2020-2021 Pittsburgh

BU Medical Sciences
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The Beta Blocker said:
The general rule of thumb for most schools is to accept 2x the class size you want, as a 50% return on acceptance is a pretty standard average.
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Huh didn't know that. I wish MSAR would list the number of acceptances at each school too.

Also, I wonder how big last year's FB page was at this time last year
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n123123 said:
Huh didn't know that. I wish MSAR would list the number of acceptances at each school too.

Also, I wonder how big last year's FB page was at this time last year
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I’m guessing larger than it is this year since there were two rounds of A’s following the initial round rather than one. It would also make sense for adcoms to be more conservative for this unusual cycle.
 
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n123123 said:
@tunaktunak sorry for calling you out earlier for making speculations while I continue to make speculations... please keep contributing to this thread!
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Omg you're totally fine! My comment about having to WAIT on the WAITlist was a joke (hence the /s on that post) hahaha

But also, there were 333 acceptances last year, 315 the year before that, and 365 the year before that. I'm hopeful. 🙂
 
tunaktunak said:
Omg you're totally fine! My comment about having to WAIT on the WAITlist was a joke (hence the /s on that post) hahaha

But also, there were 333 acceptances last year, 315 the year before that, and 365 the year before that. I'm hopeful. 🙂
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Thanks, sounds good!
 
Also, given the increase in applicants this year, they might end up giving out less As than they typically do
 
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Just some data from SDN for you all:

Last cycle (2019-2020):
Wednesday, January 29: First round of A’s
Thursday, February 27: 1st WL movement
Thursday, April 9: 2nd WL movement
Monday, May 4: 3rd WL movement
Monday, May 11: 4th WL movement
Friday, June 5: 5th WL movement
Thursday, June 11: 6th WL movement (not sure about this one)

Current cycle:
Friday, February 19: First round of A’s
Thursday, March 25: 1st WL movement

Given the unprecedented nature of this cycle, I don't think any predictions can be made regarding when exactly the next WL movement will happen (although I will say that both May WL movements were on Mondays 👀). But unless last year there was just an abnormally large amount of WL movement compared to any previous year, I think we can expect a good amount this cycle.
 
I hope we see a lot of movement, but also this year's first WL movement seemed to have been huge compared to those of last year. Maybe that's why they didn't do a second one in April

...and hopefully it didn't initially push them too far over their goal class size
 
Were any PREP emails sent out this cycle? Supposedly that was a big tell for WL movement in previous cycles.
 
n123123 said:
I hope we see a lot of movement, but also this year's first WL movement seemed to have been huge compared to those of last year. Maybe that's why they didn't do a second one in April

...and hopefully it didn't initially push them too far over their goal class size
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Why do you say/think that the first WL movement this year was huge? I feel like there weren’t that many people that posted on the forum that they were accepted, and most seemed to be PSTP. Just genuinely curious, not saying you’re wrong
 
idiot_sandwhich said:
Why do you say/think that the first WL movement this year was huge? I feel like there weren’t that many people that posted on the forum that they were accepted, and most seemed to be PSTP. Just genuinely curious, not saying you’re wrong
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10+ people reported As on March 25. More than any single WL movement last cycle per SDN data...

Even if some of them were PSTP folks, this WL movement still seemed rather large
 
My thinking is that admissions was pretty conservative with initial As. When a bunch of people withdrew post T20 acceptances coming out from a lot of other schools a few weeks later, they realized they needed a much larger A buffer, so they had a large WL movement.

But they probably overcompensated (from our perspective at least) leading to more As than current spots. Hence there was not a WL movement in April as they had reached class size. Now it's a matter of people who got Pitt As getting off of other WL and dropping Pitt before admissions has another WL movement. Will we see movement next week, the week after, or maybe not at all? Who knows...
 
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n123123 said:
But they probably overcompensated (from our perspective at least) leading to more As than current spots. Hence there was not a WL movement in April as they had reached class size. Now it's a matter of people who got Pitt As getting off of other WL and dropping Pitt before admissions has another WL movement. Will we see movement next week, the week after, or maybe not at all? Who knows...
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Also realize that this cycle is unlike any other. While every past cycle had initial decisions released mid-late January, this cycle's was February 19th. So April from last year can't necessarily be compared to April this year.

Ultimately, as others have been saying, there's no way in predicting what will come in the upcoming weeks. Could we see a major WL movement tomorrow? Maybe. Might there be just one more in July this year? Possibly (but dear God that would be awful lmao).

However, I have a strong feeling there will be more WL movement coming soon. I have no proof or reasoning behind it, but I can feel the Pitt Gods giving us at least one more solid chance.
 
My heart is going to explode every time I see a notification from this thread bc I'll be wondering if there has been waitlist movement 😅
 
lanadelgay124 said:
That is exactly what you just did to me, good SkyBison 🤣
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I knew that I would give a few people a heart attack I am so sorry 😭 I need to share my sentiment with others because at this rate I am checking my email like every 5 minutes as well as this SDN page LMAO. I need some solidarity
 
ChonkySkyBison said:
I knew that I would give a few people a heart attack I am so sorry 😭 I need to share my sentiment with others because at this rate I am checking my email like every 5 minutes as well as this SDN page LMAO. I need some solidarity
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You absolutely have solidarity!!
 
Is it frowned upon to call the Office of Admissions and ask if they are at liberty to reveal when we can expect acceptances off the waitlist, even if it's as general as "last week in May" or something? I mean the worst they could say is no, right?
 
To each their own...but, they aren't going to tell you anything beyond the boilerplate response they give out to everyone and if they find out who you are, you just risk bothering them
 
456432 said:
Is it frowned upon to call the Office of Admissions and ask if they are at liberty to reveal when we can expect acceptances off the waitlist, even if it's as general as "last week in May" or something? I mean the worst they could say is no, right?
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You could email too maybe. Not sure if it would hurt/help you though

If you find out anything, let us know please!
 
456432 said:
Is it frowned upon to call the Office of Admissions and ask if they are at liberty to reveal when we can expect acceptances off the waitlist, even if it's as general as "last week in May" or something? I mean the worst they could say is no, right?
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I believe the people that answer the phone calls are usually admission assistant so they are not actually in the admission committee? So I don’t think it will be frowned upon. Also pitt is pretty transparent.
I thought someone posted previously that the second movement will be around mid-May?
 
n123123 said:
I contacted admissions within the past few days and they had said that they're still at class size
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Lol seeing that someone replied to the Pitt thread gave me a near heart attack 😂😭

Hmm I wonder if that's just a generic statement they tell everyone who asks or if it really is true. Thank you for reaching out though!
 
n123123 said:
I contacted admissions within the past few days and they had said that they're still at class size
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Ugh this really sucks if it’s true. Especially because they seem to have such large WL movements in prior years. I really had my hopes up.
 
My theory: because they significantly increased the number of interviews and expanded the pool to "less competitive" applicants (like myself), there was a much greater proportion of people who received acceptances who would also pick Pittsburgh as their first choice.
 
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jadfaweradfasd said:
It’s baffling that they have gone from 65 acceptances off the waitlist last year to potentially only a handful this year.
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turquoisetortoise said:
My theory: because they significantly increased the number of interviews and expanded the pool to "less competitive" applicants (like myself), there was a much greater proportion of people who received acceptances who would also pick Pittsburgh as their first choice.
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Ugh, this is my thinking too. When I got my II here, I nearly cried because I didn't think I was competitive enough to go to my dream school. I thought I killed my interviews here too, so my hopes were high all cycle.

But I guess I'm slowly realizing that my II was likely extended as a backup from the start, especially since I didn't get off that first WL wave. 🙁
 
It’s already past April 30th...what are the possibilities someone could still be accepted off the wl at this point?

I wish they could tell us our rankings on the wl, at list first or second tier...
 
456432 said:
Ugh, this is my thinking too. When I got my II here, I nearly cried because I didn't think I was competitive enough to go to my dream school. I thought I killed my interviews here too, so my hopes were high all cycle.

But I guess I'm slowly realizing that my II was likely extended as a backup from the start, especially since I didn't get off that first WL wave. 🙁
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I can't imagine anyone was interviewed exclusively for the waitlist. It's more likely we just started one wrung lower in the staircase analogy.
 
I am a true optimist and also, this is my second time applying so I've gotten a feel for the way admin offices interact with applicants. I would say that it's likely Pitt gives that as a blanket statement up until the moment they are accepting people off the WL. It would be a grand effort for them to give every applicant who calls/emails specifics about when they may be admitting people/how many people have dropped/how many people they are admitting etc. It is likely just not worth it to them to give applicants that info. I would wager they said the same thing even a day before the last WL movement.

Understandably, this is a tough time of the year for applicants and Pitt is a top choice for many of us, and for some, the only chance left at matriculating into med school this summer. With that being said, if anyone needs some advice on reapp or just wants to bitch about the current state of affairs, feel free to message me. I am queen of watching your dreams die and then starting over again. I am a reapp and ended my second cycle with 10 interviews and 7 acceptances, many of which were T25 schools and a T10. But the main thing I want to say is this is not the end of the line for anyone if they don't get into Pitt. Things will work out, even if it takes extra time.
 
I have a feeling that because they interviewed more candidates this year, they simply offered more outright acceptances in February. Then the March WL movement was used to fill up the rest of the class. Perhaps they wanted to avoid having a bunch of late WL movement, or maybe they just had so many good applicants they had no choice but to accept a bunch of them in the beginning.

Either way, I don't think we're done with WL because inevitably someone from the class will go somewhere else, but I think it's safe to say that any WL movement from here on out will be quite small.
 
Uhmm, tried to check the portal today, it says my "account has been deactivated, please contact the administrator." Is this a soft rejection? Wonder if I am no longer in consideration for the waitlist.
 
drgoodied said:
Uhmm, tried to check the portal today, it says my "account has been deactivated, please contact the administrator." Is this a soft rejection? Wonder if I am no longer in consideration for the waitlist.
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Where does it say that? Under "Application Status"? Or when you try to log-on in general?

Either way, I think contacting the Admissions Office about it would be a good idea.
 
drgoodied said:
Uhmm, tried to check the portal today, it says my "account has been deactivated, please contact the administrator." Is this a soft rejection? Wonder if I am no longer in consideration for the waitlist.
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Haha, considering that you seem to be in the minority with this problem, it could even be a good thing...

In past years, problems with peoples' portals seemed to indicate future WL movement
 
I figured I'd let you all know that I called the admissions office today with a separate question and they mentioned that they are still currently at class size and that they aren't pulling people from the waitlist at the moment. He mentioned that that could change in the coming weeks. Sorry to give you all notifications with more bad news.
 
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