Notifying Programs of Your Intentions?

Hello Dr. Levine,
I have recently interviewed at a program that truly surprised me and I am genuinely interested in ranking them #1 on my list with fair certainty that no program will be a better fit for both myself and the program.
While communicating with the Sr. residents at this program they said that it is worth it to let the PD and Chair know that I am truly interested via mail or a phone call, but is it within match guidelines to state bluntly that I intend on ranking them #1?

Thanks for your time!

1. Programs can let you know whether or not you are ranked to match (this is the exception rather than the rule)

2. You are definitely allowed to let a program know that you will rank them number 1. Some places it won't matter, but at some it will.

3. Programs may not do anything like: ask you how you will rank them, ask you who your number 1 is, tell you that if you rank them highly then they will return the favor, and so on.

The theme here is that the ball is in the applicant's court.

"I have recently interviewed at a program that truly surprised me and I am genuinely interested in ranking them #1 on my list with fair certainty that no program will be a better fit for both myself and the program.
While communicating with the Sr. residents at this program they said that it is worth it to let the PD and Chair know that I am truly interested via mail or a phone call, but is it within match guidelines to state bluntly that I intend on ranking them #1?"

Please, under no circumstances should you send this until you are done with all of your interviews. There is nothing worse than having a student send one of those emails only to later change their mind and rank another program #1. Despite you all having to do whatever possible to protect yourself you can only make the "you're #1" comment one time!

Good luck --

wnl

"I have recently interviewed at a program that truly surprised me and I am genuinely interested in ranking them #1 on my list with fair certainty that no program will be a better fit for both myself and the program.
While communicating with the Sr. residents at this program they said that it is worth it to let the PD and Chair know that I am truly interested via mail or a phone call, but is it within match guidelines to state bluntly that I intend on ranking them #1?"

Please, under no circumstances should you send this until you are done with all of your interviews. There is nothing worse than having a student send one of those emails only to later change their mind and rank another program #1. Despite you all having to do whatever possible to protect yourself you can only make the "you're #1" comment one time!

Good luck --

wnl

Dr. Levine,
On the flip side, in your experience, does this "you are my #1 choice" influence programs decision to rank you higher, say between 1-5 if that program take five residents, if they would otherwise had ranked you at a higher number (say number or not at all?
Sorry for so many words.

Really depends on the program. Many programs, like ours, create the match list on the interview day so all of the "you're #1" is really moot at that point. For those programs that do change lists, etc... I guess it is possible that this type of information may influence their decision-making. Remember, though, that you should never feel compelled to dispense this information and only send it if you're absolutely convinced it's #1 and not until you're done with all your interviews.

Good luck --

wnl