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2020 Cycle Waitlist Support Thread

Started by sun_flower580
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First of all, because of this crazy situation with the new AAMC policy and COVID-19 I don’t think any school would hold it against anybody for foregoing their waitlist position in order to boost their application, take a break, and reapply.

This rumor that if you don’t get in don’t apply again is not true for every school, and if you got interviewed, that means the school likes you and will probably give you a very honest assessment on what you could do differently for the upcoming year—just ask. Again, if you’re finding yourself getting a lot of interviews but not acceptances, maybe do things that work on your personality and likableness, instead of your medical and science side

Maybe spearhead a volunteer group, Create a YouTube channel or website for mentoring high school or undergraduate students, or work in a rural or an inner city hospital, or do something inspirational that you can talk about with fire in an interview and that puts meaning into your practice as a doctor.
 
aeprab said:
First of all, because of this crazy situation with the new AAMC policy and COVID-19 I don’t think any school would hold it against anybody for foregoing their waitlist position in order to boost their application, take a break, and reapply.

This rumor that if you don’t get in don’t apply again is not true for every school, and if you got interviewed, that means the school likes you and will probably give you a very honest assessment on what you could do differently for the upcoming year—just ask. Again, if you’re finding yourself getting a lot of interviews but not acceptances, maybe do things that work on your personality and likableness, instead of your medical and science side

Maybe spearhead a volunteer group, Create a YouTube channel or website for mentoring high school or undergraduate students, or work in a rural or an inner city hospital, or do something inspirational that you can talk about with fire in an interview and that puts meaning into your practice as a doctor.
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Everything you are saying makes perfect sense. The only time not to bother reapplying is if you are accepted and choose not to attend any medical school.

This has been validated by every member of any adcom that has ever posted on SDN on this topic. Schools will grant deferrals on occasion, and will certainly understand having an acceptance turned down so a candidate can attend another school. But turning down an acceptance, not attending any med school, and then reapplying is considered a cardinal sin in a world where many hours of valuable time on spent evaluating each accepted student, and hundreds or thousands of desirable candidates are denied the opportunity every year to even interview at each school due to resource constraints. It's a lot to overcome, and very few if any schools would give such a candidate the chance to waste their time a second time.
 
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sonaldo said:
So I'm still sitting on a few WLs without any acceptance offers. I've renewed my lease, submitted my primary, finished about half of my secondaries and am feeling positive about my chances re-applying (obviously that doesn't mean much but I do feel that I've improved my app in a significant way).

I'm wondering if I would be blacklisted if I were to withdraw from these schools? I've sent appropriate update letters and letters of interest/intent etc. so I've made my interests pretty clear, but now the idea of coming off one of these lists days before (or even after apparently) school starts and then needing to uproot my life in the middle of a global pandemic seems not ideal. That's not to say I am any less interested in these schools or becoming a doctor, but given the situation and that it is the middle of July, is this reasonable or am I just crazy/not thinking straight?

Would really appreciate any thoughts on this, thanks!
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I'd stay on the waitlists! Getting an A now would mean a few weeks of turmoil, but isn't that better than having to go through the entire cycle again?
 
KnightDoc said:
Everything you are saying makes perfect sense, EXCEPT the part about not applying again after receiving an acceptance (especially at the school that previously accepted you) being a rumor.

This has been validated by every member of any adcom that has ever posted on SDN on this topic. Schools will grant deferrals on occasion, and will certainly understand having an acceptance turned down so a candidate can attend another school. But turning down an acceptance, not attending any med school, and then reapplying is considered a cardinal sin in a world where many hours of valuable time on spent evaluating each accepted student, and hundreds or thousands of desirable candidates are denied the opportunity every year to even interview at each school due to resource constraints. It's a lot to overcome, and very few if any schools would give such a candidate the chance to waste their time a second time.

No rumor; fact.
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I think he means the rumor that if you interview at a school and don’t get an A you shouldn’t apply again. If they liked you enough to interview you, and possibly waitlist you, you should apply again if you don’t get an A anywhere that cycle.
 
Kenken514 said:
I think he means the rumor that if you interview at a school and don’t get an A you shouldn’t apply again. If they liked you enough to interview you, and possibly waitlist you, you should apply again if you don’t get an A anywhere that cycle.
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Nice catch!! I totally misread that to read if you get in don't apply again!! I going to edit my post!! For what it's worth, I never hear THAT rumor. There are plenty of stories from people who are rejected one cycle and accepted by the same school in another one. In fact, once the cycle is over, plenty of schools will go over you application with you and tell you what needs to improve.
 
KnightDoc said:
Nice catch!! I totally misread that to read if you get in don't apply again!! I going to edit my post!! For what it's worth, I never hear THAT rumor. There are plenty of stories from people who are rejected one cycle and accepted by the same school in another one. In fact, once the cycle is over, plenty of schools will go over you application with you and tell you what needs to improve.
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Exactly! I got an R after an interview and got great feedback from them and am definitely applying there again.
 
Is it frowned upon to call/email a school asking about any anticipated WL movement? I submitted a LOI a few weeks ago.
Thanks
 
I'm waitlisted at 1 school and their CTE deadline is Friday. I've sent a letter of intent and a couple of updates (encouraged). Would it hurt to send another LOI in at this point? Or perhaps an email? They seem supportive of keeping in touch with admissions and are very responsive. They've had zero movement, but if there's any chance of movement after the CTE deadline, I want to do what I can to be on their radar. I've been emailing them every couple of weeks or so, but the last update I sent in was end of May. Perhaps not as relevant, but I'm also reapplying and just got their secondary. Thanks for any advice/thoughts!
 
I've been in touch with a school that I'm apparently short listed on a WL. They've been really encouraging and positive over the past 1.5 months and said that spots might open up early this week and to hang in there, but I haven't heard from the dean yet. Would it be too pushy to send them an email today?
 
My 2020-2021 primary application just got verified and I only added one school to start with in case I got off a WL. I didn’t want to waste the money. At this point I’m on 2 WLs and idk if I should add the rest of my schools now and pay the $1000+ for primaries or if I should wait a couple weeks in case I get off a WL last minute.
 
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Kenken514 said:
My 2020-2021 primary application just got verified and I only added one school to start with in case I got off a WL. I didn’t want to waste the money. At this point I’m on 2 WLs and idk if I should add the rest of my schools now and pay the $1000+ for primaries or if I should wait a couple weeks in case I get off a WL last minute.
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Maybe hold off on completing any more applications until the last week of July or the first week of August? I doubt that it'll hurt to be complete a little later as long as you get everything in before mid-August and especially Labor Day. However, if you are applying to some schools that tend to hand out tons of their interviews very early in the cycle like Tulane, maybe complete your applications at those schools now. Good luck!
 
For those of us left in WL purgatory, there were a few more WL acceptances reported today and yesterday at Ohio State, Jefferson, and UC San Diego. I know it's late for WL movement but I hope a few more of us are pulled before classes start!

As always, feel free to DM me any recent WL acceptances and I can anonymously share it here with the community~

Edited to add: NYMC had 3+ people on SDN reporting deferred acceptances earlier this week for the c'o 2025
 
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Hi all - Quick question, I am on a waitlist, but it looks like it won't work in my favor. I plan to submit my AMCAS this weekend, but I plan to take 2 online science classes this fall. Does anyone know how this should be represented on my AMCAS? For example, should I put list them on my "Course Work" section? Or should I omit and then email the schools with updates of my grades in December?

Thanks all!
 
liblib2019 said:
Hi all - Quick question, I am on a waitlist, but it looks like it won't work in my favor. I plan to submit my AMCAS this weekend, but I plan to take 2 online science classes this fall. Does anyone know how this should be represented on my AMCAS? For example, should I put list them on my "Course Work" section? Or should I omit and then email the schools with updates of my grades in December?

Thanks all!
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Yea as was said above, list them as "planned" courses and be sure to indicate the date
 
For those who are putting in a re-application and have multiple publications, how are you listing them on your AMCAS application?
 
I'm so glad that there are at least some people still being accepted!!

My dream MD school has been 'oversubscribed' since DECEMBER. Every update that they provide (which are few and far between) uses the same wordage. This is incredibly infuriating to me. I was accepted to a DO school and committed there but was really thinking that at some point I would be pulled from the waitlist. Now, on what seems like the other side of things, I wish I would have reapplied and done early admission at my dream MD school. I can't believe that this has happened when I put SO much work into my application and interview and was told through the grapevine that I 'really impressed the admissions committee' and that I got 'really high marks' on the interview. Yet here I am at the end of July in complete and utter disappointment. I know that I should be happy that I at least got the DO A but I can't right now. I can't let go of how unfair and ridiculous this whole process is. I want to scream this from the rooftops and flip tables because if everyone else in the world knew that this is how medical school admissions processes went they would be SHOCKED. Especially anyone that really understands and cares about the mental health of others.

Rant over.
 
Blame the lawyers, everyone's worried about being sued. Admissions are purposely vague. Sometimes they do discriminate, like purposely choose someone with a particular background they're looking for even if their scores aren't as high. Their vagueness makes this process unbearable. Personally, I think the best would be to require LOI after interviews and base admissions also on that or anyone willing to committ to the school on interview day gets priority. That's how you get motivated students. I''m in the same boat as you, DO school - which I like a lot, but got waitlisted at my top choice and they say there is no room to take off waitlist this year. I don't think there was nepotism, as this school specifically tries to have a lot of minorities. The communication has been infuriating. Take 20 waitlist applicants instead of 100, be transparent about a students chance on the waitlist.
 
aeprab said:
Take 20 waitlist applicants instead of 100, be transparent about a students chance on the waitlist.
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The unfortunate truth is that the schools don't care, making their waitlists smaller just runs the risk of not having enough students to enroll, and there's no consequences for having too big of a waitlist. It's an unfair system that just screws the students over.
 
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Potter2008 said:
I'm so glad that there are at least some people still being accepted!!

My dream MD school has been 'oversubscribed' since DECEMBER. Every update that they provide (which are few and far between) uses the same wordage. This is incredibly infuriating to me. I was accepted to a DO school and committed there but was really thinking that at some point I would be pulled from the waitlist. Now, on what seems like the other side of things, I wish I would have reapplied and done early admission at my dream MD school. I can't believe that this has happened when I put SO much work into my application and interview and was told through the grapevine that I 'really impressed the admissions committee' and that I got 'really high marks' on the interview. Yet here I am at the end of July in complete and utter disappointment. I know that I should be happy that I at least got the DO A but I can't right now. I can't let go of how unfair and ridiculous this whole process is. I want to scream this from the rooftops and flip tables because if everyone else in the world knew that this is how medical school admissions processes went they would be SHOCKED. Especially anyone that really understands and cares about the mental health of others.

Rant over.
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What school was this?
 
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So my #1 school begins orientation on the 13th, the school I’m at begins classes on the 3rd. What would happen if they told me I got accepted?
 
For those who are reapplying with multiple publications, how are you listing these in your AMCAS work and activities section?
 
Jimbox said:
So my #1 school begins orientation on the 13th, the school I’m at begins classes on the 3rd. What would happen if they told me I got accepted?
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That would be very rare. Most schools will not offer you admission after you have matriculated elsewhere (began orientation). YMMV.
 
Jimbox said:
So my #1 school begins orientation on the 13th, the school I’m at begins classes on the 3rd. What would happen if they told me I got accepted?
Click to expand...

Im in this situation but bridge program and waiting on the MD and I was told it can be easily transferred.
 
aeprab said:
Blame the lawyers, everyone's worried about being sued. Admissions are purposely vague. Sometimes they do discriminate, like purposely choose someone with a particular background they're looking for even if their scores aren't as high. Their vagueness makes this process unbearable. Personally, I think the best would be to require LOI after interviews and base admissions also on that or anyone willing to committ to the school on interview day gets priority. That's how you get motivated students. I''m in the same boat as you, DO school - which I like a lot, but got waitlisted at my top choice and they say there is no room to take off waitlist this year. I don't think there was nepotism, as this school specifically tries to have a lot of minorities. The communication has been infuriating. Take 20 waitlist applicants instead of 100, be transparent about a students chance on the waitlist.
Click to expand...
I am just going to say that “picking people with certain backgrounds with not as good scores” is necessary to increase diversity in health care. After seeing people in my zoom call for my MD school during orientation. URMs were very far and few in between, I was shocked. To give good healthcare to our country we need people who come from all different walks of life. And poorer people or minorities are also more likely to work in underserved areas compared to others.
 
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Jimbox said:
So my #1 school begins orientation on the 13th, the school I’m at begins classes on the 3rd. What would happen if they told me I got accepted?
Click to expand...



I'm in the same situation, plus you have only 14 days once taking student loan money from one place to get a full refund. So here's what I'm doing. I called the WL school said I need clear information to make a decision. How many left on WL, how many over in class size, and where I stand. Do orientation which should be online anyways. Pack and get ready to move if you didnt and find a place to rent. If by the end of orientation you didn't hear back let it go.
 
aeprab said:
Blame the lawyers, everyone's worried about being sued. Admissions are purposely vague. Sometimes they do discriminate, like purposely choose someone with a particular background they're looking for even if their scores aren't as high. Their vagueness makes this process unbearable. Personally, I think the best would be to require LOI after interviews and base admissions also on that or anyone willing to committ to the school on interview day gets priority. That's how you get motivated students. I''m in the same boat as you, DO school - which I like a lot, but got waitlisted at my top choice and they say there is no room to take off waitlist this year. I don't think there was nepotism, as this school specifically tries to have a lot of minorities. The communication has been infuriating. Take 20 waitlist applicants instead of 100, be transparent about a students chance on the waitlist.
Click to expand...
Your language sounds like you are blaming minorities for stealing your spot at your top choice school. Instead of saying that the school "tries to have a lot of minorities," you could frame it as selecting a diverse incoming class to better reflect the composition of American society and gain perspective from groups traditionally shut out of medicine.
 
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