Damn computer, we'll try this again..What are my chances ?

This topic is hilarious. I think that a few of you could be drill instructors with your insults. Keep them coming.
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"jag" "jag off" "friggin' jag off" - These are just some of the words I would use to describe this "dipsh!t". I'm sure he's the guy in his med school with the 'MDTOBE' tags, that - if you see him on the interview trail - you literally pray each night to the Ortho gods that you don't end up at the same program.

Sorry to be so spiteful, but I had to get this out. Somebody mentioned that this post could be somebody @$%&ing with the board. Early on that seemed to be the case, but I think this guys the real deal. Genuine pudwhacker.

Aw, don't sell yourself short. No one thinks you morphed into an a-hole overnight. I'm sure you've always been an a-hole.

Just kidding. BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Now I don't usually post on this site. . . . . .
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I thought that would be funny. But seriously, now that I'm on the other side, I would say that your post came over as a little arrogant. Reason being: even as a 1st year, I ,as well as most of my classmates, knew that a 260 on step I pretty much wrote your ticket for what ever you could possibly want to go into. . . .with a few exceptions (personality, poor application strategy, etc.). As a certain friend of mine down at UK-ortho would say : "even a blind-folded chimp with his hands tied behind his back and a periosteal elevator stuck in his mouth could match ortho with a 260." So I find it hard to believe that as a third year medical student you didn't realize this fact. Although I won't make any assumptions on your character based on a few isolated posts on orthogate. After all, some body would think by all my postings on this site that I'm some egomaniacal, loser with no life
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. Although I don't know how anyone could come to that conclusion
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.

Lured me out too. I'm at least suspicious that you're a tool, but maybe some benefit of the doubt is in order. However, I see two issues:
1-Read previous posts because all too many people post their stats and want a 'diagnosis/prognosis'
2- As you can (painfully) see, fellow ortho people (and others for that matter) loathe @#$%iness and conceit; overt, concealed, or accidental. Don't do it!! Just say no.

Good luck

i think this is getting old but i can't let this guy get the last word.
1)if you're that smart and want moey and prestige get some cahones and go for neuro surge.
2)the one assinine (SP) thing you did say was that anyone who worked as hard as you did would get 260+ on step 1
3)i can't believe you fell for the go home early trick. that was a test! never trust a sicilian. that will go on dean's letter so you might want to look at some family practice programs.
4) lastly why don't you hang out with some attending and get a better idea of what its all about. you'll need their letters anyway

And now, for the final act, the fat lady will sing...
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(Please, no more replies)

Thanks Micky, I think an objective opinion (and not just an angry one) is a welcome change.
I do apologize, I was new on the site and didn't know all this had been covered, I've looked through now and see alot of the information. I simply saw someone post a "what are my chances" message and wanted to know where I stood as well. I wouldn't have said a word if I'd have known there was some cut-off, some standard for who could ask about one of the most important decisions in their careers or life. Thanks for the support.

For Girdlestone, I don't have to have the last word, but when people are attacking you personally, you have a right to defend yourself, or at least your position. I tried to drop this a few posts ago and some people (you would fit into this category) won't let it go. It's ironic that someone who says "you don't have to have the last word" would write in 2 days after the fact simply to repeat the same (unfounded I think, and apparently some agree) comments about what an arrogant prick I am.
Secondly, I have never ever ever claimed to know ANYONE or anything in ortho, esoteric or not. If you'd taken the time to read MY posts, and not just some people's angry paraphrasing you'd know that. In fact that was one of my CONCERNS (the reason I wrote the first post), being that I have no letters yet and don't know anybody, nor do I know anything about the match process, residency, etc. My post was supposedly going to let me know how much that hurt me or not.
Thirdly, you don't know me bro. I've never left early unless told to by my residents, I've busted my ass behind the scenes so that I DO NOT have to look like a d_ck on rounds by showing people up ( I generally don't even talk during rounds, except to joke around with fellow students and the residents you can joke around with), and I've never "told off a nurse". What in the h$%& could a third year tell a nurse off about anyway ? Don't make accusations about me that you have no basis for. Oddly enough, I'm a pretty nice guy, if you hadn't felt the need to get mean 2 days after the fact maybe you'd have known that. I'm sorry to have p_ssed you off b/c I wanted to know how the rest of my life might turn out
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I don't see what all the fuss is about. I don't think Ortho2Be10's posts have been abrasive or arrogant. The only mistake he made was not looking up old posts on this topic. All of this has been covered ad nauseum over last couple years...

You all are so friggin' sensitive.

Ortho2Be10...you are a stud on paper. Don't worry about research.

Out of the wood work, too.

Pearl of "Wisdom" No. 1
Having the last word in a discussion is not always necessary

#2 Almost all of the information you could ever want can be accessed by searching through old posts

#3 With board scores of 260 +/ Solid Grades, you are Obviously in good position at your stage in the game to get the interview offers. The letters from Orthopaedists are crucial too in getting interview offers at some of the more highly tauted programs.

Once you have the interviews, though, most of the #'s and Grades are tossed out. Letters continue to be crucial, especially those that show that you are a team player, a leader, a hard worker, and a person who knows when to bite his or her tongue.

I guarantee that you will get a significant number of interviews, but unfortunately for you, your attitude will be a turn off to many programs.

Even if you interview well, a number of the programs that fall into the "better" range that was mentioned earlier will get on the phone and call people that they know who know you and that time when you told off a nurse or the time that you left early, or the time that you claimed to know some esoteric orthopaedic fact and you were called out on it and didn't know the basic facts to go along with it, or when you made one of the residents look bad, or when you stepped all over your classmates just to get a point higher on a test, those things come out and --POOF-- you are done.


So in short... Be humble. Be quiet.
Good Luck because unless you become less abrasive you're going to be unhappy with your match and you will probably be that person that all the other residents in your program wishes would quit.

good point, I guess by "better" I meant with respect to prestige, or rankings, something like that. Anyway, I've gotten quite a bit of feedback (more than I wanted maybe), so I don't think I'm going to drag this thing out any longer, thanks to those who helped, and thanks to those who didn't.

i have officially been sucked in now!

obviously you have missed the entire message of the people posting thus far. "better" is so subjective that it can't possibly be the same from one person to the next. better for some is to learn by doing. better for others is to be around experts and learn by seeing. obviously, most of us will become competant surgeons with either approach. if you want to be a chairman someday "better" means going to the most academically high-powered place you can see yourself spending 5 years at.

That was my point, all other issues being equal, wouldn't the "better" program be actually better. Obviously issue number one is could you be there for 5 years without killing someone (or apparently someone killing you since I seem to have morphed into such an a-hole overnight, at least on this board). I've never stated that I knew the answer to any of these QUESTIONS either, that's why they were questions. The whole point of my post was to get info from those who have all the wisdom. Can't we all just get along ???
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fibulaface, it's not just you. i also try to keep my posts to minimum, and i generally avoid the "debate" posts. however, i just couldn't pass this up...

Ortho2Be10: "my point was that if you had a choice between "the best program in the world" or one that was good but not as highly regarded, wouldn't it make more sense to take the higher one ?"

absolutely not. that is a gross oversimplification. there are literally dozens of other factors that should play into a residency desicion: academic vs community, family friendly vs single-guy program, location, strengths and weaknesses, didactics, the type of environment in which you learn best, etc. if some arbitrary ranking is what's most important to you, fine. but if it's the ONLY factor, then, yes, it does come across as arrogant, and, more importantly, you are at risk for a very unhappy five years.

whew, off the soap box. a little self-reflection, though...anybody else out there think that this could just be somebody having a little fun with people? don't know if that's the case, but i sure hope so.
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If you want to make money in ortho, don't worry about what program you match. Just match and then go practice in a rural area where you are the only guy in town.

As for who will make more money between someone matching at HSS verse someone matching at a small community program in PA, most likely the guy matching in PA. I have a feeling that the majority of the guys going through HSS go into academics where the money isn't great. If they both go into private practice, again, it will depend on where they practice and what type of practice they have, but they probably have the same earning potential.

Why is it that nobody can talk about the obvious ?? Money is part of our lives, and it's part of our careers. Just because I asked a question about financial matter doesn't mean I"m obsessed with money (God knows there are a TON of easier ways to make equal or more money with less work, either in medicine or in some other field). If I'd asked about teaching, nobody would have accused me of being obsessed with being a professor. Since when is it such a horrible thing to want to make sure you're family and future are secure after having gone through 13plus years of post high school education (and not exactly sitting on your ass any of those years either) ?
If you all are going to pretend that money has no bearing on your future decisions, you're either lying or really really really naive (or maybe just independently wealthy). I"m going into ortho b/c it's what interests me, and what I want to do with my life, but if I can make 10 grand a year or 100 K, I think I, like everyone else in the room, would take the latter.
I never said I went to school in MO either, just that I'm from there
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ortho2be10, i have to agree with fibulaface as well. I really hope you are not thinking of going into ortho because of the money. And by the way, which Missouri school do you go to?

First: What is arrogant about asking a question related to financial matters ?
I wasn't saying I personally would get into "the top program", my point was that if you had a choice between "the best program in the world" or one that was good but not as highly regarded, wouldn't it make more sense to take the higher one ? NOT stating that I personally can go wherever I want or whatever, but replying to the earlier post that if you don't want to do academics, there's no reason to worry about the prestige of a program.
Second: The department chair comment was a joke, b/c I really don't see myself wanting to do academics unless h$%& froze over, or I became a department chair. Even if I wasn't kidding, there is nothing arrogant about your career goal/reason for wanting to go into academics being to get into administration. A lot of people don't go into academics purely to teach, and there's nothing arrogant about wanting to be a decision maker, which I don't want to do I"m just making a point.
Maybe it's because of the difficulty in communicating without non-verbal cues, but Fibula Face seems to have taken the posts completely differently than other people in the room. If you knew me, you'd know the last thing an interviewer would ever get from me is the impression that I'm arrogant, if anything they'd probably think I was too shy or quiet.
Don't mistake how I would interview or interact with collegues to be the same tone I use on a message board with a guy who's obviously trying to be an antagonist
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I usually don't post but this guy is forcing me to post twice. Listen bud, I really think you're in trouble. If your interview skills are anywhere close to the way your personality comes across on these posts, then you have some serious problems. Is it just me or is this a little ridiculous?

I am not trying to be smart with this reply, but the only thing that you need to worry about is your attitude. The worst thing you can do on your interviews is appear @#$%y or conceited, and whether you meant to or not that is the way your post came across. In fact, I was at an interview the other day and the residents were talking about a guy that had come through and appeared slightly arrogant which had eliminated him immediately regardless of his numbers. Take it for what it is worth and good luck to you.

Otherwise I agree with the guys above. The more aways the better and delay Step II until later.