What are the "Scramble Hours" ? 24 Hours ?

This is in response to queries about whether the 'scramble' went on for 24 hours a day !

The only times that are officially specified by the AAMC and NRMP for the scramble are the start time and the end time:

For Example, for the 2008 Post-Match scramble,

Start:

March 18, 2008 at 12:00 noon , EST

End:

March 20, 2008 at 12:00 noon, EST

So..theoretically speaking, the scramble can go on for all 24 hours in between these times and it will not be 'illegal' for you to call a program at even 3 am in the morning ..lol.. But obviously - the scramble hours will be limited to the hours that you can actually call programs for the scramble, which in turn will be limited to the working hours of the program faculty and coordinator - so if there is no one to pick your calls or read ur emails, there is no scramble ;-). Secondly, ERAS working hours are from 8 am to 6 pm EST (new york time) - so programs which only accept applications through ERAS will be limited by that time too.

I would say 8 - 9am am local time to 6 - 7 pm local time would be a reasonable estimate for scramble hours for those times between the official start and end times. Of course, there will be some outliers with some programs working overtime if they are struggling with filling up...which we probably would not see, given the volumes of applicants...

Having said all that - some programs might accept applications during the earlier part of the day and then use the later part for interviews and making decisions..in that case you could even get a late evening call for an offer !



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