Since several people have messaged me with about the process and rules for acceptances, I am starting this thread to answer them.
**I also cannot stress enough understanding deadlines and being ahead and confirmed before deadlines. If a school says, has a July 1st deadline for CTE that could mean 12:00AM on July 1st or 11:59PM. Do not, repeat, do not, wait until the last minute for a possible waitlist spot, and lose an actual acceptance. In the 2018-2019 cycle, two acceptees lose their acceptances: one for believing they had until midnight of deadline (he was dropped in morning) and the other for having issues with the system for the deadline weekend. Make no mistake here, a school’s mission is to insure that each seat is filled and they will just as soon take the next waitlist candidate.
**From early February until April 30th medical school can only run aggregate reports to determine how many of only their acceptees have chosen PTE for their school versus all other schools. They do not see the name of the acceptees nor do see the names of other schools. This report is mostly for enrollment planning and how many acceptances and waitlist spots to plan for. At no time will a school ever see which other schools you applied to.
**April 15th: AMCAS recommends that acceptees should hold no more than 3 acceptances. They can remain on all waitlists.
**April 30th: This is final acceptance date. Virtually all medical schools will require that you have selected PTE or CTE for them at this point; else, your acceptance can be rescinded without notice. Again, I warn acceptees, do not wait for the last minute. Medical Schools can now run detailed reports showing which of their acceptees and waitlist alternates have PTE/CTE at their school versus aggregate of all other schools (again, medical schools will never know where else you have applied, been accepted, or on a waitlist).
**When considering waitlist alternates, most medical schools will have grouped their alternates (e.g. high, medium, low) or ranked them possible acceptance. Therefore, they are unlikely to consider the acceptance status at other schools when offering positions from the waitlist early in the cycle (rough guesstimate thru mid-to-late June). In other words, PTE at one school is unlikely to impact waitlist chances at another. Again, I repeat, each medical school has their own PTE/CTE deadlines and conditions. It is up to you to know them.
**Schools are in no way obligated to provide financial aid information prior to their CTE date. The majority will some will not process financial aid until after you CTE. You may have to make a final decision about which school without financial aid info.
**Below are some of the medical school conditions and dates for PTE/CTE
Title
Tufts University School of Medicine Acceptance Policy:
Applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must review the guidelines and instructions regarding the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool found on the Association of American Medical Colleges website.
Between Feb 19-April 30th applicants who have been admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine may select the ‘plan to enroll’ option. Until April 30th, applicants who choose the ‘plan to enroll’ option may continue to hold other acceptances, remain on waitlists, and continue to interview at other schools.
On April 30th applicants who have been admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine will have two options: ‘plan to enroll’ or ‘commit to enroll.’ All applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must make one of these selections by/on April 30th. Admitted applicants who do not select Tufts University School of Medicine for either of these options must decline their offer/withdraw their application from Tufts. If they do not, Tufts University School of Medicine has the right to rescind their admissions offer.
Applicants who select ‘plan to enroll’ by April 30th must decline all other admissions offers but may remain on other school’s waitlists. (They may remain at ‘plan to enroll’ [with Tufts University School of Medicine selected] until they select ‘commit to enroll’)
Applicants who select ‘commit to enroll’ must decline all other admissions offers and withdraw from all waitlists. Selecting ‘commit to enroll’ means that you are committed to enrolling at Tufts University School of Medicine and no other school. It represents a final decision.
All applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must select the ‘commit to enroll’ option no later than 21 days prior to matriculation (this deadline is dependent on an applicant’s specific program start date). Again, when an applicant selects ‘commit to enroll’ they must decline all other offers and withdraw from all waitlists. If an applicant has not selected Tufts University School of Medicine as the ‘commit to enroll’ option 21 days prior to matriculation, Tufts University School of Medicine has the right to rescind their admissions offer.
Additional Notes:
Deposits must be submitted within two (2) weeks of the request being made
The $100 deposit is refundable until April 30th
Process and Timeline
April 15: Drop date for admitted students to withdraw from all but three schools.
April 30: Drop date for admitted students to withdraw from all but one school. Admitted students planning to enroll at Columbia VP&S must select the Plan To Enroll option on the Choose Your Medical School tool.
Admission Timeline | Medical College
April 30th, 2019
By April 30th, 2019, applicants who have been accepted to Weill Cornell Medical College must select the “Plan to Enroll” option on the Choose Your Medical School Tool in AMCAS.
Applicants who select “Plan to Enroll” at Weill Cornell Medical College must withdraw their applications from all other schools to which they have been offered admission. In selecting “Plan to Enroll,” applicants may remain on other schools’ waitlists up until July 15th, 2019.
To confirm a decision to enroll at Weill Cornell Medical College, applicants must also submit a one hundred dollar ($100) tuition deposit by April 30th, 2019. The deposit is non-refundable after that date.
July 15th, 2019
By July 15th, 2019, applicants who have been accepted to Weill Cornell Medical College and plan to matriculate, must select the “Commit to Enroll” option on the Choose Your Medical School Tool in AMCAS and withdraw their applications from all other schools who have offered them admission or waitlist positions. Applicants may also choose to select “Commit to Enroll” prior to the July 15th, 2019 deadline.
Application Timeline, KU School of Medicine
The rules governing acceptances have become much more complicated over the past year and it behooves all applicants to familiarize themselves with how this works. This is especially important as all acceptances are conditional and can be rescinded; it is the acceptee’s responsibility to know what these conditions and deadlines are. These are now listed in the MSAR
**AAMC Acceptance Protocols are commonly referred to as the Traffic Rules. However, due to changes last year, the AAMC/AMCAS can no longer dictate when acceptances are “final” and how alternate waitlist works, nor can it directly coordinate multiple acceptances across the schools. It is now up to each individual school to have a policy that states deadlines and condition and it is up to each acceptee to know and fulfill these conditions for each school.
**Acceptance processing/tracking is done thru an AMCAS system called the “Choose Your School” tool. AMCAS does not require any school or any acceptee to use this tool, however most individual schools require that you do so as a condition of acceptance. We will get to the dates, deadlines, and other important information in this tool in a moment.
**Oct 15 to April 30: An acceptee may hold as many acceptance and alternate/waitlist offers as they want. For acceptances, you are likely to be required to pay an initial deposit of $100 refundable fee to do that. Some schools may also recommend or offer to take a larger fee ($1000-$3000) under the premise that doing so will have your financial aid and other pre-matriculation items started immediately. Since this is a purely voluntary fee, it may not, repeat, may not be refundable.
**AMCAS recommends
1) Withdraw your acceptance from any school or program you do not plan to attend as soon as you have made that decision;
2) On or before April 15, narrow your selection(s) to no more than three schools or programs, and withdraw your acceptance(s) from all other schools or programs; and
3) On or before April 30, choose the school or program to which you plan to matriculate and promptly withdraw your acceptances from all other schools or programs.
**You should assume that all schools will require you to use the “Choose Your School” tool. This tool has three important choices in this tool:
Do nothing: For most schools that have accepted you, you are not required to make a choice until April 30 in most cases. This allows you to hold all acceptances, attend more interviews, gain new acceptance, and remain on all waitlist without restriction.
“Plan to Enroll” (PTE): this is your preliminarily selection of the medical school you plan to attend. Most medical schools that have accepted you will require this choice no later than April 30. A school usually will require you to withdraw from all other acceptances but you can attend more interviews, gain new acceptance, remain on all waitlist, and change this selection up until April 30. Again, each school can set their own conditions and deadlines.
“Commit to Enroll” (CTE): This is your final school selection and will require you to withdraw all other acceptances and alternate/waitlist positions. Most schools will require this choice no later than either 21 or 30 before orientation / matriculation.
**It is this variable required date for CTE which depends on the: 1) start date for each medical school and 2) the required lead time (21 or 30 days before matriculation) that creates an issue for student on waiting lists. In most cases you must, repeat, must drop all waitlists in order to CTE. Also, each applicant must know what conditions each school wants for PTE and CTE, such as being on waitlist. !!!!!!!FAILURE TO DO SO CAN LEAD TO ACCEPTANCE BEING RESCINDED WITHOUT NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**AAMC Acceptance Protocols are commonly referred to as the Traffic Rules. However, due to changes last year, the AAMC/AMCAS can no longer dictate when acceptances are “final” and how alternate waitlist works, nor can it directly coordinate multiple acceptances across the schools. It is now up to each individual school to have a policy that states deadlines and condition and it is up to each acceptee to know and fulfill these conditions for each school.
**Acceptance processing/tracking is done thru an AMCAS system called the “Choose Your School” tool. AMCAS does not require any school or any acceptee to use this tool, however most individual schools require that you do so as a condition of acceptance. We will get to the dates, deadlines, and other important information in this tool in a moment.
**Oct 15 to April 30: An acceptee may hold as many acceptance and alternate/waitlist offers as they want. For acceptances, you are likely to be required to pay an initial deposit of $100 refundable fee to do that. Some schools may also recommend or offer to take a larger fee ($1000-$3000) under the premise that doing so will have your financial aid and other pre-matriculation items started immediately. Since this is a purely voluntary fee, it may not, repeat, may not be refundable.
**AMCAS recommends
1) Withdraw your acceptance from any school or program you do not plan to attend as soon as you have made that decision;
2) On or before April 15, narrow your selection(s) to no more than three schools or programs, and withdraw your acceptance(s) from all other schools or programs; and
3) On or before April 30, choose the school or program to which you plan to matriculate and promptly withdraw your acceptances from all other schools or programs.
**You should assume that all schools will require you to use the “Choose Your School” tool. This tool has three important choices in this tool:
Do nothing: For most schools that have accepted you, you are not required to make a choice until April 30 in most cases. This allows you to hold all acceptances, attend more interviews, gain new acceptance, and remain on all waitlist without restriction.
“Plan to Enroll” (PTE): this is your preliminarily selection of the medical school you plan to attend. Most medical schools that have accepted you will require this choice no later than April 30. A school usually will require you to withdraw from all other acceptances but you can attend more interviews, gain new acceptance, remain on all waitlist, and change this selection up until April 30. Again, each school can set their own conditions and deadlines.
“Commit to Enroll” (CTE): This is your final school selection and will require you to withdraw all other acceptances and alternate/waitlist positions. Most schools will require this choice no later than either 21 or 30 before orientation / matriculation.
**It is this variable required date for CTE which depends on the: 1) start date for each medical school and 2) the required lead time (21 or 30 days before matriculation) that creates an issue for student on waiting lists. In most cases you must, repeat, must drop all waitlists in order to CTE. Also, each applicant must know what conditions each school wants for PTE and CTE, such as being on waitlist. !!!!!!!FAILURE TO DO SO CAN LEAD TO ACCEPTANCE BEING RESCINDED WITHOUT NOTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**I also cannot stress enough understanding deadlines and being ahead and confirmed before deadlines. If a school says, has a July 1st deadline for CTE that could mean 12:00AM on July 1st or 11:59PM. Do not, repeat, do not, wait until the last minute for a possible waitlist spot, and lose an actual acceptance. In the 2018-2019 cycle, two acceptees lose their acceptances: one for believing they had until midnight of deadline (he was dropped in morning) and the other for having issues with the system for the deadline weekend. Make no mistake here, a school’s mission is to insure that each seat is filled and they will just as soon take the next waitlist candidate.
**From early February until April 30th medical school can only run aggregate reports to determine how many of only their acceptees have chosen PTE for their school versus all other schools. They do not see the name of the acceptees nor do see the names of other schools. This report is mostly for enrollment planning and how many acceptances and waitlist spots to plan for. At no time will a school ever see which other schools you applied to.
**April 15th: AMCAS recommends that acceptees should hold no more than 3 acceptances. They can remain on all waitlists.
**April 30th: This is final acceptance date. Virtually all medical schools will require that you have selected PTE or CTE for them at this point; else, your acceptance can be rescinded without notice. Again, I warn acceptees, do not wait for the last minute. Medical Schools can now run detailed reports showing which of their acceptees and waitlist alternates have PTE/CTE at their school versus aggregate of all other schools (again, medical schools will never know where else you have applied, been accepted, or on a waitlist).
**When considering waitlist alternates, most medical schools will have grouped their alternates (e.g. high, medium, low) or ranked them possible acceptance. Therefore, they are unlikely to consider the acceptance status at other schools when offering positions from the waitlist early in the cycle (rough guesstimate thru mid-to-late June). In other words, PTE at one school is unlikely to impact waitlist chances at another. Again, I repeat, each medical school has their own PTE/CTE deadlines and conditions. It is up to you to know them.
**Schools are in no way obligated to provide financial aid information prior to their CTE date. The majority will some will not process financial aid until after you CTE. You may have to make a final decision about which school without financial aid info.
**Below are some of the medical school conditions and dates for PTE/CTE
Title
Tufts University School of Medicine Acceptance Policy:
Applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must review the guidelines and instructions regarding the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool found on the Association of American Medical Colleges website.
Between Feb 19-April 30th applicants who have been admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine may select the ‘plan to enroll’ option. Until April 30th, applicants who choose the ‘plan to enroll’ option may continue to hold other acceptances, remain on waitlists, and continue to interview at other schools.
On April 30th applicants who have been admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine will have two options: ‘plan to enroll’ or ‘commit to enroll.’ All applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must make one of these selections by/on April 30th. Admitted applicants who do not select Tufts University School of Medicine for either of these options must decline their offer/withdraw their application from Tufts. If they do not, Tufts University School of Medicine has the right to rescind their admissions offer.
Applicants who select ‘plan to enroll’ by April 30th must decline all other admissions offers but may remain on other school’s waitlists. (They may remain at ‘plan to enroll’ [with Tufts University School of Medicine selected] until they select ‘commit to enroll’)
Applicants who select ‘commit to enroll’ must decline all other admissions offers and withdraw from all waitlists. Selecting ‘commit to enroll’ means that you are committed to enrolling at Tufts University School of Medicine and no other school. It represents a final decision.
All applicants admitted to Tufts University School of Medicine must select the ‘commit to enroll’ option no later than 21 days prior to matriculation (this deadline is dependent on an applicant’s specific program start date). Again, when an applicant selects ‘commit to enroll’ they must decline all other offers and withdraw from all waitlists. If an applicant has not selected Tufts University School of Medicine as the ‘commit to enroll’ option 21 days prior to matriculation, Tufts University School of Medicine has the right to rescind their admissions offer.
Additional Notes:
Deposits must be submitted within two (2) weeks of the request being made
The $100 deposit is refundable until April 30th
Process and Timeline
April 15: Drop date for admitted students to withdraw from all but three schools.
April 30: Drop date for admitted students to withdraw from all but one school. Admitted students planning to enroll at Columbia VP&S must select the Plan To Enroll option on the Choose Your Medical School tool.
Admission Timeline | Medical College
April 30th, 2019
By April 30th, 2019, applicants who have been accepted to Weill Cornell Medical College must select the “Plan to Enroll” option on the Choose Your Medical School Tool in AMCAS.
Applicants who select “Plan to Enroll” at Weill Cornell Medical College must withdraw their applications from all other schools to which they have been offered admission. In selecting “Plan to Enroll,” applicants may remain on other schools’ waitlists up until July 15th, 2019.
To confirm a decision to enroll at Weill Cornell Medical College, applicants must also submit a one hundred dollar ($100) tuition deposit by April 30th, 2019. The deposit is non-refundable after that date.
July 15th, 2019
By July 15th, 2019, applicants who have been accepted to Weill Cornell Medical College and plan to matriculate, must select the “Commit to Enroll” option on the Choose Your Medical School Tool in AMCAS and withdraw their applications from all other schools who have offered them admission or waitlist positions. Applicants may also choose to select “Commit to Enroll” prior to the July 15th, 2019 deadline.
Application Timeline, KU School of Medicine
| April 30, 2020 | AMCAS Choose Your Medical School "Commit to Enroll" option becomes available to all accepted applicants. Making this selection indicates you have withdrawn your application from consideration at all other medical schools to which you have applied, and you are committing to matriculate at KU School of Medicine. |
| July 1, 2020 | All accepted applicants are required to select the "Commit to Enroll" option by this date. Failure to do so will result in withdrawal of your KU School of Medicine acceptance. |
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