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FAQ for Internship Applicants Back
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Question 6. What considerations are important in developing
my Rank Order List?
IMPORTANT: There is only one correct "strategy" for developing
your Rank Order List: simply list your sites based on your true
preferences, without consideration for where you believe you might
be ranked by them. List the site that you want most as your #1
choice, followed by your next most-preferred site, and so on.
The previous paragraph is so important that we are going to repeat
it: simply list your sites based on your true preferences.
If you rank a site highly even if you believe that you have little
chance of being ranked highly by them, you do NOT reduce your
chances of being matched at other sites. Similarly, if you believe
that one of your lower-ranked sites is very interested in you
and plans to rank you highly, you may safely rank other more preferred
sites higher without jeopardizing your standing at this lower-ranked
site.
Do NOT take into consideration where you believe you are ranked
by the sites. Do NOT waste your time trying to develop "strategies"
to supposedly increase your chances of getting your highly-ranked
sites. Do NOT engage in "making deals" with sites, or other behaviors
that violate Match policies. Due to the design of the Matching
Program, any of these behaviors will ultimately hurt you because
they will reduce your chances of getting your best possible match.
The previous internship selection system used by our profession
actually encouraged and rewarded strategizing and deal-making,
resulting in tremendous stress for internship applicants. The
Matching Program eliminates many of the incentives for this kind
of behavior, and actually rewards participants for listing their
true preferences by guaranteeing them the best possible match.
EXAMPLE 1: Let's assume that you have applied to five sites,
and your true rankings are as follows:
- Wonderland VA
- Emerald City Counseling Center
- Atlantis Child Guidance
- Transylvania Medical Center
- Graceland Community Mental Health
In this example, the Wonderland VA is your top choice. Assume
that Wonderland doesn't appear to be very interested in you. Should
you move them down your list, given your assumption that they
may not rank you highly?
The answer is NO. If the Wonderland VA is truly your top choice,
the best (and only) strategy is to leave them at the top of your
list. The computer will attempt to match you to Wonderland without
penalizing you and without reducing your chances of being matched
with other sites. Changing your rankings based solely on how you
perceive a site has ranked you is a poor strategy which could
negatively affect your outcome.
EXAMPLE 2: Let's again assume that you have applied to five sites,
and that the sample Rank Order List above reflects your true preferences.
Furthermore, let's assume that the Graceland Community Mental
Health internship has expressed very strong interest in you. In
fact, they have violated the Match rules and have told you that
you will be ranked #1 on their list. However, even with their
strong interest in you, they still remain your fifth choice. Should
you move them up your Rank Order list, given their strong interest
in you?
The answer again is NO. If Graceland is truly your fifth choice,
then leave them ranked fifth. The computer will attempt to match
you to your higher-ranked choices. If it is unable to do so, and
if Graceland has truly ranked you as their #1 choice, then you
will be matched to Graceland. Thus, in this example, you have
been able to rank Graceland according to your true preferences,
without being penalized if your higher-ranked sites don't work
out for you.
Back to FAQ
6 March 2002
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