Advice for PhD applicant w/ medical resident spouse?

[demondeac]

So here's the deal: I'm applying to programs in Religion, Theology, and Philosophy of Religion (so advice from any humanities peeps would be great), and my wife is also applying to Pediatrics residency programs in the same places. Unlike normal applications (where you get to choose from one or more admits, or if you want to decline at all), her residency application forces her to rank her programs, then whatever is the highest program she matches with she is contractually obligated to attend. You can imagine how this complicates an already stressful PhD application process.

Has anyone else gone through this (or something similar) and would like to offer advice? We're already trying to stack programs in the same cities (to improve odds), but other than that, I'm clueless! Thanks so much,

demondeac

[rising_star]

Stacking cities is a great idea. Maybe have her rank cities with multiple programs for you highly? Like NYC, Boston, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Louisville/Cincinnati/Lexington, Washington DC, etc.

Good luck!

[demondeac]

We've already decided to stack Chicago and Boston (maybe a little socal), since I can find 3-4 programs of interest and she has at least 4-5 in each city. Maybe the probabilities work out a little better with the "shotgun" approach?

I am also a bit unsure as to whether it it is good, bad, or neutral to actual let the programs in question know about my situation, since it means I may have to accept (if I even have an offer!) somewhere in a city that may not be my highest choice because my wife matches there. I certainly don't want to come off like I'm crying on every program's pillow (love the mental image) about how rough it all is . Any thoughts?

[pcs]

I've been through the same situation. Stacking is definitely an option, but no guarantee since the grad application process can be so seemingly random. If you manage to find out where you've been accepted before your partner goes on interviews, s/he can then hint during the interviews that s/he would be committed to ranking that program first,etc. As I understand it, it's not possible for a residency program to say yes or no during an interview, but if the applicant can make a strong case that they'd move to that location (i.e. my partner has been accepted to a phd program here) it can help. Unfortunately, most grad programs don't hand out acceptances/ rejections until after the residency match day in March, thus it is long after residency interviews take place in December/January. Another option is to try to get your applications in early in the hopes that your chosen programs don't wait until the very end to assess applicants. Unfortunately there's not really any good method to deal with the match. Make your applications as strong as possible so that you have a better chance of being accepted wherever your partner matches. Worst case scenario, apply again the following year after you know where your partner has matched.