So why the delay between ROL deadline and match results?

[beezar]

Just wondering why the delay between the ROL deadline and results of the match. I mean, the computer program can't take more than a day to run the entire algorithm. Then maybe an extra week to check for errors, etc. What is it that those NRMP folks are doing in the extra time? any ideas?

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[Gas]

I have had the same question ever since I first heard about the Match. The computer shouldn't take more than a few minutes to run the algorithm. I have heard that there is "insider trading" that goes on between programs, similar to how professional sports teams trade draft picks. Basically, the Match is a draft.

However, this is highly unlikely since someone would have had to leak some information at some time since the Match was started, and it ruins the integrity that the Match is supposed to preserve. Another theory is that it really did take a long time for the old computers to run the algorithm back in the 50's or 60's when the Match was created. However, the gap in time has been preserved over the years basically as a remnant of tradition.

If the insider trading theory is true, I want some professional athelete salaries as part of the Match too!

 

[triathlete411]

On the NRMP website it states something to the effect that the algorithm is run again and again and again to ensure the same result each time. There's probably some statistician who figured out the exact number that the algorithm needs to run to avoid major errors.