SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) Explained

What Is SOAP?

SOAP is the last chance for residency applicants to get matched. The Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) is administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), which also administers rank order lists and the Main Residency Match. Here’s how SOAP works.

Anyone who is matched initially is not eligible for SOAP. It’s not for people looking to get “better” spots. It’s for applicants who haven’t matched into a medical residency position.

Below are some stats, based on the most recent complete data and trends since COVID:

• About 70% of residency applicants are matched on Monday of Match Week — meaning only about 30% of applicants will have the option of participating in SOAP.
• Another 5% of residency applicants are matched through SOAP on Thursday of Match Week, primarily in Round 1 during the hours of 9:00-11:00 AM.
• More than 90% of SOAP-eligible positions are usually filled.
• More than half of SOAP applicants are international medical graduates (IMGs). However, only about a third of SOAP offers are made to IMGs.

Read Next: How IMGs Can Match Into the Residency of Their Dreams

Eligibility Criteria

It’s pretty simple to know whether you’re eligible for SOAP. Here are the eligibility requirements:

• You are registered for the NRMP Main Residency Match.
• You’re able to start graduate medical education (residency) on June 1st.
• You aren’t matched into a residency on Monday of Match Week.

If you’re eligible for SOAP, you’ll receive access to the NRMP’s List of Unfilled Programs.

• Programs participating in SOAP will appear on this list, including what application service you need to use to apply to them (usually ERAS).
• Programs not participating in SOAP will not appear on this list until after SOAP ends on Thursday night of Match Week.

If you are matched with a program on Monday, you are not eligible for SOAP. Note that, on Monday, March 16th, 2026, at 10:00 AM, you will only know whether you matched or not. You’ll find out where you matched on Friday of Match Week.

Read More: Should I Use Program Signals When Applying to Residency?

How the SOAP Process Works

The SOAP process happens during Residency Match Week. Below is a step-by-step guide to SOAP.

• Before SOAP: When you sort your preferred residencies where you interviewed into a rank order list (ROL), residency programs do the same for candidates they interviewed. Based on the NRMP’s matching algorithm, they match applicants with residencies where the greatest number of applicants and programs will be satisfied.
• Step 1: If you aren’t matched on Monday of Match week, you are eligible for SOAP and are given access to a list of all unmatched programs through the NRMP website under the SOAP tab.
• Step 2: Apply to as many as 45 programs through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). You’re responsible for only applying to positions for which you’re eligible. Pro tip: SOAP-eligible applicants can’t be as picky as before Match Week, but still only apply to residencies where you would legitimately be willing to go.
• Step 3: The programs may contact you by phone to schedule a residency interview over the next three days, which will typically be a virtual interview. You may not contact programs during SOAP unless they contact you first. After SOAP interviews, programs (not applicants) submit a new ROL.
• Step 4: Based on these ROLs, SOAP offers are extended on Thursday of Match week. There are four rounds of offers, each lasting for two hours:
• Round 1 begins at 9:00 AM ET
• Round 2 begins at 12:00 PM ET
• Round 3 begins at 3:00 PM ET
• Round 4 begins at 6:00 PM ET
• Step 5: Applicants who get a SOAP offer have two hours to accept or reject it. Most positions are filled during Round 1. Round 2 begins with new offers based on the program ROLs and which candidates are still unmatched.
• Step 6: After SOAP Round 4, unmatched applicants receive access to the list of unfilled positions. Now you may contact programs on that list for about five weeks (which is typically some time until May 1st).

Read Next: How Does Couples Match Work?

Important Dates

2026 SOAP schedule dates are critical to understand to increase your odds of matching into a medical residency.

• February 2nd — Rank order lists (ROLs) can be submitted.
• March 4th — ROL submission deadline.
• Monday, March 16th — Match Week begins.
• 10:00 AM — You know whether you matched or not. If you didn’t match into a program, you get access to the NRMP’s List of Unfilled Programs. You may browse the list looking for which programs you will apply to.
• 11:00 AM — You may begin preparing your SOAP applications through ERAS.
• Tuesday, March 17th — SOAP Match-participating programs begin reviewing applications. Although you can technically apply to unfilled programs through Thursday, we recommend applying by Tuesday. You cannot contact programs during SOAP without them initiating contact.
• Thursday, March 19th — Four SOAP offer rounds.
• 9:00 AM — Applicants receive Round 1 SOAP offers. Log in to NRMP’s R3 system to view offers and accept or reject any offer. Most unfilled positions are filled in the first round.
• 11:00 AM — Deadline for applicants to accept/reject Round 1 SOAP offers or simply let them expire.
• 12:00 PM — Round 2 SOAP offers go out.
• 2:00 PM — Deadline to accept/reject Round 2 SOAP offers.
• 3:00 PM — Round 3 SOAP offers go out.
• 5:00 PM — Deadline to accept/reject Round 3 SOAP offers.
• 6:00 PM — Round 4 SOAP offers go out.
• 8:00 PM — Deadline to accept/reject Round 4 SOAP offers.
• 9:00 PM — SOAP ends, and NRMP’s List of Unfilled Programs is updated. You may now reach out to programs with unfilled positions without them initiating contact.
• Friday, March 20th — Match Day, when everyone learns their Match results.

Learn More: ERAS Application Timeline

Tips for Navigating SOAP Successfully

Whether you’re preparing for March or you’re sweating on Monday of Match Week, below are some pro tips from experts who have gone through the process and helped hundreds of applicants like you navigate this process and achieve their goals.

• Log in to NRMP’s R3 system.
• Log in to your MyERAS account to make sure you’ve still got all your current login information.
• Review your residency application. Is there anything you need to update, add, or delete before sending it to SOAP-eligible programs? Do you need to give your personal statement a little proofreading?
• Clear your schedule as much as possible. Don’t plan a bunch of social events on Match Week (March 16-20, 2026). Consider taking a week off from clubs, study groups, or hobbies if you need to dedicate time to SOAP applications and interviews.
• Stay organized with an Excel or Google spreadsheet. List what schools from the NRMP’s List of Unfilled Programs (released Monday of Match Week) you are interested in. Include basic contact information, such as an admin or program director’s email and campus address. Add columns for when you send in your application, if they ask for an interview, and other important info.
• Apply as early as possible. We recommend applying by Tuesday morning, which is admittedly a quick turnaround. You’ll only have 24 hours to send SOAP applications before programs start to review them. Technically, you can apply to SOAP-eligible programs as late as Thursday, but it kind of defeats the purpose if you don’t give the program time to review your application and reach out to you for more info or an interview.
• Don’t over-apply. Avoid stretching yourself unnecessarily thin by applying to programs that you’re not really interested in, whether that’s because of location, specialty, or culture. Yes, you want to get into residency, but you also want to set yourself up for future success, and a poor fit could cost you years.
• Brush up on your interview skills. You may need to give several interviews on short notice. Check out helpful interview question guides before jumping back into the realm of being interviewed. Make sure you have professional-looking clothes that are laundered and ironed.

Learn More: Residency Types (Categorical, Preliminary, Advanced)

What If You Don’t Match During SOAP?

If you didn’t match during SOAP, you still have options. Not a ton, but there’s still hope.

After SOAP closes on Thursday (in 2026, that March 19th, at 9:00 PM), NRMP updates their List of Unfilled Programs to include SOAP-eligible programs who didn’t find a match and programs that chose not to participate in SOAP.

Remember, during SOAP, you weren’t allowed to contact programs without them contacting you first. However, at the end of Match Week, you may now contact programs on the list to apply outside of the normal Match process or SOAP.

At this point, very few unfilled spots remain. It’s going to be in the low hundreds, and probably 10,000 applicants are yet to be matched.

Don’t misjudge the situation. These are not the bottom-of-the-barrel programs. The unfilled list will include:

• Highly competitive programs with a high number of applicants and relatively few interview opportunities. 
• Less competitive programs that just got unlucky in the Match or simply have a bunch of spots to fill, such as family medicine, emergency medicine, and internal medicine.
• New programs that got accredited late in the cycle.
• Programs where incoming residents who accepted a PGY-1 position had to drop out for various reasons, such as family events, personal tragedy, or sudden financial changes.

You have about six weeks between Main Match Week and the official end of the residency application process. So, if you didn’t match during SOAP, you can reach out to those unfilled programs to ask about applying outside the normal process. These are sometimes called “post-Match offers” or “off-cycle matches.”

Watch our free Residency Specialty Spotlight videos to explore the daily life of residents in various specialties and hear practical advice for navigating the match process in each specialty.