Frustrated

welcome to the random world or ortho application.

prior to receiving my first invite last year, i went through and picked out those places i thought would interview me (out of ~45 applications, i picked 15).

i got twleve interview invites, but those that i got and those that i thought i would were very different. there were those i didn't expect to get (univ of chicago, vandy) and those i didn't get (only 1 nyc interview). i was the first applicant from my school to get a u of chicago interview in three years, yet in my own class, i was was probably, at best, third by the numbers; my research wasn't great, but i had a lot of extra-curriculars and comm service. was that the difference maker? only the program director knows.

the long and the short of it comes down to the fact that most programs interview about 10% or less of all applicants, and the criteria are different everywhere. so if there is just one thing that a program views as "bad" in your application, they have hundreds of other applicants, similarly qualified who may have that one thing (community service, research, etc).

you seem like a very good applicant on paper, and unless there is something wrong with you personally, you will most certainly match. that is the primary goal...where is a whole other ball game.

best of luck to you all

enjoy the trail and i'll see you at sinai

Yeah, I'm pretty much in the same boat. I'm at a top school, AOA, above 250, good letters, research, etc and getting rejections left and right (in fact, Jefferson just rejected me while I was writing this). I pretty much expected this,though, after talking to people that applied last year. I figured if I applied to about 45-50 programs I would hope for about 12-15 interviews. This whole thing seems to be pretty effin random. I know a lot of places favor rotators and people from their region, so maybe that is partly why. But I am still waiting to hear from like 30 places, so I'll have to see what happens. Anyway, good luck to everyone- I just can't wait until all this BS is over.

Well Soudes, you've summed up my application process perfectly -- some surprises on both sides, but overall pretty happy. Of course, I wouldn't mind breaking my own school's curse at your program (assuming you are where I think you are). I guess I'll find out soon enough.

This may not make any of you feel much better but it might be beneficial to have a better understanding of the "process" from a Program Director's perspective. We received 450 applications this year and roughly 70% of you scored 220 or higher on part I USLME. Magna cum laude, AOA, multiple 3rd year honors, publications, quality research, and recommendation letters saying that you "walk on water" are now the norm, not the exception.

Given that we only interview 50 applicants, there are obviously very qualified candidates who we simply will not have the privilege of meeting.

When we counsel our Columbia medical students interested in Orthopaedic Surgery in May every year we tell them to not get discouraged by the interviews they do not get or surprised by the ones they do get but did not expect.

As you all know, it is incredibly competitive but the good news is that the majority of you are extremely qualified, have the passion necessary to become an orthopaedic surgeon, and will match in Orthopaedic Surgery.

William N. Levine, MD
Vice Chairman, Education
Residency Director, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Columbia University Medical Center
New York, NY