The ERAS is administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). You must receive your ERAS token from your Designated Dean’s Office to register. Residency programs use the ERAS to screen applicants and invite the most fitting candidates to interview.
There are many components of your ERAS application, such as Letters of Recommendation, Personal Statement, Experiences, MSPE, and CV. We’ll cover it all below — what they are, and how to fill out each section to boost your chances of landing an interview.
Every other year, the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) surveys residency program directors across the nation to find out what factors of the ERAS application are weighted most heavily when considering. The most recent survey was conducted in 2024 and is available here. I used these survey results in the below tips on certain sections and encourage you to read the original results, too!
This simple ERAS section asks you to provide the following information:
Note on the Couples Match: There are benefits and drawbacks to couples matching. If you and your partner are both good matches for the residency program or different programs in the same area, it may bolster your chances. However, if one partner is not the match they’re looking for, it may drag the other’s chances down.
I wrote a guide outlining the Couples Match with several example scenarios to help you make the best decision for your situation.
Read More: Most Important Factors in Residency Matching
This section asks for more basic personal information, including Geographic Preferences information, which program directors report to be an important factor for Match outcomes.
According to the AAMC’s most recent Program Director Survey, 93% of program directors screen applicants using Geographic Preferences prior to holistic review, and 84% of program directors consider this as “important.”
Biographical information requires you to report the following details:
You can select up to three U.S. Census divisions and indicate your preference or lack of preference for each (Geographic Preferences). You can also choose to share your preferences or lack thereof for urban, suburban, and rural settings (Setting Preferences).
You may select “I do not have a division preference,” but you should only do so if that is your truthful response. Sharing your Geographic Preferences can be strategic; according to the AAMC, you are actually more likely to get an interview if your Geographic Preference matches the program location than if you marked no preference.
The ERAS Experience Section may be the most crucial section for showing your best self, besides the personal statement and letters of recommendation. Here, you will list 10 selected experiences and describe three ‘most meaningful experiences.’
You will choose a category that best describes the experience, from these categories:
Then you have 750 characters to describe how this experience was meaningful to you as a future physician. For your most meaningful experiences, you have an additional 300 characters for your description.
The Experience section also includes the Impactful Experiences question. According to the AAMC, this question is designed to give applicants who have “overcome major challenges and obstacles” the opportunity to share this information with program directors.
The Impactful Experiences question is optional, and in 2023, only 56% of residency applicants responded to it. According to the AAMC, appropriate topics include, but are limited to, family background, financial challenges, and unique community settings or educational experiences.
Applicants have 750 characters to describe their Impactful Experiences, or they can leave the question blank.
Learn More In-Depth: Master the ERAS Experiences Section
You are required to write a personal statement, much like you did when applying to medical school.
There are differences and similarities between your AMCAS and ERAS personal statements. While there are no hard and fast “rules” for your personal statement, you generally want to demonstrate the following:
Proofread your statement thoroughly. Also, be sure to take advantage of the resources around you. Many medical schools have services to support applicants in writing their personal statements. See if your school offers appointments for a professional review of your application materials.
If you’re applying to a highly competitive specialty or if you have red flags or obstacles that could hinder your Match chances, consider getting professional consulting support with your personal statement and application.
Read More In-Depth: Writing the Perfect Residency Personal Statement
This is a new section in the MyERAS application as of 2026. Residents applying to certain specialties will need to answer specialty-specific questions before sending applications to programs in these specialties:
Questions must be answered during the ERAS season or the 2026 Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) for last-minute program matching. Check out the specialty questions here.
This section is a pilot program that ERAS will expand to other specialties in future years if it is deemed helpful to the residency application process.
The Education section on your ERAS application allows you to list institutions where you’ve received education, training, professional memberships, and notable achievements. The subsections of this Education section are:
As you can see, you can also list any interruptions or extensions that you’ve had in your medical education due to having to repeat coursework or being professionally sanctioned. In this application cycle, they’ve added clarifying language to this section.
Starting in the 2025-2026 cycle, you can add postgraduate training experience outside ACGME-accredited programs, as long as you list the accrediting body.
In this section, you will enter each publication you collaborated on under the proper publication type. The types are as follows:
Because publications follow AMA format, they’re ordered by type of publication according to the order above and then by the author’s last name in ascending alphabetical order.
You must obtain high-quality, honest letters of recommendation written on your behalf (not by you). In general, most residency programs want letter writers to be clinical faculty familiar with your work. Review the websites of residencies you’re applying to well in advance to see if they have any specific requirements for ERAS LORs.
You can upload as many LORs as you want, but you can only send a maximum of four LORs to any given program. Yes, you can send different LORs to different programs you’re applying to.
You can be strategic about sending different letters here or there, but we also recommend you waive your right to read the LORs. This is typically perceived as more professional, so you won’t know what’s in the LORs that you’re sending, allowing letter writers to be as candid as they wish. (Choose your letter writers well.)
Learn More: Should I Send a Letter of Intent?
Give your letter writers sufficient notice of any requirements and deadlines. They need to directly submit the letters to ERAS, so they may need brief instructions.
Most specialties expect you to submit 1-2 letters from a doctor in that specific field. The other letters can come from different departments. Here are some take-home points concerning LORs:
The Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE), or the Dean’s Letter, is not a letter of recommendation. It’s a summary of your time in medical school. Your Dean’s Office is responsible for preparing your MSPE and uploading it into ERAS.
However, you will likely have to submit a CV and info form to your Dean’s Office to help them prepare your MSPE. Be on the lookout for MSPE-related instructions from your school in the spring of your fourth year.
To provide a broader view of your medical school performance, the MSPE includes the following information about you:
Your Dean’s Office is responsible for uploading your med school transcript when it is available. It should be done without you having to manually upload anything.
By the time you’re filling out your residency application, there’s not much you can do about your transcripts. However, if you’re reading this early, remember that your grades and clerkship scores are a major part of how residency programs evaluate your eligibility.
Program signals (AKA preference signals) allow you to show interest in specific residency programs as you’re filling out the ERAS. By signaling a program, you can increase your chances of landing an interview or gaining admission.
Signals are received at the institutional level by specialty. This means you cannot signal a specific program track while excluding other program tracks in the same specialty at the same institution.
It’s important to keep in mind that programs only see that you signaled them; they don’t see where else you sent signals or where you didn’t.
For some specialties, a tiered-signaling system is used. Rather than the standard program signal (just “yes”), tiered program signals give you the option to choose between “Gold” (“most preferred”) and “Silver” (“preferred”).
The number of signals you can send to programs depends on the specialty or number of specialties you are applying to. Here’s a list of how many signals you can send to programs in the 2025 ERAS application cycle. (It includes the number of Gold and Silver signals you can send, too.)
Recent data shows program signals not only matter but also help increase the chances of getting an interview and being selected. In recent cycles:
“Interview invitation rates are higher for applicants who signaled… Interview invitation rates are higher for applicants who sent a Gold than a Silver signal… Interview invitation rates for applicants who did not signal are near zero.” – AAMC, 2025 ERAS Analysis
Ultimately, program signals are now among the most powerful tools for applicants during ERAS. It’s in your best interest to use each signal available to you strategically and to prioritize the programs you’re serious about.
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) needs to include a Status Report for international medical graduates (IMGs) to apply for residency in the U.S. The ECFMG should automatically upload the report to ERAS.
This report confirms an applicant’s ECFMG certification status and includes details about their exams and international medical school education. In addition to establishing that your medical education qualifies you for a U.S. residency, the status report is also used to confirm your English proficiency (tailored specifically for physician communication).
The ECFMG report does not include USMLE scores from NBME/FSMB, though it does include confirmation that you have passed Step 1 and Step 2 CK.
An optional headshot can be uploaded to ERAS. It is recommended that you include a professional photo of yourself smiling to help make your application more memorable and humanize it with a real person’s face.
The photo file must meet the following requirements:
Pro tip: Use CloudConvert to compress your image file if it’s too large. 150 KB doesn’t give you much room to work with. It’s fast and free; you don’t have to sign up.
International medical graduates (IMGs) cannot upload their own photos. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is responsible for uploading the IMG’s photo into the ERAS system.
Once you take a licensure test (USMLE for MD, COMLEX for DO) and scores are released, Step/Level scores are automatically available through the ERAS system.
However, you do have to authorize the release of your USMLE and/or COMLEX transcript and assign it to your designated programs on the “Additional Documents” page. This ensures that the programs you apply to receive your scores.
Your COMLEX Level 2 or USMLE Step 2 scores tell residency directors your likelihood of passing Level 3 or Step 3 exams and any specialty-specific board exams.
Step 1 is now pass/fail, which means that Step 2 CK is the only numerical score that residencies can use to evaluate your application (for MD grads).
Note that the Step 2 CS (Clinical Skills) test was permanently discontinued in 2021.
Your residency application auto-populates into a readable format on the CV section. This format is likely how residency programs will read your application, so review it to ensure everything that auto-populates comes across how you wanted it to.
Here are the most important dates for the residency ERAS timeline:
Read for More In-Depth Information: ERAS Residency Application Timeline
It is your responsibility to ensure residency programs are correctly listed on your ERAS application. You need to authorize each program to receive your application, test scores, and more.
Stay up to date with your MyERAS Message Center. Program directors may contact you via the ERAS program, email, phone, or snail mail. Keep track of interview invites with a detailed spreadsheet.
Read Next: What’s the Average Number of Residency Applications I Should Send?
ERAS is the AAMC-run service you use to apply to residencies. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) runs the algorithm to match applicants (who have interviewed) with their preferred residency programs.
You typically apply to residencies through ERAS at the end of your third year of med school.
You rank programs through NRMP. You list residencies (where you interviewed) in order of how much you want to accept a residency position there. Residencies also send their ranking of interviewed students to NRMP. The NRMP uses an algorithm to match applicants to programs during NRMP Match Week.
Read More In-Depth: The Residency Match Process & NRMP
There are many ways to research ERAS fellowships and residencies that you may want to apply to. You can use the AAMC Residency Explorer tool to uncover unique insights about thousands of programs across more than 40 specialties.
I have found AMA-FREIDA helpful to both residency and fellowship applicants. The American Medical Association Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database Access System (AMA-FREIDA) is a database of all AMA residencies.
The residency application process can take as long as a year, and reading this guide has already improved your chances of success. Start filling out your application as soon as ERAS is available, typically in June. Submissions are typically allowed in September.
Although it may be statistically harder to get into residencies than in past years, increasing your odds of getting accepted is simple. Just ask for professional help with your ERAS application and interview.
This article contains general tips, but there are several exceptions I couldn’t cover. Maybe you’re applying to an extremely competitive specialty that requires away rotations, intensive research, and a specific application strategy, or perhaps you’re an IMG hoping to match into a U.S. residency.
Here’s what one client, Heather, had to say about our services:
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Lucky for me, I still had my amazing MedSchoolCoach team on my side. Dr. Ruby was so professional, always prompt for meetings. He helped me go through my long list of programs that I planned to apply to and helped me decide on the final list to submit to ERAS… After interviews, Dr. Ruby was very influential in guiding me through my rankings and really helped me navigate the process seamlessly.
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