Couples Match Question - relationship status?

[oreo2010]

My boyfriend and I are planning on couples matching this year and are wondering if being boyfriend/girlfriend is ok or if being engaged would help us match. Anyone have any idea if schools look at dating vs being engaged any differently?

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[ThoracicGuy]

My boyfriend and I are planning on couples matching this year and are wondering if being boyfriend/girlfriend is ok or if being engaged would help us match. Anyone have any idea if schools look at dating vs being engaged any differently?

I think you need to ask yourself if you're as willing to commit to your bf as much as the residency you are matching for. You're making your match a bit more difficult (as it comes down to two of you rather than just you) for someone that you aren't even engaged to. I think you need to have a serious talk with the bf before worrying about the couples match. Would the schools look at you differently? If you mentioned you were couples matching and they ask when you're getting married and you let them know you aren't even engaged, they may wonder about your decisions. Would it hurt you in the match, though? Probably not.

 

[Winged Scapula]

FYI: the NRMP match does not require that the "couple" in a Couples Match are romantically involved. You could enroll with a sibling or your BFF.

 

[Doctor Bob]

FYI: the NRMP match does not require that the "couple" in a Couples Match are romantically involved. You could enroll with a sibling or your BFF.

Or if there's someone in your class that you just can't stand, you could couples match with them to ensure that you -don't- match at the same institution.

 

[spelledout]

i'll agree with what was said above. i went through the couples match last year and my personal feeling is that you're basically making the commitment that an engagement would be if you do couples match. if you're not already planning on getting engaged/married then you absolutely need to sit down with your SO and find out long-term goals.

 

[Trogghunter]

Or you can piggyback with someone that has an impressive application so that their program may take you too

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[NotAProgDirector]

Programs will not care about your relationship status.

 

[Andyg83]

Another question to add...in a couples match will a stronger applicant carry a "weaker" one or will the "weaker" one bring down the stronger applicant?

Also, when should you let the program know you plan on couples matching?

Thanks!

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Another question to add...in a couples match will a stronger applicant carry a "weaker" one or will the "weaker" one bring down the stronger applicant?

Also, when should you let the program know you plan on couples matching?

Thanks!

I've had both situations, so it depends.

It's usually noted in your ERAS application, but you don't have to mention it at all if you don't want to.

 

[Andyg83]

I've had both situations, so it depends.

It's usually noted in your ERAS application, but you don't have to mention it at all if you don't want to.

Thank you.

 

[b-real]

I've definitely seen the weaker-bringing-down-the-stronger a couple of times. How many superstar candidates are there where one PD goes out on a limb and contacts another PD at the same institution to rank the weaker candidate higher? I would venture to guess very few. We're talking about med students here, not professional athletes or Nobel laureates.

 

[bowlofmushypeas]

I've definitely seen the weaker-bringing-down-the-stronger a couple of times. How many superstar candidates are there where one PD goes out on a limb and contacts another PD at the same institution to rank the weaker candidate higher? I would venture to guess very few. We're talking about med students here, not professional athletes or Nobel laureates.

Just wanted to update this with info I've come across..as a humble medical student... this has come from a few PDs I've met thus far who have willingly shared the way they do things. PDs contact each other seemingly all the time though how much this matters is very site-dependent. Why would one department care about candidates in another during couples match? Simply put--because programs want happy residents. Also, it seems like most (not all) places will not change how they interview based on couples matching status, but do take it into consideration in ranking so that someone may get bumped up from 20th to 16th or something on final rank lists.

 

[franniemeow07]

Just wanted to update this with info I've come across..as a humble medical student... this has come from a few PDs I've met thus far who have willingly shared the way they do things. PDs contact each other seemingly all the time though how much this matters is very site-dependent. Why would one department care about candidates in another during couples match? Simply put--because programs want happy residents. Also, it seems like most (not all) places will not change how they interview based on couples matching status, but do take it into consideration in ranking so that someone may get bumped up from 20th to 16th or something on final rank lists.

Actually, I would say results are program-dependent. Case in point, I've had one of my rejections retracted by a program after they offered an interview to my SO, after that dept talked to my dept and I was offered an interview (s/p the rejection I received ~3 weeks earlier). In this case, I don't think that it was necessarily that they thought I was unqualified but rather that they thought I would have no compelling reason to go there, all of which changed once they knew that my SO was interviewing.

 

[Law2Doc]

Actually, I would say results are program-dependent. Case in point, I've had one of my rejections retracted by a program after they offered an interview to my SO, after that dept talked to my dept and I was offered an interview (s/p the rejection I received ~3 weeks earlier). In this case, I don't think that it was necessarily that they thought I was unqualified but rather that they thought I would have no compelling reason to go there, all of which changed once they knew that my SO was interviewing.

First, if a program learns that you are couple matching with someone you aren't yet engaged or committed to, that might strike some on the committee as strange or ill conceived, and that could be enough to get you ranked lower. The rules allow couples matches without being a permanent couple, but that doesn't mean it sounds like a good fit for a PD. Second, although I would defer to aPD on this, where credentials of the couple are very disparate, I suspect it's more common for the weaker member of the couple to be an unwanted anchor than for the stronger member to get the other a match beyond what they would get on their own. Third, in my experience, programs HATE to rank people ho probably wont come, so being able to explain to a program why you want to be in that geographical area is huge to residencies; if you didn't attend a program locally, the fact that a program knows it could likely get you by taking your spouse is sometimes helpful to the program.