Dear Applicant

Your next step in medicine, decoded. Deadlines, data, and strategy for premeds, med students, residents, nurses, PAs, CRNAs, and everyone climbing the clinical ladder.

Featured

The interview tracker: five columns that beat panic

Aug 26, 2026

The exact spreadsheet system for interview season, free to download.

Match 2027: every date that matters

Aug 26, 2026

The verified 2026-2027 residency application calendar. Bookmark it. Every date is checked against a primary source.

SOAP, explained before you need it

Aug 26, 2026

Most people learn how SOAP works in the worst possible week. Read this in the fall instead.

Latest

CRNA school requirements: what the accreditor actually requires

Sep 19, 2026

The three things every accredited nurse anesthesia program must require, what "critical care" means on paper, and where the rest of the list comes from.

What is the difference between AACOMAS and AMCAS?

Sep 9, 2026

AMCAS counts math inside its science GPA and AACOMAS files it under non-science, and both services count every attempt of a repeated course.

How does the Match algorithm actually work?

Sep 9, 2026

NRMP's algorithm is applicant proposing: your rank order list, not the program's, initiates placement, and no match is final until every applicant's list has been considered.

How much does it cost to apply to medical school?

Sep 9, 2026

AMCAS charges $180 for the first school and $48 for each one after, and the AAMC waiver that covers up to 20 schools only counts if it was approved before you submitted.

How much does it cost to apply to residency?

Sep 9, 2026

ERAS charges $11 per program for the first 30 in a specialty and $30 for every one after, and the count resets with each new specialty.

What is ECFMG certification and what are the steps?

Sep 9, 2026

ECFMG says you do not need to be certified to participate in the Match, but you must hold a valid, unexpired certificate to enter an ACGME program, and a 2027 Pathways certificate expires December 31, 2029.

Ten minutes on Tuesday

Sep 9, 2026

NRMP registration opens September 15 at noon Eastern. Here is the whole week in one plan.

CASPA: "complete" is not "verified," and the gap is up to ten business days

Sep 6, 2026

The status ladder in plain English, what actually makes an application complete, and how to count backwards from your program's deadline.

ERAS and NRMP are two different systems. Here is what each one actually does.

Sep 6, 2026

One carries your application. The other decides where you end up. Registration for the second opens September 15, and it is a separate thing you have to go do.

How many letters of recommendation do you need for residency?

Sep 2, 2026

Four per program, and the assignment is the part you cannot take back.

How many letters of recommendation do you need for medical school?

Sep 2, 2026

AMCAS accepts up to ten, one of those ten can quietly contain six, and none of them are holding up your application.

ERAS is open. Here is the whole play.

Sep 2, 2026

September 2 to September 23 is a gift. Most people waste it racing.