Couples Match

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pathmad

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Hi everyone,

my husband and I are going to try for couples match, I am ready to apply but he does'nt have his application together ( I'm applying to path and he is going for IM) . Is it better to mention in my CAF that I'm applying as part of a couple or is this gonna stop them from giving me interviews before my husband's application is comlpete?

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I'm moving this to the ERAS questions forum as you are more likely to get answers there.

No one will treat you differently or have a bias against you because you are in the couples match. They interview you, rank you the same, etc. Where it matters is in the match algorithm. They don't interview you as a couple, or rank you as a couple, they rank you individually. If they know you are in the couples match and they really want you, they can perhaps put in a bit of influence with the other department on behalf of your husband (or vice-versa). That would be my thoughts, anyway.
 
I'm moving this to the ERAS questions forum as you are more likely to get answers there.

No one will treat you differently or have a bias against you because you are in the couples match. They interview you, rank you the same, etc. Where it matters is in the match algorithm. They don't interview you as a couple, or rank you as a couple, they rank you individually. If they know you are in the couples match and they really want you, they can perhaps put in a bit of influence with the other department on behalf of your husband (or vice-versa). That would be my thoughts, anyway.

I would like to point out that this is not always the case. My husband and I couple's matched (well, we didn't actually match, but that's for another thread...) and we were told by several PDs that they would be communicating with the other's dept. which could affect how each individual is ranked. For example, if the PD of one dept. tells the other PD that they will not be ranking their interviewee highly or not at all then the other PD probably won't rank their person highly either even if they otherwise would have, b/c what would be the point if the person's sig. other won't be matching at that institution anyway? Programs usually want to show that they didn't have to go far down their ROL, so don't want to waste spots on people they know won't come there. This might be an extreme example, but in general I think it is naive to say that couple's matching in no way affects how each individual is ranked - I think in most cases dept. are in communication and this likely will affect the rank of one or both members of the couple.

Edit - I should also point out that this communication can affect ranks in a positive way. For example if one person is a very competitive candidate and the other person more middle-of-the-road, then the highly desirable candidate could, in theory, "lift up" the less competitive candidate. If one dept. REALLY wants one member of the couple, they may try to negotiate with the other dept. to have the other candidate ranked higher. At least this is what we were told by several PD's (although, like I said it didn't work out so favorably for us....)
 
I think it's far more likely to affect it in a positive way. I don't think people should spend significant time worrying that they will be ranked down as a result.
 
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