2021-2022 Waitlist Support Thread

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For all future As, one must write in this thread: "I have decided that I will be receiving an email from my waitlist school by the end of this week. Thank you."
My bad, let's try again:
I have decided that I will be receiving an email/call from my waitlist school by the end of this week. Thank you.
 
Premed drone mindset
Coping strategies are important. I appreciate that people here have found some camaraderie to help with possibly one of the most soul crushing experiences that exists in medicine. Repeating a mantra and feeling part of the community really helps. Maybe refraining from shaming people for their innocuous participation would be a more gracious choice. No offense.
 
Be kind to each other in the face of adversity.
Hey gyngyn, I wanted to ask a quick q:

Do you know if it’s common for applicants to disregard the April 30 deadline and hold onto more than one acceptance?

Would you say this is only a small minority of applicants, and unlikely to impede WL movement?
 
Hey gyngyn, I wanted to ask a quick q:

Do you know if it’s common for applicants to disregard the April 30 deadline and hold onto more than one acceptance?

Would you say this is only a small minority of applicants, and unlikely to impede WL movement?
I have only seen a tiny percentage try this. They quickly respond when contacted, so the problem does not persist.
 
Doesn't AMCAS make it impossible to have more than one PTE past May 2nd?

I guess with a wait-list acceptance they also limit you with a short deadline like a week or under so within that time you have to make a choice if you have a PTE elsewhere.
 
Doesn't AMCAS make it impossible to have more than one PTE past May 2nd?

I guess with a wait-list acceptance they also limit you with a short deadline like a week or under so within that time you have to make a choice if you have a PTE elsewhere.
Yes and no, and this is very widely misunderstood. Yes, you can only select one school as PTE/CTE. This is always, not just after 5/2.

The twist is, before 5/2, CTE was not available, and schools could not identify which applicants selected PTE and which did not, so you could hold as many As as you liked, even though you were supposed to reduce to 3 on 4/15.

Now, MOST, but not all, schools require you to be PTE or CTE. That's what limits you to one, since you can only select one and most schools require it. As you noted, schools calling people off WLs give them a window to make a decision, and if they are already PTE elsewhere they can hold multiple As until the window closes, at the discretion of the new school. The existing PTE school never sees the new A, unless it ultimately becomes the PTE school, at which point the old school will receive notification from AMCAS, if not the applicant, that it is no longer the applicant's PTE school.

What most people do not understand is that all schools do not require PTE, either by 5/2, or ever. So, aside from @gyngyn's example of people playing games and being brought into line by schools, you can theoretically hold As at schools that don't require PTE and don't care that you are PTE elsewhere. This ultimately ends when the first CTE deadline rolls around, because at that point you have to withdraw from all other schools and, so far, very few schools have shown a willingness to accept people who are CTE elsewhere, although that too is theoretically possible.

This is relatively rare across 22,000+ accepted applicants across all schools, so it's not a big issue, but it can definitely cause late WL movement at schools that do not require PTE and find themselves with open seats as people drop their As along the way, or when the CTE deadline strikes.

To a lesser extent, it can cause some WL movement at other schools, as people unexpectedly drop their PTEs there when they commit to the school where they were holding the A that did not require PTE. To the PTE school it looks like the person was accepted off a WL, when in reality they had been holding the A all along (or at least since before 5/2).

Again, very few schools allow this, even fewer people at those schools ever had multiple As, and then a small subset of them actually hold more than one A after 5/2. It's just worth knowing that it does happen, and it does cause some late WL movement at some schools.

The bottom line is that everything settles out as CTE deadlines come and go. From this week forward, WL movement is going to continue, but at a much slower pace than from the beginning of May until now, until each school locks down its class as CTE deadlines start hitting in earnest in the next few weeks, really accelerating in July.
 
I have decided that I will be receiving an acceptance from any of my 4 waitlist schools by the end of next week. Thank you.
 
Coping strategies are important. I appreciate that people here have found some camaraderie to help with possibly one of the most soul crushing experiences that exists in medicine. Repeating a mantra and feeling part of the community really helps. Maybe refraining from shaming people for their innocuous participation would be a more gracious choice. No offense.
Be kind to each other in the face of adversity.
If anything, it was a satirical comment. No offense intended. I too am on multiple waitlists. Just making light of a dreary situation. Apologies to those that felt offended.

Edit: I myself am guilty of "living" on these boards over the last year and am appreciative of all of you. Wish you guys and gals success in the coming weeks!
 
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Anyone else keep checking the choose your medical school tool just in case something changes before you get notified??? Even though this is virtually impossible?? Just me? cool
definitely not just you 😂😂
 
Anyone else keep checking the choose your medical school tool just in case something changes before you get notified??? Even though this is virtually impossible?? Just me? cool

Lol, and checking the application portal at my top choice to see if any updates have *missed* your email account. Only every day, all day
 
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