*** 2018-2019 MD/PhD Waitlists ***

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It would be pretty funny if I ended up getting accepted...
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UCLA. Didn't know until I emailed them, so reach out if you're still waiting for an application status. Fingers crossed!

Boston University: hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 3/X/19 WD: 3/11/19), bosga725 (w: 3/11/19)
Cincinnati: Purple Squid(2/1)
Columbia: Vaticrunner (2/22/19), LateApplicant2018 (2/22)
CU Anschutz: pedagogue1(01/2019)
CU Boulder: looptheloop (1/16)
Duke: ClimbsRox (2/25), HydrationShell (2/25), looptheloop (2/25)
Einstein: HydrationShell (2/4/19) Purple Squid (2/4/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 2/X/19 WD: 3/x/19) lovebiochem (2/x/19) CashewGirl (2/4)
Mayo: PursuingHappy (2/7)
Miami: Purple Squid(2/22)
Mt. Sinai: Purple Squid(1/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/18) lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Northwestern: looptheloop (11/19), lovebiochem (2/x/19)
Penn State: pedagogue1(01/2019)
University of Alabama: PursuingHappy (12/13)
UC Davis: Fluorescentboy (2/4)
UCLA: nakamarra (3/6)
UCONN: LSStressed (1/24)
UCSD: PursuingHappy (2/11), hellopeeps6 (2/11)
University of Chicago: looptheloop (10/15)
University of Illinois at Chicago: pedagogue1
UNC: PursuingHappy (2/21)
SUNY Upstate: ExcitatorySynapse (12/x)
SUNY Stony Brook: pedagogue1
Stanford: looptheloop (2/24) ClimbsRox (3/13)
Tri-I: klucket2 (12/11)
University of Pennsylvania: abcdedcba (03/06/19), confudidoeskimo (3/6/19)
UTH - San Antonio: Purple Squid(12/21) Fluorescentboy (12/X), ExcitatorySynapse (12/21), pedagogue1(12/X)
Vanderbilt: hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/X/19), hellopeeps6 (12/x), lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Yale: looptheloop (2/28), TheJooce (2/28)
 
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WhydoIwantthisphd said:
waitlist tips? I am desperate
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I am in the same boat..any advice? I sent strong letters of interest to two schools I am waitlisted at that I like equally. The reply from both places was such that it is hard to say if there will even be any spots that will open until late April (based upon April 30th deadline). I don't want to be annoying since I already detailed my significant updates in my last letter sent about a week ago (awards, publications). At this point anything I say would just be something like I am continuing to do x, y, and z and remain very interested in your program. Should I keep sending letters of interest on a regular basis, or wait until mid April at this point to send something again? @Fencer do you have any input?
 
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The reality is that we can't predict anything at the present time. We have very limited information, in the past we knew the likelihood based upon conversations with applicants and data. While half of my accepted students have said that they Plan to Enroll, all but one tells us that they still have other acceptances. I can over-enroll. We are going to have to wait until I have a slot available to offer. I suspect other programs are in the same circumstances. Nationally, we are getting closer to the capacity of the national class of MD/PhD students, but historically around 80-120 people who defer to a later class (DF) or withdraw after MD/PhD acceptance (WA) to enroll into a MD school (some of those might be in programs like HMS Pathways, who end up into their MSTP eventually). At the present time, we only have around 15-20 who are in the WA/DF category. When that happens, programs backfill from their waitlists. I think that we currently have ~641 applicants w 1 MD/PhD acceptance but only 624 currently accepted. The national class is about 650. The CYMS environment is just delaying the decisions for a substantial number of applicants. Given that about 20 MD/PhD programs who start around June 1-15, and another dozen by the end of the month, I suspect that we will have a very active early May (May 1-15). Don't sign up for a lease... Hopefully, people continue to make decisions and keep their acceptances to only 2-3 for 2nd visits.
 
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Fencer said:
The reality is that we can't predict anything at the present time. We have very limited information, in the past we knew the likelihood based upon conversations with applicants and data. While half of my accepted students have said that they Plan to Enroll, all but one tells us that they still have other acceptances. I can over-enroll. We are going to have to wait until I have a slot available to offer. I suspect other programs are in the same circumstances. Nationally, we are getting closer to the capacity of the national class of MD/PhD students, but historically around 80-120 people who defer to a later class (DF) or withdraw after MD/PhD acceptance (WA) to enroll into a MD school (some of those might be in programs like HMS Pathways, who end up into their MSTP eventually). At the present time, we only have around 15-20 who are in the WA/DF category. When that happens, programs backfill from their waitlists. I think that we currently have ~641 applicants w 1 MD/PhD acceptance but only 624 currently accepted. The national class is about 650. The CYMS environment is just delaying the decisions for a substantial number of applicants. Given that about 20 MD/PhD programs who start around June 1-15, and another dozen by the end of the month, I suspect that we will have a very active early May (May 1-15). Don't sign up for a lease... Hopefully, people continue to make decisions and keep their acceptances to only 2-3 for 2nd visits.
Click to expand...

Given that movement will not happen until May 1-15 how often should we communicate with directors at schools where we are waitlisted if we are very interested, but don't have any more significant updates and just want them to know we continue to be interested?
 
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Stanford

Boston University: hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 3/X/19 WD: 3/11/19), bosga725 (w: 3/11/19)
Cincinnati: Purple Squid(2/1)
Columbia: Vaticrunner (2/22/19), LateApplicant2018 (2/22)
CU Anschutz: pedagogue1(01/2019)
CU Boulder: looptheloop (1/16)
Duke: ClimbsRox (2/25), HydrationShell (2/25), looptheloop (2/25)
Einstein: HydrationShell (2/4/19) Purple Squid (2/4/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 2/X/19 WD: 3/x/19) lovebiochem (2/x/19) CashewGirl (2/4)
Mayo: PursuingHappy (2/7)
Miami: Purple Squid(2/22)
Mt. Sinai: Purple Squid(1/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/18) lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Northwestern: looptheloop (11/19), lovebiochem (2/x/19)
Penn State: pedagogue1(01/2019)
University of Alabama: PursuingHappy (12/13)
UC Davis: Fluorescentboy (2/4)
UCLA: nakamarra (3/6)
UCONN: LSStressed (1/24)
UCSD: PursuingHappy (2/11), hellopeeps6 (2/11)
University of Chicago: looptheloop (10/15)
University of Illinois at Chicago: pedagogue1
UNC: PursuingHappy (2/21)
SUNY Upstate: ExcitatorySynapse (12/x)
SUNY Stony Brook: pedagogue1
Stanford: looptheloop (2/24) ClimbsRox (3/13) Lucca (3/X)
Tri-I: klucket2 (12/11)
University of Pennsylvania: abcdedcba (03/06/19), confudidoeskimo (3/6/19)
UTH - San Antonio: Purple Squid(12/21) Fluorescentboy (12/X), ExcitatorySynapse (12/21), pedagogue1(12/X)
Vanderbilt: hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/X/19), hellopeeps6 (12/x), lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Yale: looptheloop (2/28), TheJooce (2/28)
 
Lucca said:
Stanford


Boston University: hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 3/X/19 WD: 3/11/19), bosga725 (w: 3/11/19)
Cincinnati: Purple Squid(2/1)
Columbia: Vaticrunner (2/22/19), LateApplicant2018 (2/22)
CU Anschutz: pedagogue1(01/2019)
CU Boulder: looptheloop (1/16)
Duke: ClimbsRox (2/25), HydrationShell (2/25), looptheloop (2/25)
Einstein: HydrationShell (2/4/19) Purple Squid (2/4/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (W: 2/X/19 WD: 3/x/19) lovebiochem (2/x/19) CashewGirl (2/4)
Mayo: PursuingHappy (2/7)
Miami: Purple Squid(2/22)
Mt. Sinai: Purple Squid(1/18) hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/18) lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Northwestern: looptheloop (11/19), lovebiochem (2/x/19)
Penn State: pedagogue1(01/2019)
University of Alabama: PursuingHappy (12/13)
UC Davis: Fluorescentboy (2/4)
UCLA: nakamarra (3/6)
UCONN: LSStressed (1/24)
UCSD: PursuingHappy (2/11), hellopeeps6 (2/11)
University of Chicago: looptheloop (10/15)
University of Illinois at Chicago: pedagogue1
UNC: PursuingHappy (2/21)
SUNY Upstate: ExcitatorySynapse (12/x)
SUNY Stony Brook: pedagogue1
Stanford: looptheloop (2/24) ClimbsRox (3/13) Lucca (3/X)
Tri-I: klucket2 (12/11)
University of Pennsylvania: abcdedcba (03/06/19), confudidoeskimo (3/6/19)
UTH - San Antonio: Purple Squid(12/21) Fluorescentboy (12/X), ExcitatorySynapse (12/21), pedagogue1(12/X)
Vanderbilt: hopefulmedstudent2014 (1/X/19), hellopeeps6 (12/x), lovebiochem (1/x/19)
Yale: looptheloop (2/28), TheJooce (2/28)
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Good Luck! Hope you get in (think we have probably met on the interview trail, and you were rather friendly, so I am rooting for you!)
 
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raysearch said:
Given that movement will not happen until May 1-15 how often should we communicate with directors at schools where we are waitlisted if we are very interested, but don't have any more significant updates and just want them to know we continue to be interested?
Click to expand...

I was wondering, to the “May 1-15” point, I know this cycle is difficult to compare to historical trends, but historically, how much waitlist movement used to occur March 15-April 15 (the current time period)?
 
Historically, I have lost 20-60% of my class (i.e.: 1-3 out of 5 slots for past 6 out of 8 years; we are now playing 7 slots) during that time; losing to Ivies/top 10 MSTPs (50%) and other programs... In two of those 8 classes, we were filled prior to May 1.
 
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Fencer said:
Historically, I have lost 20-60% of my class (i.e.: 1-3 out of 5 slots for past 6 out of 8 years; we are now playing 7 slots) during that time; losing to Ivies/top 10 MSTPs (50%) and other programs... In two of those 8 classes, we were filled prior to May 1.
Click to expand...

@Fencer for programs that won't release information about the size of their waitlists to applicants, is there any sort of general rule of thumb for how many people a program might waitlist based on their class size? Like waitlist X number of applicants equal to a certain percentage of your intended class? Or do you think it's probably too variable from program to program to come up with a general rule, plus more complicated this cycle because each PD is wading their way through these new traffic rules a little differently?
 
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I withdrew my offer from Mt. Sinai today. While SDN has a reputation for bringing out the hyper-competitive/gunner/self-esteem-destroying side in premeds (and I won't say I was entirely immune to that), it has also allowed me to work through this frustratingly long and opaque process with that much more clarity. More importantly, SDN has helped me see other applicants not as faceless competition, but rather a community of applicants all reaching the same goal: to find our ideal academic home for the next 8ish years. Knowing that other applicants on the waitlist want Sinai with an enthusiasm I've realized I lack has encouraged me to decline well before the deadline. Thanks for the continuing support and encouragement, everyone, and I hope my spot will be replaced by one of you deserving waitlist applicants.
 
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I echo nakamarra. I withdrew from Sinai today and have committed to a school. I do hope you all find your home in a program soon. Best of luck to you all
 
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Does anyone who is accepted to Yale mind commenting on whether they plan to commit?
 
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Even though applicants with multiple acceptances have completed their second looks and narrowed down their acceptances to three as per the traffic rules (hopefully maybe even two or one), there are still no rules regarding the number of waitlist positions applicants can hold. It has been my experience that programs are not very transparent about how many waitlist positions they offer and how many people remain active on the waitlist at any juncture. To help the process along, as soon as you know that you would prefer to attend a program where you are already accepted rather than a program where you are waitlisted please withdraw from any waitlist that you can.

Since most MSTP programs are quite small, I am assuming the waitlists are quite small as well, though I have no data to support this speculation. Thus, even one person withdrawing from a waitlist could significantly increase another’s odds of an acceptances (provided that program didn’t significantly over accept and spots open). I know some people may want to stay on waitlists “just to see if they get in” - please, please refrain from doing this as you are just going to delay the process for someone else. Others may have forgotten that they are even waitlisted at certain schools. If this is you, please double check. If you are unsure if you should stay on a waitlist something that may be helpful to ask yourself is the following: if I didn’t get off this waitlist until mid May or later would I still want to attend this program over a program where I am admitted? If the answer is no, then please consider withdrawing from the waitlist now so that others who really want to go to a program can see where the chips fall earlier. I withdrew from one waitlist today, and I hope others can do the same. Thank you in advance for your waitlist courtesy.
 
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Just withdrew from my last waitlists - good luck everyone!
 
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We are withdrawing from waitlists people who elect to "Commit to Enroll". Some applicants are courteous and write an email for withdrawal from waitlist. That would be helpful, but if you elect to "Commit to Enroll" in the CYMS web-tool, you are indicating that you are withdrawing from consideration.
 
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When should we be hearing back from schools about waitlist movements? Also, when are the deadlines for the AMCAS options like "plan to enroll" and "commit to enroll"?
 
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pedagogue1 said:
When should we be hearing back from schools about waitlist movements? Also, when are the deadlines for the AMCAS options like "plan to enroll" and "commit to enroll"?
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Can't really comment on the first, although a flurry of waitlist movement happened last week.

Commit to enroll should be 21 days out from orientation, with plan to enroll being within 5 days of formal notice of acceptance, reduced to 2 if within 30 days of orientation; but I think these are recommendations and schools can have their own deadlines.
 
pedagogue1 said:
When should we be hearing back from schools about waitlist movements? Also, when are the deadlines for the AMCAS options like "plan to enroll" and "commit to enroll"?
Click to expand...

Movement’s already started. From what directors have said, sounds like most movement will happen between 5/1-5/15.
 
This is the first "blind" cycle for most of us. Last week, we had a lot of movement in the waitlists. The present week should have some movement but less than the prior week. Nationally, we were getting 10-15 new first MD/PhD offers last week per working day, instead we are only getting about 3 new offers per day this week. New offers are available because currently accepted withdraw or defer, opening a spot for perhaps someone accepted elsewhere who then drops, opening the spot to eventually a new first offer. My program has 4 committed and 3 planning to enroll. I still might (or not) have position(s) for our waitlist.
 
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We made our only 2 waitlist offers yesterday (1 had an acceptance elsewhere, the other did not). We have picked the next 2 we will admit if we lose one, but overall, we are looking pretty stable. Historically, there has been less movement off the wait list for us this year - ie. fewer of our accepted students have been offered spots off other waitlists. Only 1 has left after being accepted elsewhere after April 30. 66% have Committed to Enroll already.
 
One waitlist offer here; usually we make 2. No one has withdrawn after April 30. 40% of the class remains Plan to Enroll. 2 of those have 4 or more waitlist positions.
 
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molly41 said:
Currently wait-listed at SUNY Downstate which is my first choice school. Would really appreciate some advice on how to contact the admissions office to let them know this is my first choice school. Just competing college and I have ready submitted my fall 2018 transcript. Do I call and ask where I stand on the wait-list or should I send an email saying this is my top choice school. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of updates to offer since January interview. Thanks for any advice in advance.
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Just send them an email stating that they are your top choice school and you will definitely matriculate if offered admission.
 
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Recently pulled off the waitlist at Upstate. Best of luck to everyone!
 
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molly41 said:
Currently wait-listed at SUNY Downstate which is my first choice school. Would really appreciate some advice on how to contact the admissions office to let them know this is my first choice school. Just competing college and I have ready submitted my fall 2018 transcript. Do I call and ask where I stand on the wait-list or should I send an email saying this is my top choice school. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of updates to offer since January interview. Thanks for any advice in advance.
Click to expand...

I sent my top choice an email LOI and got off the waitlist a few days later. I think they actually matter at this stage of the game/with the rule changes
 
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Is the commit to enroll option available for selection. I have been admitted to a program already, but I can only see plan to enroll and not the commit to enroll?
 
pedagogue1 said:
Is the commit to enroll option available for selection. I have been admitted to a program already, but I can only see plan to enroll and not the commit to enroll?
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Go to the page on AMCAS where you select plan to enroll, click edit, then you can change it to commit to enroll.
 
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