As you look toward the NRMP Match rank order list deadline on March 1, you’ll want to avoid simple missteps. Improving written materials and interview skills is critical, but all of that work can go to waste if applicants do not understand basic strategies for the Match. Way back in November 2015, the NRMP published an article called, “Understanding the interview and ranking behaviors of unmatched international medical students and graduates in the 2013 Main Residency Match” in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education. The data is still relevant today.
Sadly, the authors found that some applicants made strategic errors including the below:
- Declining to rank all programs at which they interviewed or not ranking all programs they would be willing to attend.
- Not attending all interviews, thus failing to capitalize on every opportunity to market themselves. (I suspect this error is less common now with the advent of virtual interviews.)
- Misunderstanding the Match and, thus, ranking programs at which applicants did not interview.
- Failing to rank programs based on true preferences or ranking programs based on the perceived likelihood of matching.
It kills me to read about these mistakes :(. Here is a video explanation of the Match algorithm. If you do not understand how the Match works, it is absolutely critical that you learn about it to avoid destructive errors.
