can couples matching hurt your chances in same specialty?

[usmle6969]

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I am looking to couples match into IM in Cali. I am a stronger applicant on paper than my boyfriend (245 step vs 225 and higher ranked school etc.) and have a few better interviews. Specifically I got an interview at a higher tier program in California. If I email the PD and this works to help get my S/O get an interview at this program, how could this affect my overall chances of matching there? I've heard if one person is an all-star, this could help the significant other interview/match because they will want to keep you in their program. But in this scenario, I'm more of a middle of the pack applicant relative to this program and may or may not be ranked to match even if it was just me individually. In this scenario, could e-mailing the PD to ask for an interview for my S/O hurt my chances? Like even if they give him an interview, would it be out of courtesy and something that will lower my odds if they now view us as a package deal? Esp if I wasn't one of their highest ranked persons to begin with?

The reason I ask this is that we also have alternative scenarios. We are trying to match in california, and my S/O has interviews at some solid academic programs in the same city of this specific program. So if I didn't email, we'd be fine for being in the same city, but obviously if I could help him get into a more strong academic program, I would. And it may sound selfish somewhat, but I also would be bummed to potentially lose my spot if the PD chooses not to rank us because my s/o is weaker and they know we are "a package deal," when they may have individually ranked me. Because in that scenario, we both lose out on the city we want to be in. AM I overthinking this? Anyone have insight into how this coudl play out? Thanks.

 

[qwerty89]

This only works the other way around. No PD cares enough about you to take a "package deal". Not to mention since you aren't even married this package deal could completely backfire and cause a general awkwardness and unpleasantness at work if the relationship fails.

Also the PD will not rank you lower simply because you have a boyfriend with lower stats. That's not how the match algorithm works.

As long as you both are in the same city I really don't see the problem. You can find housing in a place that is amenable to both your commutes. Somewhere along your rank list you will have to make the decision of a better program away from your boyfriend or a lower-tier program closer to your boyfriend. That is when you have to make the adult decision regarding your future priorities (fellowship potential vs proximity to boyfriend, etc) which none of us can make.

 

[Crayola227]

eh it is true that PDs do take into account how likely you are to rank their program and how high into their rankings, and family planning / boyfriends etc can play into that.

otherwise agree with above post

you are more likely to bring him up than he is to bring you down is my limited understanding
you will get grilled on how committed you are to the program vs boyfriend "would you match without him"
you may also get some EEOC violation questions about your uterus too

 

[HooliganSnail]

I would not email the PD.

Places often rank couple's match applicants lower not because the are punishing you, but because they know they are less likely to get that match.

They do not want to take the chance of ranking a couple's match person highly, and then not getting them, and then falling way down their ROL.

You may not get this place because you are doing the couple's match. O well.

ALWAYS chose love and happiness over your career. We have all sacrificed enough already. NEVER sacrifice your happiness, hobbies, free time for your career ever again after you get into residency.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Start referring to him as your "fiancé"; a boyfriend sounds much too ephemeral and risky in terms of creating a stable intern class.

As opposed to the above poster, I find programs like couples matches because they tend to be more stable than wild young singletons. However, that assumes the couple is married or about to be so. I've never seen a program rank someone lower simply because they were going through the match as a couple.

Typically the less competitive person is brought up in the match, ending up at a more competitive program than they would without the more accomplished partner. The biggest issue is when one is a superstar and the other a super dud.

I would not contact the PD but you could call the PC and mention that you are couple's matching with your SO, and that he hasn't heard about an interview yet; they will forward that information on to the PD.

 

[typhoonegator]

Agree with WS. There may be places that develop their ROLs in a Machiavellian way, but within the programs I am familiar with in a hospital in Boston, we specifically lay out ground rules before each ranking session for residency and fellowship in which we are instructed to rank applicants based on who we want in the program, period. If we have 10 spots, we rank our favorite 10 to match, even if we haven't heard from them since the interview, or if they're couples matching, or their local PD told us they were heavily lobbying them to stay at their med school program, or whatever. Honestly I don't think many of us on these committees even know an applicant is couples matching most of the time.

Maybe there are programs out there that are "gaming" the system so they don't drop too far on their rank lists, but this ultimately impacts them negatively if they are taking people they otherwise wouldn't just because they want to improve some metric. Besides, people lie, unexpected things happen, and all those machinations can be for naught, leaving you both with a class you didn't really want and a "deep" match draw. At the program level you're better off just going with your heart and letting the system do its job.

 

[Arcan57]

Agree with above that a superstar SO can improve the chances of an average candidate moving up the rank list IF the PD is aware they are couple's matching. While we were in different specialties, several of the programs I interviewed at had already been contacted by her (potential) program's PD asking them to consider ranking me highly because they wanted her. Anecdotal evidence for this having made a difference was supplied years later while I was listening to my former PD awkwardly apologizing at an alumni dinner for joking that they only took me because of my wife.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Well, I might as well weigh in.

There isn't any simple answer to your question, because in my program I've seen anything happen. And the answer will depend upon whether the program is all by itself somewhere, or whether there are multiple other close programs -- in the latter case matching both isn't so important. I've seen:

1. If the two candidates are similar in strength, we rank them consecutively. So, basically no change.
2. If one candidate is very strong, and the other is middle, then we tend to bring the middle up to be with the top.
3. If one candidate is weak and the other is middle, we tend to bring the middle person down to the lower person's level. Or, sometimes we don't rank either, if we're worried that the lower person might struggle, that's a difficult situation to be in.
4. If one candidate has a terrible interview, both can come off the list. I don't need drama.

Regardless, your best option is to ignore this. You can't control it.