Your step one scores are high enough to get you interviews almost anywhere. Don't worry about it. Put off step two until after interview season. I took it over December to get it out of the way. I studied very little and no-one ever asked for my score. I did not receive my results until the end of the season anyway. Nothing gets you a spot better than kicking ass on away electives.

Well, I guess another question would be, at what point should an applicant consider putting off step II. I have a 226 on Step I, and different people have given me conflicting advice. Should I take step II in Sept like I was planning, or wait til Dec (the latest my school allows)?

Be forewarned that I am just another M4 who is also starting the ortho application process, so anything I have to offer is pretty much conjecture. In regards to a cutoff for taking step II, I doubt you will be able to pin anyone down to a specific number. For one, everybody is different. Compare two people with a step I of 230 at two extremes. One person has stellar grades and research while the other guy had to retake his first year and has never seen the inside of a lab. Obviously the second guy has more to prove and more to benefit from the risk of taking Step II early (although also arguably more to lose if he bombs it). Despite my disclaimer about no definite cutoffs, I will give my thoughts (based on reading this site amongst other things over the past year) on what I would do if I were a typical ortho applicant (i.e. no red flags) . If Step I is >240 than you are probably very safe to put off step II. If Step I is 220-240 it is probably personal preference depending on your circumstances. If Step I is

OrthoOverhaul made some good points... 1. If you are worried about matching at all then having a decent Step II score in important. However, there is no reason you cannot do well when taking it later in the year. 2. The ranges OrthoOverhaul came up with and the point that no two students are alike both make sense. Breaking the 230 mark is pretty significant. I think better programs do tend to use that number (my impression from interviewing last year and talking to other applicants). You know how competitive you are so try augment a crappy application with good Step II scores and don't risk screwing up a strong application with poor scores. If you have a strong application you will probably do well on Step II anyway so the question then is whether you want to bother with the exam earlier or later. My vote is later. Finally, you should all be focusing on what you can do now to improve your chances of getting a spot. I think spending the time preparing and doing well on your ortho electives is far more valuable than studying for Step II. Good luck.

At the risk of stirring up a lame battle of the sexes... what's your opinion on cutoffs for females? Lower? Higher? Not saying that the chickadees are any more or less qualified, but do you think program directors offer interviews to XY candidates with lower scores because of a smaller applicant pool or desire to diversify their intern class? Or will females be expected to pull traction twice as hard, bench press twice as much, and be held at a higher standard for interviews? Just wondering...

I'm assuming you mean XX, as in female

XYeah, xyou're right. This is why I'm not taking step II until it's too late to count...