Am I getting yield protected?

[deleted877060]

I am a high-stat applicant (3.9+, 522+). Applied MD to 25 schools. 7 IIs so far and 1 A from one of my public in-state schools. My IIs are either T20s (WashU, NYU, Cornell, UChicago) or in-state schools (3 of them), with no love from mid/lower OOS schools that I would absolutely consider matriculating if accepted.
As the interview season is over halfway done, I'm wondering if my results reflect a bigger trend in admissions that high-stat people tend to get yield protected so they must compete for the top schools even if their applications are perfectly acceptable elsewhere.
Do you think this can be the case? Or maybe it's possible that I have a red flag somewhere that's turning schools off?

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[mvsrocks]

Yes, it could be yield protection. Could also be that your app is more research-focused (which aligns better with T20 schools) than community service focused (like Rush). It's definitely not a red flag since you've gotten multiple IIs already.

Yes, you'll likely be competing with other top applicants at those top schools.

 

[deleted877060]

Yes, it could be yield protection. Could also be that your app is more research-focused (which aligns better with T20 schools) than community service focused (like Rush). It's definitely not a red flag since you've gotten multiple IIs already.

Yes, you'll likely be competing with other top applicants at those top schools.

My app is pretty heavy in research, but I also have a lot of service. My state school that accepted me is very service-driven, and UChicago also emphasizes service more than most top schools, so i don’t think it’s that. I also applied to research heavy schools like Case Western and Ucincci among several others but not a peep from them.

 

[mvsrocks]

My app is pretty heavy in research, but I also have a lot of service. My state school that accepted me is very service-driven, and UChicago also emphasizes service more than most top schools, so i don’t think it’s that. I also applied to research heavy schools like Case Western and Ucincci among several others but not a peep from them.

Different reviewers prioritize different things, so the process is subjective. While some schools you believe you fit at will reject you, on average I believe yield protection is a thing. That's why Faha and co adjust WAMC school lists by taking this into account

 

[Goro]

I am a high-stat applicant (3.9+, 522+). Applied MD to 25 schools. 7 IIs so far and 1 A from one of my public in-state schools. My IIs are either T20s (WashU, NYU, Cornell, UChicago) or in-state schools (3 of them), with no love from mid/lower OOS schools that I would absolutely consider matriculating if accepted.
As the interview season is over halfway done, I'm wondering if my results reflect a bigger trend in admissions that high-stat people tend to get yield protected so they must compete for the top schools even if their applications are perfectly acceptable elsewhere.
Do you think this can be the case? Or maybe it's possible that I have a red flag somewhere that's turning schools off?

It's called resource protection, and yes, that's likely what is happening.

 

[deleted877060]

It's called resource protection, and yes, that's likely what is happening.

Man, I hope that isn't the case and some mid-tiers still choose to take a shot on me.

 

[Goro]

Man, I hope that isn't the case and some mid-tiers still choose to take a shot on me.

With 7 IIs and one A, you are crying with a loaf of bread under you arm (old Korean proverb).

 

[deleted877060]

With 7 IIs and one A, you are crying with a loaf of bread under you arm (old Korean proverb).

I understand! It is just my premed drive to desire what I do not have.

 

[LizzyM]

I am a high-stat applicant (3.9+, 522+). Applied MD to 25 schools. 7 IIs so far and 1 A from one of my public in-state schools. Or maybe it's possible that I have a red flag somewhere that's turning schools off?

For the love of God, man. Use your critical thinking skills. Would you have 7 interview invites and an admission offers if your application had a red flag? I'm ready to recind your offer of admission because you are being a doofus.

 

[HopeP]

I understand! It is just my premed drive to desire what I do not have.

Feel ya, your pre-med soul is unwilling to leave your WH.

 

[KnightDoc]

Man, I hope that isn't the case and some mid-tiers still choose to take a shot on me.

It absolutely IS the case. I have several friends in the exact same boat. It sucks, but it really is feast or famine for people like you. You need to be able to close the deal at the top schools because, on paper, you are highly unlikely to attend a mid-tier (unless, of course, you strike out at the top schools) and, consequently, those schools are simply unwilling to invest time and resources in you on the off chance that you strike out everywhere else and might actually attend.

Honestly, given the likely cost differential and the lack of prestige and ranking at a mid or lower tier OOS school, when push comes to shove, which one would you really attend over your state school? Sure, we all want to get As everywhere we apply, but we all know that's not how this works. These schools have decades of institutional experience doing this, and, as a result, they know you better than you know yourself with respect to what you are ultimately going to do.

It is what it is, but it is not personal. It seems to be happening to everyone I know with your profile, and there is absolutely nothing you could do about it other than, maybe, writing off all the T20s and applying Early Decision to your favorite mid-tier!

 

[deleted1084586]

i am in a similar boat and honestly it is extremely annoying. i have no research and went to an unranked undergad but 5/6 II's have been at T10s (i suspect bc i have a near perfect MCAT). While I am extremely grateful for my success it's hard not to be frustrated bc i desperately want to stay in state to be close to my family, which I emphasized in my secondaries. also i really don't vibe well with the people i meet at these schools so i am praying for some state school interviews.

 

[KnightDoc]

i am in a similar boat and honestly it is extremely annoying. i have no research and went to an unranked undergad but 5/6 II's have been at T10s (i suspect bc i have a near perfect MCAT). While I am extremely grateful for my success it's hard not to be frustrated bc i desperately want to stay in state to be close to my family, which I emphasized in my secondaries. also i really don't vibe well with the people i meet at these schools so i am praying for some state school interviews.

TBH, IS public schools ARE the broad exception to the general rule (because you are not unique, and a ton of people turn down top schools to stay local due to money or support system considerations), so hang in there!!!

 

[joshuamarcus]

I think lots of schools do, but there are mid tiers that accept high stat applicants (I’m in the same stat range and have an A at a mid tier).

I would consult msar and see if your midtiers are likely to accept ppl with ur stats.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I am a high-stat applicant (3.9+, 522+). Applied MD to 25 schools. 7 IIs so far and 1 A from one of my public in-state schools. My IIs are either T20s (WashU, NYU, Cornell, UChicago) or in-state schools (3 of them), with no love from mid/lower OOS schools that I would absolutely consider matriculating if accepted.
As the interview season is over halfway done, I'm wondering if my results reflect a bigger trend in admissions that high-stat people tend to get yield protected so they must compete for the top schools even if their applications are perfectly acceptable elsewhere.
Do you think this can be the case? Or maybe it's possible that I have a red flag somewhere that's turning schools off?

It's yield protection for sure. My kid is in the same boat, more love from T10s than T20s.

 

[KnightDoc]

It's yield protection for sure. My kid is in the same boat, more love from T10s than T20s.

Yup, but OP wasn't complaining about being yield protected out of T20s. Your son is just experiencing an even more extreme example of this. Nice humble brag, by the way!!

 

[deleted877060]

Thanks everyone for the input. Seems like this is how things work for applicants like me.
I made this post out of worry that I won’t get into the top schools due to the competition there, but I know all I can do is make the most of my interviews and hope for the best. At the end of the day I will be in medical school next year and training to be a doctor, which is all that matters 🙏

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Thanks everyone for the input. Seems like this is how things work for applicants like me.
I made this post out of worry that I won’t get into the top schools due to the competition there, but I know all I can do is make the most of my interviews and hope for the best. At the end of the day I will be in medical school next year and training to be a doctor, which is all that matters 🙏

And if you are aiming for T10 or T20 (for whatever reasons), remember that you have 2 more shots (residency and fellowship).

 

[KnightDoc]

Thanks everyone for the input. Seems like this is how things work for applicants like me.
I made this post out of worry that I won’t get into the top schools due to the competition there, but I know all I can do is make the most of my interviews and hope for the best. At the end of the day I will be in medical school next year and training to be a doctor, which is all that matters 🙏

Yup. As Philly basketball fans have been saying for years "trust the process." My sense is that we all apply widely because we don't know what to expect going in, and this is what all the experts advise. At the outset, it's great advice, because you just don't know how your app is going to be perceived by the adcoms, and, if you don't apply widely, you run the risk of your application not being as good you think, and then being stuck with a top heavy list that results in your being shut out.

Then the T20 IIs start rolling in, and you relax a little. But you're still uptight because you don't have any T20 As, and where the hell are your other IIs? My take is that the other schools see the same thing the T20s see, and, through years of experience spread over hundreds of thousands of candidates, they KNOW you will be going T20 or IS public, even though you don't know it yet because you don't yet have the As. I actually see the yield protection as positive confirmation that you are going to do very well this cycle. There is no reason for you not to feel the same way, unless and until it's proven wrong.

And I say this knowing full well that I am a lowly premed, and the esteemed adcoms advise that you are rejected until told otherwise. Let's see who turns out to be right here. I'm putting it out here, and am perfectly willing to be publicly humiliated if I am wrong. I trust the process. You should too!

 

[deleted877060]

For the love of God, man. Use your critical thinking skills. Would you have 7 interview invites and an admission offers if your application had a red flag? I'm ready to recind your offer of admission because you are being a doofus.

Well I figured the top schools could have given me IIs purely based on my stats so I could have a bad LOR or something that makes me unappealing to the schools that don’t be care about stats as much

 

[LunaOri]

i am in a similar boat and honestly it is extremely annoying. i have no research and went to an unranked undergad but 5/6 II's have been at T10s (i suspect bc i have a near perfect MCAT). While I am extremely grateful for my success it's hard not to be frustrated bc i desperately want to stay in state to be close to my family, which I emphasized in my secondaries. also i really don't vibe well with the people i meet at these schools so i am praying for some state school interviews.

Do you have anyone who can advocate for you at your state school? Like a premed advisor? And were you very clear in your secondaries about how you want to stay in state and how you would be a great fit for their school?

 

[efle]

Yeah looks like yield protection to me. But with several t20 interviews I wouldn't be worrying about it.

Would you really choose low ranking out of state schools over t20s in hot locations? NYU is even free tuition for all admits. Yield protection happens for a reason - what makes you the 1% of people that would turn down a free, high-ranking Manhattan school for a low ranked out of state program where you'd probably pay tuition? If you have a super strong reason like family needs you nearby, tell the schools in that area with a LOI.

 

[Goro]

Well I figured the top schools could have given me IIs purely based on my stats so I could have a bad LOR or something that makes me unappealing to the schools that don’t be care about stats as much

Oh, man!!!! Medical schools do NOT work this way! They have so many talented candidates that a red flag letter would have been an immediate screen out.

Every Year we get similar posts to yours. They remind me of the high school jocks who say that they have dates with all the pretty girls but none of the ugly girls will go out with them....and how dare they. So you need a little reality check here, you're not God's gift to Medicine

 

[KnightDoc]

Well I figured the top schools could have given me IIs purely based on my stats so I could have a bad LOR or something that makes me unappealing to the schools that don’t be care about stats as much

Nah, that's not how it works. High stats get you reviewed, and probably in a priority pile to boot! But absolutely no school gives auto-IIs based on stats.

If there was something in your file that was unappealing, no school would waste time and resources interviewing you before auto-rejecting you. And, no, top schools aren't so obsessed with stats that they overlook things lower ranked schools don't. The top ranked schools obsession with stats just means that really good candidates with less than stellar stats often, but not always, fail to make it though the preliminary screen to even get a serious look.

 

[HopeP]

They remind me of the high school jocks who say that they have dates with all the pretty girls but none of the ugly girls will go out with them....and how dare they. So you need a little reality check here, you're not God's gift to Medicine

Lol you savage...

 

[KnightDoc]

Oh, man!!!! Medical schools do NOT work this way! They have so many talented candidates that a red flag letter would have been an immediate screen out.

Every Year we get similar posts to yours. They remind me of the high school jocks who say that they have dates with all the pretty girls but none of the ugly girls will go out with them....and how dare they. So you need a little reality check here, you're not God's gift to Medicine

Pretty girls and ugly girls??? So, even though "the only people who care about med school ranks (which are given by US Snooze and Worst Report) are starry-eyed pre-meds and med school Deans," schools that don't have a high ranking are the "ugly girls" of American medical education, notwithstanding the fact that experience usually teaches that the so-called "ugly girls" in HS were almost always the ones with the true inner beauty??? These analogies are truly priceless.

 

[deleted1084586]

Do you have anyone who can advocate for you at your state school? Like a premed advisor? And were you very clear in your secondaries about how you want to stay in state and how you would be a great fit for their school?

my premed advisor is useless lmao. just a bio professor that occasionally makes time for us. yeah i was pretty clear but it is what it is. nbd and ik i'm super fortunate to have the offers that i have. kinda nice to have a thread to vent about it though since i understand it's very "woe is me, suffering from success" lol

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yup, but OP wasn't complaining about being yield protected out of T20s. Your son is just experiencing an even more extreme example of this. Nice humble brag, by the way!!

No humble brag! my kid applied to T20s mostly and some adcoms thought he is aiming too high (given no gap years and fewer volunteering hours) so was surprised to see him getting more T10 than T20 interviews.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Lol you savage...

Savagery is not PC

 

[baewon]

I didn't know the term "yield protection" but this is what I feel is happening to my app as well. I have a pretty good app 3.9+ gpa, 517, 2 pubs, good ECs. Out of the 8 schools I applied to, I thought I would get a lot of II from my mid schools, but I've only gotten 3 IIs and As from the highest ranked schools. I've only heard radio silence from the rest, and even got ghosted on a secondary for one where my stats were well above their average and I felt my app still matched their mission statement and school vibe too.

I didn't want to post in fear of the premed neurotic humble brag, but I am suspicious that this does occur for higher stat applicants.

 

[KnightDoc]

No humble brag! my kid applied to T20s mostly and some adcoms thought he is aiming too high (given no gap years and fewer volunteering hours) so was surprised to see him getting more T10s than T20 interviews.

Excellent! Still, when you feel the need to provide that level of detail when responding to a post regarding being yield protected out at mid and low tier schools, it's a humble brag. You could have said exactly the same thing without mentioning T10 and T20. Your son experienced the exact same thing as OP, only at higher ranked schools, and you made sure to let the board know it. Congratulations. Humble brag!!!

 

[Banco]

Bruh listen to me, would you honestly go to one of those low-tier OOS schools over your state schools? That's the question to ask. I highly doubt you would. So why even care about this.

 

[KnightDoc]

Savagery is not PC

It was also inappropriate on many levels.

I don't think anyone has to be anyone's gift to anything to be disappointed over not receiving a fair shake after submitting an app and paying a fee, particularly if they are deemed too high stat to warrant a school allocating admissions resources to after accepting an application and collecting a fee.

I do realize it's a sellers' market and it's the way it is, but if the schools were honest and ethical, they'd perform this triage on the front end and not send a secondary, saving applicants a ton of time and money, at the expense of unearned secondary fees to the school, if certain applicants are considered so strong and unlikely to attend so as to not warrant a full evaluation, including a possible II.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Excellent! Still, when you feel the need to provide that level of detail when responding to a post regarding being yield protected out at mid and low tier schools, it's a humble brag. You could have said exactly the same thing without mentioning T10 and T20. Your son experienced the exact same thing as OP, only at higher ranked schools. Congratulations. Humble brag!!!

OP was comparing between T20s and mid/low tiers and I was comparing between T10s and T20s since my kid didn't apply to mid/low tier. You need to stop over analyzing every post!

 

[KnightDoc]

OP was comparing between T20s and mid/low tiers and I was comparing between T10s and T20s since my kid didn't apply to mid/low tier. You need to stop over analyzing every post!

Yes. Humble brag. Not an over analysis. Just a simple passing observation.

Do you not know what that means? This is it! As an obvious, hypothetical example, someone complains about not getting off a DO WL and having to reapply, and then a well meaning parent complains about his kid not getting off the Harvard WL and having to go to Penn. It's a freaking humble brag.

In this case, someone is surprised they're receiving T20 with high stats, and not below, and you feel compelled to chime in that YOUR kid is so good that YOU'RE surprised he's receiving T10 with high stats, and not even T20. Textbook humble brag. Either own it, or don't do it if you're sensitive about being called on it.

 

[deleted877060]

Closing, thanks again guys. No need to argue over argument’s sake.

 

[la flame]

i can already picture this thread on reddit premed page with some meme caption of "when you see someone on SDN with multiple T20 II's & acceptances but still complaining about not getting any II's at DO schools"

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yes. Humble brag. Not an over analysis. Just a simple passing observation.

Do you not know what that means? This is it! As an obvious, hypothetical example, someone complains about not getting off a DO WL and having to reapply, and then a well meaning parent complains about his kid not getting off the Harvard WL and having to go to Penn. It's a freaking humble brag.

In this case, someone is surprised they're receiving T20 with high stats, and not below, and you feel compelled to chime in that YOUR kid is so good that YOU'RE surprised he's receiving T10 with high stats, and not even T20. Textbook humble brag. Either own it, or don't do it if you're sensitive about being called on it.

No one gets sensitive about your analysis I have no use bragging here. Let me explain differently since OP forgot to close the thread, yield protection could happen at T11-T20 also not just mid/low tier.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

i can already picture this thread on reddit premed page with some meme caption of "when you see someone on SDN with multiple T20 II's & acceptances but still complaining about not getting any II's at DO schools"

I find it interesting that SDN posts are actively discussed on Reddit. Other day my kid told me that I was mentioned couple of times

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Okay I’m guessing since OP said they are closing that they want it closed even though it didn’t happen for some reason.