Calling all 2015-2016 applicants

[LizzyM]

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So true. A colleague of mine had everything complete on October 31st and had more interviews than I can count on one hand...He also had a 43 MCAT score

His quote "I almost thought about taking the test again, as I really wanted to see if I could get a 45"

Don't leave me hanging! Did he get in anywhere? Frankly, I wish he had retaken as it would have signaled so much to the adcom.

 

[IlyaR]

Had one interview invite at the end of September, then four in rapid succession in January (outright acceptance from the latter)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[21Rush12]

One in October, one in March, one
Acceptance so far


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[NotYou20]

I had 1 II in October and was accepted. 4 in December and January, but I only went to 3. One acceptance from that group

dat 80% acceptance

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Don't leave me hanging! Did he get in anywhere? Frankly, I wish he had retaken as it would have signaled so much to the adcom.

Lol yes. Multiple acceptances.

Idc what schools say, they go head over heels for a crazy MCAT.

 

[aesculapian]

@LizzyM - I remember having this very conversation with you many months ago! Turns out that I ended up getting my first II around January 17th. Four interviews and four waitlists later, I have one MD acceptance and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for it.

 

[LizzyM]

@LizzyM - I remember having this very conversation with you many months ago! Turns out that I ended up getting my first II around January 17th. Four interviews and four waitlists later, I have one MD acceptance and there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for it.

Very happy for you. It can happen but it is always good to plan for the worst and hope for the best. So glad it worked out for you!

 

[jwilliams1993]

I got one invitation to interview on Nov. 3, so just a bit before Thanksgiving. I interviewed in early December and was put on the alternate list. I removed my app after being accepted elsewhere, but based on what I've seen, I think there's a decent chance I would've gotten a seat.

The school I was actually accepted to sent my II in early January. I interviewed in February and then was given an "accepted pending available seat" status in March or so and accepted on May 4.

As much as I sat around worrying that I hadn't heard anything by October, and then still didn't have a seat by January, I ended up getting an interview and a seat shortly thereafter. I'm very interested in the results you'll find here! The idea of these cutoff dates has always interested me. These were both DO schools so I didn't cast a vote for this poll as you mentioned only MD.

 

[282NC]

Looks like I'm defying both the 3 interview rule and the Turkey Day rule. Not a good time to be an outlier .

 

[LizzyM]

I got one invitation to interview on Nov. 3, so just a bit before Thanksgiving. I interviewed in early December and was put on the alternate list. I removed my app after being accepted elsewhere, but based on what I've seen, I think there's a decent chance I would've gotten a seat.

The school I was actually accepted to sent my II in early January. I interviewed in February and then was given an "accepted pending available seat" status in March or so and accepted on May 4.

As much as I sat around worrying that I hadn't heard anything by October, and then still didn't have a seat by January, I ended up getting an interview and a seat shortly thereafter. I'm very interested in the results you'll find here! The idea of these cutoff dates has always interested me. These were both DO schools so I didn't cast a vote for this poll as you mentioned only MD.

If you sent a secondary to at least one MD school, even if you weren't admittted to that school, you can vote.

 

[redmen12]

-

 

[neko_atsume]

3 interview invites in February and March, one acceptance in May. I feel like a dodged a bullet.

 

[madb0x]

Both last cycle and this cycle I had interview invites before Thanksgiving. Last cycle, 0 acceptances. This cycle, 2 acceptances 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

As has been pointed out by @trickydick this was a convenience sample and not representative of the pool of all applicants. This is quite obvious in that we have 82.9% who report being admitted to at least one medical school – almost twice the national average. It could be that SDN forum readers are far more successful than the typical applicant or that those who were unsuccessful are too ashamed to report, even in an anonymous survey.

In any case, the question holds, is a lack of an interview invitation by Thanksgiving spell doom for an applicant and signal the need to prepare for another cycle?

There is a statistically significant difference in the proportion of applicants who had interview invites before Thanksgiving who were eventually admitted and the proportion of applicants who were not invited until after Thanksgiving who eventually got invites. (p< 0.01) Does this mean that after Thanksgiving interview invites are for the waitlist? I do not believe that to be the case.

Of the 392 respondents who reported having at least one offer of admission, 357 (91%) had an interview invite before Thanksgiving. But what of the flip side? What proportion of those without interview invites before Thanksgiving ended up needing a “Plan B”? Only 65 responders reported having had no invitations before Thanksgiving and 30 (46%) ended up empty handed. As pointed out, it could be that those who had no offers are ashamed to report and that proportion is in reality far larger. The other group to concern ourselves with are the 12% (51/408) who were interviewed before Thanksgiving but ended up empty handed. In fact, that group who might have felt reassured by having an interview before Thanksgiving end up being the most tragic group, particularly if they end up waitlisted and waiting well into the summer, hoping to avoid a reapplication cycle but knowing that the longer they wait, the less successful that cycle may be.


The odds of getting an offer if you have an interview before Thanksgiving are better than the odds of getting an offer if you have no interviews before Thanksgiving. On the other hand, until you have an offer, you have to be continually thinking of how you might improve your application if another cycle is required.