Better chance of acceptance if interviewed early?

[asilvey]

I noticed on the U.S. News website that at most D.O. schools your odds of acceptance, if you receive an interview, are about 1:2.7. Do you think that the odds are far better for those who interview early in the application process, i.e. Sept. & Oct.?

For those of you who do not know, the U.S. News website (www.usnews.com) has some GREAT info on med schools (D.O. & M.D.). I feel that the info you get there is just as important as the info from interviewfeedback.com. You can search for the school that you want info on and compare it to three other schools. The info included shows #of applicants for the school, #interviewed, #accepted, avg. MCAT & gpa accepted, cost, distance from home and an option to go into greater detail (#in-state/out-state applicants and interviews/acceptances offered for each, minorities, women, etc.).

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[PalCareGrl]

Hi, Welcome to SDN!

I think it is true that the earlier you interview, the better chance you have. This is because some schools only interview until their class is full. At the beginning of the cycle, all seats are available, but toward the end, there may be 20 applicants competing for 10 seats. That, and at one of the schools that I interviewed at, they stated that their class will probably be full by December. I've also heard that some schools offer almost all of their first couple rounds of interviews seats in their class. So, IMHO, it makes sense to try to apply as early as possible in order to get an early interview. Best of luck!

 

[luckyduck]

I agree. I am almost certain that everyone that was at the interview day at OU-COM on Tuesday will receive an invite for admission to the Fall, 2002 entering class. It just seems to make sense that the earlier you interview, the better chances you have.

 

[John DO]

Remember that this year is probably not the first year that the medical schools are accepting students, so they know that excellent applicants will interview later. I know that some schools reserve a percentage of the seats for late interviews (by waitlisting qualified applicants) so that they will not forego any potential students. KCOM last year accepted students as late as less than two weeks before school started because of the students' excellent abilities. Did KCOM have a hard time filling their seats? I doubt it--I think I have heard that for every position filled, there are, on average, 9 qualified applicants, sometimes more. OSU-COM, if I recall, reserves half of their seats for the last half of the cycle so that everyone has an equal chance. Logic would say that earlier application means better chances, but do not worry about a late application because the schools will not accept everyone at teh beginning and then panic at the end; they are looking for the best applicants, not the fastest. On the other side of the token, if you are waitlisted, don't worry because you may be competetive, but the school may be reserving the seat to be fair--you may be accepted at the next cycle (usually the following month when the interview committee meets) when more seats are opened.