johndental
You are right about some of the specialties not being so concerned with NBDE I, but that doesn't mean you don't have to do well on it!! Sure, endo programs are also concerned with other things since it is a very technique-sensitive specialty requiring good handskills right off the bat, but you still do have to have a great score to even be looked at in the first place. Ortho, you are right, looks very hard at NBDE, as does OMS (4 or 6 yr programs)...in fact, I have been told by the admissions director for the program here at UConn that it is the most important thing for OMS.
As far as some schools not having good NBDE I scores...you are right, some don't, but our example is incorrect. Harvard has been #1 on Part I for the last 2 years...I know because UConn has been #2 hence the rivalry!! The #1 school on Part II is UConn, not Harvard. Harvard is an academic school, not a clinically-oriented school.
You don't even take NBDE Part II until after you apply and go through the matching program, so it doesnt matter unless you don't get matched on the first go around and you have to wait for secondary matching...then it may factor in.
On the issue of state schools "reserving" spots for their own students...that may happen some places, but here at UConn, which is a state school, they many times don't take any CT students at all into a given program. Here it is all about how competitive you are. I'm not sure about other states, though.
And oh man are you right about the "beautiful people" aspect. We here at CT think that the whole ortho residency had to disrobe and model in order to get in because they are all the movie-star type. That does play a HUGE part in some residencies. Politics is big. That is why I like NBDE Part I because it is really one of the only things you bring to the table (besides clinical skills) that is determined by you alone.
I totally agree, though, that not all the high ranking people will specialize. Heck, I probably won't even though I thought about it a great deal when I first got in.
You are perhaps correct that going to TN and studying reaally hard for Part I would get me just as good of a score as at any other school, but where I am now...it just comes right along with the program and doesnt give me the opportunity to be a slacker.
And Amen about the expensive schools!!
Desi...I am glad that you trust God; there is no other way to go, but be careful saying that "faith will get me out of debt". What if God wants you to be poor in order to use you? Hard to say what will happen. Fact is, it WILL be hard to get through the years of debt. God helps us, but that doesn't give us license. I always hold to being a good steward of my resources rather than just trusting that God will somehow get me through a mess that I CHOSE to make. God is both merciful and just, and there are so many biblical examples of people who are wholly devoted to God STILL having to deal with consequences of the problems they created by not managing things well. Just a thought. At least you are assured that trusting God is what matters, no matter what.
Finally- head and neck anatomy is over. It was quite the tough test. All you kids should try to take as much anatomy as you can in undergrad...I thought I had taken enough...