I know this has been asked a lot in the past but I can't find much from recent postings on it. Im wondering if school name has any effect on your ability to snag competitive residencies (ortho, neurosurg, etc.) Any comment? I mean I have heard lots of people say it doesnt matter, but I just have a hard time believing it (someone correct me if Im wrong). Lets say we have two students. One is at Vanderbilt the other is at Mercer. They have same class rank. Equal research experience. Interview the same. Basically everything is equal between the two but the one at Mercer scored 1 point higher on Step 1. I just have a really difficult time thinking that the Mercer student will have a greater opportunity of getting ortho at HSS or neurosurg at UCSF than the Vandy guy. (Not saying Mercer is in any way less quality. My dad is a mercer grad. Just saying it does have less prestige). Does it really not make a difference? For the record I will be very happy if the answer is that it does not make any difference.