Best Foreign Medical Schools

All rank order lists (ROL) for the Match are submitted to the NRMP electronically via the NRMP Registration, Ranking, and Results (R3) System. Applicants must certify their ROLs when they are complete to indicate the ROL is ready to be used in the Match.

Using their rank order lists, applicants indicate their preferences from among the programs to which they have applied and wish to attend. The final preferences of program directors and applicants, as reflected on the rank order lists, will determine which positions are offered to which applicants and where the applicants subsequently are matched.

Applicants submit a primary rank order list, which may include preliminary or transitional, categorical, and advanced programs. The programs on the primary rank order list are the driving forces behind the operation of the computer algorithm. Applicants submit supplemental rank order list(s) only if they have ranked advanced (PGY-2) positions on their primary rank order lists and wish, in addition, to secure a first-year (PGY-1) position. It is possible for an applicant to match to an advanced position, but not to a PGY-1 program on the corresponding supplemental list. In that case, the applicant still is committed to the advanced position and must seek a first-year position after the Match.

Applicants are encouraged to complete a worksheet (PDF, 1 page) of their choices before entering ranks in the R3 System.

Applicants should list programs in their actual order of preference, beginning with rank #1 for the most preferred program. Their choices should not be influenced by speculation about whether a particular program will rank them high, low, or not at all. The position of a program on an applicant’s rank order list will not affect the applicant’s position on a program’s rank order list.

Applicants must not rank any programs they are unwilling to attend. The Match Participation Agreement signed during registration states that applicants and programs are bound by the Match results. Programs are committed to offer an official appointment to each matched applicant who has met their prerequisites and institutional employment conditions, and applicants are committed to enter the positions to which they have matched.

Certifying the rank order list is the final step in the ranking process. By certifying their lists, applicants indicate that the list is complete and represents the final data that should be used in the matching process. Only certified lists are used in the Match. When applicants have finished entering their lists, they must certify them by clicking the Certify List button located on the My Rank Order List screen and then entering their NRMP password to confirm it.

Changes still can be made to the rank order list after it has been certified. However, once the list has been changed, the new version must be certified in order to be used in the Match. Changes include adding a program to the list, deleting a program from the list, and changing the order of the programs.

Please note: The R3 System does not retain previous versions of rank order lists regardless of whether those lists were certified. The list currently displayed on the screen upon logging in is the only version on file with the NRMP. After the rank order list deadline, the NRMP will not add, delete, or reorder programs or in any way modify a rank order list.