If you’re a fourth year med student gearing up for the residency match, chances are you’ve already poured tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of dollars into your education. You’ve bought expensive board prep courses, paid for travel/housing for away rotations, conference travel, exam fees, and more.
So why do so many students hesitate to invest in the one thing that can determine how the rest of their career unfolds?
The Stakes Are Higher Than You Think
Matching into residency isn’t just about checking a box. It determines your specialty, location, lifestyle, and even future income potential.
Match into the wrong program or specialty, and you could spend 3 to 7 years in a training path (and/or location) that’s misaligned with your goals, values, or personal life.
Though not as common as a subpar match, going unmatched entirely is a catastrophic outcome that we don’t wish upon anyone. Reapplying isn’t just stressful — it’s costly (both financially and emotionally). The worst part? It’s probably an avoidable outcome for over half of the American med school grads that face those news when they open their match day email/envelope.
Let’s face it – the road to residency is nuanced, and the advising services/staff at most medical schools is lackluster at best and downright detrimental at worst, and is often what fuels subpar outcomes for students (especially those at DO or newer MD schools).
That’s where Matchpal comes in. We believe in passing on strategies that work and helping you sell the absolute best version of your narrative to programs. We also believe personalized advising shouldn’t cost a fortune — but it’s also something you can’t afford to skip, especially in an era where the match only gets more competitive every single year.
What Is Matchpal, anyway?
For the uninitiated, Matchpal is a resident-run advising and tutoring platform created to give med students the highest quality, most affordable personalized support during the residency application process.
Our team is composed solely of current residents, which means our advice is always:
✅ Up-to-date
✅ Specialty-specific
✅ Realistic and actionable
What does working with our team entail?
1-on-1 mentorship with residents in your target specialty
Application strategy tailored to your strengths and goals – including strategic signal token allocation, program list creation, and away rotation guidance
Personal statement and ERAS editing
Structured mock interviews
And most importantly? You’re not getting shuffled into a generic pipeline — you’re working directly with real people who care about your outcome and have ulterior motive or incentive other than your career success and satisfaction.
A Worthwhile Investment
In order to ensure that our advisors (who are residents with a lot on their plate) give you the personalized guidance and attention you deserve, we charge the lowest fee we possibly can to retain the highest quality people on our team.
Let’s be honest — $1,200 for an advising bundle feel’s like a lot.
But compare that to:
$500+ on board review subscriptions
Thousands in travel/lodging for away rotations
$200,000+ in med school tuition
$10,000+ in opportunity costs if you don’t match the first time and have to reapply
Suddenly, it’s not just a good investment — it’s a no-brainer.
Don’t Gamble on Your Future
We’ve helped hundreds of students craft better applications, interview more confidently, and match into their top programs & specialties over the last 4 years (with a 99.5% categorical match rate and 75% of our clients matching into their top 3 programs)
The Match is too important to go into under-prepared. Whether you need full-cycle support or just a single session to polish your statement or practice your interview skills, we’re here to help.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about working with our team below!
