Strategy

After you have evaluated all the programs to which you have applied that are participating in the Match, you must determine your order of preference for these programs. Rank your most preferred program first, your next most preferred program second, and so on.

Your Rank Order List should accurately reflect the true desirability of each program to you, regardless of how you think the programs will rank you. When deciding on your order of preference for programs, you should simply list the programs based on your true preferences, with your most preferred program as your first choice, your next most preferred program as your second choice, and so on. Applicants need not make prior commitments to programs or submit to inappropriate pressures in constructing their Rank Order Lists (e.g., "I'll rank you high only if you rank me high"). Because of the way the matching process works, your best strategy is to rank your choices in order of preference, without consideration for how you expect to be ranked by any program.

You may rank as many programs as you wish. There are generally more applicants than there are positions available, therefore there is strong competition for most positions. By submitting a longer list of programs you may reduce the likelihood of being left unmatched; therefore, you should rank all programs participating in the Match to which you have applied and with which you are prepared to accept a position. Regardless of the number of programs you rank, you will be matched to the most preferred program on your list that ranks you and does not fill all its positions with applicants it prefers.

Do not rank any program that you consider unacceptable (i.e. you would not want to be matched to the program, even if it was the only position available to you in the Match). As noted in the Applicant Agreement and in the APPCN Match Policies, the results of the Match are binding. If you are matched to a program you have ranked on your list, you must accept your Match result. If you do not accept your Match result, the APPCN Board of Directors will review the situation and may impose penalties on you as outlined in the Applicant Agreement.

Applicants Applying to Non-Participating Programs

Some training sites that are not members of APPCN are not participating in the Match. As a result, some applicants may have applied to both participating and non-participating programs. If you are in this situation, you must decide prior to the Rank Order List deadline whether to accept a position outside of the Match or to participate in the Match. Only programs that are participating in the Match can be included on your Rank Order List.

If you accept a position at a program that is not participating in the Match, you must not submit and certify any rankings of programs for the Match, but you must withdraw yourself from the Match. If you do submit and certify any rankings of participating programs and you do not withdraw prior to the Rank Order List deadline, you must abide by the results of the Match, as described in the Applicant Agreement and in the APPCN Match Policies. If you are matched with a program in the Match, you must accept the position with which you are matched.

Program Code Numbers

For purposes of the Match, each program is assigned a unique 4-digit Code Number that must be used to identify the program on your Rank Order List. You can obtain the 4-digit Code Number for each program you wish to rank from the program itself, or from the Listing of Programs participating in the Match that is provided on this web site. This Listing will be updated when changes occur in program participation; therefore, you are encouraged to consult the Listing of Programs on this web site before finalizing your Rank Order List.

In addition, while entering your rankings into the online system, you can search for participating programs based on the location of the program.

Only programs that are participating in the Match can be included on your Rank Order List. If you wish to rank a program that does not appear in the Listing of Programs, contact the site's Program Director to determine if the program is participating in the Match, and to obtain the 4-digit Code Number for the program.

In some cases, training sites offer more than one program in the Match. In these cases, you must be sure to use the correct 4-digit Code Number(s) for the program(s) you desire when submitting your Rank Order List. If you use a Code Number representing one program at a training site but you are ranked by the site on a Rank Order List for a different program, a match will not be made. Both you and the training site must use the same 4-digit program Code Number for a match to occur. Training sites that offer more than one program are expected to ask applicants to identify the program(s) to which the applicants are applying. Therefore, if you need clarification regarding the Code Number to be used for any program, contact the site's Program Director directly. Note however that, according to APPCN Match Policies, sites may not solicit any information about applicants' rankings of their programs. Match participants may not communicate, accept or use any ranking-related information prior to the release of the Match results, and may never solicit such information even after the release of the Match results.

Since the match will be made based on the Code Numbers, make sure you use the correct 4-digit Code Number for each program you wish to rank.

Prepare a Worksheet

In order to facilitate the entry of your choices into the online system, you should prepare a worksheet of your choices before accessing the system to enter your rankings. For each program you wish to rank, the worksheet of your rankings should include the 4-digit Code Number from the Listing of Programs on this web site, as well as the training site name, city, state and program description.

If you wish to download a sample worksheet click here. The worksheet is in Portable Document Format (PDF) format. To view and print this document, you will need the Adobe® Reader®, which can be downloaded for free by clicking on the PDF icon at the beginning of this paragraph. If you are unable to download the sample worksheet, please make your own worksheet; use of the sample worksheet provided here is not necessary.

Submission of Rank Order List

All applicant Rank Order Lists and withdrawals must be submitted to NMS using the online system provided on this web site. The component of the online system that is used to submit your rankings is referred to as the Rank Order List Input and Confirmation (ROLIC) system. The ROLIC system will be available for use by Match participants to enter or change Rank Order List information as follows:

ROLIC System Opens For Use:	February 15, 2010
Rank Order List Deadline:	February 26, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST

Instructions for using the online system to submit your Rank Order List are provided elsewhere on this web site. You will note that one of the steps involves certifying the list of choices you have entered into the system, by indicating that your list is complete and then re-entering your password/PIN and clicking the Certify button. This is a critical step, as Rank Order Lists that are not certified will NOT be used in the Match.

Your Rank Order List can be entered in one or more sessions. However, you are advised to certify your list of choices at the end of each session in which you have entered or modified the rankings on your list, rather than returning at a later date to certify your list. Even if you have already certified your information, you can return to make changes any time until the Rank Order List deadline. Whenever you change your rankings, you will have to re-certify your list in order for the list to be used as your Rank Order List in the Match.

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