Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants Who Match to Their Preferred Specialty

These biennial reports highlight how applicant qualifications affect success in the Main Residency Match® defined as matching to preferred specialty. Ten to twelve measures are examined in these reports depending on the applicant group being reported on. These measures include the number of contiguous ranks in preferred specialty, the number of distinct specialties ranked, USMLE^® Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores, COMLEX-USA® Level 1 and Level 2-CE scores, and the numbers of research experiences, publications, and work and volunteer experiences.

There are three versions of this report available in 2024:

Interactive Reports

The interactive Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants who Match to Their Preferred Specialty report has been built using data visualization software and draws from the same data sources as the Charting Outcomes in the Match PDF reports. This resource uses data from past Matches and is not designed to predict success or failure in the Match.

Four versions of the Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants who Match to Their Preferred Specialty are available based on type and step/level of licensure examination:

It is important to note that only applicants who indicated completion of the USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX-USA Level 1 exam prior to the transition to pass/fail (i.e., USMLE Step 1 exams taken after January 26, 2022 and COMLEX Level 1 exams taken after May 10, 2022) had the option to self-report their Step/Level 1 numeric score. In 2024, of applicants who participated in the Main Residency Match, 24.9% had Step 1 numeric scores available while only 2.0% had Level 1 numeric scores available.