*** 2018-2019 MD/PhD cycle - Questions, Comments, and other things ***

[mstprooting4everyoneblack]

From the point of view of the applicants, this is what I think is the best to do:
a) If you have NO acceptances - then, every program that has not rejected you is your top program (unfortunately, for us).
b) If you have at least 1 acceptance - then, clearly indicate in your LOI that while you have a MD/PhD (MSTP) acceptance(s), however, program X remains your top dream program because ...

As indicated above, the LOI should be truthful, and if you already have an acceptance, you shouldn't be writing to everybody but only to your top dream destination. Now, the real issue is if you are split between 2 or 3 programs, and you are waitlisted in both. I don't have a good answer for that...

I personally don't believe that you can't exclude one program out of 4 or more acceptances... that, in my view, is immaturity (keep in mind, that we all were immature at one point, and sporadically this trait is on, at times, when someone push our buttons). Serious reflection should be able to narrow the field to 2-3 programs at most.

Good luck to everyone...

Wonder about @Fencer and anyone else's thoughts about writing a LOI to a program I'm waitlisted at: if I'm holding two acceptances at similarly ranked schools, should I say so? Or could it be taken the wrong way to include that my acceptances are at similarly ranked programs, and just stick to I am holding acceptances but am confident X is the best fit for me.
Thanks!

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[vaticrunner]

@Fencer quick question. After narrowing things down, I am currently at 2A's and 1 WL. I am fairly certain that I want to commit to one of my acceptances, which has an optional summer rotation. If I wanted to start the summer rotation in May and take a little vacation before med school starts, should I withdraw off the wait list 21 days before the May start date, which would roughly coincide with the April 30th day to drop all acceptances except 1.

 

[Fencer]

The AAMC traffic rules suggest that schools should not mandate Commit to Enroll (i.e.: closing your recruitment and withdrawing from other acceptances and/or waitlists) until "at most" 21 days prior to orientation or first official school activity. A quick internet search of admission websites show that schools and programs took the 3-week suggestion as another deadline. It could be one week or other time. It is up to the school.

@vaticrunner
If you are already sure about something, don't procrastinate and make it known. You could do that today...

@Joycenadine1174
I wouldn't be making comparisons of programs in LOIs. I would say something like:
"... while I have two other MSTP (or MD/PhD or MD) acceptances, I believe that program X is better suited for me because of ..."

 

[faerie62]

Is there any other steps we need to take within the AMCAS portal to withdraw from a program, besides emailing them?
Sorry if this is a dumb question...

 

[Fencer]

An email is a formal communication between a program and an applicant. It is all that is needed. Just make sure to copy the Program Director and the Administrative Director/Program Coordinator.

 

[DaGhost]

Is there a date by which schools are required to tell you your status post-II (accepted, waitlisted, or rejected)? If not, when is a good time to throw in the towel?

 

[Fencer]

Another week in the 2019 cycle... Brief update as of admission actions by Friday 03/15/19 (overnight sync to today) for the 2019 AMCAS MD/PhD cycle (Changes since 03/08 admission actions).

This is the BEST result for each individual applicant (WA or AC is better than Active/Looking, which is better than Rejected - PW, PR, RJ).

Total MD/PhD Applicants ----------- 1766 (-1)
Withdrawn BEFORE AC ---------------------- 6 (+1)
Rejected --------------------------------- 1066 (-1)
Actively seeking (not RJ) ----------------- 694 (-1)
At least 1 MD/PhD AC ---------------- 634 (+10) PAST 6-year average 774
Withdrawn AFTER AC ------------------------ 14 (+1)
Defer to a future class ----------------------- 1 (0)
Currently MD/PhD Accepted -------------- 619 (+9)
Still looking for a MD/PhD position - 60 (-11)

Let's hope that applicants keep making their choices among acceptances. Although historical standards might not be fully applicable to this weird cycle, we should be expecting at least 100 additional "first" MD/PhD acceptances among applicants who were interviewed. The past 6-year average has been a total of 774 applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance (range is 749-791 applicants - see post #225 of this thread).

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

At least 1 MD/PhD AC ---------------- 634 (+10) PAST 6-year average 774
Still looking for a MD/PhD position - 60 (-11)

Let's hope that applicants keep making their choices among acceptances. Although historical standards might not be fully applicable to this weird cycle, we should be expecting at least 100 additional "first" MD/PhD acceptances among applicants who were interviewed. The past 6-year average has been a total of 774 applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance (range is 749-791 applicants - see post #225 of this thread).

Might this mean programs will likely be waiting incredibly last minute (both for the program and the applicant) to extend acceptances that are likely to turn into matriculations, only to also run out of candidates they have deemed qualified to fill slots? There are only 60 people left that haven’t been marked as completely rejected, but don’t have a single acceptance, who assumably will be accepted (most likely very late... perhaps even after the new cycle starts), yet something like 100 more acceptances that will need to be given to fill all the seats. That is an unfortunate sounding scenario. I wonder how PDs will behave in anticipation of this. Curious if there was any way to prevent this despite the new trafficking rules.

 

[kepler16b]

Might this mean programs will likely be waiting incredibly last minute (both for the program and the applicant) to extend acceptances that are likely to turn into matriculations, only to also run out of candidates they have deemed qualified to fill slots? There are only 60 people left that haven’t been marked as completely rejected, but don’t have a single acceptance, who assumably will be accepted (most likely very late... perhaps even after the new cycle starts), yet something like 100 more acceptances that will need to be given to fill all the seats. That is an unfortunate sounding scenario. I wonder how PDs will behave in anticipation of this. Curious if there was any way to prevent this despite the new trafficking rules.

If you look at Fencer's posts from previous cycles, these numbers are actually pretty normal for this point.

For instance:
2016-2017 MD/PhD applications - General Questions Thread

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

If you look at Fencer's posts from previous cycles, these numbers are actually pretty normal for this point.

For instance:
2016-2017 MD/PhD applications - General Questions Thread

It’s unclear to me from this if having 60 people left in the pool at this point to select from for those inevitable late acceptances is pretty normal. For comparative purposes, what would the “still looking for a MD/PhD position” number be in this particular post you cited? The format is obviously a bit different

 

[kepler16b]

It’s unclear to me from this if having 60 people left in the pool at this point to select from for those inevitable late acceptances is pretty normal. For comparative purposes, what would the “still looking for a MD/PhD position” number be in this particular post you cited? The format is obviously a bit different

I believe it is "NO FINAL ACTION".

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

I believe it is "NO FINAL ACTION".

Assuming that’s correct, 2 weeks later (which is significant during this highly active mid March to mid April time period) than our current cycle, there were still 22 more people left in the pool (“NO FINAL ACTION” = 82), or 37% more. He also stated, at that time, “there will be another 125 applicants who will be receiving their first MD/PhD acceptance,” as opposed to now, for this cycle 2 weeks earlier, there only being 100.

 

[kepler16b]

Assuming that’s correct, 2 weeks later (which is significant during this highly active mid March to mid April time period) than our current cycle, there were still 22 more people left in the pool (“NO FINAL ACTION” = 82), or 37% more. He also stated, at that time, “there will be another 125 applicants who will be receiving their first MD/PhD acceptance,” as opposed to now, for this cycle 2 weeks earlier, there only being 100.

So, you're suggesting that adcoms are being more aggressive with acceptances this year? I'm not sure if that's the case. I think part of that is explained by the ~6% drop in applicants this year, while the rest is just noise.

Wrt your first question about the discrepancy between the numbers of students left vs the number of expected acceptances, some of these will come from deferrals from previous cycles and some will be taken from the rejected pile.

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

So, you're suggesting that adcoms are being more aggressive with acceptances this year? I'm not sure if that's the case. I think part of that is explained by the ~6% drop in applicants this year, while the rest is just noise.

Wrt your first question about the discrepancy between the numbers of students left vs the number of expected acceptances, some of these will come from deferrals from previous cycles and some will be taken from the rejected pile.

I never said that. I was just pulling out the data that shows there were 25% more acceptances to be given to 37% more applicants still available.

Edit: just saw you added a second paragraph in your response. Thanks for the info. It sounds like they will be accepting more deferrals or initially categorized rejects this year compared to prior years perhaps

 

[kepler16b]

I never said that. I was just pulling out the data that shows there were 25% more acceptances to be given to 37% more applicants still available.

Fencer's guess of 100 more acceptances is just that- a guess. There's no difference in him saying 100 this year and 125 two years ago.

My point is that you really can't really read into these differences much because the numbers are truly quite similar and subject to a lot of noise.

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

Fencer's guess of 100 more acceptances is just that- a guess. There's no difference in him saying 100 this year and 125 two years ago.

My point is that you really can't really read into these differences much because the numbers are truly quite similar and subject to a lot of noise.

Okay. In your opinion, having 60 people left at this point is or is not noteworthy?

 

[Fencer]

Programs are operating in the dark, and are using the premises/assumptions that worked in the past. Despite our blind spot on other acceptances for this cycle, it is moving at about the same speed as in prior years. The pool of applicants this year is slightly smaller. I suspect that at the end of the cycle, we will have a smaller class of matriculants. People might blame the new blind spot and/or the smaller size of the pool. If you have more than 3 acceptances, you should consider dropping some of them based upon your personal research interests. There are terrific environments on many MSTPs with "smaller" name but consistent results. The system will be completely open (people will know what you have) on April 30th. Hang on... What matters is just to get into a program, and then pursue your research with passion.

 

[klucket2]

Some interesting comparisons from this point in the cycle last year to this year, and my two cents as an applicant who hounded PDs on interviews about their feelings regarding new traffic rules:

Last year at this time, of the applicants that had not been rejected from everywhere they applied (applicants who hold acceptance(s), are wait-listed, or are waiting to hear back from all their interviews, ie applicants that are "still in play"), 95% of them had at least 1 acceptance. This year only 90% of the "still in play" applicants had at least 1 acceptance. So this cycle 5% fewer of the "still in play" applicants hold at least one acceptance. We're already past the deadline for programs to send out at least as many offers as they have slots to fill. In my mind this difference could be due to a number of things, including statistical noise that I'm overthinking, schools are taking longer to communicate decisions to applicants and more people haven't received a decision from all their interviews, or programs are wait-listing more applicants because of the new traffic rules to give themselves a bigger "safety net" come April 30th. Based on what I've been hearing from PDs I met on interviews and from Fencer's analysis this whole cycle, I think the later possibility is the most likely one. Worst case scenario for PDs is over-enrolling a class and having more accepted students decide to matriculate than they have spots/funding in their program. Because PDs weren't able to see where applicants already held acceptances when they were making admissions decisions like they could in previous cycles, they chose to be conservative with their offers and wait-list more applicants. On April 30th when applicants have to narrow down their offers to just one, this very large curtain is going to be pulled back virtually overnight. There's going to be this massive domino effect because of applicants who held multiple acceptances but can ultimately only attend 1 program. The best thing we can do as applicants, as Fencer has been reiterating, is to narrow acceptances if you hold a few to ensure that this whole things goes as smoothly as possible.

 

[Beebee12]

Does anybody know what to think about not hearing from schools after interview? I interviewed at 2 schools (one in november and one in january) and haven't heard anything from either school. Is it common for schools to put you on a waitlist without notifying you of it, or should i interpret this as a silent rejection? Also would it be weird to call and ask the schools about my status? I don't really have any reason I need to know before April 30th other than my own peace of mind and I don't want to be annoying but it would be a huge relief to know whether or not I still have a chance at those schools.

 

[raysearch]

Does anybody know what to think about not hearing from schools after interview? I interviewed at 2 schools (one in november and one in january) and haven't heard anything from either school. Is it common for schools to put you on a waitlist without notifying you of it, or should i interpret this as a silent rejection? Also would it be weird to call and ask the schools about my status? I don't really have any reason I need to know before April 30th other than my own peace of mind and I don't want to be annoying but it would be a huge relief to know whether or not I still have a chance at those schools.

I also have not heard anything from a school I interviewed in November. I called the MSTP office last week and they said if I don't hear anything by the 15th then call again, so I think at this point it is reasonable to inquire.

 

[peanutbuttercup24]

Does anybody know what to think about not hearing from schools after interview? I interviewed at 2 schools (one in november and one in january) and haven't heard anything from either school. Is it common for schools to put you on a waitlist without notifying you of it, or should i interpret this as a silent rejection? Also would it be weird to call and ask the schools about my status? I don't really have any reason I need to know before April 30th other than my own peace of mind and I don't want to be annoying but it would be a huge relief to know whether or not I still have a chance at those schools.

I'm in the same boat at 4 schools (still...). I was thinking of calling this week or next just for peace of mind.

 

[klucket2]

I'm in the same boat at 4 schools (still...). I was thinking of calling this week or next just for peace of mind.

I called the admissions office of a program I interviewed at in November and haven't heard anything from. They told us at the interview that we should hear something by early February, but it's been silence. The women who answered the phone in admissions only had the ability to log into their system and see that I haven't been mailed anything regarding a decision, so she told me to contact admissions via email with my question about my application status. I think calling to ask, and then emailing if that's what they recommend you do is totally fine. Either they reply to your email or they don't because they're actually still making decisions.

EDIT: I also just emailed the PD directly, because it's been a few days since I emailed the general med school admissions email address like the person on the phone recommended and I'm getting antsy.

 

[drdreyman]

Hey Sonhos, I also went to community college and am now applying MD-PhD. You can message me with any questions you have and I’ll do my best to help you. I have a pretty similar story to climbsrox with some minor differences. Most notably, I didn’t figure out I wanted to do this whole research and doctoring thing until pretty late in my college career. So maybe I can offer a different perspective .

May I DM?

 

[Purple squid]

May I DM?

Of course!

 

[Fencer]

Another week in the 2019 cycle... Brief update as of admission actions by Friday 03/22/19 (overnight sync to today) for the 2019 AMCAS MD/PhD cycle (Changes since 03/15 admission actions). This is the BEST result for each individual applicant (WA or AC is better than Active/Looking, which is better than Rejected - PW, PR, RJ).

Total MD/PhD Applicants ----------- 1766 (0)
Withdrawn BEFORE AC ---------------------- 6 (0)
Rejected --------------------------------- 1058 (-8)
Actively seeking (not RJ) ---------------- 702 (+8)
At least 1 MD/PhD AC --------------- 642 (+8) PAST 6-year average 774
Withdrawn AFTER AC ---------------------- 16 (+2)
Defer to a future class ------------------------ 1 (0)
Currently MD/PhD Accepted ------------- 625 (+7)
Still looking for a MD/PhD position -- 60 (0)

As expected, the week after the deadline for every school to extend their minimum number of acceptances as they plan to enroll, has been relatively quiet. The next 3 weeks, accepted applicants are doing their 2nd visits. Hopefully, after doing two of those 2nd visits, applicants make a binary decision between the two locations AND communicate the decision to the school withdrawing after acceptance. We understand that you might find another program that aligns better with you. That is the only way that we can make this cycle move well. Despite communicating personally with our most of our accepted applicants, we are still blinded. We can't over-enroll. As a group, MD/PhD programs are conservative ... On April 15, applicants must reduce to no more than 3 acceptances. We might need earlier deadlines for MD/PhD programs in the future. Let's hope that applicants keep making their choices among acceptances. Although historical standards might not be fully applicable to this weird cycle, we should be expecting at least 100 additional "first" MD/PhD acceptances among applicants who were interviewed. The past 6-year average has been a total of 774 applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance (range is 749-791 applicants - see post #225 of this thread).

 

[klucket2]

@Fencer If there are only 60 actively seeking applicants that have yet to receive an acceptance, than how will there be 100 additional 1st MD/PHD acceptances? Where will the other 40 come from?

 

[Fencer]

People who currently are rejected in the system. Some of them who interviewed might have been rejected by the admission committees, but haven't been informed. Please notice that the 8 acceptances this past week appeared to come from people who were in the rejected pool. The actively seeking group consists of several statuses including AL (alternate) and IN (interview), but also NA (No Action), Hold (HO), Request Secondary (RS). Those whose best placement is AL and IN are very small groups of 5 and 6 applicants, respectively.

 

[Typatt50]

@Fencer is it advantageous to reach out to a PD personally of a program your waitlisted at to reiterate that there program is your top choice? I got wl’ed a month ago and don’t really have an update but I wanted to reiterate my strong interest.

 

[raysearch]

@Fencer is it advantageous to reach out to a PD personally of a program your waitlisted at to reiterate that there program is your top choice? I got wl’ed a month ago and don’t really have an update but I wanted to reiterate my strong interest.

and related to this question.... how often should you reach out to programs? if you only want to say you remain very interested (and don't have any significant updates) should you wait until at least April 15th when there may be movement? I am just wondering if we say we are very interested now will PDs still keep us in mind 4-6 weeks from now, or should we reiterate interest (and if so how frequently)?

 

[Fencer]

Thursday April 11 and 25... not sure... these are two guesses a few days prior to deadlines. An alternative is April 4 and 25. Probably not more frequent than that...

 

[Purple squid]

People who currently are rejected in the system. Some of them who interviewed might have been rejected by the admission committees, but haven't been informed. Please notice that the 8 acceptances this past week appeared to come from people who were in the rejected pool. The actively seeking group consists of several statuses including AL (alternate) and IN (interview), but also NA (No Action), Hold (HO), Request Secondary (RS). Those whose best placement is AL and IN are very small groups of 5 and 6 applicants, respectively.

Are you saying that there are only 6 applicants in the post-interview-but-not-accepted category? If so, I didn't realize my situation was so unique.

 

[kepler16b]

Are you saying that there are only 6 applicants in the post-interview-but-not-accepted category? If so, I didn't realize my situation was so unique.

Fencer has noted that schools differ in their usage of the AMCAS reporter, so you could really be in any category. However, assuming schools are using the tool as it is intended, 60 people are in your position (still looking) across AL (alternate), IN (interview), RJ (rejection), or other.

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

Is there any way we can get a sense for whether there has been appreciable waitlist movement yet? Whether that be withdrawals from waitlists or extensions of acceptances? I was also wondering if someone could clarify exactly what happens on April 30th- how does what adcoms see change?

 

[klucket2]

Is there any way we can get a sense for whether there has been appreciable waitlist movement yet? Whether that be withdrawals from waitlists or extensions of acceptances? I was also wondering if someone could clarify exactly what happens on April 30th- how does what adcoms see change?

April 30th is the deadline for applicants to go on the Chose Your Med School tool on the AMCAS website and narrow down their offers to 1 program that they plan on attending. Many people will be turning down several other offers on this date. So on the morning of May 1st, program directors will know who is planning on attending their program and who was accepted but decided to go somewhere else. Based on how many people they accepted, how many people are planning on attending, how many more people they need to fill the class etc, May 1st is when they will likely start moving to their waitlist.

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

April 30th is the deadline for applicants to go on the Chose Your Med School tool on the AMCAS website and narrow down their offers to 1 program that they plan on attending. Many people will be turning down several other offers on this date. So on the morning of May 1st, program directors will know who is planning on attending their program and who was accepted but decided to go somewhere else. Based on how many people they accepted, how many people are planning on attending, how many more people they need to fill the class etc, May 1st is when they will likely start moving to their waitlist.

Thank you! So is it still as a group, i.e. “I have people that have committed to enroll,” or is it on an individual basis?

 

[klucket2]

Thank you! So is it still as a group, i.e. “I have people that have committed to enroll,” or is it on an individual basis?

After April 30th they will know exactly who is committing or planning to enroll. "Committing" means that as an applicant you have declined all other offers, you have removed your name from any waitlists you're on, and you're 100% going to that med school. "Planning" means you've turned down all other offers, but you are allowed to keep your name on wait lists, and if you're accepted off the waitlist you're allowed to accept that offer and go there instead.

 

[Fencer]

Every school/program will be different. They used a different strategy. Some might find that they over-enrolled, some will find that severely under-enrolled by being too conservative. This is the first time for us, PDs, in the CYMS-era... we will see how it goes... Hopefully, however, applicants will start making decisions after 2nd visits. Although the deadline is April 30, there is nothing that prevents you from making a decision a week or two earlier than that.

 

[klucket2]

Every school/program will be different. They used a different strategy. Some might find that they over-enrolled, some will find that severely under-enrolled by being too conservative. This is the first time for us, PD, in the CYMS-era... we will see how it goes... Hopefully, however, applicants will start making decisions after 2nd visits. Although the deadline is April 30, there is nothing that prevents you from making a decision a week or two earlier than that.

@Fencer Absolutely. Hopefully people with multiple acceptances are only going to 2-3 or so 2nd visits and not 4-6. I've heard of applicants who have multiple second visits on the same weekend who are trying to go to the first half of one visit and the second half of the other. At that point though, are you really going to get a good feel for the school if you're missing half of their scheduled events and are rushing all over Texas or the East Coast to attend these things? I'm hoping people can be smart and decisive and have already narrowed it down to 2-3 programs.

 

[immunoHERstochemistry]

After April 30th they will know exactly who is committing or planning to enroll. "Committing" means that as an applicant you have declined all other offers, you have removed your name from any waitlists you're on, and you're 100% going to that med school. "Planning" means you've turned down all other offers, but you are allowed to keep your name on wait lists, and if you're accepted off the waitlist you're allowed to accept that offer and go there instead.

So they will have actual names listed next to whether an acceptee has chosen commit or plan? How about waitlisted applicants?

 

[klucket2]

Yes

So they will have actual names listed next to whether an acceptee has chosen commit or plan? How about waitlisted applicants?

Yes, actual names of who is committing, planning, or has declined the offer to go somewhere else. For waitlisted applicants, the only information they have is anything you have told them about in an update letter or LOI, ie some people chose to mention in their LOI that they hold other offers but XYZ school is still my top choice, or XYZ school is my top choice and I have no other offers, etc.

 

[doctordoctorhopeful]

I have been following this forum for a while, but this is my first post.
@Fencer you have given some valuable insight over the past year, I am wondering if I might ask your opinion (anyone else please weigh in).


My situation is as follows:
1 MD/PhD program states I am under active consideration/ I am also MD waitlisted there
1 MD/PhD program states I am waitlisted
1 MD/PhD program states they will notify me in early April
1 MD/PhD program states they have made offers that they believe will be accepted (I am not one of the offers)

1 MD first tier waitlist at instate institution (was denied for MD/PhD interview)
1 MD denied (was denied for MD/PhD interview)

I sent updates to all in Jan/Feb. The MD/PhD program that states I am under active consideration is by far my first choice (and I am also waitlisted MD there). In my update, I told them they were my first choice. I had a fantastic interview day there and many of my interviewers indicated that they would like me there.

My questions:

1)I know you don’t have a crystal ball and you have not read my application in full, but based on your experience and the numbers you are seeing this year, do you think I have a better than 50% chance of getting an offer (MD/PhD or MD)? I will say that the program that stated they will notify me in April does not seem feasible to me. I have come to learn they have little to no funding in my area of research, minimal leadership, and the morale of PIs and current MD/PhD candidates felt extremely low when I was there.

2) I will likely have a research update (upcoming publication), which I will update MD/PhD apps. Would this be an appropriate update for MD only or will it make them feel like I am more of a physician-scientist? I ask this because I was told that my MD rejection came because my application, while very highly regarded, felt too-research oriented for MD.

3) Is there anything more I can do other than updates right before April 15th and April 30th (as you indicated in an earlier post) to reach out to my first choice?

3) If I were to be admitted MD only (which I would gratefully accept), what is the likelihood of me being able to transfer/re-apply to MD/PhD at that school? In your experience, is this common or is it unrealistic for me to envision it as a possibility?

4) If I end up having to reapply, my plan would be to reapply to my top two/three choices from this round or would that be a mistake?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This has been a journey.

 

[looptheloop]

@Fencer Absolutely. Hopefully people with multiple acceptances are only going to 2-3 or so 2nd visits and not 4-6. I've heard of applicants who have multiple second visits on the same weekend who are trying to go to the first half of one visit and the second half of the other. At that point though, are you really going to get a good feel for the school if you're missing half of their scheduled events and are rushing all over Texas or the East Coast to attend these things? I'm hoping people can be smart and decisive and have already narrowed it down to 2-3 programs.

Full disclosure that I am not doing what you described (going to half of one visit and half of another) but, in defense of those who are, I think that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do if you really are trying to decide between those two schools. I agree that one should be able to narrow down their choices to 2-3 (if someone is going to more than that then I have a hard time believing it's because they seriously couldn't eliminate some choices), but second visits are valuable and this is a big decision. At a more abstract level, it is also a nice reward to reap -- having your choice of programs -- for those applicants that are in that position, and I am of the opinion that it should be enjoyed as such. My stance is that one should feel no shame in attending, and should feel justified in doing whatever he or she needs to do in order to attend, any and all revisits at schools they are seriously considering (which, again, can't reasonably be more than 3). That seems sufficiently considerate to other applicants without compromising said person's ability to choose to their liking.

 

[Fencer]

I have been following this forum for a while, but this is my first post.
@Fencer you have given some valuable insight over the past year, I am wondering if I might ask your opinion (anyone else please weigh in).


My situation is as follows:
1 MD/PhD program states I am under active consideration/ I am also MD waitlisted there
1 MD/PhD program states I am waitlisted
1 MD/PhD program states they will notify me in early April
1 MD/PhD program states they have made offers that they believe will be accepted (I am not one of the offers)

1 MD first tier waitlist at instate institution (was denied for MD/PhD interview)
1 MD denied (was denied for MD/PhD interview)

I sent updates to all in Jan/Feb. The MD/PhD program that states I am under active consideration is by far my first choice (and I am also waitlisted MD there). In my update, I told them they were my first choice. I had a fantastic interview day there and many of my interviewers indicated that they would like me there.

My questions:

1)I know you don’t have a crystal ball and you have not read my application in full, but based on your experience and the numbers you are seeing this year, do you think I have a better than 50% chance of getting an offer (MD/PhD or MD)? I will say that the program that stated they will notify me in April does not seem feasible to me. I have come to learn they have little to no funding in my area of research, minimal leadership, and the morale of PIs and current MD/PhD candidates felt extremely low when I was there.

2) I will likely have a research update (upcoming publication), which I will update MD/PhD apps. Would this be an appropriate update for MD only or will it make them feel like I am more of a physician-scientist? I ask this because I was told that my MD rejection came because my application, while very highly regarded, felt too-research oriented for MD.

3) Is there anything more I can do other than updates right before April 15th and April 30th (as you indicated in an earlier post) to reach out to my first choice?

3) If I were to be admitted MD only (which I would gratefully accept), what is the likelihood of me being able to transfer/re-apply to MD/PhD at that school? In your experience, is this common or is it unrealistic for me to envision it as a possibility?

4) If I end up having to reapply, my plan would be to reapply to my top two/three choices from this round or would that be a mistake?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This has been a journey.

PM me to follow up the discussion. If your upcoming publication has been accepted, send that update today to everyone who has not rejected you (MD and MD/PhD). Even if it is accepted with revisions... attach the email from the editor.

 

[Fencer]

Another week in the 2019 cycle... Brief update as of admission actions by Friday 03/29/19 (overnight sync to today) for the 2019 AMCAS MD/PhD cycle (Changes since 03/22 admission actions). This is the BEST result for each individual applicant (WA or AC is better than Active/Looking, which is better than Rejected - PW, PR, RJ).

Total MD/PhD Applicants ----------- 1766 (0)
Withdrawn BEFORE AC ---------------------- 6 (0)
Rejected --------------------------------- 1047 (-11)
Actively seeking (not RJ) ---------------- 713 (+11)
At least 1 MD/PhD AC --------------- 655 (+13) PAST 6-year average 774
Withdrawn AFTER AC ---------------------- 18 (+2)
Defer to a future class ------------------------ 2 (+1)
Currently MD/PhD Accepted ------------- 635 (+10)
Still looking for a MD/PhD position -- 58 (-2)

As expected, the second week after the deadline for every school to extend their minimum number of acceptances as they plan to enroll, has been relatively quiet, but there is a steady stream of additional first-time acceptances. The next 2 weeks, accepted applicants continue doing their 2nd visits. Hopefully, after doing two of those 2nd visits, applicants make a binary decision between the two locations AND communicate the decision to the school withdrawing after acceptance. We understand that you might find another program that aligns better with you. That is the only way that we can make this cycle move well. Despite communicating personally with our most of our accepted applicants, we are still blinded. We can't over-enroll. As a group, MD/PhD programs are conservative ... On April 15, applicants must reduce to no more than 3 acceptances. We might need earlier deadlines for MD/PhD programs in the future. Let's hope that applicants keep making their choices among acceptances. Although historical standards might not be fully applicable to this weird cycle, we should be expecting at least 80-100 additional "first" MD/PhD acceptances among applicants who were interviewed. The past 6-year average has been a total of 774 applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance (range is 749-791 applicants - see post #225 of this thread).

 

[MSTPadvocate]

We have 7 students holding 5+ acceptances, and 4 holding 4 acceptances. There's a long way to go here as applicants like this figure out eventually they can only go to one school.

 

[klucket2]

We have 7 students holding 5+ acceptances, and 4 holding 4 acceptances. There's a long way to go here as applicants like this figure out eventually they can only go to one school.

This sounds very annoying for you guys, but admittedly is making me hopeful for the waitlist movement I'm praying for at my top choice program, which probably has students with lots of acceptances like your students.

 

[Lucca]

Anyone else frantically looking for potential housing in two totally different locations because they don’t know where they are going yet and might have to move across the country in May. Because I am. It would be much simpler if I was single and could just live wherever.

 

[nocturnal_premed]

does anyone happen to know Northwestern’s start date

 

[PursuingHappy]

does anyone happen to know Northwestern’s start date

Not sure but in my acceptance email, it says that there is a required research rotation the summer before med school starts.

 

[klucket2]

For people that have already been on 2nd looks, how much "background research" did you do beforehand on each of the PIs that you met with? Just enough so that you could ask them relevant questions about their research? Or read one of their most recent publications so you can can really get into it and have specific questions?