2013-2014 Panic Thread

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Out of curiousity, is it kosher to ask schools about the status of your application? Especially if they've been silent for a few months.
 
T3ckFr3s said:
Out of curiousity, is it kosher to ask schools about the status of your application? Especially if they've been silent for a few months.
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Sure you can give them a call but 99.9% of the time, the answer will be "you will get an email when your status changes" or "The online portal shows your most up-to-date status".
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
Sure you can give them a call but 99.9% of the time, the answer will be "you will get an email when your status changes" or "The online portal shows your most up-to-date status".
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Yeah I figured. I sent in an update e-mail in November to some schools and I got responses saying that I should hear responses in 3-4 weeks. It's been 8 weeks and nothing haha
 
T3ckFr3s said:
Out of curiousity, is it kosher to ask schools about the status of your application? Especially if they've been silent for a few months.
Click to expand...

I asked UIC about it, they have admissions officers on Thursdays that you can speak with.. darnit I mean they have admissions officers on Thursday with whom you can speak. They said I'll hear something by January 6th.
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
So I was going through my neatly organized excel sheet with school I applied to, here is what I noted:

School Applied: 25
Pre-Interview Rejection: 5
Pre-Interview Hold: 3
Interview Invite: 4
- 3 of which have decision pending
- 1 Wait listed
Schools I have heard NOTHING FROM: 14

Some takeaways:
- Heard SOMETHING from 48% of the schools applied
- Interviews from 33% of the schools I heard from and 16% of total schools applied
- Have NOT heard anything from 56% of the schools applied!

This was done to make myself feel a little less panicky than for you guys but I though you guys might be interested.

My question for you guys: What percent of schools have you heard nothing from?
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100% silence. Trying not to be salty but I you've had four interviews, you're statistically likely to be accepted (the "1 in 3" stat)
 
QuiteAConundrum said:
100% silence. Trying not to be salty but I you've had four interviews, you're statistically likely to be accepted (the "1 in 3" stat)
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QuiteAConundrum, I am sorry if my post upset you. It was not my intention to come off as being ungrateful or upset anyone. On the contrary, I was trying to convey a sense of hope to all of us still waiting. While I agree that I am in a substantially better position than a lot of other people, not having an acceptance yet is just as stressful for me as it is for you. While I have been fortunate enough to get four interviews, those interviews have not been fruitful so far. I would MUCH rather have just one interview that leads to an acceptance than 10 interviews.

While, unfortunately, not had any good news yet, I hope 2014 ends up bringing you that coveted acceptance. Once again, I am sorry.
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
QuiteAConundrum, I am sorry if my post upset you. It was not my intention to come off as being ungrateful or upset anyone. On the contrary, I was trying to convey a sense of hope to all of us still waiting. While I agree that I am in a substantially better position than a lot of other people, not having an acceptance yet is just as stressful for me as it is for you. While I have been fortunate enough to get four interviews, those interviews have not been fruitful so far. I would MUCH rather have just one interview that leads to an acceptance than 10 interviews.

While, unfortunately, not had any good news yet, I hope 2014 ends up bringing you that coveted acceptance. Once again, I am sorry.
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Sorry if it came off as mean, I just meant that I am dying for just one II...and am confident that one of yours may well turn into an acceptance! You're already a step ahead. I can't even begin to worry about acceptances yet if I've yet to hear about an interview lol.

Best of luck to you!
 
T3ckFr3s said:
Out of curiousity, is it kosher to ask schools about the status of your application? Especially if they've been silent for a few months.
Click to expand...

After 3 months of waiting with a status that said that my app wasn't reviewed I called one place and the woman on the phone said she would put in a word with admissions that I called and told me to send a nice email to admissions stating my interest in the school and that my app wasn't reviewed. Like 2 business days later it went through preliminary review.

Note: I did this at a different school and they said that they contacted me 2 weeks prior about an invite, but I never responded. Apparently the invite was sent to an alternate email address (I'm pretty sure this almost never happens). Most places will say to check your online status or that they have a lot of applicants and they simply have not read your file yet, either way as long as you are polite on the phone it doesn't hurt.
 
Hey Everybody,

Going on six months of silence now for a number of schools. Unfortunately, it seems that only a couple of them are receptive to update letters. Is there anything else I can do to improve my chances at schools that don't accept updates?

Thanks,
Bill
 
BillrothI said:
Hey Everybody,

Going on six months of silence now for a number of schools. Unfortunately, it seems that only a couple of them are receptive to update letters. Is there anything else I can do to improve my chances at schools that don't accept updates?

Thanks,
Bill
Click to expand...

Aside from potentially adding a recent Letter of Rec, I don't think there is much you can do. Maybe if it's a really substantial update like a publication you can call and have them add that information to your file . They may or may not be receptive to that depending on the school. Make sure to check spam mail too.
 
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Thanks for the responses everyone and happy new year 🙂
 
Member954786 said:
Aside from potentially adding a recent Letter of Rec, I don't think there is much you can do. Maybe if it's a really substantial update like a publication you can call and have them add that information to your file . They may or may not be receptive to that depending on the school. Make sure to check spam mail too.
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Thank you. I do have some significant updates, but no publication as of yet. I guess I'll just have to continue hanging tight for the time being.

-Bill
 
So I had a quick thought, if accepted applicants decided to withdraw their acceptance before a school's finished interviewing. Do you guys think that results in more seats for those still interviewing or would that spot go to an applicant on the waitlist?
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
Today, We will all end up with new interviews! Or this week, 0r this month, or this year, WE'LL NEVER BE DOCTORS 🙁😢😢😢:bang::boom:

-> My thought process every F***ing day!
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I know the feeling 🙁
 
Most schools/admissions won't be starting up again until Monday, so just enjoy the weekend! In other news my first post-interview decision (rejection) will come back next Friday, so have to get mentally prepared for that (read: drunk).
 
TalinAagam said:
Today will be the day
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I read your post and liked it. A couple of hours later I heard my phone alert of a new email. Surely an interview invite! I even announced it as such to the person next to me in hopes of good mojo. Get to the phone, see that it's in the folder for e-mails from schools, ooooOoooo... and it's a rejection. LOL Well today was the day for something, I guess we had to be more specific.
 
ReadyToRumble said:
I read your post and liked it. A couple of hours later I heard my phone alert of a new email. Surely an interview invite! I even announced it as such to the person next to me in hopes of good mojo. Get to the phone, see that it's in the folder for e-mails from schools, ooooOoooo... and it's a rejection. LOL Well today was the day for something, I guess we had to be more specific.
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Ouch, sorry to hear that. What school was the rejection from?
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
Ouch, sorry to hear that. What school was the rejection from?
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Thanks. No worries, I'm just a little jumpy now though. Got another email and figured, "rejection!" and it was just some junk from Verizon. Clearly not going into a psychic career. School was NYU, pre-interview. The NYU thread shows that they sent out a lot of these today.
 
ReadyToRumble said:
Thanks. No worries, I'm just a little jumpy now though. Got another email and figured, "rejection!" and it was just some junk from Verizon. Clearly not going into a psychic career. School was NYU, pre-interview. The NYU thread shows that they sent out a lot of these today.
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NYU just rejected everyone they haven't interviewed yet (their season is over) so no worries you definitely weren't alone at all.
 
Boy am I glad to have found this thread!

Help me interpret this: at my last interview, my interviewer asked me if I've been interviewing at other schools, I said yes (just one). He said "good, the more schools you interview at, the greater the chance you'll get in." And he repeated this just before the end of the interview.

What does this mean?? Is he implying "no we're not gonna take you so keep interviewing" or is he simply just providing straight forward advice. I've been mulling over this for weeks. Did he just reject me already? During the interview? ahhhhhh what is going on
 
well at least soem of you have interviewed or gotten an interview invite. Applied to 27 schools. 5 pre rejections. 5 pre holds. 17 silence. I just know I am gonna be one of those ppl whose going to wake up some time this January or February with probably 10 to 15 automated rejections. Well theres about $3000 of apps down the drain, back to scrapping the fckin gutters to make up for all that money spent.
 
letmelookatthat said:
Boy am I glad to have found this thread!

Help me interpret this: at my last interview, my interviewer asked me if I've been interviewing at other schools, I said yes (just one). He said "good, the more schools you interview at, the greater the chance you'll get in." And he repeated this just before the end of the interview.

What does this mean?? Is he implying "no we're not gonna take you so keep interviewing" or is he simply just providing straight forward advice. I've been mulling over this for weeks. Did he just reject me already? During the interview? ahhhhhh what is going on
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I dont think there is any point in trying to decipher that statement. Think about it this way:

1) He was giving you unbiased and useful advise without at meaning behind it -> In this case, he seems like a very nice guy that is giving you some useful advise. Since he seems like a truly nice guy, it means he is probably going to be very fair in his evaluation of you.

2) He was giving you hints to not expect anything from that particular school -> In this case, realize that the admission committee is made up of about 15-20 people and your interviewer only represents one of those. The interview is not as important as we all seem to think. There are plenty of people that get accepted even after a bad interview. You just have to get majority of the admission committee on your side.
 
medschoolmyname said:
well at least soem of you have interviewed or gotten an interview invite. Applied to 27 schools. 5 pre rejections. 5 pre holds. 17 silence. I just know I am gonna be one of those ppl whose going to wake up some time this January or February with probably 10 to 15 automated rejections. Well theres about $3000 of apps down the drain, back to scrapping the fckin gutters to make up for all that money spent.
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Im sorry the cycle has not been very fruitful so far. Think about it this way, you still haven't hard back from over 60% of your schools! There is till hope. All it takes is one school to say Yes!
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
I dont think there is any point in trying to decipher that statement. Think about it this way:

1) He was giving you unbiased and useful advise without at meaning behind it -> In this case, he seems like a very nice guy that is giving you some useful advise. Since he seems like a truly nice guy, it means he is probably going to be very fair in his evaluation of you.

2) He was giving you hints to not expect anything from that particular school -> In this case, realize that the admission committee is made up of about 15-20 people and your interviewer only represents one of those. The interview is not as important as we all seem to think. There are plenty of people that get accepted even after a bad interview. You just have to get majority of the admission committee on your side.
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You are right, there isn't any point in deciphering his intent in that statement. What has happened has happened. But it's just like a mosquito bite that you have to scratch, even though scratching won't make it better. but I certainly hope it's (1)
 
I don't know why the post I tried to post came up weird, but yeah. If I wake up in the middle of the night I automatically check my emails. So far, just spam from Pizza Hut and grubhub 🙁
 
I'm personally feeling very nervous about my application. It's all done, but I'm scared about the rejection from all the universities I applied to.

I may have a 13/9/11 PS/VR/BS and a GPA between 3.8 and 3.9, but I'm worried that because my extracurriculars were mostly musical, that I would get rejected from University of Toronto and McMaster's medical school :/. What's worse is that they'll send out interview offers this month and February! The suspense! ;(
 
Checked my e-mail to see that I have been rejected by another school, then I woke up to realize it was a dream. The relief that it was just a dream!

We're nearing to the closing of the cycle. This is so brutal, I'm losing hope 🙁
 
goodguygreg said:
Let's be honest, at this point everyday without a rejection is a win!!
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Haha, I wish I were that optimistic! To me, every day that goes past just feels like another day tacked on to my 12+ silent rejections. I suppose I just like expecting the worst so that I can plan based off of that... and everything better than the worst is then awesome! 😉
 
Approaching full-out panic mode... applied to 23 - no interviews, 6 rejections, 3 holds, 2 small-pools, and 12 silences. Most of my secondaries were finished between mid-July and end of August, with a couple into mid-September. Is one interview too much to ask for?!?! =[ I reeeally don't want to have to re-take the MCAT and drop another boatload of money on application fees...
 
ilikeponies said:
Approaching full-out panic mode... applied to 23 - no interviews, 6 rejections, 3 holds, 2 small-pools, and 12 silences. Most of my secondaries were finished between mid-July and end of August, with a couple into mid-September. Is one interview too much to ask for?!?! =[ I reeeally don't want to have to re-take the MCAT and drop another boatload of money on application fees...
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I feel you. I have been on panic mode since forever, and now that it's January, it has only worsened. Likewise silence from the majority of the schools I applied to, except I applied to half as much as you did. I can't even begin to imagine what's it like when March comes, nothing has changed and I am still in this predicament, having to entertain the thought of reapplying.
 
I'm in the same boat 🙁 applied to 28, 5 rejections and silence from the rest. Is it safe to assume its a far shot for any II at this point? As for reapplying, I don't really know what to add to my application that will make me a more competitive applicant other than applying earlier, so there's that. *sigh* Panic-mode commence.
 
Just sent in a bunch of update letters! Hopefully, I can touch the Adcoms' hearts with my persuasive lingo. If not, I don't even know.
Wait. Wait. Waiting.
I feel like even one acceptance at this point would calm me a lot. Just one. Hopefully panicking on!
 
Just remember everyone, YOU ONLY NEED ONE. Those twelve silences that are piling up in the corner of your gmail account can't be viewed as rejections to-be, but rather a pool of possibilities. Just one of them has to say yes. The time to panic comes only when there is zero possibility left and I hate to break it to you Panic Thread '14, but the possibility will always be there.

A couple of anecdotes to ease your woes...

-I have a friend currently in her first year of med school who had to apply three times over five years with three different MCATs. Getting in was probably sweeter for her than anyone I know.
-Another friend of mine had already matriculated into a school and gone through orientation when she was pulled off a wait-list for another school on the other side of the country. That's right, pulled off in July/August.

Just breathe. (And stay off SDN as much as you can.)
 
Ugh, why can't waitlist acceptances be rolling alongside with interview acceptances.

Had an interview in October and November, will maybe hear back from WL schools in March and most probably in May. Or I won't hear anything at all and my cycle is officially over. This wait is killing me.
 
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Its not over yet guys. I received an II today from a school where I was placed on pre-interview hold. Unfortunately, the first date available for this particular school was in March. Ill be interviewing for a spot on WL but its still better than nothing.

Honestly, the reason I think I received this interview is because of the effort I made. I sent a Letter of Interest about a month ago and got a nice reply from the dean of admissions about sending in updates instead. I sent two semi-significant updates in one letter about a week ago which prompted the dean to reply that my file will be reevaluated soon (since I was on pre-interview hold). And today, I received an II almost exclusively based on the interest I showed.
 
gobigorgohome22 said:
Its not over yet guys. I received an II today from a school where I was placed on pre-interview hold. Unfortunately, the first date available for this particular school was in March. Ill be interviewing for a spot on WL but its still better than nothing.

Honestly, the reason I think I received this interview is because of the effort I made. I sent a Letter of Interest about a month ago and got a nice reply from the dean of admissions about sending in updates instead. I sent two semi-significant updates in one letter about a week ago which prompted the dean to reply that my file will be reevaluated soon (since I was on pre-interview hold). And today, I received an II almost exclusively based on the interest I showed.
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If you don't mind my asking, what school was this? My experience with updates is usually a reply stating that it will be added to my file.
 
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