2018-2019 Waitlist Support Thread

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Anyone willing to lookover my letter of interest?
 
gyngyn said:
Right now, being waitlisted may have more to do with the lack of traffic rules (and associated uncertainty) than the strength of your candidacy. Have courage.
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"Dialing drama down" I like the new tagline, @gyngyn :headphone:
 
gyngyn said:
Schools with a ranked waitlist could reasonably give you a rank but very few schools have a ranked waitlist...
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Our school used to have a tiered waitlist and there was a good deal of transparency to the applicants who were WL as to where they stood on the list. Though they were told that there were no guarantees in any given year, they seemed to appreciate knowing if there was a "good" vs "middling" vs "unlikely" chance they would get in off the WL. In general, spots were filled by looking to keep a balanced class, and most of the students in the top tier would be offered a WL spot before anyone in the middle tier - though there was some blurriness at the bottom of the top tier and the top of the middle tier. Occasionally, someone from the lowest tier - especially if in the area - would be offered a spot at the very last moment, as our school started relatively late, and there were often few appealing students in the top tiers still available, as most had already started at another medical school.

At even the top schools, there has traditionally been a good amount of pulling from the WL, as never want to make the mistake of accepting too many students initially. Therefore, it makes sense to be as "nice" as possible to the people on the WL, and transparency is one way of being nice. Our school stopped being so transparent, and the powers that be in the ADCOM office must have good reasons, but I know it is frustrating to the WL applicants. This year, especially, I am happy to be "just" an interviewer.
 
DrFortiusNatando said:
Our school used to have a tiered waitlist and there was a good deal of transparency to the applicants who were WL as to where they stood on the list. Though they were told that there were no guarantees in any given year, they seemed to appreciate knowing if there was a "good" vs "middling" vs "unlikely" chance they would get in off the WL. In general, spots were filled by looking to keep a balanced class, and most of the students in the top tier would be offered a WL spot before anyone in the middle tier - though there was some blurriness at the bottom of the top tier and the top of the middle tier. Occasionally, someone from the lowest tier - especially if in the area - would be offered a spot at the very last moment, as our school started relatively late, and there were often few appealing students in the top tiers still available, as most had already started at another medical school.

At even the top schools, there has traditionally been a good amount of pulling from the WL, as never want to make the mistake of accepting too many students initially. Therefore, it makes sense to be as "nice" as possible to the people on the WL, and transparency is one way of being nice. Our school stopped being so transparent, and the powers that be in the ADCOM office must have good reasons, but I know it is frustrating to the WL applicants. This year, especially, I am happy to be "just" an interviewer.
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Your post gives me hope . I have a WL for my IS school in top 1/3.... fingers crossed
 
so, two weeks to april 15, a month to movement day.... Between all of that i sort of forgot about school. Now, looking at the syllabuses for my classes, it hit me like a brick - my last exam in my whole undergraduate career is on May 10th... just 6 weeks from now... somehow this seems even more shocking than waiting for the movement day...
ok, back to studying for my Biochem 2 exam on monday... FML
 
Anyone know if UCD or UCSD will tell you about where you stand on their waitlists?
 
gyngyn said:
Many hands make light work of screening! Recruitment is entirely different.
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So by this you mean that getting to the II stage doesn’t predict getting the actual acceptance? Or that someone may get an II with no hope of actually getting in?
 
ClamShell said:
So by this you mean that getting to the II stage doesn’t predict getting the actual acceptance? Or that someone may get an II with no hope of actually getting in?
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Everyone who gets an II has SOME chance of getting in. But remember the @LizzyM staircase analogy. There are some people who are pretty far down the staircase for a given institution who are offered an interview - often because something peaks a reviewer's interest. Keep in mind that it is unlikely that the reviewer(s) who give approval for the interview invite will actually interview the applicant. Moreover, the applicant is still very far down the staircase when they come to interview, and barring hitting it out of the park during their interview, they have little chance of getting in.

And don't forget, there are always legacies/children and spouses of current faculty/research as well as assistants in prominent PI labs/ and other "courtesy" interview invites who often have almost no hope of getting in, due to their very low starting point on the staircase, who will often be invited as well.

Even a medical school with a 30% acceptance rate of their interviewees is still going to reject 70% of them. Some had every chance of getting in unless they bombed the interview (URIM, 526, 4.0 from Princeton, Navy SEAL). Some had a chance. Others never really had a realistic chance - the T20 application reader might have enjoyed something humorous in an essay, but in a reapplicant ORM with 508, 3.4 and few EC's, that good sense of humor won't be enough to gain an actual T20 acceptance at that school. The staircase is just too high in these cases.
 
DrFortiusNatando said:
Everyone who gets an II has SOME chance of getting in. But remember the @LizzyM staircase analogy. There are some people who are pretty far down the staircase for a given institution who are offered an interview - often because something peaks a reviewer's interest. Keep in mind that it is unlikely that the reviewer(s) who give approval for the interview invite will actually interview the applicant. Moreover, the applicant is still very far down the staircase when they come to interview, and barring hitting it out of the park during their interview, they have little chance of getting in.

And don't forget, there are always legacies/children and spouses of current faculty/research as well as assistants in prominent PI labs/ and other "courtesy" interview invites who often have almost no hope of getting in, due to their very low starting point on the staircase, who will often be invited as well.

Even a medical school with a 30% acceptance rate of their interviewees is still going to reject 70% of them. Some had every chance of getting in unless they bombed the interview (URIM, 526, 4.0 from Princeton, Navy SEAL). Some had a chance. Others never really had a realistic chance - the T20 application reader might have enjoyed something humorous in an essay, but in a reapplicant ORM with 508, 3.4 and few EC's, that good sense of humor won't be enough to gain an actual T20 acceptance at that school. The staircase is just too high in these cases.
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How many people see your application before an II decision is made? I’ve heard at Dartmouth it’s only two people. At some others I’ve heard it go as high as 6.

I assume it might also vary within the same school. Some applicants might get their application only looked at by 2 people because there is no question that this applicant should get an interveiw (or the sadly opposite case that the applicant is no doubt a reject). But there might be a small to medium sized group of applicants that need to be looked at by more people.
 
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SideDoorAdmissions said:
It's not a joke, but with all the smart people signing up for our services, we sure are laughing all the way to the bank!
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Well I don’t actually need help... already accepted. But have fun scaming vulnerable people out of money.
 
SideDoorAdmissions said:
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Can vouch, for only 175 low payments of $999.99 SideDoorAdmissions helped me get into my dream school in the beautiful Caribbean islands.
 
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anyone know of anyone getting in off of just one waitlist? lol really in need of some hope here
 
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ClamShell said:
How many people see your application before an II decision is made? I’ve heard at Dartmouth it’s only two people. At some others I’ve heard it go as high as 6.

I assume it might also vary within the same school. Some applicants might get their application only looked at by 2 people because there is no question that this applicant should get an interveiw (or the sadly opposite case that the applicant is no doubt a reject). But there might be a small to medium sized group of applicants that need to be looked at by more people.
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At our school, beginning in the summer, the tippy top students may be invited by just one head person on ADCOM. The bulk of the people are invited based on a couple of readers who are very experienced at looking at the applications. I do not think that any application is looked at by 6 people, pre-interview.
 
I think I’m gonna give myself until May 10 before I start putting together my re-app. I’ve been preparing for it all along activity-wise but writing a new PS and filling out a new AMCAS application is just too painful for me right now 😳
 
ClamShell said:
I think I’m gonna give myself until May 10 before I start putting together my re-app. I’ve been preparing for it all along activity-wise but writing a new PS and filling out a new AMCAS application is just too painful for me right now 😳
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please remind me, what WL are you on?
 
Sitting on 2 waitlists now, still need to hear back from 1 school
 
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Adding my name to our support thread! 1 early & spectacularly awful OOS interview + 1 absolutely amazing top-choice IS interview = 2 waitlists. It ain't over til it's over, so trying to keep my head up, but like @ClamShell , I don't think I can bear creating a whole new PS in earnest yet.
 
jordij94 said:
It only takes one, I’m rooting for you fam.
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OchemOficionado said:
Yup, happens all the time. Hang in there.
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thanks sdn fam i really appreciate it. feel like i'm a strong fit for the school, but they are low yield. we'll just have to see.

contrary to @ClamShell and @HelloMello912 i have completely revamped my PS. I think that and my school list were both kinda trash. but unfortunately i've been having a tough time finding new ECs, which worries me.

hopefully we all just get in and can put this all behind us!
 
hboats said:
thanks sdn fam i really appreciate it. feel like i'm a strong fit for the school, but they are low yield. we'll just have to see.

contrary to @ClamShell and @HelloMello912 i have completely revamped my PS. I think that and my school list were both kinda trash. but unfortunately i've been having a tough time finding new ECs, which worries me.

hopefully we all just get in and can put this all behind us!
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How many interviews did you get this year? My interviewers liked my PS and I know for a fact that most of my lack of success this cycle was due to a couple of significant weaknesses in my activities.
 
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ClamShell said:
How many interviews did you get this year? My interviewers liked my PS and I know for a fact that most of my lack of success this cycle was due to a couple of significant weaknesses in my activities.
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just one. very disappointed.

that's great that you've been able to continue to prep with filling the gap with new ECs! I thought my ECs were pretty good. probably a little low on nonclinical volunteering so i've been trying to bump that up. when i got admissions feedback the lady i spoke with said there was nothing wrong with my application, it just came down to sheer volume of apps and that schools in-state preference. thanks lady lol.
 
asdfwelldoit said:
Do you think that this cycle in particular would have more waitlist movement than average given the new traffic rules
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The thought is that some schools are WLing more due to traffic rules. If it is true that they are accepting less and WL more then more waitlist movement after a certain day makes sense. Only at the schools that actually practiced it though.
 
OchemOficionado said:
The thought is that some schools are WLing more due to traffic rules. If it is true that they are accepting less and WL more then more waitlist movement after a certain day makes sense. Only at the schools that actually practiced it though.
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There’s no way you can actually know which schools are WLing more than normal. Guessing that’s the case at Feinberg since gyngyn mentioned it? If true, I wonder if it also pertains to other T20s or just mid-low tier MDs.
 
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OchemOficionado said:
The thought is that some schools are WLing more due to traffic rules. If it is true that they are accepting less and WL more then more waitlist movement after a certain day makes sense. Only at the schools that actually practiced it though.
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One of the schools I interviewed at mentioned they were being extremely conservative. So fingers crossed thats the truth.
 
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