Advice for picking an away

This whole process is just a series of hoops to jump through, so get used to it. LORs should be from an orthopod. If you are a MS3, I would recommend sitting down with your department chair now even if you haven't rotated through ortho yet. 1) It is good to let the chair know you are interested in ortho early on so that you are on his radar (you will need a strong letter from him next year) and 2) he can usually provide a stock LOR that is suitable for the purposes of applying to aways...usually. If you are a MS1/MS2, do not think you have to wait until your ortho rotation to find mentors. You will have better LORs if someone has known you for 4 years versus a 4 week rotation.

Are we circus animals to jump through hoops? Lol

If you're not set that one of those programs would be your #1, you can find better programs to rotate at.

Truth, but I don't know what's worse: going through a little extra effort and being 1 of 4 rotators that were actually vetted by the program or not and being 1 of 10+ rotators who weren't.

pens88 wrote: Truth, but I don't know what's worse: going through a little extra effort and being 1 of 4 rotators that were actually vetted by the program or not and being 1 of 10+ rotators who weren't.

Also very true. I guess there's no winning

Anyone know what the deal is for VSAS and the applications accepted date vs. applications processed date? I've seen U. Colorado saying they will process in order they were received, but I know elsewhere I have seen somewhere that said submitting apps before processing date doesn't gain anyone favor.

Which way do most places handle things?

I guess I didn't heed information to have everything done ASAP to secure an away and I'm waiting on 1 more lab to come in. One of the aways I'm interested in opens this week, but doesn't begin processing until May, so I'm wondering if I'll still have a shot or if I should just go with my backup. Unfortunately their rotation coordinator doesn't pick up the phone or reply to emails.

Hey benchdaily,

This might differ from what most people think, but based on what I heard, most schools still process in the order it is received though they may say "we don't start processing until May." I recently applied to an away that said applying early doesn't have a benefit, but everyone who did that away at my medical school last year basically said that was only a half truth. In summary, applying early can't hurt, and almost always helps. If you can't get in touch with the coordinator, try an email and try to contact one of the registrar's staff and they should be able to transfer you or also assist with the questions you may have.