2014-2015 Waitlist Support Group

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@gyngyn Any chance you've seen Einstein movement? Or seen a lot of people who were poached by Einstein from the last round?

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When the list is not moving, no amount of contact (welcomed or otherwise) will have an effect, I'm afraid. The CA schools have been very slow this year so far and I'm pretty sure that the one that has moved (albeit slowly) is not likely to be moved by updates.

Regional differences do exist, however.
Wash U has drawn heavily from the waitlist this year.

Thanks for your insight, guidance, and candidness gyngyn. It really means a lot.
 
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Accepted off the waitlist from my top choice 4 days ago!!! so incredibly happy and thankful.

Unfortunately received the news right after submitting my 2016 AMCAS app to 12 schools. At that point, I knew I had to think proactively given the unsettling possibility of not getting accepted, so I encourage anyone still waiting for an acceptance to plan ahead if medicine is what you want to do for the rest of your life.

I was discouraged to pursue medicine at age 18 and after getting a Culinary arts degree I obtained a chemistry degree in hopes to become a doctor. Because I finished high school overseas and in a different language I studied premedical subjects with an english dictionary by my side. It took serious dedication and motivation despite being advised constantly to pursue something "easier" or "less unlikely to become a reality given my circumstance". But I never stop believing in myself.

I hope my story motivates anyone still waiting for acceptances to not let an obstacle come between you and your ultimate professional aspiration. Hang on to those still waiting because anything can happen. <3
 
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USC, UCSD, and UC Davis waitlister checking in
 
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Happy 4th of July! Hope everyone gets good news soon!
 
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Question! I received a certiphi email for the AAMC background check. Do DO schools participate in this?
 
I'm not positive, but I believe DO schools are not AAMC members, so the answer would be no. I also believe that the certiphi background check is AMCAS-mediated, which would rule out DO programs.
Yea I thought so too. Are wait listed applicants sent a background check?
 
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Hmm, I was waitlisted by 5 schools in February, but didn't receive the background check email until mid-May, around the time I got my first acceptance.
I think it depends on the school. But from my background check email: "You have received this email because you have been waitlisted or conditionally accepted by one or more of the medical schools participating in the AAMC-facilitated program for performing criminal background checks on conditionally accepted applicants and waiting list applicants."
 
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THERE'S STILL HOPE!!! I just got the best phone call of my life so far, and haven't stopped shaking over the course of the last hour. Looks like third time really is the charm.

Good luck to everyone still twiddling their thumbs. I would not wish this waiting process and multiple application cycles on anyone, but can honestly say that it makes the moment that much more special.
 
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I assume that at this point, waitlist movement has slowed to a crawl (or has ceased) at many schools. But I'm still holding out hope! Kind of... barely...
 
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I assume that at this point, waitlist movement has slowed to a crawl (or has ceased) at many schools. But I'm still holding out hope! Kind of... barely...

It's pretty much one student at a time, if any.
 
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sorry I keep coming back to this, but UCI hasn't moved since like forever right? Does that mean that there were no slots left after the special program students outcomes were decided? :(
 
sorry I keep coming back to this, but UCI hasn't moved since like forever right? Does that mean that there were no slots left after the special program students outcomes were decided? :(

I noticed one student was added to the UCI FB group this past week. My best guess is the person got off the Waitlist and does not have an SDN account...or they could have joined the FB group late. Hope that helps a bit! Or the person may have been part of UCI's Special Programs where they accept students from a Special Masters program into their School of Medicine.

@gyngyn I noticed that in early June, Stanford had two people withdraw and one person deferred their acceptance to next year. This was according to the Stanford SDN page, but no one else posted on whether they were accepted after that. My question is, has Stanford had movement since then or are those spots still left unfilled? Thank you so much btw for all you do for this website!
 
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@gyngyn I noticed that in early June, Stanford had two people withdraw and one person deferred their acceptance to next year. This was according to the Stanford SDN page, but no one else posted on whether they were accepted after that. My question is, has Stanford had movement since then or are those spots still left unfilled?
This is Dr. Gibbs' first cycle.
I'm sure that she does not want to repeat the errors of the past.
If there were open positions, I'm sure that she would have filled them expeditiously.
 
I noticed one student was added to the UCI FB group this past week. My best guess is the person got off the Waitlist and does not have an SDN account...or they could have joined the FB group late. Hope that helps a bit! Or the person may have been part of UCI's Special Programs where they accept students from a Special Masters program into their School of Medicine.

@gyngyn I noticed that in early June, Stanford had two people withdraw and one person deferred their acceptance to next year. This was according to the Stanford SDN page, but no one else posted on whether they were accepted after that. My question is, has Stanford had movement since then or are those spots still left unfilled? Thank you so much btw for all you do for this website!
Actually I've also been looking at the group too. One thing I noticed is that the number of members (204) is less than the total number of acceptances they said they give on interview day (~230-250). I know not everyone has a fb and some withdrew from the group but there's also a few med students in the group too. Compare this year's group to class of 2018 which has 245 members including med students...makes me wonder if they gave less acceptances out than anticipated :(
 
I wouldn't do any analysis of facebook groups; for obvious reasons the number of members in it is not reliable.

It is interesting because at the beginning of the 2014-2015 cycle trends seemed to show people applying to more schools, and the prediction was that waitlist movement would be higher. But it seems to be slower this year.
 
I wouldn't do any analysis of facebook groups; for obvious reasons the number of members in it is not reliable.

It is interesting because at the beginning of the 2014-2015 cycle trends seemed to show people applying to more schools, and the prediction was that waitlist movement would be higher. But it seems to be slower this year.

I was trying to theorize why this year has been as slow as it is, across the board. The best reason I could come up with is the steep competition. Rather than being accepted to 5 or 6 schools, a lot of people are only getting into 1 or 2. This means that the shifting of seats is minimal and, as such, the waitlists are stagnant at most institutions.

That's my most educated guess.
 
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I was trying to theorize why this year has been as slow as it is, across the board. The best reason I could come up with is the steep competition. Rather than being accepted to 5 or 6 schools, a lot of people are only getting into 1 or 2. This means that the shifting of seats is minimal and, as such, the waitlists are stagnant at most institutions.

That's my most educated guess.
I think the extended amount of MCATs offered because of the shift allowed a lot more people to become competitive for this cycle. That may be a factor.
 
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I think the extended amount of MCATs offered because of the shift allowed a lot more people to become competitive for this cycle. That may be a factor.
Do you have any input on how the new MCAT would affect the 2015-16 cycle?
 
Do you have any input on how the new MCAT would affect the 2015-16 cycle?
Nope just theorizing since I saw there were sooo many mcat dates last year that extended past September and extended pretty much all year long. So people could theoretically still get a good mcat and be in for some schools quite late, that drives the number of viable applications up and competition. Just spitballing here tho. Next year should probably be normal if this is the case.
 
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@gyngyn, I got a call from a senior admissions director at UIC last week in which she basically said my name is next on the list and that my chances of getting an acceptance after the adcom meeting that week were pretty good, but I haven't heard anything since.

Have you seen any movement at UIC over the last couple weeks? I can't make heads or tails of why they would go through the trouble of giving me a call only to leave me hanging.
 
@gyngyn, I got a call from a senior admissions director at UIC last week in which she basically said my name is next on the list and that my chances of getting an acceptance after the adcom meeting that week were pretty good, but I haven't heard anything since.

Have you seen any movement at UIC over the last couple weeks? I can't make heads or tails of why they would go through the trouble of giving me a call only to leave me hanging.

When is the orientation for the school?
 
@gyngyn, I got a call from a senior admissions director at UIC last week in which she basically said my name is next on the list and that my chances of getting an acceptance after the adcom meeting that week were pretty good, but I haven't heard anything since.

Have you seen any movement at UIC over the last couple weeks? I can't make heads or tails of why they would go through the trouble of giving me a call only to leave me hanging.
I'm sure they mean it. We are all prepared to take the first person on the waitlist. It just hasn't happened yet.
 
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Agh it seems I am waiting for an email/call that will never come arghgh
 
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Hey everyone,

So I am on a few waitlists with no MD acceptances yet. Two weeks ago I received the Certephi AMCAS invite to complete my background check which I immediately filled out and passed (clean background check). I haven't applied DO.

I thought that getting this invite indicated an acceptance is coming my way but I still haven't heard back from any of the school's whose waitlist I am on. Was I mistaken? Does the background check happen to candidates even if they haven't/won't be accepted?

From what I've read people who receive the background check invite get accepted so I'm feeling a bit confused about my situation.

Thank you!
 
Hey everyone,

So I am on a few waitlists with no MD acceptances yet. Two weeks ago I received the Certephi AMCAS invite to complete my background check which I immediately filled out and passed (clean background check). I haven't applied DO.

I thought that getting this invite indicated an acceptance is coming my way but I still haven't heard back from any of the school's whose waitlist I am on. Was I mistaken? Does the background check happen to candidates even if they haven't/won't be accepted?

From what I've read people who receive the background check invite get accepted so I'm feeling a bit confused about my situation.

Thank you!

What schools are you waitlisted at? but yes, it might mean an acceptance is coming your way! some schools like Einstein do send out Certiphi invites but never accept. I guess it means you were under consideration at one point, but it didn't materialise.
 
What schools are you waitlisted at? but yes, it might mean an acceptance is coming your way! some schools like Einstein do send out Certiphi invites but never accept. I guess it means you were under consideration at one point, but it didn't materialise.

For the sake of anonymity I would like to keep that quiet but one school that I'm waitlisted at and is my first choice is SUNY Upstate. They told me that I have a chance but it may be up until orientation when I hear from them.

I really don't know why the background check came now though. I had been waitlisted at all my schools by February so that's why I thought the Certaphi email indicated an acceptance.

I also don't know why I would be under consideration and then it didn't materialize since I passed the background check.

Do any adcoms have any feedback about this?
@gyngyn
 
For the sake of anonymity I would like to keep that quiet but one school that I'm waitlisted at and is my first choice is SUNY Upstate. They told me that I have a chance but it may be up until orientation when I hear from them.

I really don't know why the background check came now though. I had been waitlisted at all my schools by February so that's why I thought the Certaphi email indicated an acceptance.

I also don't know why I would be under consideration and then it didn't materialize since I passed the background check.

Do any adcoms have any feedback about this?
@gyngyn
Any of your schools might have submitted a Certiphi request.
It doesn't predict an acceptance, necessarily. I hope it does, though.
 
Any of your schools might have submitted a Certiphi request.
It doesn't predict an acceptance, necessarily. I hope it does, though.

Don't schools generally submit Certiphi requests for acceptances only though? Or do they do it for other reasons as well?

Do you think I should call all the schools im waitlisted at and check with them? Or call Certaphi/AMCAS?

And yeah I hope so too - it's getting close for me :/
 
Don't schools generally submit Certiphi requests for acceptances only though? Or do they do it for other reasons as well?

Do you think I should call all the schools im waitlisted at and check with them? Or call Certaphi/AMCAS?

And yeah I hope so too - it's getting close for me :/
I'm sure it won't help to start calling the schools to find out.
I don't know if Certiphi is authorized to tell you, but you are welcome to try there.
Tell us what they say.
 
I'm sure it won't help to start calling the schools to find out.
I don't know if Certiphi is authorized to tell you, but you are welcome to try there.
Tell us what they say.

Will do! Thank you Gyngyn! I'll call them tomorrow!

By the way I received the background check invite two weeks ago and it was complete two days after I submitted it (the day I was invited). So it's been 8 business days (12 including weekends) since I've completed everything.

Not sure if those details help you hypothesize what my situation may be but I just wanted to provide them!
 
Will do! Thank you Gyngyn! I'll call them tomorrow!

By the way I received the background check invite two weeks ago and it was complete two days after I submitted it (the day I was invited). So it's been 8 business days (12 including weekends) since I've completed everything.

Not sure if those details help you hypothesize what my situation may be but I just wanted to provide them!
Sorry, I'm no help, even with the additional clues. Let us know tomorrow. Hopefully good news.
 
For the sake of anonymity I would like to keep that quiet but one school that I'm waitlisted at and is my first choice is SUNY Upstate. They told me that I have a chance but it may be up until orientation when I hear from them.

I really don't know why the background check came now though. I had been waitlisted at all my schools by February so that's why I thought the Certaphi email indicated an acceptance.

I also don't know why I would be under consideration and then it didn't materialize since I passed the background check.

Do any adcoms have any feedback about this?
@gyngyn
Sorry, I didn't mean "you" in particular, I meant that sometimes a spot doesn't open up even if the applicant has a clean report. But I believe a certiphi request means that a school is actively considering your candidacy.
 
Sorry, I'm no help, even with the additional clues. Let us know tomorrow. Hopefully good news.
Sorry, I didn't mean "you" in particular, I meant that sometimes a spot doesn't open up even if the applicant has a clean report. But I believe a certiphi request means that a school is actively considering your candidacy.
Goodluck! I hope it's an acceptance!!!


Update:

I called both Certephi and AMCAS and they both told me that they can't tell me what medical school ordered the background check on me but that background checks are done on accepted candidates. So I'm really hoping that there's an acceptance out there for me but we'll see...

Also this link makes it seem like it's for accepted applicants:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/background.htm

But I don't know why I haven't heard back from any schools yet. It's been 9 business days since my background check was completed and released by me so I'm feeling anxious about it. Please chime in if anyone has any other info about this!

Also, it would be in the medical school who ran it on me's best interest to accept me ASAP right? It's getting close so I'd assume that they would want to notify me ASAP.

I hope that my information helps others/future candidates!
 
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Update:

I called both Certephi and AMCAS and they both told me that they can't tell me what medical school ordered the background check on me but that background checks are done on accepted candidates. So I'm really hoping that there's an acceptance out there for me but we'll see...

Also this link makes it seem like it's for accepted applicants:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/background.htm

But I don't know why I haven't heard back from any schools yet. It's been 9 business days since my background check was completed and released by me so I'm feeling anxious about it. Please chime in if anyone has any other info about this!

Also, it would be in the medical school who ran it on me to accept me ASAP right? It's getting close so I'd assume that they would want to notify me ASAP.

I hope that my information helps others/future candidates!
Maybe I can shed some light on this - I have a friend who was recently accepted off the waitlist at Einstein. Several weeks prior to that, he had received a Certiphi request out of the blue, and no other school he had been accepted to sends out Certiphi checks. My assumption is that Einstein was getting the background check out of the way in case a spot opened up, since it is so late in the cycle. That way, when a spot did open up and they were able to accept him, they didn't have to wait for the Certiphi request to process to proceed with everything else.

Hope that helps!
 
Update:

I called both Certephi and AMCAS and they both told me that they can't tell me what medical school ordered the background check on me but that background checks are done on accepted candidates. So I'm really hoping that there's an acceptance out there for me but we'll see...

Also this link makes it seem like it's for accepted applicants:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/background.htm

But I don't know why I haven't heard back from any schools yet. It's been 9 business days since my background check was completed and released by me so I'm feeling anxious about it. Please chime in if anyone has any other info about this!

Also, it would be in the medical school who ran it on me to accept me ASAP right? It's getting close so I'd assume that they would want to notify me ASAP.

I hope that my information helps others/future candidates!

I mean if background checks really are only for accepted candidates and you called certiphi and amcas and they confirmed it....I'd say that an acceptance is coming your way lol. I mean I did hear stories of students being accepted a day before classes...so maybe you will find yourself in that situation!! It's frustrating how elusive this process is but it is what it is. They said background checks are for accepted applicants ONLY?
 
Is it possible for students to be accepted even after an orientation?
 
How do people get out of their leases if they are accepted a day before classes?
 
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