Ranking question

In essence no, bottom line, maybe.

Programs will not receive any list of people and how there rank lists ended up but....If they put you in their top slots (for instance top 4 if they have 4 slots to fill) and you don't end up there, they know you didn't put them No. 1 and ranked elsewhere. Also, if they ranked you #8 put happen to fill their 4th spot with their 10th ranked candidate and didn't get you then you obviously ranked someplace else above them. So programs will not know how you ranked them, could of been #2 or #20, they'll just know if you ranked another program ahead of them and matched there if they wanted you but didn't get you. Hope this helps.
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I don't know if you're referring to pre-match or not. But programs have no way of knowing where you rank them BEFORE the match. In fact, programs put their rank lists in 1 month (usually sooner) than your rank list is due. In fact, late february/early march is the time when you may get contacted by program directors/chairs via mail or phone. For instance, I got a call from a particular program chair at the end of February basically saying that "our rank list has been submitted, and we ranked you in a favorable position." So don't worry about programs finding out where you ranked them, UNLESS you tell someone on the trail that you're gonna rank them No. 1, they in turn rank you at the top and you end up going somewhere else. Then you could be in trouble. The world of ortho is a very small world.

Thank you both for your information!
I have heard that sometimes people get contacted by a program before the match, and are told that they were ranked favorably, and yet when the match came out, they did not get into that program after all. (Wondering if that's true...)
Also, if you think you want to go to a particular program and have voiced that on the trail, but after the rotation/interview process you change your idea of your No. 1 choice(s) -- I guess that is not looked upon well at all by the programs that think you are interested in them?

I think you best bet is to avoid telling a program that they are your No. 1 choice unless you are 100% sure. Using the same like programs use...I will rank you highly, or in my top 3, or something to that effect is probably a safer way to go.