A Question About Waitlists, Please read

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red12

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For instance, if a school has a class size of 100 and it usually accepts around 240, do the extra 140 people come off of the waitlist or were more than 100 people accepted by the March 15th deadline?

(e.g. 200 accepted by March 15th and 40 off the waitlist)

I'm very curious.

Thanks

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Actually, from what I understand, here is what happens. The schools take however many they take (say 240 to fill a class of 150) and then when the class is still not full after the original 240 make their choices, the schools then pull from the wait list to fill the class. But I caould be wrong.
 
This is my understanding. Base on the history of how many have declined versus enrolled in the past, a school will know about how many to accept outright. For example, Stanford might accept 170 to fill a class of 86. If more than usual decline and they can't enroll 86 out of that initial group of 170, then they go to their wait list. The rumor is that Columbia only accepts the exact number to fill their class at first, and puts the rest on the wait list. As a result, they end up taking nearly half of their class off of the list. In other words, it can vary from one school to another, and from one year to another. If you ask Gower on medicalgold, he might be able to tell you more specifics about your school of interest. There are also some previously cited sites (say that three times fast)that tell how many people certain schools take after May (which is the biggest wait list movement month). Another example--in 2000, Hopkins took over 50 after May, but Stanford only 10 or 12 (These are from memory and may not be precise).
 
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bump

where is that website that tell how many they accept after may
 
See if this works:
<a href="http://www.med.stanford.edu/senate/01-02/01-11-14%20Att%20B1%20Admissions%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.med.stanford.edu/senate/01-02/01-11-14%20Att%20B1%20Admissions%20Report.pdf</a>

It only lists about twelve that are in some sort of consortium with Stanford, and it only talks about numbers taken from the wait list AFTER May, which is the big "movement" month. Still, if these schools have as much movement as it shows, all other schools must have a lot, too.

In case that link doesn't work, here are the total offers after May that are listed in that Stanford Senate report for 2001 (which breaks it down by month):
CMR 22
Chicago 28
Columbia 13
Cornell 27
Duke 10
Harvard 14
Hopkins 58(!!!)
Penn 38
Pittsburg 25
Rochester 40
Stanford 8
Washington 20 (not sure which Wash they mean)
Yale 22

I think these numbers are encouraging.
 
Just a quick comment about Columbia: I spoke to Dr. Frantz and he said that Columbia, like the other schools, initially accepts about 50% more students than the class size and then goes to the waitlist.

On another note, he said that the list should start moving a bit in the next three or four weeks. He thought everything would be a bit slower than usual because of AMCAS, even though Columbia doesn't participate.
 
I heard that five years ago, Cornell really screwed up and initially accepted more people than their 101 class size. The problem was that most people wanted to go and so Cornell paid people to defer. After that mess, all the schools were really careful to keep their numbers down and so waitlists became extremely popular. (just a note, I heard this from a student who applied 5 years ago, but its not necessarily factual.)
 
the numbers are looking good for Pritzker.

:D :D :rolleyes:
 
I heard something similar to Dr. L. I was told that some sort of "overfilling" of a school occurred about 5 years ago, and made the national news. As a result, schools pushed their dates later, and started relying more on waitlists. I'd like to see the actual story though...I'm not sure how factual this actually is.
 
Pelican Man--keep the faith!

If you've read the UCLA website advice about waitlists that I posted on another thread, they imply the same thing about schools being more cautious and putting more names on the lists.

Pelican Man, since you want it so badly, maybe you should pull out all the stops and do everything that is suggested on that site. What the heck. You only live once, right? ( and all the rest of the cliches about giving it your best shot, etc...)Also, have you asked Gower for advice or do you see that anyone else has asked about the Pritzker's wait list?
 
Pelican Man, here's Gower's reply to someone:

Chicago - Pritzker Wait-list consists of three subgroups of increasing size and decreasing priority. Additional transcripts and note of Honors and Awards are helpful to submit. A letter of intent is also valuable. After June 15 an advisor or student can be given general information about likelihood of acceptance. Greatest mobement: June. By early October all others are notified of non-accept status [useless, by that time all medical schools are a month or two into classes!]
 
Thanks Whoanelly, but I am two steps ahead.

I already read that from Gower. Trust me if there is something about Pritzker I have probably read it. :) . I am doing everything I can. I plan on graduating with highest honors and will update them. I sent them an updated transcript. I am sending them honors. Sent a letter of intent. Hopefully this will work. Thanks for caring so much about my sitauation and looking up Pritzker stuff for me.
 
pelican-

hey, hey my Pritzker waitlist bro! As you saw, my letter to them was also a letter of intent (will remove myself from other waitlists if accepted..) and dean lombard gave me a very encouraging response. I thanked him for responding to me last week and slipped in a little more info for my file :)

One thing I've been thinking about lately is since I may be deferring a year, even if I DO get in. What about applying early decision to Chicago if we DON'T get in by mid June? Considering they already liked us enough to interview/waitlist, we'd have a stellar chance of getting in that way. Nother thing: by simply suggesting this option to them, they will realize just how serious you are about Pritzker. tell me what you think.

As for me, I'd probably take the MCAT again in August. Pretty sure I could raise the 31 to the mid-upper 30's this time with all the exposure I've had to the test (since I've been teaching @ Kaplan). I'd hope this would make me even more competitive, in addition to being a re-applicant.
But I REALLY hope all this talk is void for us both!
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by PelicanMan:
Bump •••••what does bump mean
 
It means to bump up the list
 
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