ERAS Residency Timeline (2026)

Important Dates

There are only a few key dates for the ERAS application cycle:

• May 31, 2025 — 2025 ERAS season ends at 5 p.m. ET.
• June 4, 2025 — 2026 ERAS season begins at 9 a.m. ET.
• September 3, 2025 — Residency applicants may begin submitting ERAS applications to programs at 9 a.m. ET.
• September 24, 2025 — Residency programs may begin reviewing ERAS applications and Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) in the Program Director’s WorkStation (PDWS) at 9 a.m. ET.
• October 2025-January 2026 — Interview season
• March 16-20, 2026 — Match Week, when you find out which program(s) offered you a position. Unmatched students can apply to vacant residencies through the SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) process.
• May 31, 2026 — 2026 ERAS season ends at 5 p.m. ET.

Are you a fellowship applicant? We’re covering residencies in this article, but you can learn more about ERAS fellowship program applications here.

Who Should Apply And When?

To start residency right after you graduate med school, you have to start the ERAS process right after you finish your third year of medical school. You should submit your residency application in September of your final year.

Taking gap years is fairly common between undergrad and medical school, but far less common for medical school graduates looking to continue their training. Still, it does occasionally happen — residency spots are also open to recent graduates who have earned their MD or DO in the past 1-5 years.

Residency Application Timeline: 2025/26 Cycle

Let’s explore each stage of the ERAS timeline more in-depth while offering handy tips from someone who’s personally gone through the ERAS program and helped hundreds of students successfully match into a PGY-1 residency.

WATCH THIS WEBINAR: Stand Out on the ERAS!

June-August 2025

On June 4, 2025, the 2026 ERAS season begins at 9 a.m. ET. Although you cannot submit your residency application at this time, MyERAS opens up for you to start work on your application. You’ll need your ERAS token to access MyERAS. Request your token from your registrar or career center.

Check out this handy applicant checklist from AAMC.

During the summer, you will need to take tests, draft essays, and start asking letter writers who can recommend you to residency admissions committees.

• Licensing exams should be taken right away. Between May and July, you need to take the USMLE Step 2 CK. (If you’re a DO student/graduate, you’ll take COMLEX Level 2. Around half of DO students take both USMLE and COMLEX to increase their competitiveness, but it’s not necessary for graduation or placement into residency.) You do have to authorize your USMLE transcript to be released to ERAS.
• Your personal statement is just as important on ERAS as it was on your medical school primaries. Don’t wait to write it. Draft a personal statement in June and get advice on it from colleagues and peers. Also, note that you can write unlimited variations catered to each program/specialty you’re applying to.
• Letters of recommendation are vital to your application’s success. Ask letter writers if they would provide an LOR starting in June. You don’t want to wait till September! 
• The ERAS Experiences Section is a large part of your application, where you list 10 experiences (including 3 most meaningful experiences) that have made you the student doctor you are today. You can start as early as June on this section; we recommend starting no later than mid-July. 
• You can upload a photo of yourself to your application at this time. Use a professional headshot to set the right tone whenever programs view your application or reference the photo on interview day.
• Your Thalamus account can be set up in July 2025. This is a new partnership between AAMC and Thalamus, which allows for streamlined interview scheduling and management. Learn more below.

International medical graduates (IMGs) need to submit additional supporting documents to demonstrate eligibility. The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Status Report confirms your ECFMG certification status. Learn more about additional IMG requirements.

September 2025-January 2026

On September 3, 2025, residency applicants may begin submitting MyERAS applications to programs at 9 a.m. ET. If you’re ready, we recommend submitting right away. Even if programs don’t want to admit it, earlier submissions are more likely to get interviews.

Your MSPE and transcript are to be uploaded by your Designated Dean’s Office, not by you. A Medical School Performance Evaluation (MSPE or “Dean’s Letter”) is a holistic evaluation of your clinical skills, academic history, and personal qualities. It’s not a letter of recommendation. 

International medical graduates (IMGs) may need to request an MSPE; US med students shouldn’t have to. Read more about the MSPE here.

Learn More: How Many Residency Applications Should You Submit?

On September 24, 2025, residency programs may begin reviewing MyERAS applications, including Dean’s Letters, at 9 a.m. ET. Most experts estimate that waiting to submit your application after September 24 will crater your chances of getting an interview.

Interview invitations may be sent out as early as mid-October, with the bulk of invites sent out before Thanksgiving. Certain programs may send out invites as late as January, but this is usually to make up for any applicants who did not accept previous invites.

To increase your odds of interviewing somewhere specific, consider sending a letter of interest after submitting your application to MyERAS.

Residency interviews typically occur between November and January, with a few interview slots possibly in October. Be sure to review common interview questions and answers so you can ace your residency interview.

You’ll also want to sign up with NRMP before January 30th to avoid late application registration fees. NRMP administers The Match separately from the ERAS system.

February-March 2026

You have the option of sending a letter of intent (binding, to your first choice) after interviews and before completing your ROL.

After interviews, you’ll create a rank order list (ROL). This tells the NRMP’s algorithm which residency programs you want to go to the most and pairs you with a spot based on each program’s list of applicants in whom they were most interested.

Main Residency Match Week occurs March 16 through March 20, 2026. This is when you find out which programs you received an offer from.

For those participating in the Couples Match — if the algorithm can’t match you and your partner at one of the program program pairs you’ve ranked, both you and your partner will fail to match and will be moved to the SOAP process.

Unmatched applicants may apply through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) at the last minute to up to 45 unmatched residency slots. Programs may contact you for a remote interview. SOAP begins Monday of Match Week and ends Friday with Match Day.

This ERAS timeline article does not cover much of the fabled NRMP Match process, but I discuss it in detail in my comprehensive guide to The Match, administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

WATCH WEBINAR: How to Match Into Your Dream Residency Program

May 2026

The 2026 ERAS season ends at 5 p.m. ET on May 31, 2026. This means you won’t be able to access MyERAS for this 2026 application cycle.

What’s New in the 2026 ERAS Application

According to the AAMC site, the following sections or content have been added.

New Specialty Questions

Certain residents will need to answer specialty-specific questions before sending applications to programs in these specialties:

• Anesthesiology
• Neurological Surgery
• Plastic Surgery — Integrated

Applicants who save programs in a specialty with additional required questions will be reminded that they need to answer these specialty-specific questions before submitting to programs in those specialties.

These specialty-specific questions must be answered during both the regular season and 2026 SOAP.

Changes to the Education Section

Post-graduate training can now be included on ERAS beyond just ACGME-accredited programs. If “other” is entered for accredited residency, you must include the accrediting body. Also, there is now an option to include a program’s accreditation ID.

The Interruptions and Extensions section has been retitled Interruptions or Extensions. Descriptions are only collected when you respond “Yes.” Additional language for each type of interruption or extension has been added for clarity.

Geographic Preference Opt-Out

Otolaryngology and Orthopedic Surgery programs will be able to opt out of listing geographic preferences. This is a pilot program and may be expanded to other specialties in the future.

Program Signal Statements

For applicants to the specialties of Anesthesiology or Plastic Surgery-Integrated, you will have to “provide more context” in your program signals. This is a pilot program and may be expanded in the future.