Couples Match

Successfully did the couples match thing with pediatrics this year. I think that whole process can be somewhat of a double edged sword. Some places it may help you, while others it may hurt you. Alot depends on what your significant other is planning on pursuing. Some of the less competitive fields should not hinder you too much if you are a strong candidate. Whereas, trying to couple with derm, etc... makes things inherently more difficult. I know this was a major concern of mine when beginning this whole process, so I'll tell you what I've learned.
A few words of advice....
Apply to alot of places, even if you think you will have little trouble securing interviews. I applied to 66, she approx. 80. While its expensive, consider it an investment in your future. This allows for significant overlap between you and your couple so that the likelihood of a successful couples match is increased. I interviewed at 17 programs, while she interviewed at 19. Definitely more interviews than I would recommend if one was applying solo. This provided us with enough programs that were either in the same city or if not the same institution. This also allows for some flexibility if one of the couple doesn't like the particular program, then there are other combinations that will work. We ranked 16 pairs total.
Second word of advice, be upfront with programs (both you and your s.o.) about your intentions to couples match. This will not only fuel communication between departments, but may also score you interviews. I actually recieved at least one interview that I was initially shut out of due to space limitations because my girlfriend brought up this very issue. I never came across a program that seemed to frown upon this, not to say they don't exist.
Thirdly, talk to medical school advisors as the time comes closer to ROL etc... as they can show you some tricks to ranking as a couple. Plus, these people usually have a pretty good grasp on how feasible this is given your particular situation. I would recommend you and your s.o. meeting with such an advisor together to get a little feedback with open communication. Have them put you in contact with people from your school who have done this before (especially ortho) to see if they have any inside info or things they wished they had done differently.
All in all, it's a painful way to interview if you ask me (my girlfriend agrees) but it paid off in the long run. It's expensive and time-consuming so be sure that you are serious about it if that's the route you choose. And be ready for some heated debates when the ROL is close to being due! (just kidding). Hope this helps. Good luck.
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I also successfully couples matched with ortho/obgyn. I basically agree verbatim with IMnailer as we pretty much followed the same processes and had the same experiences. My S.O. was a strong applicant for OB and I feel that it did help more than it hurt because it kept a lot of doors open...and in one instance I'm pretty sure it got me an interview as her date was coming up to interview and she notified them that i had not heard and the next day i got an offer...I applied to 70 programs and she applied to 50....I went on 17 interviews (This was basically the max I could schedule. I did recieve other offers but had to decline due to conflicts or due to her veto...i think i ended up turning down 3 interviews I would have definately gone on had I not been couples matching...) and she went on 24. Overall it was very expensive and caused some anxious moments but it did work out...Throughout the process I felt like I was the rate limiting factor with ortho being as competitive as it is and we were very nervous before opening our envelopes thurs because we had no idea what the effect of the couples match would be. Ultimately I don't think it really mattered although maybe she did help me as the chairman did e-mail her after her interview to say that he would talk to ortho about me...We will be together at the University of Washington and I can't tell you how awesome that felt...we each got into what we felt were ideal programs for us and we get to be together...we can definately tell you that it was well worth the extra travel, aways, etc that we did. I wish you the best of luck...and if you have any other questions i'd love to help...
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IMnailer and NittanyLionsNo. 1,

Congrats on your successful couples match. Your experiences with applying, interviews, and matching are what me and my s.o. plan to go through this coming year. Did you plan to do aways at the same institutions or just in the same area? Right now, me and the woman are planning on doing aways in the same cities, but not at the same schools. Do you guys think there is still an advantage to couples matching, esp. in terms of getting extra interviews, when none of your aways are in the same hospital. Any thoughts would be appreciated. :smokin:

Bonesaw,
That's a tough question. In my opinion, your s.o. probably won't get you interviews you didn't already deserve. I wouldn't expect a program from another hospital to call an ortho department to get you an interview-I'd imagine for this communication to occur they would have to be affiliated with the same institution. So maybe from this respect it would benefit you to rotate at the same institution. I don't know for sure because this is not what I did. I did one away rotation, my s.o. did none. Couples matching etc... played no role in deciding where I did my away. In fact, I did not match at that institution. Choice of away rotation, or lack there of, did not seem to hold us away from any interviews. I think she was only asked once in 19 interviews as to if she did an away rotation. The best thing is to have a s.o. that is competitive for her respective field, if a program wants her then they are more apt to go out on a limb to get her--if that means contacting ortho. Keep in mind though, with ortho as competitive as it is, my feeling was that it was usually ortho that called the shots and not the other way around. Meaning that if they really liked your s.o. in the Peds dept. for instance, Peds may have little influence when calling ortho because there is no shortage of qualified candidates. But if ortho called the Peds dept., they may be alot more receptive to the call. Just a thought/opinion. If you and your s.o. are dead set on being in a particular city, you may want to at least rotate at the same institution to strengthen your case for a successful couples match. From an ortho standpoint, I would really focus on programs for aways that are almost exclusive to rotators as to not limit your options in that city (ex. city like chicago). I feel like I've rambled a little, and not quite sure if this answered your question or not. Hope this helps.
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I again agree with everything IMnailer said...We did do two aways. In sept I did one at tufts while she did one at Brigham and Womens and in oct I did one at Rush while she rotated at northwestern...It worked out well because we got to be in the same cities at the same times and shared expenses. I know it did not help me get an interview at NW even though they really liked her "basically they said you should come here and if you boyfriend doesn't get an interview I'm sure we can find you another guy" exact quote... Both rotations were great experiences although we ultimately did not match those pairs as high as we originally thought we would have...I don't really think you should think about aways as a couple any differently than you would if you were applying singly...go to the places you think you are most interested in and find more out about them...programs look very much the same in a quick once over but you really find out they are very different when you work there for a month.
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I was wondering if the couples match puts both at the same hospital, or just the same metro area. I've heard conflicting stories. :pimp:

It can put you in both. It just depends on how you make your list. It could put you two hours away from one another if you wanted to, but then that kinda defeats the purpose.

I was also successful in the couples match this year with my girl going into ob/gyn. IMnailer and Nittnay have given great advice and there is not too much to add.

My s.o. was a very strong applicant and her application played a role in two of my interview offers.

We will be at brown next year... we both did one away rotation at brown. This is a strong Ob/gyn program and i believe that our rotations helped.

However, i agree that the couples match should not play a role in choosing specific programs for away rotations. Choose a city or two cities and then look for a program that you would like. Although it could help if you both did an away at the same institution, don't make it a pre-req.

That is all i can think of now...oh yea... TALK TO EACH OTHER THE WHOLE TIME! DON'T HIDE WHAT YOU THINK DURING ROTATIONS, INTERVIEWS, ETC. THIS WILL MAKE FOR A LESS STRESSFUL ROL PROCESS!

It was one of the best moments of my life when i saw that i got my top choice in ortho and then looking at my girl, seeing how happy she was that that she got hers! (touching, ain't it?)

good luck!
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Nittnaylions,

I'm thinking about going to TUfts and Rush for aways also. What did you think about these programs and what was their attitude about your couples matching?
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BoneSaw...both were good experiences however I ended up ranking six or seven programs higher after I went on the interviews, both places do have research opportunities but they were not on the same level as a few other programs and I may want to pursue academics and I didn't want to close any doors....Both were very receptive to the couples match thing and wanted to know my SO's name and dept etc...however in both cases my SO did not rank either of the programs but did rank NW and Brigham....If your SO did want to go to rush or tufts I got the feeling that they would communicate with the other program....as far as rotatoins go they were both pretty slack compared to what i had heard from other rotators (had a few weekends off at both places...4 calls at rush...no night call at tufts you only stay in the ER till it is really slow usually till 11-12am and this is only 4 times)...at tufts you rotate with one attending (mine was awesome) so you could have a very different experience as I felt all the attendings had different personalities...you meet most of the residents that are rotating at the main hospital but some are away so you do not meet them all...I never met the program director and his secretary said that he did not set up appts for student rotators however the attending I worked with said that that didn't really matter as the attendings students are paired with are on the admissions committee...As far as rush goes, you rotate on a service with a few different attendings..joints is extremely busy but the others are not as much so...there will be more rotators here with you, generally I found that you meet mainly only the attendings on your service who may or may not be on the admissions committee...but ultimately this doesn't make a difference as all rotators (15 this year) interview on the same day and at the interview I definately had the impression that the committee looked favorably on rotators unless they heard negatives from residents...Rotating is definately not a requirement for an interview at rush...there were three days and only one was for rotators...however it seemed that all but about 3 or 4 of the residents had rotated. The residents at rush are awesome and it was a fun month...its a very stereotypical dude program and is a really good group. If you have other specific questions let me know. Good luck...picking aways is important as overall I got the feeling that if you do an away at a program that you really like and aren't a tool and end up ranking it number one your chance of going there is definately increased, especially at these particular schools...I think this really helps out in the couples match...unfortunately in the end I didn't think the programs were as great a fit for what I was looking for so I ranked some others higher and did wish when I filled out my rank list that I did one of my rotations at one of the programs I ranked higher to help increase my chances...in the end though I got what i wanted so it all worked out anyway....If you have more specific questions just ask here or pm me...

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Rads-Ortho couples match at U Penn

Be honest to yourselves about the competitiveness of each of you for your selected fields.

Two major strategies we considered:
1. Target a few "favorite" cities and apply to many in each (ie we must stay in nyc or philly and apply to 5 prgms ea)
2. Target "favorite" programs in a variety of cities (ie our top 5 programs are...and they're in 5 different cities)
We used a combo but decided mostly on #2

Make independent lists after interviewing and then negotiate/combine lists BUT if you hate or love a program make it known early so your sig other can act appropriately

If your other gets an interview and you haven't yet, email your program using your other as a reason for wanting to interview. We even got some REJECTIONS REVERSED in a few cases after such emails.

Be well informed, more so than single applicants; couples always have better match overall than non-couples because of this.

FunnyBones
U Penn Ortho Resident to be