Let me make sure I understand. Is your question whether schools can accept more students than there are seats in their class? If so, the answer is yes. They can do this anytime after October 15, when the first acceptances go out.
Yes I was basically just clarifying that we are not guaranteed to hear back before march 15th, like an earlier response had suggested.
If I ever get off the deferred list, it's not likely to be until May...
I have recently relapsed into checking my email every two minutes like I was last summer
@Temerit, keep strong! (I know, I know. . .easy to say to a fellow sufferer, but much less easy to put into practice!) It may not affect the outcome, but you are getting some good wishes from the freezer (meaning my domicile.) I hope those two (and maybe four) end up squabbling over you. In the meantime, "You can't jump the track / We're like cars on a cable / And life's like an hourglass glued to the table. . ." Just breathe.
Dude you have really strong numbers and got invited to interview at a whole bunch of top schools. I'm confident at least one of those will work out for ya. Although for the future, it might be worth reassessing your interview skills
Rookie mistake...never go top-heavy.
I hope all of you remain med school application "rookies."
I'm in basically the exact same situation haha. Any type of financial aid will throw me any direction as well.
Do NOT, under any circumstances, send a letter of INTENT to multiple schools. That is a blatant act of dishonesty, and because admissions committees at different schools talk to each other, if one of them catches you, you're f**ked. Now, if you meant sending multiple letters of intent to the SAME school and only that one school, then I think that's fine. I already sent one letter of intent to my top choice school that I'm waitlisted at, and I plan to send a few more if I don't get off by April.
Applicants send these things everywhere!
Well my bad for believing the Dean of Admissions at the school I want to go to for saying that they take LOI's seriously and that LOI's can be a game changer once the mass waitlist movement in April begins.
Amazing. No wonder everyone sends them everywhere!
Are you saying the Dean is a liar? Or just that it's uncommon for Deans to endorse letters of intent?
See edit.
Does it always have to be the case in your second paragraph, tho? As in, you're accepted at a "better" school than the one you're waitlisted at? Because I would think most honest applicants would send LOI's to their top choice school that is arguably "better" than any school they have been accepted to already.
"Better" schools already know you will come if invited!
Basically in the same position, hopefully we hear something positive soon!
Too bad, I already sent the letter of intent. And wow, EVMS is not a bad school. I just liked Miami more.
I didn't say Eastern Virginia was a bad school. I said UCLA was a BETTER school than Miami. (And nobody would argue EV and UCLA are on the same level). ADCOM's aren't stupid. They don't doubt your desire to come to their school. They know you filled out primary applications, secondary applications, bought nice suits, paid $800 to fly and hotel and taxi and interview. They don't need an intent letter on top reminding them you want to go there. They can SEE where you have been accepted! There is a reason for them being able to see this! If you are on a wait list at miami and they see you are holding an acceptance at UCLA they will no doubt move right along to the next applicant because they are realistic and know you will 99.999% go to UCLA.
So it sounds like the perfect time to send a LOIntent is when the school is more desperate than the candidate. In early-mid July, I'll send a letter to my #1 letting them know that I would gladly attend their school and am willing to accept an offer if extended to me up to and including August 1st. That way, when they desperately need that last person to fill the class the week before orientation I'll be ripe for the picking. There's absolutely no way this could fail.
". Or how about, "Hey, I build spaceships at NASA but would love to come to Google because my family lives in Mountain View and I've always wanted to work with you for xyz reasons."
EVMS is closer to home and family than UMMSM, so I have that going for me. And no, a bunch of docs told me they sent LOI's to a school they were waitlisted at that was "better" than any school they were accepted at (ex. Got into Northwestern off waitlist after 2 LOI's even tho accepted to Loyola and UIC already). So LOI's are NOT just "bargaining tools." And I dislike your dating girls metaphor because that's obviously not how dating works IRL.Have you ever gotten a new job? Did you use a resume with a bunch of sweet positions at companies you've held to give yourself worth and leverage to deserve the new job? Do you think if all you had was mowing lawns you would get the job at Google? Or if you said you are currently working at NASA? Which gives you more leverage? "Hey I'm currently mowing lawns in Virginia, but I would love to come work at Google! I loved 'The Internship' movie and it looks like a great place to work!
Did you negotiate salary at your new job based on prior or current salaries that you held or hold? If starting pay was 17/hr, do you think they would give you a raise if you said, "My current job I make 10/hr but I really want to make 20/hr with you guys?" Or, "My current job I make 22/hr, but I would be willing to work for 20/hr with you guys because I love Google?"
It sounds all good and dandy to "get your name seen again" or "tell them how much you love them" but in the real world it is a two way road and you need to have something to offer in return in order to bargain your way to an acceptance with a LOI.
The laughable part is that any comparison is necessary at all, but for some reason so many still don't understand... people will continue begging schools to accept them or promising 8 schools that they will come if accepted. What it does is ruin the entire purpose of the letter of intent to the point that they start losing their value for all applicants all together.
Yes, people do this all the time. It has little to to with the desired outcome, however. NW already knew they would come by seeing where they were holding!
At some point they are looking at their waitlist every day and figuring out how to increase their yield of the best candidates. If an excellent waitlist candidate accepted to an equally good or better school sends them a love letter, then and only then will an LOI have an effect. Their problem is that explaining this in detail to applicants in public is crass...
If this does account for all of what I heard (and what other applicants heard), the presentation is strange. One program said, "We want to hear from you if we're your first choice," and clearly indicated that this was before decisions were to come out. Another, "Send us your thoughts about a week after the interview." Another dean is well-known for soliciting updates by email before decisions come out. Another school's fourth years told me that the person in charge of admissions listened when applicants told them that the place was their first choice before decisions were made.
I cannot fault you for this since deans asked for it. I do want you to understand the context.
I appreciate the context.
From experience, I can say that the waitlist has everything to do with getting the "best" candidate that will come over any emotional attachment!
