2008-2009 University of Maryland Secondary Application Thread

[Paisley Jane]

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sorry about that. IS, and it's been confirmed by the school.

How do you know if your instate status has been confirmed?

 

[GolfMustang07]

So i was just thinking...

There seems to be at least 8 SDN members (IS) that have posted they have recieved this post interview hold. And SDN prob doesnt account for a large percentage of the IS individuals that have interviewed at maryland, not considering all that still havent (we are only half way done). Myself and the another individual i go to school with, which are the only 2 to interview at UMD have been put on this list. So it seems that a large percent of IS interviewers are getting this status. I mean they only interview 320ish, and i think last year accepted 220? The letter did say it was a common status.

Does this seem logical? or am i being crazy in an attempt to make myself feel better?

Man, I really just want an acceptance.

 

[sarahl86]

So i was just thinking...

There seems to be at least 8 SDN members (IS) that have posted they have recieved this post interview hold. And SDN prob doesnt account for a large percentage of the IS individuals that have interviewed at maryland, not considering all that still havent (we are only half way done). Myself and the another individual i go to school with, which are the only 2 to interview at UMD have been put on this list. So it seems that a large percent of IS interviewers are getting this status. I mean they only interview 320ish, and i think last year accepted 220? The letter did say it was a common status.

Does this seem logical? or am i being crazy in an attempt to make myself feel better?

Man, I really just want an acceptance.

http://medschool.umaryland.edu/admissions/Profile2012.asp
Maryland interviewed 562 people last year, handed out 331 acceptances last year, 203 of which were in state compared to 128 OOS. I bet most of those OOS acceptances were given earlier on to people with ungodly numbers (4.3, 52 MCAT and found a cure for cancer), but in-state people with sub-33 MCATs and a 3.7+ GPA are just going to be more common. Take that into consideration with the fact that those students with average numbers are getting better EC's, its gonna take longer to sort through the good ones. Plain and simple.

That being said, if they put you on a post-interview hold they may be waiting for some of those OOS acceptances to come back as a "no" so they can go ahead and fill up the class with more MD residents since there's a ton of us they have to pick from, and they are going to have to because they are a state-funded school. Hopefully you won't have to wait till May for that to happen (I think that's when schools have to disclose who they've accepted so far, right?). And remember, SDN and MDApplicants are NOT NOT NOT representative samples. You don't have all the amazing applicants posting and you certainly don't have many of the sub-30s either.

You can't logically reason through this process. It's impossible to know what they're thinking about your application and interview, what pressures they have to accept a certain demographic, county resident, blah blah blah...and you never have any idea until you get that final letter saying yes or no. We're all cluelessly speculating unless some of the people posting on here are students on the Admissions Committee and we all hate waiting. That's why we're spending our time on SDN, and the later this process gets the more and more I think it hurts than it helps, wondering they "Damn, why wasn't that me they accepted"...

But I hope you do get your acceptance. I hope I ace my interview and get mine (if I stop flipping out about the fact that its in the end of January, I think my PS is crap at this point, and I still don't have research experience). It would be awesome if a lot of the people on holds got them resolved just to have a finite answer. All we can do is wait. It is not our strong point.

 

[dannyboy1]

So i was just thinking...

There seems to be at least 8 SDN members (IS) that have posted they have recieved this post interview hold. And SDN prob doesnt account for a large percentage of the IS individuals that have interviewed at maryland, not considering all that still havent (we are only half way done). Myself and the another individual i go to school with, which are the only 2 to interview at UMD have been put on this list. So it seems that a large percent of IS interviewers are getting this status. I mean they only interview 320ish, and i think last year accepted 220? The letter did say it was a common status.

Does this seem logical? or am i being crazy in an attempt to make myself feel better?

Man, I really just want an acceptance.

I hope you are right because I am OOS.

 

[maceo12345]

Alright, I have a question for post interview holds: While the secretary at u maryland stated that our apps will be looked at next in May, the letter sent indicates that we are still under active consideration. This is a bit contradictory right?

 

[poohbear00]

nvm

 

[Pianoman32]

Is a pre-interview hold just a nice way of saying you're gonna be rejected? Or is there actually a chance of being interviewed?

 

[poohbear00]

Is a pre-interview hold just a nice way of saying you're gonna be rejected? Or is there actually a chance of being interviewed?

I don't know, I actually never received a pre-interview hold letter. I got U of M confused with another school. I haven't heard from them since I was complete in August. Did you get a hold letter?

 

[LQshvilli]

How do you know if your instate status has been confirmed?

I got a letter from the in state office or whatever that said you have been granted in-state status.

 

[Pianoman32]

I don't know, I actually never received a pre-interview hold letter. I got U of M confused with another school. I haven't heard from them since I was complete in August. Did you get a hold letter?

Hey, yeah this is what my letter said

.......
Dear Applicant:

The Committee on Admissions at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has made an initial review of your application but has not yet reached a final decision as to whether or not to invite you to interview. Please be assured that this situation is not an unusual one. The limited number of interview slots, the very large number of applicants and the competitive nature of the selection process this year have made many of our decisions very difficult. Your application has been placed on hold.

The Committee will periodically review your credentials and will notify you soon as a final decision has been reached. At that time you will either be invited to interview or you will be notified that the Committee on Admissions can not consider your application further.

Please keep in mind that this is a year long process. Interviews are conducted at the School of Medicine through the month of March. Therefore, you may not receive definitive notification regarding your status for some time. You are welcome to submit any additional significant information, or updates, in support of your application as you see fit. I assure you that any new information that you submit will be placed in your file. I do ask though that you keep all other inquiries to a minimum so that the Committee on Admissions can complete the task of selecting the next entering freshman class.

I thank you for your interest in the University of Maryland School of Medicine. I also appreciate your patience and wish you the best of luck!
...........

 

[poohbear00]

Hey, yeah this is what my letter said

.......
Dear Applicant:

The Committee on Admissions at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has made an initial review of your application but has not yet reached a final decision as to whether or not to invite you to interview.
...........

Thanks for the info. I wonder if they're actually still considering my application. haha

 

[jult24er]

Alright, I have a question for post interview holds: While the secretary at u maryland stated that our apps will be looked at next in May, the letter sent indicates that we are still under active consideration. This is a bit contradictory right?

I think so.

A current Maryland student explained this last year as - active consideration means just that, if you cure cancer, the admissions office will update their view of your application. Otherwise, expect to be reviewed again once interviews are over in May.

 

[dannyboy1]

I interviewed on nov. 24. Has anyone who interviewed then or later heard anything?

 

[Stixman28]

Anyone apply for the senatorial or representative scholarships? Id love to hear some advice one how the letter was done if you were successful.

Anything else would be appreciated.

 

[justapremed]

Any updates from Maryland? I've been on post-interview hold since mid-November... I just sent an update to Dr. Foxwell (as instructed on the post-I hold letter...) since I'm getting pretty nervous about the outcome of this app cycle 🙁 And I just received a really succinct note saying "I'll be sure that this gets added to your file"...

 

[nick_carraway]

Any updates from Maryland? I've been on post-interview hold since mid-November... I just sent an update to Dr. Foxwell (as instructed on the post-I hold letter...) since I'm getting pretty nervous about the outcome of this app cycle 🙁 And I just received a really succinct note saying "I'll be sure that this gets added to your file"...

In previous cycles, a post-interview hold typically led to a waitlist at the end of the interview season, which results in a rejection or acceptance based on waitlist movement.

In the past, the waitlist has moved ~10 individuals. When the waitlist is created, they'll tell you the section that you're in (top or bottom) with the note that those at the top obviously stand the best chance of acceptance.

All you can do now is wait, as there will likely be no news until the waitlist is generated.

Good luck!! I was in your shoes once and sent more letters than I probably should have.

 

[justapremed]

In previous cycles, a post-interview hold typically led to a waitlist at the end of the interview season, which results in a rejection or acceptance based on waitlist movement.

In the past, the waitlist has moved ~10 individuals. When the waitlist is created, they'll tell you the section that you're in (top or bottom) with the note that those at the top obviously stand the best chance of acceptance.

All you can do now is wait, as there will likely be no news until the waitlist is generated.

Good luck!! I was in your shoes once and sent more letters than I probably should have.

argh really?? and is this specifically true for maryland or other schools in general too?

 

[nick_carraway]

argh really?? and is this specifically true for maryland or other schools in general too?

No, what I wrote is specific to Maryland.

 

[cubssox2000]

I interviewed early November, and received a "recurring review" letter later that month, and haven't heard anything since then. Does the school do reviews monthly? Or are they just not updating these letters until May 15?

 

[justapremed]

I interviewed early November, and received a "recurring review" letter later that month, and haven't heard anything since then. Does the school do reviews monthly? Or are they just not updating these letters until May 15?

is this the "your app is still under active consideration but we haven't made a decision on your file yet" letter?

 

[cubssox2000]

is this the "your app is still under active consideration but we haven't made a decision on your file yet" letter?

Ya, that letter.

 

[justapremed]

Ya, that letter.

me too :-/

 

[sarahl86]

In previous cycles, a post-interview hold typically led to a waitlist at the end of the interview season, which results in a rejection or acceptance based on waitlist movement.

In the past, the waitlist has moved ~10 individuals. When the waitlist is created, they'll tell you the section that you're in (top or bottom) with the note that those at the top obviously stand the best chance of acceptance.

All you can do now is wait, as there will likely be no news until the waitlist is generated.

Good luck!! I was in your shoes once and sent more letters than I probably should have.

How do you get that figure if they accepted about 330 people for 160 slots last year? If people are holding multiple acceptances they aren't going to reject them until later on/probably last minute considering Maryland doesn't require a deposit...so that would mean that they have better waitlist movement than 10 people I would think.

 

[Stixman28]

How do you get that figure if they accepted about 330 people for 160 slots last year? If people are holding multiple acceptances they aren't going to reject them until later on/probably last minute considering Maryland doesn't require a deposit...so that would mean that they have better waitlist movement than 10 people I would think.

Ok, I dont profess to know much about how waitlists work but if UMD needs a class of 160, and they have given out 330 acceptances...

330-160= 170 people who can withdraw before they need to start taking people off the waitlist to make sure their class is the right size.

Im not sure if they assume that when someone is accepted off the waitlist if they willl attend. i.e. im not sure if they take ppl off the waitlist before of after they hit that magic 160 number.

In all reality 10 ppl off the waitlist does seem quite possible.

 

[chad5871]

How do you get that figure if they accepted about 330 people for 160 slots last year? If people are holding multiple acceptances they aren't going to reject them until later on/probably last minute considering Maryland doesn't require a deposit...so that would mean that they have better waitlist movement than 10 people I would think.

Well most schools usually over-accept knowing that some people will withdraw... maybe Maryland is just really good at predicting how many of its acceptees will eventually withdraw, but it seems more logical that maybe it was either the in-state or out-of-state waitlist that only moved 10 slots, not the entire waitlist overall.

 

[sarahl86]

Interesting...I'd hope that they are a rare exception in not being a school that over-accepts if they are already putting almost everyone on a post-interview hold.

Mine is up in 2 weeks. Damn.

 

[nick_carraway]

Well most schools usually over-accept knowing that some people will withdraw... maybe Maryland is just really good at predicting how many of its acceptees will eventually withdraw, but it seems more logical that maybe it was either the in-state or out-of-state waitlist that only moved 10 slots, not the entire waitlist overall.

Hm. I don't think that there are separate waitlists. The OOS/IS are treated equally post-interview according to last year's meeting with Dr. Foxwell.

The way I remember it, a letter sent to applicants on the waitlist said that they go down the waitlist and ask if the applicant will matriculate. If the answer is not yes (e.g. defer or no), then they move onto the next person on the list.

As for the 10 individuals/year, I got that number from either ladywolverine or from the letter that they sent last year... but I'm leaning toward the former.

 

[GolfMustang07]

In regards to the... We don’t have an answer for you right now letter.

Something doesn’t add up about this letter. It seems that numerous people are receiving this letter post interview. Almost anyone with below a 33 has received it. In years past Maryland has accepted nearly 66% of it’s instate interviews. So... something seems off. There has been far more hold's being reported on SDN than acceptances. I understand that SDN is not the entire population, but I don’t think as a group we are that big of an outlier. I have a feeling that this letter is a way for the admissions committee to "see what else they get", and eliminate rolling admissions. With that, I don’t think this letter should be viewed in a negative way. However, it is a bit inconvenient to have to wait until May. I would love to be able to plan where i am living.

 

[nick_carraway]

In regards to the... We don't have an answer for you right now letter.

Something doesn't add up about this letter. It seems that numerous people are receiving this letter post interview. Almost anyone with below a 33 has received it. In years past Maryland has accepted nearly 66% of it's instate interviews. So... something seems off. There has been far more hold's being reported on SDN than acceptances. I understand that SDN is not the entire population, but I don't think as a group we are that big of an outlier. I have a feeling that this letter is a way for the admissions committee to "see what else they get", and eliminate rolling admissions. With that, I don't think this letter should be viewed in a negative way. However, it is a bit inconvenient to have to wait until May. I would love to be able to plan where i am living.

One thing I found is that not a whole lot of SDNers apply to Maryland, or at least they don't talk about it.

The second thing I found is that people ask about holds, but don't ask about acceptances.

I would say that there's hope, obviously, if you're on a post-interview hold, but the letter is not as benign as you might think. The fact that you're almost guaranteed to be on a waitlist (see Maryland SOM's FAQ page) and that waitlist has relatively little movement makes the letter and the subsequent waitlist a very negative thing indeed.

 

[cubssox2000]

Well, I'm still hoping. I was just curious because I got the letter from the November review, but didn't hear anything from a December review. Did that happen to anyone else?

 

[luckyducky87]

Well, I'm still hoping. I was just curious because I got the letter from the November review, but didn't hear anything from a December review. Did that happen to anyone else?

I got the "hold" review in mid-Nov after an interview in late-Oct. I haven't heard anything from the school since.

I didn't even remember to check the UM website but as koko_eats mentioned, the FAQ says the following:

What does it mean when my application has been placed “On Hold” after my interview?
The Committee on Admissions will invite between 500 and 550 outstanding and highly qualified applicants for an interview this year. The Class size will be 155-160 students. We will accept approximately 300 applicants to fill the Class, give or take a few. Obviously, not every one who interviews can be accepted. The competitive nature of our applicant pool often makes it necessary to hold over some interviewed candidates for review again at a later date, after all applications have been reviewed and interviews are completed. This generally means that if you are in this category your application will not be reviewed again until April. At this point your application may be accepted, rejected or wait-listed. Given the fact that the class is usually filled at this time, you will most likely be placed on the Wait List.

This is really sad 🙁 But we can still wait and hope

 

[cubssox2000]

I got the "hold" review in mid-Nov after an interview in late-Oct. I haven't heard anything from the school since.

I didn't even remember to check the UM website but as koko_eats mentioned, the FAQ says the following:

What does it mean when my application has been placed “On Hold” after my interview?
The Committee on Admissions will invite between 500 and 550 outstanding and highly qualified applicants for an interview this year. The Class size will be 155-160 students. We will accept approximately 300 applicants to fill the Class, give or take a few. Obviously, not every one who interviews can be accepted. The competitive nature of our applicant pool often makes it necessary to hold over some interviewed candidates for review again at a later date, after all applications have been reviewed and interviews are completed. This generally means that if you are in this category your application will not be reviewed again until April. At this point your application may be accepted, rejected or wait-listed. Given the fact that the class is usually filled at this time, you will most likely be placed on the Wait List.

This is really sad 🙁 But we can still wait and hope

Thanks. I guess until then just have to wait for other schools to get back to me

 

[GolfMustang07]

I got the "hold" review in mid-Nov after an interview in late-Oct. I haven't heard anything from the school since.

I didn't even remember to check the UM website but as koko_eats mentioned, the FAQ says the following:

What does it mean when my application has been placed “On Hold” after my interview?
The Committee on Admissions will invite between 500 and 550 outstanding and highly qualified applicants for an interview this year. The Class size will be 155-160 students. We will accept approximately 300 applicants to fill the Class, give or take a few. Obviously, not every one who interviews can be accepted. The competitive nature of our applicant pool often makes it necessary to hold over some interviewed candidates for review again at a later date, after all applications have been reviewed and interviews are completed. This generally means that if you are in this category your application will not be reviewed again until April. At this point your application may be accepted, rejected or wait-listed. Given the fact that the class is usually filled at this time, you will most likely be placed on the Wait List.

This is really sad 🙁 But we can still wait and hope

I have read that before too... I understand what it says but the amount of people that are stating they have recieved this letter is pretty high. all most 3 times as high as people reporting acceptances...

How is that explained?

 

[nick_carraway]

I have read that before too... I understand what it says but the amount of people that are stating they have recieved this letter is pretty high. all most 3 times as high as people reporting acceptances...

How is that explained?

I don't mean for this to sound harsh, so forgive me if it does, but what would you expect? More acceptances than post-interview holds? What percentage would be more appropriate considering that the SDN sample size for Maryland applicants is a traditionally small number?

I wouldn't read too much into the fact that a lot of people report getting the letter; it feels much worse when you're the only one for months on SDN.

 

[luckyducky87]

I don't mean for this to sound harsh, so forgive me if it does, but what would you expect? More acceptances than post-interview holds? What percentage would be more appropriate considering that the SDN sample size for Maryland applicants is a traditionally small number?

I wouldn't read too much into the fact that a lot of people report getting the letter; it feels much worse when you're the only one for months on SDN.

At least for me, the slight confusion comes from the fact that UM says that it interviews ~500-550 applicants and accepts ~300 of them. That's just about 60% post-interview acceptance rate (which makes me even more sad that I didn't make this cut. Anyway...).

So... the fact that at least on SDN there are so many more holds than acceptances seems a little weird, unless they're pretty much holding the remaining 200-250 interviewees on hold until May (which seems very mean).

I know we're supposed to assume that SDN has a skewed population, but I usually assumed that it's "skewed" in a sense that (1) people would post about good news more than the bad news [ie. people with acceptances may get really excited and come here to post, whereas people with holds aren't as eager to do that], and (2) SDN people are (sometimes more neurotic and) more aware of the application procedure and therefore more "successful" in that sense? With Maryland, it seems to say the opposite of my impression of the "SDN population"... Or maybe I'm just assuming wrong things all over 😛

 

[nick_carraway]

At least for me, the slight confusion comes from the fact that UM says that it interviews ~500-550 applicants and accepts ~300 of them. That's just about 60% post-interview acceptance rate (which makes me even more sad that I didn't make this cut. Anyway...).

So... the fact that at least on SDN there are so many more holds than acceptances seems a little weird, unless they're pretty much holding the remaining 200-250 interviewees on hold until May (which seems very mean).

I know we're supposed to assume that SDN has a skewed population, but I usually assumed that it's "skewed" in a sense that (1) people would post about good news more than the bad news [ie. people with acceptances may get really excited and come here to post, whereas people with holds aren't as eager to do that], and (2) SDN people are (sometimes more neurotic and) more aware of the application procedure and therefore more "successful" in that sense? With Maryland, it seems to say the opposite of my impression of the "SDN population"... Or maybe I'm just assuming wrong things all over 😛

Disregarding the fact that the SDN population is a skewed sample, also keep in mind that it is a SMALL sample. Not only are there very few Maryland applicants on SDN, but I also assume that people post more about a hold than an acceptance (ostensibly, a hold should generate more discussion). Therefore, I think the mistake is in using SDN as a statistically meaningful pool when it is not one.

You shouldn't be surprised by a large number of holds on this site. It hardly means anything, in my mind. For all we know, 300 people could already be accepted or only 50 people have been accepted. The bottom line is that SDN only gives us trivia, but not any useful information and trying to pick apart this information is only going to drive you nuts.

All we know is that by the time the waitlist is generated, almost everyone who will be admitted has been admitted and this is evidenced by the very minor waitlist movement in years past.

I have trouble seeing where the confusion lies, but that may be more my fault than yours.

I wish you all the best of luck, but let's not think more than we have to. With Maryland, all you can do is wait.

 

[LucidSplash]

Ok, the deal is this:

-We don't reject that many people right after an interview. You have to be pretty terrible to get straight rejected on the first review right after your interview.
-Fewer than the eventual total 300-350 acceptances have been given out thus far; we interview through March and acceptances are given through March. I myself was accepted off a late February interview back in the day.
-A small population of people on hold will get acceptances before interviewing season is over and a small population on hold will get acceptances after interviewing season is over. Sometime between the end of March and before the waitlist is generated. These people will count in the acceptances column (and thus will count towards the cited 300-350 figure).
-Most others will go on the waitlist. Last year the waitlist was divided into top 50% and bottom 50% (as far as the letters). The two years before that it was split into thirds. So basically you'll get some general information about where you rank but you'll never know the actual rank.
-Your hold status is just that - a hold. Neither acceptance nor rejection nor waitlist.
-The waitlist moves very little because Dr. Foxwell has been doing this a long time and he's really good at getting the class close to filled to 160 with acceptances. Invariably we always end up with almost exactly the number needed to fill the class and we take very few off the waitlist to round it out.

I know it seems mystifying but I promise its pretty straight forward.

 

[luckyducky87]

Thanks for the info.

So really, if you are on a hold, you:
(1) will be one of the lucky few and hear back before the end of March
(2) will still be one of the lucky few and hear back b/w end of March and the generation of the waitlist
(3) but most likely, you will end up on the waitlist - which means that since there's little movement, don't hope too big.

So all in all, don't hope too much?!


What concerns me is that I haven't actually gotten in anywhere, and I really don't want to have to wait until April or later to figure out if I'm going to be reapplying in a month 🙁

 

[nick_carraway]

Thanks for the info.

So really, if you are on a hold, you:
(1) will be one of the lucky few and hear back before the end of March
(2) will still be one of the lucky few and hear back b/w end of March and the generation of the waitlist
(3) but most likely, you will end up on the waitlist - which means that since there's little movement, don't hope too big.

So all in all, don't hope too much?!


What concerns me is that I haven't actually gotten in anywhere, and I really don't want to have to wait until April or later to figure out if I'm going to be reapplying in a month 🙁

That was my problem too. Only reapply next year if enough things about your app will change, unless it was a major timing issue or extenuating factor this time around (e.g. too few schools)

Otherwise, take a year to improve your app before trying again. I know that it's frustrating but you have to plan for the worst.

EDIT: I just saw your MDapps. At least you have interviews! Hopefully one of them will come through for you 🙂

 

[LucidSplash]

Thanks for the info.

So really, if you are on a hold, you:
(1) will be one of the lucky few and hear back before the end of March
(2) will still be one of the lucky few and hear back b/w end of March and the generation of the waitlist
(3) but most likely, you will end up on the waitlist - which means that since there's little movement, don't hope too big.

So all in all, don't hope too much?!


What concerns me is that I haven't actually gotten in anywhere, and I really don't want to have to wait until April or later to figure out if I'm going to be reapplying in a month 🙁

Medical school applications is one of those situations where you need to plan for the worst and hope for the best. I'd start planning now for reapplication while still working it hard with the places you've interviewed and haven't gotten a response from. Start looking at your app, and determine where you can improve it between now and reapplying. Start doing these things NOW; if you can't improve your app in this timeframe, consider deferring reapplication a year and doing whatever it is you need to do to strengthen your app in that year. If you end up getting in, awesome you win. If not, you'll be ready to hit the ground running to reapply.

 

[luckyducky87]

That's really sad 🙁 I spent so much time for the past year working on these apps and constantly thinking about them... But I think I also know what my problem is. I'd really like to retake the MCAT because that was a particularly bad testing day for me... I know that I should have done much better in PS and I originally wasn't gonna apply this cycle but unde my parents' and premed advisor's urgings I just went ahead and applied this year... Maybe I'll just wait till Feb 1, see if I get accepted to VCU or NYU (I should hear back by then) and then decide about reapplying.

But why does UM keep everyone waiting for so long?? It sounds like if they interview you, they either accept you right away, or if.you're in the bottom 200 interviewees, you're in limboland until like May, if not longer. Why?! That's so cruel 🙁

 

[nick_carraway]

That's really sad 🙁 I spent so much time for the past year working on these apps and constantly thinking about them... But I think I also know what my problem is. I'd really like to retake the MCAT because that was a particularly bad testing day for me... I know that I should have done much better in PS and I originally wasn't gonna apply this cycle but unde my parents' and premed advisor's urgings I just went ahead and applied this year... Maybe I'll just wait till Feb 1, see if I get accepted to VCU or NYU (I should hear back by then) and then decide about reapplying.

But why does UM keep everyone waiting for so long?? It sounds like if they interview you, they either accept you right away, or if.you're in the bottom 200 interviewees, you're in limboland until like May, if not longer. Why?! That's so cruel 🙁

What was your MCAT score breakdown? If you genuinely believe that something was weird about your MCAT day, then you can retake it.

Keep your head up, though. You have a good number of interviews and it's relatively early with respect to post-interview decisions.

 

[30seconds]

Ok, the deal is this:

-We don't reject that many people right after an interview. You have to be pretty terrible to get straight rejected on the first review right after your interview.
-Fewer than the eventual total 300-350 acceptances have been given out thus far; we interview through March and acceptances are given through March. I myself was accepted off a late February interview back in the day.
-A small population of people on hold will get acceptances before interviewing season is over and a small population on hold will get acceptances after interviewing season is over. Sometime between the end of March and before the waitlist is generated. These people will count in the acceptances column (and thus will count towards the cited 300-350 figure).
-Most others will go on the waitlist. Last year the waitlist was divided into top 50% and bottom 50% (as far as the letters). The two years before that it was split into thirds. So basically you'll get some general information about where you rank but you'll never know the actual rank.
-Your hold status is just that - a hold. Neither acceptance nor rejection nor waitlist.
-The waitlist moves very little because Dr. Foxwell has been doing this a long time and he's really good at getting the class close to filled to 160 with acceptances. Invariably we always end up with almost exactly the number needed to fill the class and we take very few off the waitlist to round it out.

I know it seems mystifying but I promise its pretty straight forward.

I have a question for you Lucid being that you seem familiar with the admissions at UMB. I'm out of state, so does that basically jetset me out of that small population you were speaking of? I have good stats otherwise than the unfortunate foreigner status (35MCAT, 3.77GPA)...

 

[nick_carraway]

I have a question for you Lucid being that you seem familiar with the admissions at UMB. I'm out of state, so does that basically jetset me out of that small population you were speaking of? I have good stats otherwise than the unfortunate foreigner status (35MCAT, 3.77GPA)...

Dr. Foxwell said that OOS/IS are treated equally post-interview, but I yield to Lucid.

 

[GolfMustang07]

I don't mean for this to sound harsh, so forgive me if it does, but what would you expect? More acceptances than post-interview holds? What percentage would be more appropriate considering that the SDN sample size for Maryland applicants is a traditionally small number?

I wouldn't read too much into the fact that a lot of people report getting the letter; it feels much worse when you're the only one for months on SDN.

Well I don’t mean to sound harsh either, but when we look at simple math UMB accepts 210ish of its 350ish instate interviews. So if we evaluate those numbers we can see that we should expect to see more acceptances than post-interview holds. Is my reasoning skewed?

I also understand that SDN is small sample size. It may represent all applicants or it may not. From what i have observed, most posters on SDN are typically more qualified, and more educated applicants (Generalization). With that i would say that the sample is better than indicative. As for the "hold" being a topic of conversation and that is why there are so many reports of it, I do not see many people blowing up the acceptance thread with reports of gaining acceptance to Maryland. So i guess it is hard to say why there are so many reports of this "hold". I personally think that Maryland wants to see interview everyone before they make the majority of their acceptances. This could be wishful thinking... who knows. I am happy with where I am, I Hate that getting into med school is such a waiting game. I have been waiting for almost a year now.

The process is an enigma.

Go Ravens

 

[luckyducky87]

What was your MCAT score breakdown? If you genuinely believe that something was weird about your MCAT day, then you can retake it.

Keep your head up, though. You have a good number of interviews and it's relatively early with respect to post-interview decisions.

It was a 9-11-11. I've been getting 13's on my practice PS though. But with other issues that morning, I got a really bad start and almost no focus. I completely messed up on the first two gen chem questions that I should have done much better on, if only I was thinking straight. My ego was a bit hurt when I got my scores because I didn't realize I had done so terribly on the PS :-/

But anyway, I'm really praying that the general 3:1 ratio (an acceptance per 3 interviews) holds true for me... no... even just 5:1 or 6:1 is fine!

*Btw, my school list was waaaay off for my MCAT score. I was just hoping for a miracle I guess...

Well I don't mean to sound harsh either, but when we look at simple math UMB accepts 210ish of its 350ish instate interviews. So if we evaluate those numbers we can see that we should expect to see more acceptances than post-interview holds. Is my reasoning skewed?

That was a point I made before... I also don't know the answer though...

I personally think that Maryland wants to see interview everyone before they make the majority of their acceptances. This could be wishful thinking... who knows.

Oh that would be amazing.

 

[LucidSplash]

Well I don't mean to sound harsh either, but when we look at simple math UMB accepts 210ish of its 350ish instate interviews. So if we evaluate those numbers we can see that we should expect to see more acceptances than post-interview holds. Is my reasoning skewed?

Yes, your reasoning is skewed. A hold is neither acceptance nor rejection nor waitlist.

Just because you got a hold doesn't mean you won't get an acceptance. You are treating hold as a category you can be assigned to for statistical purposes, which excludes someone for the acceptance category. You can't. Its not hold OR acceptance. You have no idea how many holds you'd see given the acceptance stats because its not a number that is reported in those statistics and I doubt very much the Adcom actually tracks it.

 

[Bibbed]

-A small population of people on hold will get acceptances before interviewing season is over and a small population on hold will get acceptances after interviewing season is over. Sometime between the end of March and before the waitlist is generated. These people will count in the acceptances column (and thus will count towards the cited 300-350 figure).

Concerning that specific point. Do you happen to know about when that re-review of people on hold (prior to the end of the interview season) takes place?

I ask because there's not a large window of time between now and the end of March. And because there is a re-review of hold people right after the interview season (prior to waitlist generation), it would make sense that the first re-review isn't only a week or two before the second one. Do you follow my meaning? It's slightly confusing as I read it over. Sometime between now and mid-February (I'm ballparking here) would make the most sense to me. Any input on this Lucid?

 

[GolfMustang07]

Yes, your reasoning is skewed. A hold is neither acceptance nor rejection nor waitlist.

Just because you got a hold doesn't mean you won't get an acceptance. You are treating hold as a category you can be assigned to for statistical purposes, which excludes someone for the acceptance category. You can't. Its not hold OR acceptance. You have no idea how many holds you'd see given the acceptance stats because its not a number that is reported in those statistics and I doubt very much the Adcom actually tracks it.

I understand that completely. However, it has been said that it is not likely that this hold will turn into acceptance. Therefore many people on hold will not get accepted. So.... either the high percent of post interview holds reported on SDN are all in the 35% that get rejected post interview (assuming most hold dont turn into acceptance, as stated earlier), this is a just a very abnormal sample, or the school is giving out more of these post interview holds and thus will be accepting more off it to fill the class. This is assuming that the numbers interviewed and accepted stay true to past years.

 

[LucidSplash]

I understand that completely. However, it has been said that it is not likely that this hold will turn into acceptance. Therefore many people on hold will not get accepted. So.... either the high percent of post interview holds reported on SDN are all in the 35% that get rejected post interview (assuming most hold dont turn into acceptance, as stated earlier), this is a just a very abnormal sample, or the school is giving out more of these post interview holds and thus will be accepting more off it to fill the class. This is assuming that the numbers interviewed and accepted stay true to past years.

You really really can't go by SDN numbers. Back when my class (2010) was applying, there were like 8 of us on here who were accepted and posting up a storm in the class thread. The past 2 years, there's been very few accepted SDN peeps. This is a ridiculously small sample of self-selecting individuals who visit SDN.

Also I don't see where you get 35% rejections from; there's a lot of people waitlisted, and waitlists do not count as rejections. But it doesn't matter. Hold is a hold, most likely (statistically) a waitlist spot. But you never know. Some may think its "mean" but to be real, most people hold all their acceptances until May 15th anyway, so it doesn't matter very much if you find out earlier or later other than from an obsessive knowing every possibility right now or I will die viewpoint.

Please, everyone. Stop overthinking this stuff. As someone who was waitlisted the first time around and accepted the second time around, I can tell you I did not benefit one bit from any fretting and dissecting of the admissions process which I might have indulged in. I would have been better off reading a good book or sleeping or anything else.😀