2020-2021 Stanford

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Tbh i think its just to make us feel better since we didn't have a decision since December. The whole sentence is " The Committee on Admissions has regarded your application very highly and appreciates your patience. "
 
I also got that phrase (edit: last night) and interviewed-late Jan! Wonder why they have different WL letters 😳
 
Last edited:
ilikerice said:
I only had two interviews, and was waitlisted to both. Is there anything I can do to convince Stanford to accept me T_T I can't imagine reapplying next cycle after applying to 55 places this year and getting so many rejections
Click to expand...
I feel ya, I’m also sitting on WLs🥲
 
What is the difference between the PSTP program (that you had to apply to/interview for) and just doing a 5-year track for the discovery curriculum w/research? I didn't apply PSTP but would definitely be interested in doing an extra year of research if that's an option. Is the PSTP program just a formal way of doing this?
 
For people on the waitlist, can we send in update letters? I don’t see an option to put that in on my portal.
 
k1808h said:
What is the difference between the PSTP program (that you had to apply to/interview for) and just doing a 5-year track for the discovery curriculum w/research? I didn't apply PSTP but would definitely be interested in doing an extra year of research if that's an option. Is the PSTP program just a formal way of doing this?
Click to expand...

I think its just extra funding/prestige/mentorship tbh
 
I can't believe they send so many things to us to convince us to come haha. I wish all my A's did this lol. I guess that's Stanford for you.
 
ng2020 said:
Has anyone gotten indication of a "high priority" WL? It seems that something along those lines went out last yr after some of the last WL notifs. Or do we think the "regarded your application very highly" is the closest thing we're going to get?
Click to expand...
would that come in the initial waitlist email or as a follow up email later on?
 
ng2020 said:
Has anyone gotten indication of a "high priority" WL? It seems that something along those lines went out last yr after some of the last WL notifs. Or do we think the "regarded your application very highly" is the closest thing we're going to get?
Click to expand...
From my understanding that just seemed to be the wording of that round of waitlist letters? In mine (from January) at the bottom they also included, “Please be aware that assessments of the likelihood to be admitted from the waitlist are not provided to waitlisted candidates.” So I kind of doubt they will let us know who is high priority and who is not.
 
musiqian said:
From my understanding that just seemed to be the wording of that round of waitlist letters? In mine (from January) at the bottom they also included, “Please be aware that assessments of the likelihood to be admitted from the waitlist are not provided to waitlisted candidates.” So I kind of doubt they will let us know who is high priority and who is not.
Click to expand...
was this on the jan 27 wave? I didn't get the "regarded your application very highly" so maybe that is the indicator if you're high priority.
 
saisonmargerrite said:
was this on the jan 27 wave? I didn't get the "regarded your application very highly" so maybe that is the indicator if you're high priority.
Click to expand...
Yeah my waitlist was on January 29. I think in February the waitlist letter for everyone just had a different wording than those in January and is not really an indicator of high priority.
 
Congratulations to everyone who got accepted/waitlisted! If you wouldn't mind, can you please mention your stats? Thanks!
 
k1808h said:
What is the difference between the PSTP program (that you had to apply to/interview for) and just doing a 5-year track for the discovery curriculum w/research? I didn't apply PSTP but would definitely be interested in doing an extra year of research if that's an option. Is the PSTP program just a formal way of doing this?
Click to expand...

My understanding of the difference given that they did not make a formal distinction between various graduation paths when my class started is basically whether or not you “split” the curriculum. You can read here for more:

MD Student Opportunities

med.stanford.edu med.stanford.edu

The Tl;dr is that you can do 5 year MD one of two ways: 1) you can “split” the curriculum and do 50% research x2 years along a “half-speed” M2 (essentially enrolling in half of your M2 classes at a time to free up time for research, but also pre-Clin is one year longer). 2) you can apply for MedScholars or other sources of funding for a research year between M1/2, 2/3, or 3/4 and spend that year 100% focused on research or maybe an additional degree (like an MS in Epi eg).

This is distinguished from Berg or MSTP, which are both their own thing.
 
musiqian said:
Yeah my waitlist was on January 29. I think in February the waitlist letter for everyone just had a different wording than those in January and is not really an indicator of high priority.
Click to expand...
Same with the January WL
 
For people on the waitlist, does Stanford accept letter of intent? Where do we upload it?
 
tenthree said:
For people on the waitlist, does Stanford accept letter of intent? Where do we upload it?
Click to expand...
Hey I reached out to admissions to find out, and they said not to send any letters of intent/interest or update letters! So we only had that 2wk window after the interview to send in updates
 
To all that got their financial aid package, all loans or do some of y’all have hella good scholarship/grant packages?
 
touchflame said:
All loans. on the pain train
Click to expand...
Sorry- only feel comfortable sharing what you're comfortable with- but is this because you have a high estimated family contribution? I thought the Arrillaga gift was meant to eliminate loans.. is that only for high-need students? (I'm on the WL, and the no-debt gift is obviously a big draw)

med.stanford.edu

Transformational gift helps eliminate medical school debt for students with financial need

Philanthropic funding will cover both tuition and living expenses for students who qualify for aid, eliminating the need for medical school loans.
med.stanford.edu med.stanford.edu
 
I'm all loans too. The arillaga gift seems like it's only for people who's families are in lower income brackets.
 
hellokittens said:
I'm all loans too. The arillaga gift seems like it's only for people who's families are in lower income brackets.
Click to expand...

Students whose families make from 0-200K a year will most likely not have to take out all loans to come here depending on their assets. I don't know and can't provide exact numbers, simply know from individual cases of classmates I am familiar with. Just clarifying since we all mean different things when we talk about SES, I would not consider anyone whose family makes six figures low income.

Stanford is trying to move towards a loan/debt free model, but the Arrillaga gift is just a (quite big) step in that direction. If you are truly low-income, you will most likely not have to take any loans to come here and may also qualify for an additional scholarship which provides a stipend towards living expenses.

Also, although no one should factor in TA-ships or medscholars as a way to reduce debt because they are not absolutely guaranteed funding sources, they are a highly common source of supplemental funding to reduce tuition and living expenses, something thats a little unique about stanford compared to other schools. That said, we are not like other schools that are truly debt free.
 
Last edited:
woodlawn52 said:
Sorry- only feel comfortable sharing what you're comfortable with- but is this because you have a high estimated family contribution? I thought the Arrillaga gift was meant to eliminate loans.. is that only for high-need students? (I'm on the WL, and the no-debt gift is obviously a big draw)

med.stanford.edu

Transformational gift helps eliminate medical school debt for students with financial need

Philanthropic funding will cover both tuition and living expenses for students who qualify for aid, eliminating the need for medical school loans.
med.stanford.edu med.stanford.edu
Click to expand...

Yeah no problem. Agreed with what Lucca said above. It's also possible as time goes on, fin aid will be expanded.

My estimated family contribution was too high for consideration of both Stanford grants (direct aid basically) and Stanford loans (really nice loans that only start accruing interest after residency). It's tough because there's not really any way to appeal it - it's not like the estimated family contribution is actually a realistic look into how my med school is going to be funded or realistic to assume my parents would or even could just pay 100% out of pocket. Unfortunate but that's how Stanford is currently doing it. I'll just have to do medscholars + TAing and try to minimize interest accruing asap.

That being said, a lot of people rave about how good their fin aid offers are at Stanford, and that's great. I'm not in that position but it's nice that other people that really need it and might not be able to come to Stanford, now are able to.
 
touchflame said:
Yeah no problem. Agreed with what Lucca said above. It's also possible as time goes on, fin aid will be expanded.

My estimated family contribution was too high for consideration of both Stanford grants (direct aid basically) and Stanford loans (really nice loans that only start accruing interest after residency). It's tough because there's not really any way to appeal it - it's not like the estimated family contribution is actually a realistic look into how my med school is going to be funded or realistic to assume my parents would or even could just pay 100% out of pocket. Unfortunate but that's how Stanford is currently doing it. I'll just have to do medscholars + TAing and try to minimize interest accruing asap.

That being said, a lot of people rave about how good their fin aid offers are at Stanford, and that's great. I'm not in that position but it's nice that other people that really need it and might not be able to come to Stanford, now are able to.
Click to expand...
My understanding has always been that med school students on average, but especially at Stanford, tend to be hella rich. Therefore, anyone even making less than 150 K/year, would be considered “low income” by Stanford. Granted anything between 100 and 150 K is probably still very upper middle class, but that still seems like the exception at Stanford - insofar as these people would be eligible for great financial aid. I’m sure they take low income kids, but seems like a really small minority unfortunately. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I always felt like this place like self selected for the ultra rich, so even lower upper/straight up upper middle class would be getting amazing aid.
 
aspiringdoctor9701 said:
My understanding has always been that med school students on average, but especially at Stanford, tend to be hella rich. Therefore, anyone even making less than 150 K/year, would be considered “low income” by Stanford. Granted anything between 100 and 150 K is probably still very upper middle class, but that still seems like the exception at Stanford - insofar as these people would be eligible for great financial aid. I’m sure they take low income kids, but seems like a really small minority unfortunately. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I always felt like this place like self selected for the ultra rich, so even lower upper/straight up upper middle class would be getting amazing aid.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I will say the Financial Aid person I talked to mentioned something ~120K being an approximate cutoff for at least part of financial aid. So I would agree with most of what you said but upper middle class at least will not be getting amazing aid (although that technically depends on what you would define as that). If they get anything, it's likely a mixture of Stanford and Fed loans.
 
Lucca said:
Students whose families make from 0-200K a year will most likely not have to take out all loans to come here depending on their assets. I don't know and can't provide exact numbers, simply know from individual cases of classmates I am familiar with. Just clarifying since we all mean different things when we talk about SES, I would not consider anyone whose family makes six figures low income.

Stanford is trying to move towards a loan/debt free model, but the Arrillaga gift is just a (quite big) step in that direction. If you are truly low-income, you will most likely not have to take any loans to come here and may also qualify for an additional scholarship which provides a stipend towards living expenses.

Also, although no one should factor in TA-ships or medscholars as a way to reduce debt because they are not absolutely guaranteed funding sources, they are a highly common source of supplemental funding to reduce tuition and living expenses, something thats a little unique about stanford compared to other schools. That said, we are not like other schools that are truly debt free.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah sorry, I didn't mean to say 6 figures was a low-income bracket. I said lower than I guess what I fall in...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
woodlawn52 said:
Sorry- only feel comfortable sharing what you're comfortable with- but is this because you have a high estimated family contribution? I thought the Arrillaga gift was meant to eliminate loans.. is that only for high-need students? (I'm on the WL, and the no-debt gift is obviously a big draw)

med.stanford.edu

Transformational gift helps eliminate medical school debt for students with financial need

Philanthropic funding will cover both tuition and living expenses for students who qualify for aid, eliminating the need for medical school loans.
med.stanford.edu med.stanford.edu
Click to expand...
No Debt Schools (Stanford, Cornell etc) are all based on meeting the financial need Beyond THEIR calculated EFC for you.
 
does anyone know if Stanford matches need-based FA from other schools? I know their FA letter says they technically don't, but just wondering if anyone had success in asking anyway
 
ilikerice said:
If I have a new publication, can I send it as an update to Stanford? If I don't get off the waitlist I'm going to have to reapply and I'm so tired T__T
Click to expand...
You can email them to ask to double check but they told me they don’t take updates anymore
 
Any ideas on the number of accepted students in the fb page? Would love to know what kind of WL movement to expect so that I can finally put an end to this dreadful wait...or not.
 
Has anyone this year received a high-priority WL email? Saw on last year's thread that a few got them
 
scruples98 said:
Any ideas on the number of accepted students in the fb page? Would love to know what kind of WL movement to expect so that I can finally put an end to this dreadful wait...or not.
Click to expand...
There are 175 members on the FB page, but many of them seem to be current M1s. There are 103 members in Slack, with I think a handful of M1s. Fingers crossed for y'all!
 
langdell said:
There are 175 members on the FB page, but many of them seem to be current M1s. There are 103 members in Slack, with I think a handful of M1s. Fingers crossed for y'all!
Click to expand...
Are these just people who were accepted or those who have already committed/indicated PTE?
 
langdell said:
There are 175 members on the FB page, but many of them seem to be current M1s. There are 103 members in Slack, with I think a handful of M1s. Fingers crossed for y'all!
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! Hopefully we’ll hear something today or tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wysdoc
2024-2025 Stanford
14 15 16 17 18
Replies
850
Views
199K
meticulousmacrophage
meticulousmacrophage
wysdoc
2023-2024 Stanford
16 17 18 19 20
Replies
981
Views
279K
deleted1170144
D
wysdoc
2021-2022 Stanford
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
727
Views
252K
anonuser12345
A
wysdoc
2022-2023 Stanford
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
706
Views
221K
123Coyg
1
koffeekween
2021-2022 Ponce-STL
2 3 4
Replies
184
Views
28K
amazinmedicine
A
Top