Applicants should consider ranking all programs that they are willing to attend, to reduce the likelihood of not matching at all. Applicant Chen ranks City, which she prefers, and Mercy. Standing first in her class in her junior year, she knows that she is a desirable applicant, and she has been assured by the program director at Mercy that she will be ranked first. She thinks that Mercy will in fact rank her first, and so she reasons that there is no risk of her being left unmatched, even if she does not rank additional programs. Unmatched applicants have shorter lists on the average than matched applicants.
Short lists increase the likelihood of going unmatched.
Applicant Ford would be very pleased to end up at State, where she had a very good clerkship, and feels that they will rank her high on their list. However, she does not think she has much of a chance, she in fact prefers City, General, or Mercy, so she ranks them higher and ranks State fourth. This applicant is using NRMP to maximum advantage. Applicant Hassan is equally sure he will be able to obtain a position at State, but he too, would prefer the other programs. He ranks State first because he is afraid that State might fill its positions with others if he does not place it first on his list.