2018-2019 Waitlist Support Thread

[foreverhopeful95]

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Has Davis reached out to the waitlist yet? I’m hoping to hear from another UC and it’s also silence so far.

Not that I know of [emoji24]

 

[southpaw3]

It's really annoying to see people get in off a waitlist and immediately say they're going to decline the acceptance...why did you stay on the WL in the first place then

This is a valid question, and perhaps to give you some perspective I'll share my experience. I was accepted to my top choice school and had 2 additional waitlists. My top choice school hasn't yet completed any of the on-boarding process (it will happen later this month), so there's still a chance that my admissions offer could be rescinded if for whatever reason there's an issue during this process. So, I stayed on my waitlists just in case there was an issue with my original school, BUT once I got accepted to one of my waitlist schools, I was informed that I only have 7 days to make a decision (and I will not have completed my top school's on-boarding process by then), which is why I gave up the seat. But had my top choice school fallen through after on-boarding and I got accepted to my WL school later on in the process, I would have been so grateful that I didn't give up my WL spot early on. So, although it seems totally black-and-white to you on your end of things, there is room for grey in this process. I know this doesn't alleviate any of your frustration with the whole process, but I did want to shed some light based on my particular situation.

I promise I relate to your feelings because I was in your position just a few short months ago (and I was begging for people to withdraw from schools they didn't want to attend), which is why I made sure to give up my second admissions offer as quickly as I could when I realized I wasn't going to be taking it. Hopefully you don't feel like banging your head against the wall quite as much as you did previously. Cheers and best of luck to you!

Edit: Attached is a screen shot from another SDN thread from April 7th corroborating my post. Trust me, I wanted to confidently withdraw from my waitlists, but I wasn't at that point yet. So there you have it! 🙂

 

[Kendren]

Man I’m sitting on only one WL At Wayne State, rejected everywhere else. but I hear it’s a good one to be on and that they tend to have a lot of movement. Nothing in the school specific thread yet so my soul isn’t crushed.....for now....

 

[nao3541]

Got the acceptance email today from a school I interviewed at in October and was waitlisted two days ago at! I am ecstatic! Hang in there everyone!

 

[1nside]

Man I’m sitting on only one WL At Wayne State, rejected everywhere else. but I hear it’s a good one to be on and that they tend to have a lot of movement. Nothing in the school specific thread yet so my soul isn’t crushed.....for now....

It is a good one to be on.

I re-wrote my PS to be way more clinically oriented than it was to make it more strongly relevant to medicine. I think my weakness was being too broad and generalized because of my non-trad background (probably not tying varied experiences into a career as a physician clearly enough) Post interview rejection feedback said my PS and Why Med probably was lacking. I re-wrote it to be more explicit and direct about what I am looking for as a career as a doctor that ties in with all my patient experiences. I don't think I took advantage of my patient stories enough except in more of my recent interviews which I'm WL on.

 

[Hass_Love_Fitness]

Got into my top choice this afternoon. It’s my only acceptance so far and beyond the moon.

 

[phillykat96]

Is there absolutely no scholarships or merit-based aid offered if one comes off the WL at a school? So unfortunate.

 

[annieb_baxter]

Just know you’re not alone. I came in with T20 level stats, a good story and some very unique ECs. I’m on 3 waitlists and have repeatedly sought advice for what I can do better. All I hear is “volunteer/shadow a little more.” I’ve been doing what’s seemingly been asked of me this year but honestly don’t think more shadowing is going to make me a better doctor.

Far more often than not things go right but I do believe for whatever reason good candidates can slip through the cracks each year. I guess we just have to try applying to different and/or more schools next time and hope that things go better.

I’m In the same boat. My GPA was freaking phenomenal, my MCAT was also very good. I volunteered at a medical clinic for 2 and a half years while in school. And I did research my last year and a half. Heck I was president of a sorority too. Post graduation I worked as a scribe and a CNA for a year in family medicine/ and the float pool. And now I’ve been working as a medical assistant in oncology for a year and a half. All whole continuing to volunteer in various ways. And I’ve shadowed tons so honestly o feel like the system is not fair. I know a girl who literally did nothing else other than get a 4.0 and be the student body president (no clinical experience whatsoever) and she got in. So the whole system is messed up. Sorry rant over.

 

[ReturnToMed]

I’m In the same boat. My GPA was freaking phenomenal, my MCAT was also very good. I volunteered at a medical clinic for 2 and a half years while in school. And I did research my last year and a half. Heck I was president of a sorority too. Post graduation I worked as a scribe and a CNA for a year in family medicine/ and the float pool. And now I’ve been working as a medical assistant in oncology for a year and a half. All whole continuing to volunteer in various ways. And I’ve shadowed tons so honestly o feel like the system is not fair. I know a girl who literally did nothing else other than get a 4.0 and be the student body president (no clinical experience whatsoever) and she got in. So the whole system is messed up. Sorry rant over.

inb4 someone comes in here and complains about your "entitlement"...

 

[annieb_baxter]

inb4 someone comes in here and complains about your "entitlement"...

I’m not sure how you think I’m entitled. I don’t think I am. I was just merely pointing out how the system works. I realize there are applicants who are far better than I am. I was just upset that there is a huge push for shadowing and clinical exposure and apparently that doesn’t always come into play. It’s just frustrating because I worked my butt off in school and after school to make myself competitive so it’s hard to hear no and to be stuck on a waitlist. I’m sure you can relate to that.

 

[965978]

inb4 someone comes in here and complains about your "entitlement"...

I’m not sure how you think I’m entitled. I don’t think I am. I was just merely pointing out how the system works. I realize there are applicants who are far better than I am. I was just upset that there is a huge push for shadowing and clinical exposure and apparently that doesn’t always come into play. It’s just frustrating because I worked my butt off in school and after school to make myself competitive so it’s hard to hear no and to be stuck on a waitlist. I’m sure you can relate to that.

@annieb_baxter I’m in the exact same position and I can definitely relate. But I taught myself to make it a learning experience. Rather can complaining I learned to deal with it by becoming a better applicant and pushing through and not losing hope. It’s extremely hard but it will make you so much stronger and when you finally get that acceptance you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead.

 

[phillykat96]

Can medical schools see the number of acceptances anyone has on their waitlist?

 

[965978]

Can medical schools see the number of acceptances anyone has on their waitlist?

No

 

[phillykat96]

No

Can medical schools only see if you have another acceptance if you decide to plan or commit to enroll on AMCAS?

 

[annieb_baxter]

I completely agree. That’s not enough anymore. I know people who didn’t even get any interviews. There’s so much time and money put into this and it’s extremely sad to see well qualified people not get accepted. And sometimes the mere fact of being ORM screws you. I will say I have been fortunate enough to have an acceptance even with being ORM. No acceptances at any of my state schools (the negative with being a Cali resident), but I’m thankful to be in somewhere. I also will say there is one part of me that makes me a “minority in medicine” in non racial aspects and I think that was an influence, but who knows. This is a crappy system in many ways and you can’t predict what will happen. But you are in a better place with 3 WL’s and your stats than some others. I hope things work out.

Thanks. I I applied to 15 schools and got two interviews. Two. I applied to the state schools wheee I currently live and the NY state schools where i lived my entire life up until a year ago. And I only got interviews at the state schools where I currently lived. It’s so crazy. Hope things work out for you too!

 

[Nova6218]

Thanks. I I applied to 15 schools and got two interviews. Two. I applied to the state schools wheee I currently live and the NY state schools where i lived my entire life up until a year ago. And I only got interviews at the state schools where I currently lived. It’s so crazy. Hope things work out for you too!

Well actually that’s not very much. Most people who apply do lots more. I applied to 26 MD and 10 DO. I overdid it with the DOs but 25+ is the recommended. I know money can make that difficult, but I put them all on credit cards (which I’m very far from paying off) because I wanted to go all out the first time.

 

[965978]

Can medical schools only see if you have another acceptance if you decide to plan or commit to enroll on AMCAS?

Correct

 

[983136]

My school specific thread has been silent... im not sure if it's because they havent pulled yet or people just didnt wanna post about it. This is so stressful

 

[deleted966008]

Correct

So if medical schools can see which applicants on the waitlist selected PTE or CTE, and it’s technically required by AMCAS to do so for those with an acceptance, can’t they simply deduce that anyone who doesn’t show up on the report likely has 0 acceptances?

 

[983136]

I just don't understand why they overcapacitate (is that even a word) the waitlist.... like they take a certain number of people and even IF all of them were to drop the school, the waitist number of a staggering 230 people would STILL overflow the spots. that makes no sense 😡


I'm waitlisted at 4 schools and i honestly think they just put anyone who got an interview on the waitlist i RARELY hear about rejections after an interview or am i missing something. If you dont want me just let me know pull the bandaid off dont keep me on a waitlist AHHHHHHHHH

 

[deleted966008]

I just don't understand why they overcapacitate (is that even a word) the waitlist.... like they take a certain number of people and even IF all of them were to drop the school, the waitist number of a staggering 230 people would STILL overflow the spots. that makes no sense 😡

Out of curiosity, which school is waitlisting 230 people? That is insane.

 

[Shammyguy3]

Out of curiosity, which school is waitlisting 230 people? That is insane.

New York Medical College waitlists about 250

 

[deleted966008]

New York Medical College waitlists about 250

Wow, I agree with the above poster then that 250 is superfluous and, especially if they don’t disclose rank, an unnecessary dollop of false hope.

 

[983136]

Out of curiosity, which school is waitlisting 230 people? That is insane.

Mercer... with no rank... fml

 

[deleted966008]

Mercer... with no rank... fml

That’s really doing a disservice to applicants in my opinion, especially if it’s their only waitlist as it prevents them from moving forward with gap year jobs when there is virtually 0 chance of acceptance at the bottom of that list.

 

[983136]

That’s really doing a disservice to applicants in my opinion, especially if it’s their only waitlist as it prevents them from moving forward with gap year jobs when there is virtually 0 chance of acceptance at the bottom of that list.

right absolutely ridiculous. and they insist that you are not ranked at all

 

[983136]

luck of the draw guys, we are all just numbers

 

[medschool19]

Would the new aamc rules affect waitlist movement?

 

[yeetbelikethat]

Would the new aamc rules affect waitlist movement?

Yeah but it’s not really clear how bc we’re the guinea pigs

 

[yeetbelikethat]

school I’m waiting on is unranked WL too [emoji24][emoji24] with up to 150 people on it [emoji24][emoji24] and generally 2-20 spots [emoji24][emoji24]

 

[deleted966008]

Yeah but it’s not really clear how bc we’re the guinea pigs

You’d have to think schools either:

a) waitlist more applicants
b) don’t change anything

Which schools are in which category? Anybody’s guess

 

[983136]

school I’m waiting on is unranked WL too [emoji24][emoji24] with up to 150 people on it [emoji24][emoji24] and generally 2-20 spots [emoji24][emoji24]

may the odds be ever in our favor

 

[OchemOficionado]

So if medical schools can see which applicants on the waitlist selected PTE or CTE, and it’s technically required by AMCAS to do so for those with an acceptance, can’t they simply deduce that anyone who doesn’t show up on the report likely has 0 acceptances?

The tool isn’t required by AMCAS at all. It’s only required if the schools require it. There are students that aren’t using it, Since this is the first year with the tool I wouldn’t think schools could correctly deduce much based on non usage.

 

[965978]

So if medical schools can see which applicants on the waitlist selected PTE or CTE, and it’s technically required by AMCAS to do so for those with an acceptance, can’t they simply deduce that anyone who doesn’t show up on the report likely has 0 acceptances?

AMCAS doesn’t require anything.@gyngyn has said this about a billion times over the past year.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Is there absolutely no scholarships or merit-based aid offered if one comes off the WL at a school? So unfortunate.

No, someone earlier today got accepted off the waitlist with a scholarship and posted in this thread. I'm too lazy to go back and find the post. (It may have been yesterday... but one of those.)

 

[Kendren]

Out of curiosity, which school is waitlisting 230 people? That is insane.

I haven’t heard of Wayne State rejecting anyone post interview. Could potentially be up to 700 people on that one who knows

 

[965978]

I just don't understand why they overcapacitate (is that even a word) the waitlist.... like they take a certain number of people and even IF all of them were to drop the school, the waitist number of a staggering 230 people would STILL overflow the spots. that makes no sense 😡


I'm waitlisted at 4 schools and i honestly think they just put anyone who got an interview on the waitlist i RARELY hear about rejections after an interview or am i missing something. If you dont want me just let me know pull the bandaid off dont keep me on a waitlist AHHHHHHHHH

Keep in mind that the number of people taking themselves off the waitlist is also occasionally very high. On MSAR, Albany reported that nearly ~150 people out of 200 said they didn’t want to be on the waitlist.

 

[983136]

Keep in mind that the number of people taking themselves off the waitlist is also occasionally very high. On MSAR, Albany reported that nearly ~150 people out of 200 said they didn’t want to be on the waitlist.

wow you gave me some hope

 

[meronebib]

Keep in mind that the number of people taking themselves off the waitlist is also occasionally very high. On MSAR, Albany reported that nearly ~150 people out of 200 said they didn’t want to be on the waitlist.

This is really school dependent though. I doubt a school like UCLA or Harvard would have the majority of people saying they don’t want to be on the waitlist.

 

[965978]

This is really school dependent though. I doubt a school like UCLA or Harvard would have the majority of people saying they don’t want to be on the waitlist.

The ratio of people on the waitlist for a T10 school compared to the entire applicant pool is extremely small.

But keep in mind that people still take themselves off the waitlists for top schools if they get into their top choice. Someone on the waitlist for WashU might remove themselves from the waitlist if they get into UCLA.

 

[ReturnToMed]

Do state schools usually have large waitlists?

 

[Luckofirish376]

What does MSAR provide a lot of details on waitlist movement? My membership expired but would consider renewing if it would be helpful during this

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yea I’m not part of the multiple acceptance group that’s in complete misery that their top choice hasn’t called yet 😆

Everyone’s situation is different. I know people with multiple acceptances, but taking one of them would mean spending 4 years away from their spouse, so the stakes are really high for getting off the waitlist at their top choices. You never really know what someone else’s situation is.

 

[deleted966008]

Agreed. Everything is relative. No shame in having an acceptance and really hoping for a better one - we’re all just here trying to create the best possible opportunities with what we have.

 

[M&L]

Plus what if you got accepted to expensive private school and waitlisted in your state school ? That is a BIG difference in money (was my case ).

 

[annieb_baxter]

Plus what if you got accepted to expensive private school and waitlisted in your state school ? That is a BIG difference in money (was my case ).

That’s where I’m at. I got accepted into a great program but it’s 5 hours away and double the price is the state school. And I’m married so I have to consider my husband. I’ll go if it’s my only choice but would prefer to hear from the school that’s an hour away!

 

[M&L]

That’s where I’m at. I got accepted into a great program but it’s 5 hours away and double the price is the state school. And I’m married so I have to consider my husband. I’ll go if it’s my only choice but would prefer to hear from the school that’s an hour away!

Yeah , exactly ! Good luck ! Hopefully it works out . What school is your state school , if you don’t mind me asking ?

 

[smallscrapes]

I really respect this group but I do think this group doesn't quite realize the gap between these two places.

1) why are you applying to places you don't actually want to go to? I've seen adcoms constantly advise against this here.

2) on one hand, you are already in a place where your dreams for your future are going to come true. On the other, there are people in this thread staring down another 6000 dollar app cycle to potentially be rejected again at the end of it and have nothing to show for it.

 

[annieb_baxter]

Yeah , exactly ! Good luck ! Hopefully it works out . What school is your state school , if you don’t mind me asking ?

I’m waitlisted at both University of Louisville and University of KY. I got I to a DO program in Chicago which is top ranked in the DO world but I want ortho so that’s another reason for me to want to stay on the WL and go MD

 

[annieb_baxter]

I really respect this group but I do think this group doesn't quite realize the gap between these two places.

1) why are you applying to places you don't actually want to go to? I've seen adcoms constantly advise against this here.

2) on one hand, you are already in a place where your dreams for your future are going to come true. On the other, there are people in this thread staring down another 6000 dollar app cycle to potentially be rejected again at the end of it and have nothing to show for it.

We apply everywhere because it’s so competitive. So maybe we have a top two but because the system is so messed up we have to apply elsewhere in order to even have a shot