work-hard and a get-your-hands-dirty residency. I loved this program and had a really hard time with where to rank it. The volume of patients was there and the residents get to operate.

Ohio State - Great interview day. The moonlighting opportunites are abundant.

Ochsner - New Orleans is still recovering, but Ochsner has increased its volume since Charity closed. No spine attending for some time.

my 2 cents:

Rotations - Very KEY. Pick places that you would like to train and live for 5 years. Hard to know prior to going, but you get a feel early on if it is a place for you or not. Hard to separate being a useless student from great residency training... If you don't have the numbers, go to places that may be better for you. And also remember, when they evaluate you, most people do not know or care what your scores are. However, where they rank you... your scores may matter.

Applying - go big and go diverse. If you are trying to break out to a different geographical location, you will need to apply to more programs. Interviews tend to be regional... as most people stay regional in the end.
Grades - work hard.
Research - try to do something... you will always get asked as it is an easy conversation piece. Also, if it is in another field, it is to your ADVANTAGE as you will likely know more about it than the person asking during your interview. I was initially worried that my research would be viewed 'worthless' but that was not the case.
Step 1 - plant your butt down for solid study time. You need to mentally prepare for this exam as it requires stamina.

Good luck to everyone who matched. Work hard, be yourself and show initiative. Relax and DO NOT get caught up in all the hoop-la of medical school. You need to enjoy life more than you enjoy medicine. Being a physician requires a lot of work, but your patients will respect you for your normalcy and being able to talk to them like a human.

Here are my stats
School - State school in midwest (Definitely NOT Top 50)
Preclinical Grades - Averaged 90%
Clinical Grades - All Pass (Could have had few honors, but school's criteria is stupid), did not have HP at our school
AOA - No sir
Aways - Home program, Henry Ford, UIC
Step I - 229
Step II - 245
Got few comments on "competitive scores" which i'm sure they meant my step II scores
Applied - 60+, Offered - 15, Interviewed - 13 (ranked all)
In no particular order - Albany, Buffalo, Henry Ford, Beaumont, Flint, Kalamazoo, UIC, Case Western, Ohio State, Minnesota, UMKC, Ocshner, Stonybrook

Matched - UIC - my #1!

I found that my away rotations were key, i had a chance to get to know the senior residents who felt confident vouching for me. I think if you have this, it definitely gives you a headstart on the competition.

My point exactly. So is this it? No more takers on the ROL thread?