Can I matriculate into one school after starting classes for another?

[BilliamBobert]

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I have been accepted and already committed to a DO school, but this school's classes start in July. However, I have an interview with an MD school soon, and this school's matriculation date is in August. This got me to thinking of a possible scenario in which I am put on the waitlist for the MD school and they accept me after I start classes for the DO school. Do you guys know if we can attend one med school even after we started classes for another?

 

[KnightDoc]

I have been accepted and already committed to a DO school, but this school's classes start in July. However, I have an interview with an MD school soon, and this school's matriculation date is in August. This got me to thinking of a possible scenario in which I am put on the waitlist for the MD school and they accept me after I start classes for the DO school. Do you guys know if we can attend one med school even after we started classes for another?

You're not supposed to, and it wouldn't be possible with two MD schools, since the WL school would see you are committed elsewhere and would be VERY unlikely to not remove you from the WL if you did not follow the "rules" and remove yourself.

That said, it is theoretically possible with a DO and MD school, since neither would be able to see what you are doing with respect to the other. Your possible scenario, while possible, is HIGHLY unlikely. Movement across the MD universe is pretty much over by July, so the odds of you receiving a call after classes begin are pretty close to zero.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Because AMCAS and AACOMAS don't talk to each other, it can happen (and does). Just nail your MD interview and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

no

Isn’t there a clearinghouse that tracks each institution where a student matriculated?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

no

Isn’t there a clearinghouse that tracks each institution where a student matriculated?

Yes but the National Student Clearinghouse doesn't get this information immediately from schools as far as I know.

 

[Med Ed]

@Goro will tell you that it happens at his school on a regular basis.

If the MD school comes knocking you'll find a way to make it happen.

 

[KnightDoc]

actually the rule change from a few years ago makes this possible with MD schools. AAMC can no longer block poaching even after classes have started. The more significant issue is loan money. If money has already been disbursed, how is that handled. I do not know the rules for that.

True, AAMC is no longer in the blocking poaching business. Most schools, however, do abide by the CYMS protocols, because it is in their individual interests to do so. As a result, the vast majority of schools will not call someone off their WL after they have selected CTE at another school, so the question is moot for pretty much all situations involving 2 MD schools. Have you heard of a single case involving one MD school poaching from another, after classes began, in the past 2 cycles?

MD poaching from DO is another story, and it always has been, because the two systems are totally separate and they don't coordinate in any way. As I said above, the limiting factor in OP's question will be that MD WL movement in late July/August is exceedingly rare, so the odds of it happening so late for OP are close to zero, even though it is theoretically possible.

 

[reapplicant2021]

True, AAMC is no longer in the blocking poaching business. Most schools, however, do abide by the CYMS protocols, because it is in their individual interests to do so. As a result, the vast majority of schools will not call someone off their WL after they have selected CTE at another school, so the question is moot for pretty much all situations involving 2 MD schools. Have you heard of a single case involving one MD school poaching from another, after classes began, in the past 2 cycles?

What if the MD school is UMKC which begins classes in January, effectively forcing applicants that only have an acceptance from them to enroll and begin classes there. Would other schools still accept students that already began classes there?

 

[KnightDoc]

What if the MD school is UMKC which begins classes in January, effectively forcing applicants that only have an acceptance from them to enroll and begin classes there. Would other schools still accept students that already began classes there?

Absolutely not. I am not aware of any US MD school that accepts transfers, other than under very unusual circumstances. Wanting an upgrade after 6 or 18 months would not qualify as one of them.

Med school is not like UG, where musical chairs is common. Whether it's UMKC or wherever, your choices once you enroll are either to stay or withdraw. Transferring is not really an option, and pretty much no US MD school will touch you once you have enrolled at another one, whether or not you have withdrawn first.

UMKC is a very unique case, since the vast majority of their class comes from their BS/MD program, and the seats they are filling are created by attrition from that program. The odd start date no doubt correlates with what they are doing with their BS/MD students, so new students can seemlessly join a class already in progress, and is no doubt also designed to avoid competition with all other US MD programs. If it was possible to do what you are asking about, they'd never be able to keep those seats filled! 🙂

The rule of thumb is to not go anywhere you will not be happy. There is no exception for UMKC and its January start date. Everyone who only has one acceptance, no matter what school it is, is forced to enroll and begin classes at that school if they want to be a doctor.

There is a tiny window for people who start DO early to withdraw and enroll at a MD school if they are lucky enough to have that opportunity, since MD and DO schools do not have a common system through which to communicate with each other. The same opportunity simply does not exist between two MD schools, and certainly not 6+ months after enrollment.

If you don't want to be "stuck" at UMKC, don't apply. Around 60,000 people manage to resist the urge every cycle! 🙂

 

[BilliamBobert]

The more significant issue is loan money. If money has already been disbursed, how is that handled.

Yeah, I was thinking about this as well. At that point would it still be worth it to switch over to the MD school if the money is already disbursed to the DO school? I would lean towards yes because of what I want to specialize in at the moment. I am interested in everyone else's opinion on this.

 

[KnightDoc]

Yeah, I was thinking about this as well. At that point would it still be worth it to switch over to the MD school if the money is already disbursed to the DO school? I would lean towards yes because of what I want to specialize in at the moment. I am interested in everyone else's opinion on this.

Honestly, I think you are worrying about NOTHING!!!! You have all this time between whenever your interview is and whenever orientation starts in July for something to happen. If it doesn't happen by then, the odds of it happening in the following few weeks, at the very end of the cycle, are infinitesimal.

I appreciate the gaming you are engaging in. I am doing the same, but not with possibilities that are so remote. Most agree that forfeiting a $2K DO deposit for MD is money well spent. A full semester's tuition and fees, assuming they are non-refundable, plus whatever you will lose in breaking a lease and moving? Not so much, especially considering how few people end up specializing in what they think they will be specializing in when they begin.

That said, it's your money and your life, so what difference does it make what anyone on SDN thinks? Again, I am begging you to not worry about this. It is literally a one in several thousand possibility of manifesting. You are either going to be admitted to MD well before DO orientation, or it's just not going to happen. Only a tiny handful of people out of 22,000+ receive MD calls in late July/August. The odds of it happening to any one person at any one school are close to zero.

 

[Goro]

Yeah, I was thinking about this as well. At that point would it still be worth it to switch over to the MD school if the money is already disbursed to the DO school? I would lean towards yes because of what I want to specialize in at the moment. I am interested in everyone else's opinion on this.

DOs can specialize too, you know. And please do not think that just because one has the MD degree that the doors to residencies are automatically open. It just means that some are closed to DOs and others are herder for DOs to go through.

But a DO neurologist from, say, William Carey will have the same salary as an attending neurologist from Yale.

What's that you say? "But academia!!! I want to have my own lab!!!!"

That's fine, they get paid less.

 

[deleted1129181]

Cruise through the school specific threads for the MD school for the past 2-3 years and see how much waitlist movement occurs in July. If it is considerable, then get an AirBnB during orientation week for the DO school. Otherwise, most MD schools are sending mass rejections in July anyways. Although some will only send waitlist rejection the day of orientation.