Couples matching - number of programs to apply for

[bowlofmushypeas]

Hey all,

My husband and I will be couples matching into derm and peds this upcoming season and were looking for some general advice. I've heard that once one of us gets an interview request, it'd be good to email the other's program. I've heard that it's also a good idea to bring it up during interviews (?). Other than that, I think we're pretty clueless.

Also, anyone have suggestions on a good number of peds programs to apply for? Because we're couples matching, my list is much broader than it otherwise would have been--currently I have over 80 programs listed, but I'm not sure that this is actually feasible. Any advice?

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[Smurfette]

moving to eras...

 

[CardioPlus]

I would love any feedback as well. We're applying peds and family. Kind of up in the air as to how many programs to apply and similar questions as above in regards to when one of us receives an interview at a certain institution. Would love to hear from anyone with first hand experience or knows of people that couples matched. Thanks in advance!

 

[Andyg83]

yup I'd like some feedback on this...thinking of couples matching with my partner into IM & Pathology...wondering how many programs we should apply to, and when to mention (or if to mention it at all)...any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[mvenus929]

I'm not couples matching, but there are several of my classmates who are. Those applying to the more competitive fields are generally applying to 30-40 programs each (one couple is matching Urology-Peds, so the one applying to peds is doing 30-40 programs, not sure how many the one doing Urology is applying to), whereas those applying to less competitive programs (IM-peds, IM-IM, etc) are applying to 25-30 programs, and focusing on large cities where there are more combinations that are available.

 

[JRjcu08]

My boyfriend and I are couples matching, him in Neurology and me in Pediatrics. We are both DO students applying ACGME only. I applied to 39 programs and he applied to 33 Neuro + 20 prelim/TY's.

 

[bowlofmushypeas]

Just an update, our PD recommended applying to 30-40 like others in this thread have mentioned already. Then, if SO receives an invite from another place, you can submit an application a little later.

 

[Thama]

My boyfriend and I are couples matching, him in Neurology and me in Pediatrics. We are both DO students applying ACGME only. I applied to 39 programs and he applied to 33 Neuro + 20 prelim/TY's.

I'm doing Neuro and my wife is IM, we're coming from an MD program and still applying to over 30 each (plus about 17 prelims for me).

 

[spelledout]

applied last year my so and i did em/peds we applied to 50 ish and went on about 20ish interviews. in the end it was overkill by a long shot as we turned down a lot of interviews and matched well, but i am still glad we did it how we did - better safe than sorry