2019-2020 SUNY - Downstate

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I think that all AL/WL have the possibility of being soft Rs. It’s basically limbo and we really didn’t get anywhere in terms of actual movement. All they did was make the shadow waitlist official. Now we just gotta wait for people to maybe or maybe not drop from DS like any other WL. People may be waitlisted for other schools that they may want to attend more than DS and are just waiting on that movement. So let’s hope we get good news in the future
 
LarsWorld said:
I think that all AL/WL have the possibility of being soft Rs. It’s basically limbo and we really didn’t get anywhere in terms of actual movement. All they did was make the shadow waitlist official. Now we just gotta wait for people to maybe or maybe not drop from DS like any other WL. People may be waitlisted for other schools that they may want to attend more than DS and are just waiting on that movement. So let’s hope we get good news in the future
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Yeah the AL is sort of a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst." There's definitely room for movement, especially since WL movement has been slow in general this cycle and so current DS acceptees may get off elsewhere and so withdraw from DS. However, this is of course not guaranteed. And while all of you are surely fantastic students, and will all make excellent physicians, not everyone will get off the AL. I'm not sure how their AL works, but I speculate it isn't a ranked AL and so what they do is when someone withdraws they find a similar applicant to take their place, based on metrics such as SES, demographics, MCAT, GPA, or something else. This is of course just speculation.

The month of May will probably get the most movement, so definitely hold out hope, but if you're currently sitting on no acceptances it would also be prudent at the same time to reassess and see what future steps you need to take.

Just remember, if you made it this far it's because Downstate knows you'll make an excellent physician, so congratulations <3
 
meddical said:
Does anyone know where the form is we're supposed to submit with our phone number and address for the AL?
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they didn't provide a form, they sent the same Alt list words as they did for the 2019 class and they did have a form they needed to fill out. from what it seems we just gave our answer in the portal
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Yeah the AL is sort of a "hope for the best, prepare for the worst." There's definitely room for movement, especially since WL movement has been slow in general this cycle and so current DS acceptees may get off elsewhere and so withdraw from DS. However, this is of course not guaranteed. And while all of you are surely fantastic students, and will all make excellent physicians, not everyone will get off the AL. I'm not sure how their AL works, but I speculate it isn't a ranked AL and so what they do is when someone withdraws they find a similar applicant to take their place, based on metrics such as SES, demographics, MCAT, GPA, or something else. This is of course just speculation.

The month of May will probably get the most movement, so definitely hold out hope, but if you're currently sitting on no acceptances it would also be prudent at the same time to reassess and see what future steps you need to take.

Just remember, if you made it this far it's because Downstate knows you'll make an excellent physician, so congratulations
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To add on to this, even if there will be movement it will be relatively small, especially that it was created 1wk after traffic day where students already committed to other schools/got off other waitlists...

Nonetheless, best of luck to everyone!! Especially those literally are still in silence
 
pmd567 said:
Last years thread does have a few alt lists after traffic day who were accepted shortly after so it might not be the soft R some of you think
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Again, this cycle completely different.

The crazy in me counted how many of yall got the Alt List email. There were more than 20 SDNers who got it. This would mean that the real list is actually huge, maybe even 100+.. Gonna be hard to see movement but hopefully I am hella wrong
 
Didi anyone find out how do we accept the alt list offer? It says to email back the enclosed response form. ????
 
Throwing in my 2 cent hypotheses.

New traffic rules + New admission policies for DS+ Step 1 pass/fail+ Covid19 have created a difficult situation for DS.


I recall seeing LizzyM post about how top students being more likely to CTE at higher prestige schools due to step 1 being pass/fail now. All med schools are going to choose top students first, regardless of how plausible it is that they will attend, in order to boost their own prestige. A lot of people write about how they want to serve the underserved and while that may be true, I believe a large portion are only comfortable doing so from within the walls of rich hospitals. Add to that NYC is Covid central. Can you imagine being the head of an adcom and opening up your schools data on May 1st and discovering how few ppl PTE'd to your school? After deciding to have your initial decision dates in feb and then a deadly crisis hit your city 1 month later?

I hypothesize that the 2024 class is severely underfilled and DS is having severe admin issues due to all of the above reasons. The alt email didnt even have the form we needed to send back. Thus, they sent out alt list positions in order to gauge student's interest so they can offer As more strategically instead of sending them out only to be withdrawn 5 days later. Its already late in the game and having to wait 5 days for each batch of acceptees to decide is going to waste a lot of time. At this point last year, people on alt lists already had to begin acceptance checklists in case they were accepted. I believe the adcom is in a difficult spot right now and trying to keep it together.


Again, all speculation.
 
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Hey Everyone!

I've been watching from the sidelines this forum for a looooong time now. I finally decided to make an account and contribute to the great vibes! I've been hesitant to make an account previously because of the stigma that SDN is a toxic place, but this forum is far from it.

Anyway, I wanted to provide some speculation for those that haven't heard back about the AL (I haven't heard back either). I was getting ready to start my reapplication and saw this on the AAMC website.
1588865285744.png


Since the website is down it might be possible that Downstate's acceptance emails might be tied to the AAMC services and that it might have delayed any correspondence from those of us who haven't heard back. Obviously, this is kind of a stretch but I've been desperate to be optimistic lol. I'm sitting on two other WLs and it's looking like I might need to reapply.

This is not to say that those who received ALs are soft rejections. Clearly, nobody really knows but just trying to view things from a different perspective.

FYI-- Interviewed in mid-January.
 
ElloMellowYellow said:
Throwing in my 2 cent hypotheses.

New traffic rules + New admission policies for DS+ Step 1 pass/fail+ Covid19 have created a difficult situation for DS.


I recall seeing LizzyM post about how top students being more likely to CTE at higher prestige schools due to step 1 being pass/fail now. All med schools are going to choose top students first, regardless of how plausible it is that they will attend, in order to boost their own prestige. A lot of people write about how they want to serve the underserved and while that may be true, I believe a large portion are only comfortable doing so from within the walls of rich hospitals. Add to that NYC is Covid central. Can you imagine being the head of an adcom and opening up your schools data on May 1st and discovering how few ppl PTE'd to your school?

I hypothesize that the 2024 class is severely underfilled and DS is having severe admin issues due to all of the above reasons. The alt email didnt even have the form we needed to send back. Thus, they sent out alt list positions in order to gauge student's interest so they can offer As more strategically instead of sending them out only to be withdrawn 5 days later. Its already late in the game and having to wait 5 days for each batch of acceptees to decide is going to waste a lot of time. At this point last year, people on alt lists already had to begin acceptance checklists in case they were accepted. I believe the adcom is in a difficult spot right now and trying to keep it together.


Again, all speculation.
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Yes, unfortunately due to transition of Step 1 being P/F, now residencies will look at school prestige. However, in terms of DS,it produces wonderful residents (from what I heard). And most DS graduates match in NYC, so these hospitals are already aware of how great DS students are regardless of score. So the connections DS has will still be strong (I hope). It is scary and imposter syndrome is hella real and will get to us when we compare ourselves to people who got into T20 schools.

However, through my experience, if there’s a will , I swear there’s a way, even if we aren’t Harvard Med students.. i promise. We gotta work work work hard for it.
 
techytechy said:
Yes, unfortunately due to transition of Step 1 being P/F, now residencies will look at school prestige. However, in terms of DS,it produces wonderful residents (from what I heard). And most DS graduates match in NYC, so these hospitals are already aware of how great DS students are regardless of score. So the connections DS has will still be strong (I hope). It is scary and imposter syndrome is hella real and will get to us when we compare ourselves to people who got into T20 schools.

However, through my experience, if there’s a will , I swear there’s a way, even if we aren’t Harvard Med students.. i promise. We gotta work work work hard for it.
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Yeah if your goal is to stay in NYC (which I think many DS applicants have the goal of), then you wont be held back by the fact it's not a T20 for sure. NYC knows DS trains excellent physicians.
 
How many people didn't get any email yesterday - can you like this message? I also didn't get one.

Seems like a decent amount of people didnt get notified of alt list status, which leads to me think it is not indicative of anything and rather that decisions are being sent out in batches. If there is only a small subset that are still in silence maybe it means something...
 
StudentDrAnon123 said:
View attachment 305495

Since the website is down it might be possible that Downstate's acceptance emails might be tied to the AAMC services and that it might have delayed any correspondence from those of us who haven't heard back. Obviously, this is kind of a stretch but I've been desperate to be optimistic lol. I'm sitting on two other WLs and it's looking like I might need to reapply.
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I am clinging on to this theory with every last shred of hope since i'm in the same boat... Thank you :bow:
 
Since I don't have much to do during quarantine I decided to go back through this thread and tally up all of the decisions reported up until this point (5/7 1:04 PM EST):

Total # Accepted: 52
Accepted and Withdrew: 15
Post II R: 9
Alt-List: 31

This means a total of 107 decisions have been reported here on SDN. Take this as you will. Personally, I have yet to hear anything after my interview in March.
 
dogcathorsedog said:
How many people didn't get any email yesterday - can you like this message? I also didn't get one.

Seems like a decent amount of people didnt get notified of alt list status, which leads to me think it is not indicative of anything and rather that decisions are being sent out in batches. If there is only a small subset that are still in silence maybe it means something...
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Sure, but just send it all at once. Why has someone from Sept. not heard back yet, but people from March got the ALs. I dont see the logic between AL batches esp. this late. We need to know a decision, CTE deadlines around the corner lol
 
skil436598 said:
Since I don't have much to do during quarantine I decided to go back through this thread and tally up all of the decisions reported up until this point (5/7 1:04 PM EST):

Total # Accepted: 52
Accepted and Withdrew: 15
Post II R: 9
Alt-List: 31

This means a total of 107 decisions have been reported here on SDN. Take this as you will. Personally, I have yet to hear anything after my interview in March.
Click to expand...

Now we can speculate on what it means. Are people more likely to report that they've been accepted on SDN than withdrawn? What about rejections?

I feel like ALs are likely to be reported more so than anything else mainly because it's the end of the cycle and it's sort of a chaotic movement, so people are more likely in a frenzy. I think people are least likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Acceptance is in the middle.

This is just my speculation of course.
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Now we can speculate on what it means. Are people more likely to report that they've been accepted on SDN than withdrawn? What about rejections?

I feel like ALs are likely to be reported more so than anything else mainly because it's the end of the cycle and it's sort of a chaotic movement, so people are more likely in a frenzy. I think people are least likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Acceptance is in the middle.

This is just my speculation of course.
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I agree! Posting a rejection or withdrawal isn’t as common. But posters on this thread have been very nice about letting us know
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Now we can speculate on what it means. Are people more likely to report that they've been accepted on SDN than withdrawn? What about rejections?

I feel like ALs are likely to be reported more so than anything else mainly because it's the end of the cycle and it's sort of a chaotic movement, so people are more likely in a frenzy. I think people are least likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Acceptance is in the middle.

This is just my speculation of course.
Click to expand...


Yeah I feel like people are less likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Also just multiplying everything by a factor of 4 (not sure where this # came from but..meh I feel like at least 1 out of 4 people seems to either check sdn or monitor it from people I have interacted with) ..

Potentially overall inside SDN and outside combined:

Total # Accepted: ~210
Accepted and Withdrew: ~60
Post II R: ~36
Alt-List: ~120

Just complete speculation though

EDIT: My minds are stuck in limbo and anything is possible. #wyaDS
 
lalano1230 said:
Yeah I feel like people are less likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Also just multiplying everything by a factor of 4 (not sure where this # came from but..meh I feel like at least 1 out of 4 people seems to either check sdn or monitor it from people I have interacted with) ..

Potentially overall inside SDN and outside combined:

Total # Accepted: ~210
Accepted and Withdrew: ~60
Post II R: ~36
Alt-List: ~120

Just complete speculation though

EDIT: My minds are stuck in limbo and anything is possible. #wyaDS
Click to expand...
Now considering almost 1000 people interview, whats happening to the rest of the people. we are farther from where we were to getting answers
 
audere-est-facere said:
Now considering more than 6000 people apply, whats happening to the rest of the people. we are farther from where we were to getting answers
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Well that info really only applies to people who have interviewed, which is closer to 1000. But still, to make it add up would require different factors based off likelihood of SDN response, but would still need to add up to a 1000
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
Well that info really only applies to people who have interviewed, which is closer to 1000. But still, to make it add up would require different factors based off likelihood of SDN response, but would still need to add up to a 1000
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audere-est-facere said:
yep thats what i meant! lol
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Sorry for adding confusion through my neurotic mind. I didn't think about the total # of people who interviewed haha.
 
Are we allowed to contact Downstate to ask where we are on the list in terms of relative positioning on the ALT list (e.g. top 1/3, middle 1/3, bottom 1/3)?
 
Premed10706 said:
Are we allowed to contact Downstate to ask where we are on the list in terms of relative positioning on the ALT list (e.g. top 1/3, middle 1/3, bottom 1/3)?
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I'd say it definitely doesn't hurt to ask, could also help you confirm if they used a ranked AL or not
 
lalano1230 said:
Yeah I feel like people are less likely to report a rejection or a withdrawal. Also just multiplying everything by a factor of 4 (not sure where this # came from but..meh I feel like at least 1 out of 4 people seems to either check sdn or monitor it from people I have interacted with) ..

Potentially overall inside SDN and outside combined:

Total # Accepted: ~210
Accepted and Withdrew: ~60
Post II R: ~36
Alt-List: ~120

Just complete speculation though

EDIT: My minds are stuck in limbo and anything is possible. #wyaDS
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120 people on the AL would be insane. I'd expect minimal movement with those numbers tbh
 
According to the alt list letter, all ~200 seats are filled at the moment. People have to vacate the seats ( get in off other waitlists) for anyone on the alt list to get in, and there seems to be a sizable amt on the alt list like the previous post said.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Gastrula44 said:
According to the alt list letter, all ~200 seats are filled at the moment. People have to vacate the seats ( get in off other waitlists) for anyone on the alt list to get in, and there seems to be a sizable amt on the alt list like the previous post said.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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While this can very much be the case, the alt list letter was the same as last years, even with the requirements that no longer exist, so it's difficult to go off of what the letter says.
 
AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson said:
While this can very much be the case, the alt list letter was the same as last years, even with the requirements that no longer exist, so it's difficult to go off of what the letter says.
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Good point. It’s honestly kind of mind boggling they didn’t take a few minutes to update the letter with the new requirements/timeline like cmon people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Gastrula44 said:
Good point. It’s honestly kind of mind boggling they didn’t take a few minutes to update the letter with the new requirements/timeline like cmon people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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And because of that, they will be bombarded with emails asking to clarify. Then they will be delayed in other work because of unclear instructions yet again.
 
Gastrula44 said:
Good point. It’s honestly kind of mind boggling they didn’t take a few minutes to update the letter with the new requirements/timeline like cmon people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I imagine the system is automated in a way where when they change someone's status it automatically sends an email to check their portal, and that portal updates with an attached letter reflecting the changed status. May have been someone's job to change that attached letter and it never occurred due to who knows why, and may be independent from the people who made the decision to change people to AL status
 
Just as a quick note, 20 SDNers liked my message within an hour stating they did not receive any alt list email yesterday and are still facing silence post interview. Thats a quite a big group of people, leaning towards it not meaning anything. Would love to think we all are getting accepted but not sure how that would work number wise.

My theory for why they didnt just alt list all of us yesterday is that they have applicants divided into tiers or groups -- they finished reviewing one group, accepted a small percentage, and waitlisted everyone else. Now they are moving onto the next group, maybe we hear today or tomorrow. I dunno, doesn't make a whole lot of sense either way.
 
dogcathorsedog said:
Just as a quick note, 20 SDNers liked my message within an hour stating they did not receive any alt list email yesterday and are still facing silence post interview. Thats a quite a big group of people, leaning towards it not meaning anything. Would love to think we all are getting accepted but not sure how that would work number wise.

My theory for why they didnt just alt list all of us yesterday is that they have applicants divided into tiers or groups -- they finished reviewing one group, accepted a small percentage, and waitlisted everyone else. Now they are moving onto the next group, maybe we hear today or tomorrow. I dunno, doesn't make a whole lot of sense either way.
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Still means that we have a chance of getting A, if we will be re-reviewed
 
dogcathorsedog said:
Just as a quick note, 20 SDNers liked my message within an hour stating they did not receive any alt list email yesterday and are still facing silence post interview. Thats a quite a big group of people, leaning towards it not meaning anything. Would love to think we all are getting accepted but not sure how that would work number wise.

My theory for why they didnt just alt list all of us yesterday is that they have applicants divided into tiers or groups -- they finished reviewing one group, accepted a small percentage, and waitlisted everyone else. Now they are moving onto the next group, maybe we hear today or tomorrow. I dunno, doesn't make a whole lot of sense either way.
Click to expand...

Well that sort of goes with one of my notions that the non-AL people may not be some hidden acceptance group, but a group that'll be reviewed that may have some acceptances in it with the rest receiving AL list. That's my hope at least.

I would say the "AL panic" has brought a lot of people out of the woodwork who have never posted before, and a lot are potentially people that if they received an A would never have posted anything to begin with so it could also be an inflated number because of that? So lets say 20 people received non-AL list, if all those people were accepted instead maybe only 5 wouldve said "hey I got an A" which is about right in terms of SDN A waves. Eh. Speculation once again haha.
 
dogcathorsedog said:
yes it does, I agree! Just don't think it means everyone who hasn't been notified is getting accepted...
Click to expand...

This makes more sense. They’re reviewing apps again in batches, accepting just a few and waitlisting the rest.

So for us non-ALs we survived the first batch cuz we never were apart of it lol
 
My friend who goes to downstate said he emailed admissions and asked about the alternate list. they told him that alternate students are given a number (so I'm assuming that means the list is ranked) and as accepted students withdraw they will pull from the list. he said that lots of people will pick DS for financial reasons, but once they're accepted off waitlists at NYU, Cornell, and Sinai, etc., they often withdraw from DS (probably more than ever now, since Step 1 will be P/F). last thing is that the person in admissions said movement WILL occur.
 
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catladybutnormal said:
My friend who goes to downstate said he emailed admissions and asked about the alternate list. they told him that alternate students are given a number (so I'm assuming that means the list is ranked) and as accepted students withdraw they will pull from the list. he said that lots of people will pick DS for financial reasons, but once they're accepted off waitlists at NYU, Cornell, and Sinai, etc., they often withdraw from DS (probably more than ever now, since Step 1 will be P/F). last thing is that the person in admissions said movement WILL occur.

as for those who haven't received the alternate list invitation, I'm sure it'll come in the next few days, like it did last year. but I personally doubt it will be an automatic acceptance, given that they specified the 2020 class was full.
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Thank you for your insider information!
 
catladybutnormal said:
My friend who goes to downstate said he emailed admissions and asked about the alternate list. they told him that alternate students are given a number (so I'm assuming that means the list is ranked) and as accepted students withdraw they will pull from the list. he said that lots of people will pick DS for financial reasons, but once they're accepted off waitlists at NYU, Cornell, and Sinai, etc., they often withdraw from DS (probably more than ever now, since Step 1 will be P/F). last thing is that the person in admissions said movement WILL occur.

as for those who haven't received the alternate list invitation, I'm sure it'll come in the next few days, like it did last year. but I personally doubt it will be an automatic acceptance, given that they specified the 2020 class was full.
Click to expand...

Did they email now, or was this when they asked last cycle or whatever cycle they applied?
 
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