Application Service Overview
The ORMatch Application Service is an online tool that allows applicants to send applications to residencies, and allows residencies to organize and evaluate applications submitted by applicants.
Prior to the March 5, 2024, residencies must accept and consider only applications submitted by applicants through the ORMatch Application Service. After the release of the Match results, residencies may accept applications submitted from other sources, such as directly from applicants.
All core materials required for residency applications are included in the ORMatch application.
The Application Service also has a number of tools that you can use to help organize and manage your applications.
-
View Tools Available to Program Coordinators
- View interested applicants and access their contact information before they submit all of their application information
- Search and filter applications across a wide set of criteria
- Create customized scoring schemes to rate your applications
- Add notes and comments about each application
- Define and assign tags to help categorize applications according to criteria important to your site
- Assign applicants to one of five statuses to indicate their progress in your review process
- Export applicant information into Excel format
The ORMatch Application Service will open for applicants to submit applications to residencies beginning on October 4, 2023. Only applicants who register for ORMatch can apply to and match to programs that participate in ORMatch. You should instruct any applicants interested in obtaining a position at your residency to register for ORMatch.
You must provide applicants with your institution and program's policies related to eligibility requirements for appointment, including vaccination requirements.
Deadlines
Each residency is free to set its own deadline date. However, it is recommended that you set your application deadline no later than January 31, 2024. NMS will only be able to obtain and provide you with verified NBEO Score information for applications submitted by January 31, 2024. Any applicant who submits an application to your residency after January 31 will have to provide you with their verified NBEO Score Data directly.
Please ensure that your residency website and/or ASCO Residency Directory listing are updated with information about your residency's application deadline, process, and requirements.
All application requirements, including interviews, must be completed early enough so that your Rank Order List(s) for ORMatch can be submitted no later than the February 27, 2024 deadline.
Application Contents
The standard ORMatch application submitted by applicants includes the components listed below. All of the information submitted by an applicant to your residency will be combined into one downloadable PDF file.
-
Applicant Information
The Applicant Information page includes contact, demographic, and educational information about each applicant. The Applicant Information page includes:
- Applicant's name
- Mailing Address
- Email address
- Primary and alternate phone numbers
- ORMatch Code Number
- Date of birth
- Gender
- US citizenship status
- OE TRACKER Number
- Optometry School
- Optometry Grade Point Average (GPA)
- Undergraduate Major
- Year of Graduation from Optometry School
- NBEO scores for the Part I, Part II, Part III, Injections Skill (ISE), and Treatment and Management of Ocular Disease (TMOD) examinations, as reported by the applicant
Some applicants may not have NBEO Part II, Part III, ISE or TMOD scores at the time of submitting the application. In February, ORMatch will send your residency a file with verified Score Report Data from the NBEO for each application received up to January 31, 2024. If your residency is matched to an applicant, ORMatch will send your residency updated NBEO Score Report Data for the matched applicant(s) in June.
You may request that applicants who are granted an interview or are matched to your program provide an official NBEO Score Report directly to your program for verification purposes.
-
Letter of Intent
Each application will include a Letter of Intent uploaded by the applicant. The Letter of Intent can be customized for your residency if the applicant chooses to do so.
-
CV
Each application will include a CV/Resume uploaded by the applicant. The CV can be customized for your residency if the applicant chooses to do so.
-
OD Transcript (Unofficial)
Each application will include an uploaded copy of the applicant's OD transcript. The transcript will be unofficial because it is uploaded to the system by the applicant, and it is not sent directly to your residency from the registrar's office.
You may request that applicants who are granted an interview or are matched to your residency provide an official OD Transcript directly from their school's registrar's office for verification purposes.
-
Letters of Reference
In order to submit an application, the applicant must identify three (3) individuals who will provide reference letters for the application. The applicant may select different reference writers for different residencies, and reference writers may submit customized reference letters to each residency if they wish to do so.
The reference writers are notified by ORMatch of the request for a reference letter, and instructed to upload the reference letter for the applicant as a PDF document. Applicants cannot see the contents of the reference letters, but they are able to monitor the completion of the reference requests.
Applicants are allowed to submit applications to residencies before their chosen reference writers have uploaded their letters. When a reference letter is uploaded for one of your applications, you will be notified by email, and the application that you subsequently download from the NMS Match System will include the newly provided reference letter.
-
Supplemental Material
If your residency has other information that it would like included as part of its application, you can request that applicants attach this information to their application as Supplemental Material.
Applicants can attach one Supplemental Material PDF document to each application. This document can be updated after the submission of an application; you will receive an email notification from ORMatch if a Supplemental Material document attached to any of your applications has been updated.
If your residency offers multiple programs in ORMatch, the applicant will be able to indicate on the application which program(s) they are interested in.
Access Applications
The ORMatch Application Service will open on October 4, 2023.
Applications are accessible online via the NMS Match System. Only residencies that are registered for ORMatch can receive applications from the ORMatch Application Service.
The list of applications to your residency will be updated in real-time as applicants select your residency. You will be notified by email when new applications are received.
Directors of Residencies at each school and college of optometry will also have access to the applications submitted to each of their affiliated residency programs that participate in ORMatch.
Application Service User Guide
View instructions for accessing and managing applications in the NMS Match System.
Interviews
In order to submit your Rank Order List(s) by the deadline (February 27, 2024), all your applicant interviews should be completed before that deadline date. You are reminded that, according to the ORMatch Rules you may not make an offer of appointment to, or require a commitment from, any applicant prior to the release of the ORMatch results.
A program may voluntarily inform an applicant that it intends to rank the applicant. Similarly, an applicant may voluntarily inform a program that they intend to rank the program. However, neither the program nor the applicant may ask or prompt the other side for this information.
Furthermore, neither programs nor applicants may solicit or disclose information about rank positioning. For example, it is prohibited to make statements like "I will rank you first" or "You are at the top of my list".
List of Registered Applicants
Residencies participating in ORMatch have access to a List of Registered Applicants in the NMS Match System. The list shows the name and unique Code Number assigned to all applicants who are registered to participate in ORMatch.
Only applicants who are registered to participate in ORMatch can be included on a program Rank Order List. Check that each applicant you intend to rank is included in the List of Registered Applicants. If you wish to rank an applicant who does not appear in the List, contact the applicant and encourage them to register for ORMatch as soon as possible.
The List of Registered Applicants will be available by January 5, 2024.
