• Practice your interview with the new SDN AI Interview Coach. Choose a school, answer by voice or typing, and receive a personalized feedback report. Available now to all SDN members. Try the AI Interview Coach.

2020 Cycle Waitlist Support Thread

Started by sun_flower580
Tags Tags
waitlist
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Original poem by r/premed’s u/sanitationengineer

Adapted for the waitlist crew:

Twas the night before April 30, when all through the web

Not an AdCom was stirring, nor a single 0 Acceptance pleb

The phone ringtone was set as loud as one could bear

In hopes that in the morning, an acceptance email would be there

The applicants were nestled all restless in their beds

While visions of Harvard and Hopkins danced in their heads

And with mom’s expectations and I being all stressed,

None of us could partake in this long night’s rest

When out from my iPhone I heard such a loud ring

I sat up in bed to see what news my phone had to bring

Tossing aside my blankets, I grasped my phone in a flash

Swiped aside my other notifications into the trash

Sitting in my inbox, there was only one email to see

An invitation to apply to Case’s master’s in physiology

On a real note good luck to everyone in this thread. While tomorrow might not have a ton of the movement it will be the opening of the acceptance floodgates. You all are amazing and deserve to become awesome physicians!
 
djiboutiman said:
Original poem by r/premed’s u/sanitationengineer

On a real note good luck to everyone in this thread. While tomorrow might not have a ton of the movement it will be the opening of the acceptance floodgates. You all are amazing and deserve to become awesome physicians!
Click to expand...

I loved this! I was operating at this exact insane level of anxiety in the weeks following my interview, certain I was gonna get an acceptance in January. When I got a WL I could not even fathom how I could stay sane and function until May. I can't say that I have been functioning normally, nor have I stayed sane for that matter, but I'm proud that I've made it this far. It does seem surreal to feel exactly how I did back in January, knowing that In the near future I will either experience total despair or ecstasy--the stress is unreal. But that poem was dead-on and just what I needed tonight lol thank you for sharing that!
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hey everyone! Here to join in for the support group (I'm waiting on 0A, 2 WL's right now) and I'm glad we're all in this together. One of my WL schools hadn't accepted any updates/LOIs until today. How important do y'all think it is to submit this right away? I have like 2 updates and I do want to really express how much I want to attend. I want to balance getting the letter in soon, but also take enough time with it that it's the best I can do with a reasonable amount of time. I really would appreciate your thoughts! 🙁
 
Joining here too! Currently with 0A and 1 WL. My WL school doesn’t accept any updates or LOIs, but fortunately, they are WL friendly and accepts loads of people from the WL. Even with that, I’m still so anxious about everything since I’m in the dark until tomorrow. So glad that there’s a group like this for the WL folks. I hope that everyone would hear good news soon and I’m hopeful! Good luck everyone!
 
jq_dr said:
Hey everyone! Here to join in for the support group (I'm waiting on 0A, 2 WL's right now) and I'm glad we're all in this together. One of my WL schools hadn't accepted any updates/LOIs until today. How important do y'all think it is to submit this right away? I have like 2 updates and I do want to really express how much I want to attend. I want to balance getting the letter in soon, but also take enough time with it that it's the best I can do with a reasonable amount of time. I really would appreciate your thoughts! 🙁
Click to expand...

If you think it will help your case, get it in as soon as you can. A good chunk of the waitlist movement will happen very soon. Obviously, a quick update that tells nothing and uses poor grammar does more harm than good. Likewise, an awesome and articulate update is useless if they fill their class before receiving it.

I would think you would want it in by Friday morning (I am just an applicant, so one opinion without any real background) .
 
1588260869487.png

how i feel today with emails coming in about choose your med school but no acceptances :'/
 
I have a question, hopefully someone knows. If I got accepted to one DO school and paid deposit there. However, still waiting for another DO school which is my number one choice and I'm on waitlist there. How would that work?
 
sun_flower580 said:
Man I have so many test and exams this week but it’s soooooo hard to focus on anything 🙁 dumb question— since the last day to choose is today, would the movement not technically start until tomorrow? Or historically do schools start making calls today?
Click to expand...
i think its school specific, but i think it usually picks up a lot more on may 1st. Hang in there i got finals this week too i know the struggle fam!
 
bas97 said:
I have a question, hopefully someone knows. If I got accepted to one DO school and paid deposit there. However, still waiting for another DO school which is my number one choice and I'm on waitlist there. How would that work?
Click to expand...

You can still stay on the waitlist at the other school. If you were to get accepted and choose to go, you would just loose the deposit at your current school. Good luck!
 
skrrss said:
You can still stay on the waitlist at the other school. If you were to get accepted and choose to go, you would just loose the deposit at your current school. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you!! I know it might be school specific, but do you think it hurts when school see that you put deposit in another school. BTW I did send letter of intent to my number choice.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
coffee&scrubs said:
I binged the whole first season of Never Have I Ever in one night. Great show! I also watched Too Hot to Handle (which was a really bad spin off from Love Island, but hey, it passed the time). I wanna start Money Heist or Outer Banks soon.
Click to expand...
If you're looking to transform your anxiety about waitlist movement, Money Heist will definitely do that for you. SO thrilling and so easy to binge, highly recommend if you're looking to distract yourself.

Meanwhile, I've already watched everything that could possibly be watched and I've literally gotten so deep into a SDN hole that I even looked at the 2017-2018 app cycle thread of my top choice to see when their movement was lol 😵
 
painfullytired said:
If you're looking to transform your anxiety about waitlist movement, Money Heist will definitely do that for you. SO thrilling and so easy to binge, highly recommend if you're looking to distract yourself.

Meanwhile, I've already watched everything that could possibly be watched and I've literally gotten so deep into a SDN hole that I even looked at the 2017-2018 app cycle thread of my top choice to see when their movement was lol 😵
Click to expand...
Already did that :whistle:... I went to all my waitlisted schools' threads and looked at the past 3 years of threads. Results were inconclusive save for the added anxiety lol
 
FutureSawbones said:
Speaking of going down the rabbit hole, I found this WL movement tracker doc from 2018. Its from before they changed the trafficking rules so idk how different it will from this year. But its interesting to look at.

Click to expand...

This is fantastic! Thank you! I actually got some answers that scouring 3 years worth of threads couldn't give me.
 
painfullytired said:
what exactly are the new trafficking rules? sorry if this has already been mentioned
Click to expand...
I explained it in depth in an earlier post so i'll just copy and paste below. (Biggest difference though is that in previous years, medical schools could see the other schools an applicant was accepted to. This caused a lot of issues because applicants were getting pigeonholed into schools in their region whether or not they wanted to go there. For example, an OOS private school sees you have an acceptance to your state school and do not offer an acceptance because they figure you'll go to the state school with in-state tuition.)

The trafficking rules were very confusing to me too so I did a lot of research on the topic. I will try to explain as best as I can.

So from the students' end it's pretty simple: In Feb the "choose your medical school tool" opens up. April 15th you have to narrow your "Plan to Enroll" choices down to 3 options. By April 30 you have to choose "plan to enroll" at only one school, BUT can stay on other school's waitlists.

From the admissions office end: BEFORE April 30 they can only see general aggregate data. That means they can see what percentage of their accepted students chose PTE for their school vs another school, but they CANNOT see which individual applicant chose what or what other schools. AFTER April 30 they can see which individual applicants chose plan to enroll at their school or a different school (but still cant see what specific school they chose over them). ALSO: they can see whether their waitlisted applicants have chosen PTE at a different school or not.
These are general rules for all AMCAS schools (idk how Texas schools work).

Individual schools have their own trafficking rules too. The main one you have to keep in mind and look into for any schools you get accepted at is their "Commit to Enroll" deadline. CTE means that this is the school you are definitely going to and you must withdraw from all waitlists. In general, a school's CTE deadline is approximately 3 weeks before orientation but that can vary. This is actually SUPER annoying because say you get into your #2 school in May, you have to CTE there in early July, but theoretically your #1 school has until their first day of class to accept you off their WL but you have to pull out of their WL way before then.

There are a few important takeaways: It is in the schools best interest to do whatever they can to increase their matriculant:acceptance ratio. The more people that accept their offer, the higher their ranking becomes and it also increases the school's prestige. Also, they can make sure they have no empty spots. Also, the idea behind these trafficking rules is to make sure there are no empty seats at any medical schools since those seats are expensive and there are many many applicants for far fewer spots.

Some of my theories: I feel like medical schools may be more inclined to choose an applicant on their waitlist who has not chosen PTE anywhere else because the chances of them accepting their offer is very high (that would be good for us!!!). Also, many medical schools might not have any WL movement until May because they need to see which individual students chose PTE there for various reasons (keeping demographic ratios reasonable, specific number of spots for special programs at their school, etc).

Sorry for super lengthy explanation but hopefully this helps and answers all your questions and more!! Anyone let me know what you think about my theories or some of your opinions on this protocol.
 
FutureSawbones said:
I explained it in depth in an earlier post so i'll just copy and paste below. (Biggest difference though is that in previous years, medical schools could see the other schools an applicant was accepted to. This caused a lot of issues because applicants were getting pigeonholed into schools in their region whether or not they wanted to go there. For example, an OOS private school sees you have an acceptance to your state school and do not offer an acceptance because they figure you'll go to the state school with in-state tuition.)

The trafficking rules were very confusing to me too so I did a lot of research on the topic. I will try to explain as best as I can.

So from the students' end it's pretty simple: In Feb the "choose your medical school tool" opens up. April 15th you have to narrow your "Plan to Enroll" choices down to 3 options. By April 30 you have to choose "plan to enroll" at only one school, BUT can stay on other school's waitlists.

From the admissions office end: BEFORE April 30 they can only see general aggregate data. That means they can see what percentage of their accepted students chose PTE for their school vs another school, but they CANNOT see which individual applicant chose what or what other schools. AFTER April 30 they can see which individual applicants chose plan to enroll at their school or a different school (but still cant see what specific school they chose over them). ALSO: they can see whether their waitlisted applicants have chosen PTE at a different school or not.
These are general rules for all AMCAS schools (idk how Texas schools work).

Individual schools have their own trafficking rules too. The main one you have to keep in mind and look into for any schools you get accepted at is their "Commit to Enroll" deadline. CTE means that this is the school you are definitely going to and you must withdraw from all waitlists. In general, a school's CTE deadline is approximately 3 weeks before orientation but that can vary. This is actually SUPER annoying because say you get into your #2 school in May, you have to CTE there in early July, but theoretically your #1 school has until their first day of class to accept you off their WL but you have to pull out of their WL way before then.

There are a few important takeaways: It is in the schools best interest to do whatever they can to increase their matriculant:acceptance ratio. The more people that accept their offer, the higher their ranking becomes and it also increases the school's prestige. Also, they can make sure they have no empty spots. Also, the idea behind these trafficking rules is to make sure there are no empty seats at any medical schools since those seats are expensive and there are many many applicants for far fewer spots.

Some of my theories: I feel like medical schools may be more inclined to choose an applicant on their waitlist who has not chosen PTE anywhere else because the chances of them accepting their offer is very high (that would be good for us!!!). Also, many medical schools might not have any WL movement until May because they need to see which individual students chose PTE there for various reasons (keeping demographic ratios reasonable, specific number of spots for special programs at their school, etc).

Sorry for super lengthy explanation but hopefully this helps and answers all your questions and more!! Anyone let me know what you think about my theories or some of your opinions on this protocol.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your really in depth response! I applied DO primarily so do you think it's any different?

Also if you paid a deposit for another school, does that mean you automatically PTE? I paid a deposit for another school but it's not my top choice and I don't want my top choice to see that and not offer me an acceptance because of it! (Although I've sent them too many LOIs at this point)
 
painfullytired said:
Thank you for your really in depth response! I applied DO primarily so do you think it's any different?

Also if you paid a deposit for another school, does that mean you automatically PTE? I paid a deposit for another school but it's not my top choice and I don't want my top choice to see that and not offer me an acceptance because of it! (Although I've sent them too many LOIs at this point)
Click to expand...
Those trafficking rules are made by AMCAS and only apply to MD schools. I'm not sure how DO schools do their trafficking or how they communicate.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
drluckythetaurus said:
refreshing my email every 5 min
Click to expand...
Lol I feel ya on this. After my interview I set the school's admission office email as "VIP" in my contacts, and set up a special alert sound for if/when I get an email from them. The alert sound is not used for any other function in my phone, that way when I hear it, I will know exactly what is waiting for me in my inbox.

Sadly, I've been waiting for that little bell to go off since December. Any day now....:scared::scared:
 
painfullytired said:
Thank you for your really in depth response! I applied DO primarily so do you think it's any different?

Also if you paid a deposit for another school, does that mean you automatically PTE? I paid a deposit for another school but it's not my top choice and I don't want my top choice to see that and not offer me an acceptance because of it! (Although I've sent them too many LOIs at this point)
Click to expand...

AACOMAS Traffic Guidelines

Guidelines for prospective osteopathic medical students to successfully complete their applications to medical school.
www.aacom.org www.aacom.org

I came across this traffic guidelines for DO schools that I felt might be helpful !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
FutureSawbones said:
I explained it in depth in an earlier post so i'll just copy and paste below. (Biggest difference though is that in previous years, medical schools could see the other schools an applicant was accepted to. This caused a lot of issues because applicants were getting pigeonholed into schools in their region whether or not they wanted to go there. For example, an OOS private school sees you have an acceptance to your state school and do not offer an acceptance because they figure you'll go to the state school with in-state tuition.)

The trafficking rules were very confusing to me too so I did a lot of research on the topic. I will try to explain as best as I can.

So from the students' end it's pretty simple: In Feb the "choose your medical school tool" opens up. April 15th you have to narrow your "Plan to Enroll" choices down to 3 options. By April 30 you have to choose "plan to enroll" at only one school, BUT can stay on other school's waitlists.

From the admissions office end: BEFORE April 30 they can only see general aggregate data. That means they can see what percentage of their accepted students chose PTE for their school vs another school, but they CANNOT see which individual applicant chose what or what other schools. AFTER April 30 they can see which individual applicants chose plan to enroll at their school or a different school (but still cant see what specific school they chose over them). ALSO: they can see whether their waitlisted applicants have chosen PTE at a different school or not.
These are general rules for all AMCAS schools (idk how Texas schools work).

Individual schools have their own trafficking rules too. The main one you have to keep in mind and look into for any schools you get accepted at is their "Commit to Enroll" deadline. CTE means that this is the school you are definitely going to and you must withdraw from all waitlists. In general, a school's CTE deadline is approximately 3 weeks before orientation but that can vary. This is actually SUPER annoying because say you get into your #2 school in May, you have to CTE there in early July, but theoretically your #1 school has until their first day of class to accept you off their WL but you have to pull out of their WL way before then.

There are a few important takeaways: It is in the schools best interest to do whatever they can to increase their matriculant:acceptance ratio. The more people that accept their offer, the higher their ranking becomes and it also increases the school's prestige. Also, they can make sure they have no empty spots. Also, the idea behind these trafficking rules is to make sure there are no empty seats at any medical schools since those seats are expensive and there are many many applicants for far fewer spots.

Some of my theories: I feel like medical schools may be more inclined to choose an applicant on their waitlist who has not chosen PTE anywhere else because the chances of them accepting their offer is very high (that would be good for us!!!). Also, many medical schools might not have any WL movement until May because they need to see which individual students chose PTE there for various reasons (keeping demographic ratios reasonable, specific number of spots for special programs at their school, etc).

Sorry for super lengthy explanation but hopefully this helps and answers all your questions and more!! Anyone let me know what you think about my theories or some of your opinions on this protocol.
Click to expand...


Thanks for this post! Super helpful! One quick thing, so is it AAMC that forces students who have multiple PTEs to narrow it down to one by today? Or since med schools can now see if their PTEd applicant has another one they'll do the enforcing?

Just trying to see if I understand this. After today, every applicant this cycle should only have 1 PTE and/or be on WLs. So if you had 3 acceptances and no WL, today would be the day you know for sure where you're going? I thought I've read somewhere that AAMCs dates are just a courtesy thing and that CTEs are the only thing that forces an applicant's hands. Not trying to make it sound like those with multiple As are being greedy since they could be holding out for aid and whatnot.
 
TryingToStayOptimistic123 said:
Thanks for this post! Super helpful! One quick thing, so is it AAMC that forces students who have multiple PTEs to narrow it down to one by today? Or since med schools can now see if their PTEd applicant has another one they'll do the enforcing?

Just trying to see if I understand this. After today, every applicant this cycle should only have 1 PTE and/or be on WLs. So if you had 3 acceptances and no WL, today would be the day you know for sure where you're going? I thought I've read somewhere that AAMCs dates are just a courtesy thing and that CTEs are the only thing that forces an applicant's hands. Not trying to make it sound like those with multiple As are being greedy since they could be holding out for aid and whatnot.
Click to expand...
There has been some discussion about how strictly things are enforced and from what I gathered, these deadlines are not very strictly enforced by AAMC. In general, I believe the vast majority of applicants will narrow down their PTE to one school by today with very few people ignoring the guidelines and risking a school rescinding their acceptance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

H
Previous cycle waitlist
Replies
1
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
H
Waitlist movement prospects
Replies
10
Views
7K
14zip
1
B
  • Question Question
Multiple waitlist question
Replies
2
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Rhymic
2024-2025 Waitlist Support and Manifestation Thread
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
703
Views
138K
erwinsmith
E
N
  • Question Question
Waitlist and CTE
Replies
8
Views
2K
VARES
V