Couples Match Interview Question

[DiggityDO]

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My husbanc and I are participating in the couples match, and we are pursuing different specialties. We applied to 17 programs across the country. I am curious as to whether couples typically interview together--does anyone know? I would hate to waste the time and the money to go to an interview when my husband may not be offered one (and vice versa). Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Thanks...

 

[carrigallen]

From my indirect experience with a couples match, (one of whom successfully matched into a competitive field), you do not automatically interview together unless you explicitly try to request it. (the only exception I seem to recall for them was MCW).

The reason couples do not interview together automatically is mainly because different departments do not communicate well, so you must request them to coordinate interview times (assuming both of you receive interviews!).

The only exception I suppose is if you are both matching for the same field (ie medicine), in which they would pay attention to both your needs.

One advantage I've heard of the couples match is that if a program director really likes you, they may pull weight on another department to let your spouse in. For example, you are an outstanding medicine candidate, and your husband is trying to enter surgery...the medicine department may talk to surgery to help your husband's chances.

 

[margaritaboy]

My husbanc and I are participating in the couples match, and we are pursuing different specialties. We applied to 17 programs across the country. I am curious as to whether couples typically interview together--does anyone know? I would hate to waste the time and the money to go to an interview when my husband may not be offered one (and vice versa). Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Thanks...

I went through the couples match and I would recomend trying to interview on the same day, or as close as possible for the following reasons:

1. As you said, it would be a waste of your time and $$ to interview somewhere where your partner ultimatly was not offered an interview.
2. It will allow you both to get a feel for your respective programs and the surrounding community, housing, etc. at the same time. You can both talk about your interview experiences/feelings/program pros & cons while it is all fresh in your minds, which will later help you when you are trying to hash out the rank order list. Furthermore, if one of you really likes or dislikes a city or program, it is best to get that out in the open quickly.
3. It can be fun to travel together, and some of your expenses can be consolidated. In some cases, your interview trips can be turned into minature vacations. Get to know the cities, see some sites, visit nearby friends or relatives.

Good luck with it all.