Importance of Step 1

I do agree with the previous post. I do also want to add that the reputation of your school has a lot to do with it. If you are AOA and have 240+ then you should get a lot of interviews no matter where you come from. If not and you come from a sub-par medical school, then you really need to do something to set you apart.

bottom line is, study hard and do lots of aways to increase your chances

step one takes you only so far... a good score can help secure interviews, but once invited, they look at other things like personality, hobbies, research, interest in their program, life goals etc.

a lot of the interview stuff seems pretty random as far as getting interviews. there is no single thing that guarantees an invite... even the best applicants get turned down by a few places.

so, to answer your question, a good score might get you more interviews, but it wont make you a great applicant by any means.

also, there is a surprising amount of research that has been done on this subject... try pubmed. historically, step I, AOA, and knowing the applicant (by doing a rotation there) are most important.

95% of those above 240 matched into ortho
so yes, step one is very very important

but I would say AOA is more important
97% of those who were AOA matched.

So if you have both over 240 + AOA, then you have a 99.9% chance of matching.

GOod luck.