Can programs see where I matched after Match Day?

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matchagreenice

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Anyone out there knows if programs that rank an applicant high enough to match, but not vice versa, would find out where the applicant matched after Match Day?

I know this is sort of a left field question, since I see reassurances all over the place to anxious applicants that their rank list is confidential and programs have no idea, etc. etc., but I'm not sure if the rank list confidentiality is still maintained after Match Day? I ranked programs based on location, and ended up at my first choice location... but there are a couple of programs on my list that are "better" by academia's standards. I'm working on a research project at one of these, and have gotten a few oddball comments here and there after Match Day that made me wonder if they are taken aback that I ranked a place supposedly "less academically rigorous" than their program. Or I could just be paranoid, but it's good to have external validation... Thanks everyone!

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Anyone out there knows if programs that rank an applicant high enough to match, but not vice versa, would find out where the applicant matched after Match Day?

I know this is sort of a left field question, since I see reassurances all over the place to anxious applicants that their rank list is confidential and programs have no idea, etc. etc., but I'm not sure if the rank list confidentiality is still maintained after Match Day? I ranked programs based on location, and ended up at my first choice location... but there are a couple of programs on my list that are "better" by academia's standards. I'm working on a research project at one of these, and have gotten a few oddball comments here and there after Match Day that made me wonder if they are taken aback that I ranked a place supposedly "less academically rigorous" than their program. Or I could just be paranoid, but it's good to have external validation... Thanks everyone!

Yes, programs can see where applicants they ranked ended up matching. Programs won't know if they were second or twenty-second on your list, just that you ranked the program where you matched higher.
 
Yes, programs can see where applicants they ranked ended up matching. Programs won't know if they were second or twenty-second on your list, just that you ranked the program where you matched higher.

Thank you!

Just out of curiosity, do you know if programs that ranked me but did not reach me on their list would also see where I matched?
 
Yes, programs can see where applicants they ranked ended up matching. Programs won't know if they were second or twenty-second on your list, just that you ranked the program where you matched higher.

Or that the program filled before they got to your spot on the rank list.
 
It's also important to note that when people above (all of whom are correct BTW) say "programs", they mean PDs, aPDs and PCs. So, the PD at that institution knows where you matched, and where you were on his/her ROL. But random attending/research mentor has no idea (and shouldn't have access to that information) where you matched, and if/where you were ranked there.

You're being neurotic.
 
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Thank you all! Now it all makes sense...

Well, now that I'm officially prioritizing other things above academic medicine, maybe it's time to enjoy England vs. Croatia live tomorrow :soexcited:
 
A lot of schools publish a list of where their students matched to, online. Assuming anyone cares enough to look that up, assuming it is one of the schools where that is made available.
 
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If you are applying to more than one specialty in the MATCH (for residency or fellowship), can they also see what specialty you match into or just name the name/location of the program?
 
This thread reminded me of a funny story in residency. Well, funny to me anyways. During 4th year of med school I interviewed at one program a few weeks before I interviewed at second program that was really my top choice. The first interview went really well. My interview with the PD was fantastic and we hit it off immediately and with the next two interviewers (including the Assistant PD) it went equally great. The assistant PD reached out a couple of times before Match Day saying that everyone enjoyed having me and they hoped I would seriously consider their program. While they weren't my top choice they were such awesome people that I didn't want to disappoint them or come across as not interested so I told them I really loved their program and was looking forward to Match Day.

I matched at my top choice at the other program. About a year later I was in the residency office and I overheard someone say that someone from the first program was in the office for some reason. I knew the name to be the assistant PD who I'd been talking to on the phone before Match Day. I was hoping I wouldn't run into her but yep, as I was walking down the stairs I run into her with nowhere to go. I was hoping she wouldn't recognize me.

She looks up and sees me and says "Oh, hi shaggybill. Great to see you! How's it going??"

:oops: Awkward.

Of course she was nothing but awesome again. But yeah, she clearly knew where I ended up and wasn't surprised to see me.
 
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I can almost guarantee you that the only person whom felt awkward was you. Most people whom we interview don't match with us. There's no hard feelings. We want you to be happy!
 
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If you're applying to two subspecialties within the same field for fellowship, how do PDs react to see an applicant match into a different specialty than what they interviewed at?
 
If you're applying to two subspecialties within the same field for fellowship, how do PDs react to see an applicant match into a different specialty than what they interviewed at?

A more important question is probably: why do you care?

Look, in reality, most of the time the applicants applying to more than one surgical specialty (general vs integrated plastics or integrated vascular for example) aren’t that hard to spot from the gen surg side of interviews. All/most of their research is focused on that area, they have some letters from people in this specialties, etc. They did 1 or more home or away electives in that specialty.

From the integrated side, it’s understood that some applicants are dual applying given the competitiveness of the specialty.

If you match in your integrated field, why do you care what the gen surg programs think?

If you failed to match at all, yes the Gen surg programs will know you tried to match into an integrated field. But if a unfilled program knows that, they still need to fill their spot.
 
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I can almost guarantee you that the only person whom felt awkward was you. Most people whom we interview don't match with us. There's no hard feelings. We want you to be happy!
you seem like a decent person and PD. not all pd's are that way. I dont know if PDs become bitter or what throughout the course of their career but there is a lot of vitriol by pd's at times.
 
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I'm in FM and was involved in my residency's application process, and we had a decent number of folks we interviewed match in other fields each year. Some we were not surprised that that was the case based on their application, some were surprising and honestly I felt a little lied to. I get why people dual apply and don't say anything about it, and don't blame them for doing so - it's a system issue. But it sucks that we wasted time, energy, and an interview slot on someone who's not really into family medicine and likely would have been unhappy at our program had they matched with us.

I get why you would feel lied to, but I would challenge you to re-examine that assumption that the applicant wasn’t really into FM & wouldn’t have been happy at your program.

I’ve personally known applicants who would truly be happy in two different specialties, and ranked one program higher than another due to geographical location. It wasn’t that they were using FM as a backup, but being closer to family took precedence & a different specialty that they would be equally happy in was available there.
 
I get why you would feel lied to, but I would challenge you to re-examine that assumption that the applicant wasn’t really into FM & wouldn’t have been happy at your program.

I’ve personally known applicants who would truly be happy in two different specialties, and ranked one program higher than another due to geographical location. It wasn’t that they were using FM as a backup, but being closer to family took precedence & a different specialty that they would be equally happy in was available there.
That's fair, and I'm sure those folks are out there and probably more common than I think. My perspective is probably a little skewed by some of my personal experiences at my own program with certain applicants. And again even if I have that possibly false opinion about people who ended up matching in other specialties, it doesn't actually have any real world consequences fortunately.
 
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