Verifying Graduation Credentials

Medical School’s Role

Medical school officials and/or administrators (SOs /SAs) are required to verify the graduation credentials of their students and prior-year graduates to participate in the Main Residency Match® and the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). Credentials verification is an important task: only students and graduates who are eligible to enter graduate medical education (GME) on July 1 in the year of the Match can participate.

Requirements for Student Participation

Applicants must meet all requirements for entry into GME as prescribed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME®). Medical schools may have additional graduation requirements; NRMP does not mandate those requirements, so the eligibility status of applicants must be based on criteria specific to the school. 

Applicants who are confirmed as being ineligible to enter GME on July 1 in the year of the Match must be withdrawn from the Match, either by themselves (prior MD and DO graduates; Canadian applicants) or by the School Official or School Administrator (MD and DO senior students). 

NRMP recommends students NOT be withdrawn unless it is known CONCLUSIVELY they will not graduate on time to enter training on July 1.

When to Verify Graduation Credentials

Verification of graduation credentials opens with ranking on February 1 at 12:00 p.m. ET, and SOs must access the Registration, Ranking, and Results® (R3®) system to complete the verifications process. Verification and student withdrawals MUST be completed by 9:00 p.m. ET on the Rank Order List Certification Deadline. If an applicant’s credentials are not verified, the applicant’s rank order list will not be included when the matching algorithm is processed and they will not be able to participate in the SOAP process.

Note: As a security measure, the NRMP’s R3 system times out after 20 minutes; accordingly, NRMP recommends saving verifications periodically to avoid losing work.

View Verifying Graduation Credentials support guide