Able, Baker, and Charles

Learn about the internship match, and come to a greater appreciation of the uncertainty involved as I contemplate my future. The match example below comes from the National Matching Services, Inc. website.

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An example of the matching process involving three applicants and three programs is shown below. The Rank Order Lists submitted by programs and applicants in this example are as follows:

Programs' Rank Order Lists

Program A	Program B	Program C
(2 Positions)	(1 Position)	(1 Position)
1. Charles	1. Baker	1. Baker
2. Baker	2. Charles
3. Able	3. Able

Applicants' Rank Order Lists

Able	Baker	Charles
1. Program B	1. Program A	1. Program B
2. Program A	2. Program B	2. Program A
	3. Program C

Match Process

The actual matching is done on a computer. However, the matching process itself could be completed as effectively by hand; the computer serves only to expedite the process. The computer is set up to process the lists in the following manner.

It first attempts to place Able into his first choice, Program B. Since Program B has an available position, Able is tentatively matched to Program B. Next an attempt is made to place Baker into Program A. Since Program A has an available position, Baker is tentatively matched to Program A.

The computer then attempts to place Charles into Program B. Program B's position is currently filled, but Program B prefers Charles to its current match with Able. Able is therefore removed from Program B, and Charles is tentatively matched into Program B.

Since Able has just been removed from a tentative match with Program B, an attempt is made to re-match Able. The computer first tries to place Able into Program B; however, this is unsuccessful because Program B's position is now filled with Charles, who is preferred by Program B. Next an attempt is made to place Able into his second choice, Program A. Since Program A still has an available position, Able is tentatively matched to Program A.

The matching process is now complete as each applicant's list has been processed, and each applicant is tentatively matched to the most preferred choice possible. Tentative matches now become final.

Note that in the matching process, no applicant or program can be forced into a final match until all applicant Rank Order Lists have been considered for the best possible tentative matches.

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Did you follow all that? Now think about matching 3,759 applicants to 3,016 internship slots nationwide. Those were the figures from last year - 743 more people than positions. About 80% of those applicants were matched to an internship position, and 90% of positions were filled. 279 applicants withdrew prior to the match, which means that 2,749 out of 3,492 people matched.

I'm no statistician, but without knowing how my sites ranked me, I don't really see how we can calculate my odds of matching. Anyone out there good at math?

*Note: The match is for any doctoral level students pursuing a professional psychology degree that requires internship training prior to graduation. This includes clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology and the degrees of Psy.D., Ph.D., and Ed.D.. I'm in a Psy.D. program in Clinical Psychology.