Overview for Doctoral Programs

Overview

The APPIC Internship Matching Program (the "Match") provides an orderly process to help applicants obtain positions in psychology internship programs of their choice, and to help internship programs obtain applicants of their choice. The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) is responsible for establishing the policies of the Match and for monitoring the implementation of the Match. The APPIC Match is administered by National Matching Services Inc. (NMS) on behalf of APPIC.

Key Dates

①  Register

There is no registration process required for doctoral programs. In August, the primary contact person NMS has on file for each doctoral program receives personalized login credentials and instructions for accessing the NMS Match System.

②   Manage Your Account

After logging in to the NMS Match System, you can update your doctoral program information.

③   Monitor Students

Doctoral Programs can log in to the NMS Match System to access their List of Registered Students. This list displays students who have registered to participate in the Match and who have indicated that they are from your doctoral program. This list is updated in real time, as students register.

You must review the list to verify the eligibility of the students to participate in the APPIC Match for positions beginning in 2027. Instructions for making any required corrections to the list are provided on the Match website. The List of Registered Students should initially be reviewed by October 20, 2026, and periodically thereafter as additional students register.

Students who try to register for the Match after December 31, 2026 must have their DCT provide online authorization before they can complete the registration process.

④   Match Results

NMS uses an established and proven matching algorithm to process the Rank Order Lists submitted by applicants and programs. Applicants will be matched to the most preferred program on their Rank Order List that ranks them and does not fill all its positions with applicants it prefers. Similarly, each program will be matched with their most preferred applicant(s) that do not match to programs the applicants prefer.

Match results for each Phase of the Match are provided to you by email and on the Match website. When the results are released, the Director of Clinical Training (DCT) of each doctoral program will be provided with a report of the result obtained by each of their students who registered for the Match.