1. Vanderbilt
2. U of Washington - Seattle
3. Brown
4. Michigan
5. Northwestern
6. Wisconsin
7. Duke
8. OHSU
9. Harvard Longwood
10. Emory
The rest will be ranked as we'd be happy to land at any one of them, but are listed in no particular order...
Minnesota, Iowa, Creighton/Nebraska, Boston U, MCW
After spending way too much time debating insignificant (when looking at big picture) minutiae, my fiancee and I have settled on a list that is more reflective of our gut feeling of each program. I loved my interview day at Vandy and as I mentioned in my review, Vandy is a perfect fit given my interest in C/L. I'm not from the South and never thought I would say this, but I'm excited about potentially spending the next 4 years in Nashville!
Couples matching requires some give and take, but we were lucky in that we'll be thrilled with any of our top 6 and honestly would be happy wherever the match gods send us. We loved programs 3-6, but ultimately the desire to try something new (ie outside of midwest) pushed those programs down. Primarily we looked at the obvious factors like clinical training, PD, residents, and location, but we also considered cost of living and proximity to family. In the end, our gut feeling drove our list and was an often used tie breaker.
I really loved my experience at Longwood and Boston U, but compared to the other programs on her list, my fiancee wasn't as excited about her Boston options, so...no soup for me. Thems the breaks, but fortunately we had other places we loved just as much! I had a lot of fun interviewing and though it was exhausting at times, I'm glad that we went on so many because I am now 100% content with my list. Couples matching adds a layer of complexity that can be difficult to manage at times, but with some due diligence during the scheduling part of the process and open communication the rest of the way (with each other and with programs) it wasn't nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. I say this knowing full well how lucky I am that she is doing medicine instead of derm or ortho, as this would have been a much different experience.
I'll work on posting more program reviews/reflections when I get a chance, but if anyone has questions about any of the programs on my list or couples matching, please don't hesitate to ask/PM me.
Good luck to everyone else!