Do only some schools release acceptances in Oct?

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connie95

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I was looking through MSAR and noticed that some schools have their earliest acceptance notices sent out much later than Oct. 15th. For example, it says the earliest date Duke sends out its first acceptances is March 1, 2017! Isn't this a bit late? I thought all schools began releasing acceptance letters starting from Oct. 15th. Am I misreading something or is this more common than I thought? If so, why do schools wait so late to fill their class?

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I believe Duke releases all of their decisions on that day or something. They don't do rolling admissions.
 
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Prepare yourself for a long year. Most schools release decisions later than October. March isn't uncommon.
 
There are many different ways that schools do it. Some give everyone a decision within a set amount of time after their interview (like 8 weeks or something). Others don't give out any decisions until everyone has interviewed. Some give out some decisions within several weeks of interviewing people while waiting to tell others until after everyone has interviewed. It really depends on the school.
 
October 15th is only the earliest day that schools are allowed to communicate an acceptance to students (unless you apply early decision). On the other end of the timeline, schools are required to issue at least as many acceptances as there are spots in their class by March 15. Some schools will notify applicants they have already interviewed at midnight of October 15th (I think U Mich does this). Others will wait until mid-March and notify all interviewed applicants of their decisions (U Penn does this). Plenty of schools use each method and anywhere in between. And if you get waitlisted, you might not get a decision until August when orientation begins.
 
October 15th is only the earliest day that schools are allowed to communicate an acceptance to students (unless you apply early decision). On the other end of the timeline, schools are required to issue at least as many acceptances as there are spots in their class by March 15. Some schools will notify applicants they have already interviewed at midnight of October 15th (I think U Mich does this). Others will wait until mid-March and notify all interviewed applicants of their decisions (U Penn does this). Plenty of schools use each method and anywhere in between. And if you get waitlisted, you might not get a decision until August when orientation begins.
Where do you see October 15th as the earliest date a school can notify acceptances? My application status at one school says a Final Decision has been reached... please contact. Are they required to wait until October 15?
 
So this year October 15th is a Saturday. Will schools really begin notifications on a Saturday, or is October 17th really the day this time?

@gonnif I suspect you will know the answer to this :)
 
I know some of the places I've interviewed at have said they will call on October 15th, and others have said they'll wait until the 17th. So a mix of both I think
 
I know some of the places I've interviewed at have said they will call on October 15th, and others have said they'll wait until the 17th. So a mix of both I think

Everywhere I have interviewed has said they start acceptances on October 15th, but I suspect the people saying that didn't realize its a Saturday.
 
the AAMC guidelines state acceptances can be communicated on or after Oct 15th. if this occurs on holiday or weekend then next business day. by a strict reading of the guideline, this year no school can notify you of acceptance prior to Oct 17th

5 schools have told me they would begin notifying on the 15th, and only 2 have noted that the 15th is a Saturday so it will be the 17th. Most of these were in late August/early September, so I just assumed most hadn't actually looked at a calendar.

Obviously I should attend one of the latter 2, as they pay greater attention to detail ;)
 
The actual rule on this are listed below. The phrase "If on a weekend or holiday, this occurs the next business day" clearly does not give schools the option of releasing this information on a Saturday. As trivial as it sounds, this should be clarified and I have sent a note to the powers that be to look into this, which will have about as much influence as Jill Stein will in this election


https://www.aamc.org/download/364264/data/2014trafficrules.pdf
Each school notify all Regular M.D. program applicants of acceptance to medical
school only on or after October 15* of each admission cycle. It may be appropriate to
communicate notifications of decisions other than acceptance to medical school to applicants
prior to October 15.

*If on a weekend or holiday, this occurs the next business day

I don't think anyone needs to be worried about any deans of admissions breaking rules to come into work on a Saturday to call accepted students on the phone lol
 
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I don't think anyone needs to be worried about any deans of admissions breaking rules to come into work on a Saturday to call accepted students on the phone lol

Minnesota specifically told us that they would come in on Saturday, actually.
 
Minnesota specifically told us that they would come in on Saturday, actually.

Darn, looks like 2 more days of aggressively checking my emails/portals than I thought.
 
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I was just informed by an admissions director that

"... AAMC issued email instructions to MD programs yesterday that the accepted release date for acceptances is indeed October 17. The norm is always to move to the Monday for any of the deadlines that fall on a weekend "

PS Here is the Official AAMC response to all admissions directors

Dear colleagues,

Please note that since October 15th falls on a Saturday this year, admission offers should not be made until Monday, October 17th.

Thanks to those who emailed me to clarify the protocol.

Senior Director, Student Affairs and Programs Association of American Medical Colleges
Should not be does not equal can not be.

There's a chance!!!! RUN FOR THE HILLS
 
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Should not be does not equal can not be.

There's a chance!!!! RUN FOR THE HILLS

They would probably get slammed

I wonder if any schools will screw up and send them out on Saturday.

I'll probably give all of my portals a quick glance just in case ;)
If they do, they will be noted in violation as the director of admissions services sent a bulletin to all medical schools on this ruling. Its little crap like this that gets medical schools "dinged" in LCME reviews
 
Just curious: why does this rule exist in the first place?
 
originally it was part of the time frame to ensure sufficient time for applications and LORs especially committee letters to arrive an be reviewed. It has only been the last 20 years that schools do signficant application review in summer.

Today it keeps schools from trying to grab top students early before other schools have a chance

Schools have already started to send out acceptances!! I guess no one is going to complain to the AAMC about that though lol
 
Schools have already started to send out acceptances!! I guess no one is going to complain to the AAMC about that though lol

This seems untrue. Unless you mean DO schools, which are not subject to these rules, or early decision programs, which are obviously an exception.
 
This seems untrue. Unless you mean DO schools, which are not subject to these rules, or early decision programs, which are obviously an exception.

Nope, I know someone who got into Rush!
 
Ya based on the Rush thread, I stand corrected.

Someones gonna get in troooooubleeee.
 
Rush and SUNY Buffalo, from the school-specific threads. They were all through status changes on the portals.

Thanks! This is surprising to see few schools disobeying the AAMC Oct 17th protocol, but I guess they wanted to be nice and give the good news before the weekend.
 
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Are there even any consequences for disobeying the protocol?
 
Are there even any consequences for disobeying the protocol?

I posted this above but:

I wonder if any schools will screw up and send them out on Saturday.

I'll probably give all of my portals a quick glance just in case ;)
If they do, they will be noted in violation as the director of admissions services sent a bulletin to all medical schools on this ruling. Its little crap like this that gets medical schools "dinged" in LCME reviews
 
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I posted this above but:

So theoretically if a school disobeyed the protocol flagrantly and repeatedly, they could lose their accreditation? But in the meantime, releasing some acceptances two days ahead of time would probably only result in a slap on the wrist, right?
 
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