2020 Cycle Waitlist Support Thread

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oldjoe97 said:
Should waitlisted applicants be completing immunizations requirements? (Titers, TB tests, etc)
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I would ensure you have the required documentation for all shots. The titers can be performed in under a week and can wait, so can the TB tests (assuming you have never had a positive test before - in which case you might need to schedule an x-ray for in a few months). The hepatitis sequence takes like 6 months to complete (if you have not had them). Some schools require a whole sequence of hep shots if you don't show immunity. Most other things can be done either via a titer or another shot, so they can go quickly and should be held off on. The PCP signoff can wait.

TL/DR: Make sure you request all your paperwork (if you don't already have it) now and that you have at least started the hep sequence (if not completed, look at what shots you need and the timeframe and plan accordingly).

Edit: Schools will likely let you start while things are in progress, but you will not be able to be involved in any clinical activities until they are complete (Is anyone though?).
 
rdyotz said:
I would ensure you have the required documentation for all shots. The titers can be performed in under a week and can wait, so can the TB tests (assuming you have never had a positive test before - in which case you might need to schedule an x-ray for in a few months). The hepatitis sequence takes like 6 months to complete (if you have not had them). Some schools require a whole sequence of hep shots if you don't show immunity. Most other things can be done either via a titer or another shot, so they can go quickly and should be held off on. The PCP signoff can wait.

TL/DR: Make sure you request all your paperwork (if you don't already have it) now and that you have at least started the hep sequence (if not completed, look at what shots you need and the timeframe and plan accordingly).

Edit: Schools will likely let you start while things are in progress, but you will not be able to be involved in any clinical activities until they are complete (Is anyone though?).
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Just a tidbit of info for anyone who hasn’t gone through the Hep-B sequence (like me). The FDA approved a new vaccine (Heplisav-B) a couple years ago that will allow you to complete the series in 1 month. It’s basically one shot, then another a month after. Overall much quicker than the usual 6 month series and should be available at most places.
 
enchantments said:
Just a tidbit of info for anyone who hasn’t gone through the Hep-B sequence (like me). The FDA approved a new vaccine (Heplisav-B) a couple years ago that will allow you to complete the series in 1 month. It’s basically one shot, then another a month after. Overall much quicker than the usual 6 month series and should be available at most places.
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Awesome to know!
 
If you’re accepted on the waitlist are you still considered for merit based aid? How likely are you to get money?
 
skrrss said:
If you’re accepted on the waitlist are you still considered for merit based aid? How likely are you to get money?
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Yes. Or should I say possibly depending on what’s available. Nobody can tell you how likely. It’s depends on what’s left, what seat and or aid became available and who they want to fill it with.
 
sun_flower580 said:
The fact that Texas apps (TMDSAS) open again in 2.5 weeks........
Time to finish the last semester of undergrad, mcat study, job hunt to find a place before my parents kick me out, get updated letter of recs, write a new personal statement and new essays again, etc etc
I feel like my chance of getting off the WL is less than 1%. I hate everything !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This life is truly a JOKE
It feels like someone is stepping on my chest from this crippling stress
thanks for coming to my ted talk
UGHUGHUGHUGHUGHUGHUGHUGHUGH
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omg I've never related to something so closely ever. We're in this together!! :nailbiting:
 
Just found this thread. I had 5 interviews. 2 high priority wait lists. 3 regular waitlists. Worst experience ever. I refresh every individual school thread I've been waitlisted at multiple times a day. Dream about getting an acceptance every other night. May cannot come soon enough :arghh:
 
FutureSawbones said:
Just found this thread. I had 5 interviews. 2 high priority wait lists. 3 regular waitlists. Worst experience ever. I refresh every individual school thread I've been waitlisted at multiple times a day. Dream about getting an acceptance every other night. May cannot come soon enough :arghh:
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With 2 high priority waitlists, I have faith that you’ll be okay 🙂
 
macaroni713 said:
Hi guys! anyone have any input/anecdotes/info about the waitlists at any of the following schools? NYMC, UCONN, Quinnipiac, Einstein, NYU LI. I don't know my ranking on any besides Einstein, and I am not high priority
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shaman97 said:
So, I'm on the wait-list at the following schools:

Temple
Hofstra (HPWL)
Stony Brook
Downstate
NYU LI
Tulane
SLU

I've tried going through the school specific threads from previous years but can't find much info on WL movement. Anyone have ideas on how the WL movement is at these schools?

Thanks!
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Also waitlisted at NYU-LI, NYMC, and Temple!
If I remember correctly, they said at my NYU-LI interview that they took 0 people off the waitlist last year. There class is only 24 people but with the specialty you choose its even less. I chose surgery so theres only about 4 spots. I saw someone on the NYU-LI thread who was accepted for surgery say he was going to withdraw. I highly doubt they will take anyone off the WL before April 30th since they cannot see which specific applicants chose PTE there but they need to know this in order to accept the right number of each specialty. With that said, I am keeping myself sane by assuming I will not get in since it is such low yield and if I do then it will be a nice surprise :,)

NYMC apparently is starting to accept of their WL according to a post in that school's thread.
As for Temple, I was under the impression they have decent WL movement but not totally sure.
 
Just to clarify - Will all schools know how many open seats they have on May 1st?
 
amarandi said:
Just to clarify - Will all schools know how many open seats they have on May 1st?
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Sort of. On April 30/May 1, they know which accepted students have planned to enroll at their school or at another school. The seats won’t technically be open until accepted students withdraw which might be after May 1.
 
red_pepper12 said:
since there is no longer a multiple acceptance report, how can schools see if their pool of accepted applicants has actually dropped their other A's by april 30, specifically asking about those schools who have such school specific policies?
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They can't, but pretty much all schools have 4/30 as their PTE deadline. So any school at which you hold an A after 4/30 will know whether you have PTEd to them, and also be able to see if you have PTEd somewhere else, and you can do the math from there. The other schools will either rescind your A or make you drop the other PTE. It's impossible to hold multiple As after 4/30 without consequence, UNLESS a school at which you hold an A does not require you to select PTE AND doesn't mind that you have selected PTE at a school that does. The only exceptions to this would be if a school gives you an extension pending FA information, and, if you get off a WL, for the brief period of time before they require you to either withdraw from wherever else you might have PTEd or not accept their A. Also, of course, if you have As at more than one school that all do not require the use of PTE, in that case you can obviously do whatever you want! 🙂

Either way, it all works out, but 5/1 is not the be all and end all, because WL movement after that date can and does have a cascade effect on seats at other schools that were filled and then suddenly become available. Things calm down as CTE dates come and go, but, even after that, people withdraw for a variety of reasons, so WL movement can happen right up to the start of classes.
 
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amarandi said:
Just to clarify - Will all schools know how many open seats they have on May 1st?
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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 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!!!).
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This is what I've been thinking too. I wonder if a combination of no PTE's and in-state residency helps even more because those are the only things I got goin for me lol
 
Acm8989 said:
This is what I've been thinking too. I wonder if a combination of no PTE's and in-state residency helps even more because those are the only things I got goin for me lol
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I think that theory may be correct when it's down to days before classes beginning, but not true of waitlist movement in general. It's still a seller's market. I only think this because I got off of all of my WLs my cycle after I PTE. *EDIT * Side note, around (likely right after) Apr 30th, I also changed my PTE from school A to school B and school A called me and offered me a scholarship so that I would reconsider. I'm just not sure how much weight a PTE goes into making final decision. Plus, when they hand out As after Apr 30th they usually require an answer within a few days. So, it's not like it's a long turn around in knowing what a student will choose.
 
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OchemOficionado said:
I think that theory may be correct when it's down to days before classes beginning, but not true of waitlist movement in general. It's still a seller's market. I only think this because I got off of all of my WLs my cycle after I PTE. Side note, prior to Apr 30th, I also changed my PTE from school A to school B and school A called me and offered me a scholarship so that I would reconsider. I'm just not sure how much weight a PTE goes into making final decision. Plus, when they hand out As after Apr 30th they usually require an answer within a few days. So, it's not like it's a long turn around in knowing what a student will choose.
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Right but what I'm saying is that some of us can't even PTE because we don't have any acceptances. So if a school sees that, won't they know that I am desperate for an A and am "likely" (by likely I mean absolutely going to) matriculate to their school if accepted from the WL?
 
OchemOficionado said:
I think that theory may be correct when it's down to days before classes beginning, but not true of waitlist movement in general. It's still a seller's market. I only think this because I got off of all of my WLs my cycle after I PTE. Side note, prior to Apr 30th, I also changed my PTE from school A to school B and school A called me and offered me a scholarship so that I would reconsider. I'm just not sure how much weight a PTE goes into making final decision. Plus, when they hand out As after Apr 30th they usually require an answer within a few days. So, it's not like it's a long turn around in knowing what a student will choose.
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Good points. Probably also differs if we're talking high,mid, or low-tier schools.
 
Acm8989 said:
Right but what I'm saying is that some of us can't even PTE because we don't have any acceptances. So if a school sees that, won't they know that I am desperate for an A and am "likely" (by likely I mean absolutely going to) matriculate to their school if accepted from the WL?
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Well, true, but that doesn't mean you don't have another WL. What if you get off both? But what I'm saying is it's still a seller's market. They don't have to use a strategy of just going for the "desperate" right away because even someone that's PTE elsewhere has a chance of still choosing them if they decided to stay on their WL in the first place. What I'm saying is, I got off of multiple WLs after I PTE, so in my limited experience, I don't think it discouraged them from choosing me and going for someone without an A. Last year, schools seemed to WL more people and had lots of WL movement. I think a ton of people get off WLs, I'm just saying I don't think this theory is true unless it's days before the first day of class. . . which is also unlikely now due to CTE, so that means everyone on a WL right before orientation doesn't have an A elsewhere.
 
Acm8989 said:
Right but what I'm saying is that some of us can't even PTE because we don't have any acceptances. So if a school sees that, won't they know that I am desperate for an A and am "likely" (by likely I mean absolutely going to) matriculate to their school if accepted from the WL?
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The fact that an applicant does not have any other As + instate residency will probably play a bigger role in July when the schools start to get desperate too. Rather than right now when they have hundreds of other qualified applicants that are willing to move across the country so to speak
 
OchemOficionado said:
Well, true, but that doesn't mean you don't have another WL. What if you get off both? But what I'm saying is it's still a seller's market. They don't have to use a strategy of just going for the "desperate" right away because even someone that's PTE elsewhere has a chance of still choosing them if they decided to stay on their WL in the first place. What I'm saying is, I got off of multiple WLs after I PTE, so in my limited experience, I don't think it discouraged them from choosing me and going for someone without an A. Last year, schools seemed to WL more people and had lots of WL movement. I think a ton of people get off WLs, I'm just saying I don't think this theory is true unless it's days before the first day of class. . . which is also unlikely now due to CTE, so that means everyone on a WL right before orientation doesn't have an A elsewhere.
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Was the CTE deadlines a thing last year? I know they changed the trafficking rules last year to incorporate the Choose Your Medical School Tool but I'm curious if there were modifications since last year.
 
FutureSawbones said:
Was the CTE deadlines a thing last year? I know they changed the trafficking rules last year to incorporate the Choose Your Medical School Tool but I'm curious if there were modifications since last year.
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CTE was a thing, but wasn't required by all schools. The Choose Your Medical School Tool was pretty much optional at first, but it seemed like the closer to orientations it got many schools suddenly sent out emails telling students to use PTE/CTE, but it was very much so all over the place for a while. This year it seems more streamlined by both the AAMC and schools.
 
OchemOficionado said:
CTE was a thing, but wasn't required by all schools. The Choose Your Medical School Tool was pretty much optional at first, but it seemed like the closer to orientations it got many schools suddenly sent out emails telling students to use PTE/CTE, but it was very much so all over the place for a while. This year it seems more streamlined by both the AAMC and schools.
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Very interesting. All the schools I interviewed at discussed the Choose your medical school tool and it seems like everyone was using it. I wonder how that might affect WL movement from last year to this year then?
 
OchemOficionado said:
Well, true, but that doesn't mean you don't have another WL. What if you get off both? But what I'm saying is it's still a seller's market. They don't have to use a strategy of just going for the "desperate" right away because even someone that's PTE elsewhere has a chance of still choosing them if they decided to stay on their WL in the first place. What I'm saying is, I got off of multiple WLs after I PTE, so in my limited experience, I don't think it discouraged them from choosing me and going for someone without an A. Last year, schools seemed to WL more people and had lots of WL movement. I think a ton of people get off WLs, I'm just saying I don't think this theory is true unless it's days before the first day of class. . . which is also unlikely now due to CTE, so that means everyone on a WL right before orientation doesn't have an A elsewhere.
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100% agree. I think people need to realize this process is really mechanical. Adcoms wants to create the best class (or the one that looks the best) to other schools. They will have no hesitation offering spots to candidates who might not even attend on the waitlist. Schools never really become desperate and that’s the sad reality of this entire pre-med game. No real power unless you’re in the top 1% of applicants getting huge merit scholarships from t10-t20 schools.
 
OchemOficionado said:
I think that theory may be correct when it's down to days before classes beginning, but not true of waitlist movement in general. It's still a seller's market. I only think this because I got off of all of my WLs my cycle after I PTE. Side note, prior to Apr 30th, I also changed my PTE from school A to school B and school A called me and offered me a scholarship so that I would reconsider. I'm just not sure how much weight a PTE goes into making final decision. Plus, when they hand out As after Apr 30th they usually require an answer within a few days. So, it's not like it's a long turn around in knowing what a student will choose.
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I don't mean to be nosy, but I'm just trying to understand how this works (I thought I did, but maybe I don't!)-- I was under the impression that schools only had aggregate data prior to 4/30. Did you withdraw from school A in addition to changing your PTE? If not, how did they know that you changed your PTE prior to 4/30 in order to try to induce you to change your mind? Thanks!!! 🙂
 
KnightDoc said:
I don't mean to be nosy, but I'm just trying to understand how this works (I thought I did, but maybe I don't!)-- I was under the impression that schools only had aggregate data prior to 4/30. Did you withdraw from school A in addition to changing your PTE? If not, how did they know that you changed your PTE prior to 4/30 in order to try to induce you to change your mind? Thanks!!! 🙂
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Ohhhhh. . . . I think you're right. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. I just checked my email and I officially withdrew from the school the first week of May. So this likely happened during that week. At the point that I received the phone call asking what would get me to reconsider I had not withdrawn from the school (I had only switched my PTE).
 
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me the next two weeks waiting for may in quarantine like
 
On the waitlist for Penn State and it says 25/70 people get off the waitlist and there’s a significant amount of movement! This definitely got my hopes high but also nervous that these reports aren’t that accurate....? These next few weeks or months of waiting are going to be brutal !!!
 
Is the '# of acceptance offers' an average? It must be, right? Otherwise, this seems awfully definitive (as you can see, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high) for schools that have a ranked waitlist.
 
amarandi said:
Is the '# of acceptance offers' an average? It must be, right? Otherwise, this seems awfully definitive (as you can see, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high) for schools that have a ranked waitlist.
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It's always an average because the movement is unpredictable based on how many offers are given out/how many applicants ultimately accept them.

I've seen speculation, especially for very competitive schools, that many schools have only offered enough seats to fill the current class, meaning every offer turned down is a spot that opens up.
 
blurb_123 said:
I've seen speculation, especially for very competitive schools, that many schools have only offered enough seats to fill the current class, meaning every offer turned down is a spot that opens up.
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What is that speculation based on?
 
FutureSawbones said:
What is that speculation based on?
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For one, there's no multiple acceptance report. Schools cant see a lot of information they received prior to this year and last.

With new traffic rules, it pays for schools to be safe and use their waitlist as a method of preventing over enrolling by offering too many A's initially.
 
So glad I finally decided to look through this thread, it is definitely making me feel less alone. I only had 2 Interviews both of which resulted in WLs this cycle. It has been really disheartening but I was handling it ok till my job decided to let me go... The wait feels like it’s magnified everything now that I don’t have much currently going on. Hope we all hear of some movement soon!
 
maybe this is a silly question, but do WL-->A notifications come in the form of a call or an email?
 
I’m just trying to stay occupied the next couple weeks until early May to keep myself distracted. I would advise everyone to try to do the same. Worrying isn’t gonna do any good, but it’s hard not to. Your local library probably has a bunch of ebooks to read, that’s what I’ve been doing lately.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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