Independent Applicants

Applicant Rank Order Lists

All rank order lists (ROL) for The Match are submitted to the NRMP electronically via the NRMP's secure, web-based Registration, Ranking, and Results^SM (R3^SM ) system. Applicants must certify their ROLs when they are complete to indicate the ROL is ready to be used in The Match. Using their rank order lists, applicants indicate their preferences from among the programs to which they have applied and wish to attend. The final preferences of program directors and applicants, as reflected on the rank order lists, will determine which positions are offered to which applicants and where the applicants subsequently are matched.

Applicants submit a primary rank order list, which may include preliminary or transitional, categorical, and advanced programs. The programs on the primary rank order list are the driving forces behind the operation of the computer algorithm. Applicants submit supplemental rank order list(s) only if they have ranked advanced (PGY-2) positions on their primary rank order lists and wish, in addition, to secure a first-year (PGY-1) position.

It is possible for an applicant to match to an advanced position, but not to a PGY-1 program on the corresponding supplemental list. In that case, the applicant still is committed to the advanced position and must seek a first-year position after The Match. Applicants are encouraged to complete a worksheet (PDF, 1 page) of their choices before entering ranks in the R3 system.

Applicants should list programs in their actual order of preference, beginning with rank #1 for the most preferred program. Their choices should not be influenced by speculation about whether a particular program will rank them high, low, or not at all. The position of a program on an applicant's rank order list will not affect the applicant's position on a program's rank order list. Applicants must not rank any programs they are unwilling to attend.

The Match Participation Agreement signed during registration states that applicants and programs are bound by The Match results. Programs are committed to offer an official appointment to each matched applicant who has met their prerequisites and institutional employment conditions, and applicants are committed to enter the positions to which they have matched. Certifying the rank order list is the final step in the ranking process. By certifying their lists, applicants indicate that the list is complete and represents the final data that should be used in the Matching process. Only certified lists are used in The Match. When applicants have finished entering their lists, they must certify them by clicking the Certify List button located on the My Rank Order List screen and then entering their NRMP password to confirm it. Changes still can be made to the rank order list after it has been certified. However, once the list has been changed, the new version must be certified in order to be used in The Match. Changes include adding a program to the list, deleting a program from the list, and changing the order of the programs.

Please note: The R3 system does not retain previous versions of rank order lists regardless of whether those lists was certified. The list currently displayed on the screen upon logging in is the only version on file. The NRMP will not add, delete, or reorder programs or in any way modify a rank order list.

Preparing Rank Order Lists

To identify the program codes to be entered on their rank order lists, registered applicants consult the NRMP Directory in R3 at the top of the left menu bar. On the primary rank order list, applicants can list several different specialty types (e.g., Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, etc.) according to their preferences. Program types — preliminary or transitional, categorical, and advanced — also can be mixed on the primary rank order list.

The supplemental rank order list is used by applicants who wish to rank advanced positions (beginning in the second year of training) on their primary rank order list and who also want to match to a compatible preliminary or transitional first-year program.

For each PGY-2 advanced ("A") program ranked on the primary rank order list, a number of PGY-1 (preliminary or transitional) programs that correspond to that advanced program may be ranked on a supplemental rank order list. Applicants are encouraged to complete a supplemental worksheet (PDF, 1 page) before entering choices in R3. Although not a requirement, applicants generally consider geographic location in developing their supplemental rank order lists for specific advanced programs. Therefore, more than one supplemental rank order list linked to different advanced programs may be submitted, if necessary, and they will be marked as A, B, C, etc. When you have finished entering the program codes on your rank order list(s), you must certify the list(s). To certify, click the Certify List button found on the My Rank Order List screen and then enter your password. A supplemental rank order list will be used in The Match only if the applicant matches to an advanced program on the primary rank order list. The supplemental rank order list is used as part of The Match and is not a separate match. During the Matching process, the Matching algorithm first looks at an applicant's primary rank order list and attempts to make a match. If the applicant is matched to an advanced program, the algorithm will seek to match the applicant to a preliminary position from the supplemental rank order list that is linked to that advanced program. If the algorithm is unable to match the applicant to a first-year program, the match to the advanced program still holds, and the applicant will have to seek a PGY-1 position after The Match.

Summary of Guidelines for the Preparation of Applicant Rank Order Lists

Applicants are advised to include on their rank order lists only those programs that represent their true preferences.

• Programs should be ranked in sequence, according to the applicant's true preferences. Factors to consider in determining the number of programs to rank include the competitiveness of the specialty, the competition for the specific programs being ranked, and the applicant's qualifications. In most instances, the issue is not the actual number of programs being ranked on the rank order list, but rather whether to add one or more additional programs to the list in order to reduce the likelihood of being unmatched. Applicants are advised to rank all programs deemed acceptable to the applicant, i.e., programs where they would be happy to undertake residency training (see Impact of Length of Rank Order Lists). Conversely, if an applicant finds certain programs unacceptable and is not interested in accepting offers from those programs, the program(s) should not be included on the applicant's rank order list.

• It is highly unlikely that either applicants or programs will be able to influence the outcome of The Match in their favor by submitting a list that differs from their true preferences.

Submitting Rank Order Lists

Access to the R3 system requires your AAMC ID and your NRMP password. When you register for The Match you will be given your AAMC ID and you will be able to create your own password.

Rank Order List Fees

The fee schedule for the submission of the rank order lists with programs ranked are:

Primary Rank Order Lists

Supplemental Rank Order Lists

Each partner of a couple may rank 1 to 30 programs on a primary rank order list and 1 to 30 on all supplemental lists combined before paying the additional fee of $30 per program. Rank order list fees are due at the time rank order lists are certified. Payment is made electronically using a credit card or a checking account. You will be withdrawn from The Match if payment is not received by the rank order list deadline.

This page contains documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). The Adobe Acrobat® Reader® is required to view PDF documents. Download Acrobat® Reader®.

updated 02/07/2012