Step 1 Cut off - Need your info

Hi, I'm a MS3 new to orthogate. I never really thought of going into ortho, but some of my MS4 friends were encouraging me to go into it recently. I am a woman and my ortho friends (both guys and girls) were telling me how they are seeing women with relatively lower board scores get interviews at place where guys with scores of 20+ points higher aren't getting. One female applicant even said that a particular program, I forgot which one, was actively recruiting women. They say this doesn't really happen in the South but I'm not planning on going there.

I have a high 210s board score and was wondering if you guys noticed a similar trend. That would be great if these score cuttoffs don't apply to my gender. If I do actually have a shot, I may choose ortho for my surgery elective later this year. Just curious, Novas and dportugal are you a woman as well? What other interesting things do you need to get an interview with a low Step I? Maybe my cheerleading in high school will count as interesting. That's the closest thing to sports that I've been involved in. Thanks!

yes i am female. my step one was in the same range as yours, but when i decided on ortho, (late, i was grooming myself for primary care or ER) i busted my ass on step 2, did 2 away ortho rotations and honored them, did a home ortho rotation sub-I and honored it and started trying to network within my home ortho program. i got strong letters of recommendation. i also got a faculty advisor or two, started getting involved with the research that goes on here early in my 4th year and went to as many grand rounds, journal clubs, lectures as i could. basically i wanted to show people i was serious and interested.

as far as an interesting application ... well, that's just an individualized thing. my path to medschool wasn't typical and my activities during medschool weren't typical of what most programs tend to see (at least that's what i've been told in all my interviews.) i'm not going to babble on about what i've done, but when it comes down to it, i'm secure in my application and can explain well all of my "ortho deficiencies." i also can explain very well what has drawn me to ortho and why i want to do it. everyone will ask you that.

bottom line is if you decide it's something you want to do, with a sub-220 score, you need to start busting your butt to show your interest. you can get interviews, but be prepared to explain the 'why ortho' question and discuss the aspects of your application that are different or 'deficient' with confidence.

Wow, you reply way fast. I was just logging back in to make sure that I posted correctly and you already responded. Thanks for that info. I never thought that I could do something competitive like ortho. It's nice to feel that you're sought after. To tell you the truth, I'm getting tired of busting my but off and can't wait till winter break. But maybe I'll try to take your situation to help motivate me. Now if I could only go back and retake Step I.

This is very disturbing.....in many ways....I dont think I am the only one who feels that way when I read some of these posts.

Banging bones - What exactly is disturbing about this thread?

I started this thread, but clearly people seem to reading it the wrong way. Can somebody please help me out here? If I was communicating this better, I assure you there would be nothing at all disturbing or offensive about it. Please somebody, I am feeling extremely misunderstood and it is very, very frustrating.

Md007...I think your idea of starting this thread is veery reasonable and might help people out....definately none of us but maybe MS3's etc. However, the divergance of the thread into programs actively recruiting women with 210's is a little disturbing because they make the situation seem so trivial. There is much more involved than the boards but I am not for a system where you can just switch from wanting to go into family medicine one day with a 210 and then the next switch to Ortho and get more inteviews than guys who have wanted it since day one and then proceed to rub it in their faces by saying programs are simply looking for women as "bigbear" seems to have heard.