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Last updated: 8/21/2026 · Written by the MatchPal Advising Team Quick answer: The NRMP Couples Match lets two applicants link their rank order lists so the algorithm only matches them to pairs of programs they both accept. It costs more (the standard $85 registration plus a $45 couples fee per person, plus higher application volume […]

Last updated: 8/16/26 · Written by the MatchPal Advising Team The residency application isn’t won in September. It’s won in the quiet months before, when the applicants who match are already lined up while everyone else is still gathering letters. Here’s the full ERAS 2027 timeline, plus the three key deadlines that actually decide your

Last updated: August 2026 · Written by the MatchPal Advising Team (80+ resident physicians actively in training) Quick answer: Treat your signals as your real application and everything else as a lottery ticket. Distribute them roughly 25% reach, 50% target, 25% safety based on your objective competitiveness, not your hopes. In most specialties you should

Last updated: August 2026 · Written by the MatchPal Tutoring Team & reviewed by Ian Rumball, MD. Since Step 1 went pass/fail, one number carries more weight in your application than it ever has: your Step 2 CK (and, for DO applicants, your COMLEX Level 2-CE). It’s the first standardized filter most programs apply, the

Last updated: July 29, 2026 · Written by the MatchPal Advising Team & reviewed by Daniel Veyg, DO Every year the headline number gets passed around: DO seniors match their preferred specialty less often than MD seniors.  It is true, but it is also the least useful way to read the data. Because when you

Last updated: July 2026 · Written by the MatchPal Advising Team & reviewed by Ian Rumball, MD  It’s almost August. Your personal statement is (hopefully) in revision, your program list is taking shape, and there’s one part of your application you cannot write, edit, or control directly: your letters. That lack of control makes students

Last updated: July 2026  The section everyone writes last and programs read first. While you’ve been agonizing over your personal statement, don’t sleep on the ERAS app itself. Your ERAS experiences section is the document programs use to decide whether your application is worth digging deeper into. It’s essentially the highlight reel of your CV,

It’s July, which means ERAS is officially open and at some point, you are probably going to stare at your program list, watch the application fees multiply, and wonder if you’ve cast a wide enough net. For years, the standard advice from well-meaning attendings was to “just apply to 80 residency programs to be safe.”

Your away rotation is a four-week interview that decides your career. And yet, most medical schools spend zero time teaching you how to actually perform on one. The data is consistent across specialties:  roughly 50% of matched applicants match at a program where they rotated. Your away rotation isn’t just one part of your application