Acknowledging acceptance offers?

[looseygoosey]

So, I realize that we have until May 15th to make a final matriculation decision (or April 19th(BOOOO!) for Cornell). However, I am receiving letters that say i must decide if i accept or decline their acceptance offer within two weeks to hold a spot. UCSD's letter said intent to matriculate or decline acceptance offer. Are these decisions non-binding at this point?

When do decisions become binding? What if we make a binding decision with a school and after May 15, we find out that we have been pulled off the waitlist at a school we'd rather go to?

Are the two week deadlines for returning the forms definite? or is up to a month or longer okay?

Man, im not looking forward to making a binding decision, although its a great decision to make.

Thanks

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[Neuronix]

This is the common question every year.

Decisions are never really binding until you start, however you can only hold one acceptance after May 15th. Some schools may pressure you into holding only their acceptance at an earlier date, and they may enforce it with a small deposit, but you could still back out if you receive another acceptance at any time (including after May 15th). Officially, the schools may only know that you are holding multiple acceptances past May 15th, but... They know anyway.

When you receive these two week notices, unless you are sure you would not go there, accept them. They are non-binding decisions. Return the forms ASAP, there's no reason to play around with this stuff. If you need an extension for some reason I'm sure you could call them.

When you get multiple acceptances, the common courtesy is to weigh schools against each other and drop the schools you won't go to. If you're unsure, hold on and go to the second looks.

 

[surge]

Neuronix is right on the money - speaking of which, your deposits will be returned if you withdraw (this may only be true if you withdraw before May 15, I'm not sure).

There's a person in our class who moved to Baltimore to start at Hopkins when he was pulled off the waitlist on a Thursday before the Monday when we were starting class. He literally withdrew from Hopkins and moved here over the weekend and started with us.

 

[doctorvenkman]

Hold on, I know if I accept now it's non binding, but according to AAMC rules, I thought a school can't make anyone commit until May(or April for Cornell, hehehe), so theoretically even though they tell you to accept within x amount of time, in theory you can sit on it for quite a while, no?

 

[duncanfj]

From the AMCAS website:

Prior to May 15 of the year of matriculation, an applicant should be given at least two weeks to reply to an offer of admission. After May 15, schools may require applicants to respond to acceptance offers in less than two weeks. An applicant may be required to file a statement of intent, a deposit, or both. The statement of intent should provide freedom to withdraw if the applicant is later accepted by a school that he or she prefers. Under no circumstances should an applicant be asked to withdraw from waiting lists as a condition of accepting a place.

 

[Neuronix]

While it is true that AMCAS policy states that, it is not enforced. The schools disobey the policy, and there's not really much we can do about it.

 

[Habari]

Let this be clear about this, so there is no confusion with regards to cornell [there has been in the past]:

IF you are holding an acceptance at cornell, they are allowed to, and do enforce their april 19th date [if that was the april date given to you - last year it was the 15th].

You must either accept cornell and withdraw all other schools, or give up your seat at cornell and hold all your may 15th schools.

If you are holding cornell and other school after april19th, cornell can withdraw their offer.

You can still stay on waitlists and hold a cornell acceptance past april19th.

This all is allowed by AMCAS and the AAMC - reaffirmed yearly by their directors - this applies to all schools that start their programs before a certain date [maybe before august1st? - that part i'm not sure].

Since the rotations at cornell start in the summer and all students participate - you must have time to make arrangements with a PI - therefore the april19th date.

If there is some reason you absolutely cannot make the date, you must negotiate that with Ruthie.

The program doesn't do that to be hardasses about this - it is a matter of having time to get things ready for the summer, and if you choose to ultimately not attend - it gives someone else a chance.

 

[Habari]

Hold on, I know if I accept now it's non binding, but according to AAMC rules, I thought a school can't make anyone commit until May(or April for Cornell, hehehe), so theoretically even though they tell you to accept within x amount of time, in theory you can sit on it for quite a while, no?

i was in the same situation last year - even near the end i was holding onto about 4 or 5 schools [i had already withdrawn from 6 or 7 - not just being greedy], some of which were pressuring me to accept or lose my spot. while they will put pressure on you, give you increasingly frequent calls etc... you don't have to accept until those final dates. the best thing to do is let them know honestly where you are in your decision making process - just so they know that they aren't among 13 schools you are simply holding for no reason.

 

[Neuronix]

I address this in the FAQ, but due to a constantly changing SDN I need to go fix it again. Anyhow, "recommendation" #4 (http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/policies/recommendations.htm) states:

Only after May 15 are schools free to apply appropriate rules for dealing with accepted applicants who, without adequate explanation, hold one or more places in other schools. These rules should recognize the problems of the applicant who has multiple offers and also of those applicants who have not yet been accepted. Only schools whose first official day of classes begins prior to August 1 may start to request decisions from accepted applicants prior to May 15 but not earlier than April 15. This rule applies to all accepted applicants for the entering medical school class, including those individuals entering M.D./Ph.D. programs and individuals to whom merit scholarships or other special scholarships have been awarded.

Nevertheless, if the program does have a required summer rotation, I would assume that they could fall under the April 15th rule. I wasn't speaking to Cornell specifically because I didn't know if they had a required summer rotation. Still, there are a number of programs that require earlier decisions who do not have required summer rotations and are apparently in violation of these rules. Remember, these are called "recommendations" by the AAMC, and are usually not enforced. This is probably because there are still medical schools that don't participate in AMCAS and they definately don't want schools to leave or not join because AMCAS gives them a hard time.

 

[neurotiger]

How many second look weekends do people usually attend? I thought that 2 was reasonable, I guess 3 if you're really undecided...but it sounds like some people go to even more. Is it really worth it/fair to hang on to that many acceptances?

Also, what about withdrawing from schools post-interview? I'm reluctant to withdraw pre-interview because I think a lot is learned about the school on an interview weekend. However, what about if you're still waiting to hear back from schools post-interview? Withdraw right away? Wait and withdraw after seeing what happens?

Great decision, but it's not gonna be easy...also, as a side note, seems like many schools at least try to enforce April 15th aside from Cornell.

 

[Maebea]

To be fair to your fellow applicants and the programs you are not interested in, you should withdraw as soon as you know that a school is not for you. If that means you send a withdrawal letter the day after your visit, so be it. Believe me, programs are not going to feel bad if you reject them quickly; quite the contrary, a quick decision on your part saves them from investing a lot of time, money, and emotional energy in a lost cause. While it may be gratifying to you to have a bunch of programs trying to woo you, it is irresponsible to string a program along when you have no intention of accepting their offer. The fact is, there are all kinds of outstanding applicants sitting on wait lists who are just as attractive as you. If you are not interested in a program, they will find someone just as good who is interested. While outstanding MSTP applicants are not a dime a dozen, there are more than enough good ones to go around.

The best reason to quickly notify schools of your intention is that it helps out your fellow applicants. By withdrawing, you open up a spot for someone on a waitlist. This courtesy will be very much appreciated by those individuals.

Regarding 2nd look weekends, you should only attend those for schools that you are truly interested in. It seems that in most cases, you should be able to narrow your choices to 2 or 3.