Bigtime Pet Peeve...

[stonewall22]

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Applying to medical school is expensive, VERY expensive, but that's part of the game. What shouldn't be part of the game is the other players taking your money while pretending not to play. What do I mean by that? There are four schools for which I completed secondaries, sent in money, and have NEVER heard a word from...that's in four months mind you. Now, I've already decided where I'm going, so I wouldn't even accept an interview from any of these schools, but IMO, it's VERY unprofessional to take my application money without so much as a rejection letter. Want to reject me? Fine, but professional courtesy would suggest you at least tell me.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Applying to medical school is expensive, VERY expensive, but that's part of the game. What shouldn't be part of the game is the other players taking your money while pretending not to play. What do I mean by that? There are four schools for which I completed secondaries, sent in money, and have NEVER heard a word from...that's in four months mind you. Now, I've already decided where I'm going, so I wouldn't even accept an interview from any of these schools, but IMO, it's VERY unprofessional to take my application money without so much as a rejection letter. Want to reject me? Fine, but professional courtesy would suggest you at least tell me.

That's as bad as schools that already have you sitting in rejection mass email file then press 'send' after they get the secondary check. It's a huge process, and it's easy to loose track of things ... but your frusturation is justified.

 

[MossPoh]

I was just ranting about that earlier to one of my friends. I just got a rejection over 5 months after I was complete. I called several times and they treated me like I was an inconvenience for asking. I still am yet to hear from 6 schools. Not even a letter saying I am still under consideration or not.

I called two of them. One of them said I was missing something with my file and I called back and the woman snapped at me and said I was under review and that is all she could tell me and then hung up. The other just said to be patient. I have been complete since July. I've been patient enough.

 

[RySerr21]

yea i feel you, but i'm over it. It doesnt really matter. I still havent heard anything from UCLA (not even a secondary) and not a peep from Penn St (post secondary). Theres nothing we can do about it and theres no use in complainin. Thats just the way it is.

 

[slick27]

As a reapplicant, I did not get some of my rejections until May last year. This happens because some schools keep your file under review until they have all their interview slots full and most schools keep interview until May. It sucks, but thats the process.

 

[cliquesh]

Hey Slick,

Did you apply to DMU 3 times or just this once?

 

[MossPoh]

yea i feel you, but i'm over it. It doesnt really matter. I still havent heard anything from UCLA (not even a secondary) and not a peep from Penn St (post secondary). Theres nothing we can do about it and theres no use in complainin. Thats just the way it is.

I haven't heard from PSU yet either. I got a letter saying I was still under consideration in like September and that was it.

 

[JonnyG]

Applying to medical school is expensive, VERY expensive, but that's part of the game. What shouldn't be part of the game is the other players taking your money while pretending not to play. What do I mean by that? There are four schools for which I completed secondaries, sent in money, and have NEVER heard a word from...that's in four months mind you. Now, I've already decided where I'm going, so I wouldn't even accept an interview from any of these schools, but IMO, it's VERY unprofessional to take my application money without so much as a rejection letter. Want to reject me? Fine, but professional courtesy would suggest you at least tell me.

How is it unprofessional. it is how most places without rolling admissions do it for college and that system has been in place for years (essentially defining what is professional). If they are still giving youa chance at a spot then they dont have to do anything till they complete their interview cycle.

 

[MossPoh]

How is it unprofessional. it is how most places without rolling admissions do it for college and that system has been in place for years (essentially defining what is professional). If they are still giving youa chance at a spot then they dont have to do anything till they complete their interview cycle.

Because most of these schools are rolling admissions. They have our email and what not. The least they can do is send a form email to everyone with a basic status update and not treat us like scum when we call and ask. I'm sorry, but I've been "under review" at some schools for nearly 6 months. It is them being indecisive. It is fine at this point if I'm not good enough, but just tell me. It is unprofessional to not communicate with anyone in any way. If I don't make the cut then I don't make the cut. They know that pretty quick most of the time and can tell us accordingly.

If you sent an application to me for a job or admissions status to something and never heard a peep from me, what would you think? You might call and I'd give you some vague "you're under review and that is all I can say" almost instantaneously after you ask. Some people can only afford to apply to a certain number of schools and have to allocate travel funds accordingly. If they get rejected post secondary then at least they know they can/should apply to another school and use the funds accordingly rather than having them blocked off for 5 months just in case.

 

[rajaholick]

eh, i guess i dont mind it so much
i dont send emails to schools when i decide not to send in a secondary or when i want to decline an acceptance...

 

[stonewall22]

eh, i guess i dont mind it so much
i dont send emails to schools when i decide not to send in a secondary or when i want to decline an acceptance...

The school also didn't pay you to receive your application. If the schools even had a website that listed my status, fine...but I get NOTING. One of the schools even emailed me right after I went complete and told me I would hear from them within a couple weeks. Which calendar are they using?!

IMO, not letting a school that accepted you know that you're not coming is bad form.

 

[rajaholick]

i mean if i dont pay my deposit by the deadline, dont they know that i'm not going to go there?
i did send emails when i withdrew prior to interview obviously

 

[WDeagle]

Most schools wont send rejection letters until they have filled their class which is probably in the late spring or summer. If you get a rejection letter earlier then that you that the school really must not have liked you. In addition, most admissions departments are simply too busy to worry about rejection letters this time of year. When interview season is over they will focus on rejections and waitlists. Then they will get ready for the incoming class. Its a pretty busy job and it seems like most admissions departments consist of only 5-10 people total. However, there are schools that are notorious for losing applications and general disorganization (NOVA). It sucks to lose money like this but consider it one of many hoops your going to have to jump through on your road to becoming a physician.

 

[liquid8r]

Most schools wont send rejection letters until they have filled their class which is probably in the late spring or summer. If you get a rejection letter earlier then that you that the school really must not have liked you. In addition, most admissions departments are simply too busy to worry about rejection letters this time of year. When interview season is over they will focus on rejections and waitlists. Then they will get ready for the incoming class. Its a pretty busy job and it seems like most admissions departments consist of only 5-10 people total. However, there are schools that are notorious for losing applications and general disorganization (NOVA). It sucks to lose money like this but consider it one of many hoops your going to have to jump through on your road to becoming a physician.

But my rejection letter said that it was a very difficult decision!

 

[AMEHigh]

Do you really expect each school to send updates to thousands of applicants throughout the cycle? I think that's a little unreasonable. I still haven't heard back from several schools. Knowing that they've received my file and that I'm complete is all that I expect.

Now if you call and ask a question, they shouldn't get an attitude, but if your file is technically still under review, then what more do you want them to say.

I do believe it's in good form to send you a rejection letter by the end of the cycle, but it's only January. Even if you've been complete since the summer, they're still going through files and deciding who to interview.

I've applied to countless jobs (I'm a non traditional applicant) and NEVER hear a word. Some send out "rejection" letters and some you get interviews, but sometimes you hear nothing. So I'd get used to it. Good luck the rest of the cycle! I hope you hear from your schools soon!

 

[p30doc]

I'm still waiting on decisions from ~30 schools, submitted all my secondaries in early july and august. That is the nature of the game. It seems like every step of the pre-med process is designed to mess with your head, have you jump through hoops and make you give up.

 

[p30doc]

I've applied to countless jobs (I'm a non traditional applicant) and NEVER hear a word. Some send out "rejection" letters and some you get interviews, but sometimes you hear nothing.

I remember that well, it was like sending your resume into a blackhole, I applied to hundreds of positions, got a total of one rejection letter, the rest were interviews or silence, mostly silence.

 

[blndeaj]

i was extremely frusterated with one of the schools i applied to... UNECOM. After talking to the admissions director he told me that my MCAT score was good enough to get me a secondary but not good enough for a interview. I cannot believe they would send me a secondary, have me fill it out (like all of us have so much extra time to do that anyway) and send in my money if they know when they are sending it to me i am not going to get an interview anyway! UNBELIEVABLE!

 

[tdittyx2x3]

The following scenario would be nice: Say a school gets 5000 applicants, decides to interview 600 by Jan/Feb, and accepts 300 for a class of 150 - totally made up numbers. I understand watching your tail and keeping a bunch of applicants on reserve to make sure you interview enough to fill the class. But let's say watching your tail means keeping an extra 400 "potential interviewees" in the game. At least you could eliminate the other 4,000 (80%) of the applicants by this time of year.

I'm still "under review" at 10 out of 22 schools.. complete since August. The schools do this because they know we all will just deal with it, its less for them to worry about, and they get to hold a gigantic reserve. I really don't see this changing as there is no downside from their standpoint.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

i was extremely frusterated with one of the schools i applied to... UNECOM. After talking to the admissions director he told me that my MCAT score was good enough to get me a secondary but not good enough for a interview. I cannot believe they would send me a secondary, have me fill it out (like all of us have so much extra time to do that anyway) and send in my money if they know when they are sending it to me i am not going to get an interview anyway! UNBELIEVABLE!

That's terrible. They never gave me any sort of response either....

 

[Tachymeter]

This is a good topic. I remember when I was applying in 07, there was one school that didn't tell me anything after I applied. I completely forgot about them after I was accepted at PNWU. Then at the start of the current application cycle I was sent an email that said that I should try to apply again this year. I was like, "this is how you reject me, by asking me to apply again the next year, wow."

 

[johnniewalker11]

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