Contacting Waitlist School After Receiving Acceptance From Another School?

[j_hen_man]

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Hi - I'm new to the forum and I'm asking this question for a friend.

My friend was recently accepted into an MD program (Program A) off of the waitlist and is very excited. He was also waitlisted at another program on practically the same tier as Program A (Program B). While he's extremely grateful and excited for admittance into Program A, Program B is actually his preferred choice. He is willing to wait it out to see what decision Program B gets back to him with, but that would also mean that he can't lock down housing, summer / employment plans, etc. until he hears back. Further, if he DOES get into Program B then it means that he's currently taking up someone else's spot in Program A unnecessarily, which he would like to avoid given how anxious he was while waiting to get into a school.

I personally come from a finance background, so I'm pretty familiar with the concept of shopping around offers i.e. contacting Program B and communicating that, while Program A is great program and the acceptance is exciting, Program B is still the top choice because of resources around certain specialties, the research focus of the school, proximity to certain locations, etc. etc. -- is this type of interaction kosher in the med school world? If not, is there a best way to go about reiterating his desire to go to Program B while remaining respectful to Program A? Thank you!

 

[You're My Boy Blue]

The school can tell that he has another acceptance. I wouldn't call to tell them that. What I would do is write a letter of intent stating that your friend would 100% attend if given an acceptance and stating how they are a good fit for the school. Some schools don't care about them but they can be helpful with moving from WL-->accept. it lets the school know that they wouldn't be wasting an acceptance on your friend

 

[j_hen_man]

The school can tell that he has another acceptance. I wouldn't call to tell them that. What I would do is write a letter of intent stating that your friend would 100% attend if given an acceptance and stating how they are a good fit for the school. Some schools don't care about them but they can be helpful with moving from WL-->accept. it lets the school know that they wouldn't be wasting an acceptance on your friend

Thanks for the advice! So he already sent in a letter of intent, but that was earlier in the process before he was accepted to Program A. Do you think it would be a positive to send an additional letter, now that they are able to see that he has been accepted into another school?

 

[j_hen_man]

no, not really, though it isnt likely to do any damage.

Ah, got it. Thank you for the insight, definitely appreciated!

 

[LizzyM]

Keep in mind that School B may not have any waitlist movement this year. Or School B may have put your friend very low on the watilist with little chance of being tapped. Like Shackleton who had his photographer break the glass negatives that were not chosen for the trek across Antarctica after the Endeavour became icebound, the best peace of mind for your friend may be to withdraw his application from School B once he's at a point where he can't wait any longer to make plans for summer, housing, etc.

 

[Goro]

Hi - I'm new to the forum and I'm asking this question for a friend.

My friend was recently accepted into an MD program (Program A) off of the waitlist and is very excited. He was also waitlisted at another program on practically the same tier as Program A (Program B). While he's extremely grateful and excited for admittance into Program A, Program B is actually his preferred choice. He is willing to wait it out to see what decision Program B gets back to him with, but that would also mean that he can't lock down housing, summer / employment plans, etc. until he hears back. Further, if he DOES get into Program B then it means that he's currently taking up someone else's spot in Program A unnecessarily, which he would like to avoid given how anxious he was while waiting to get into a school.

I personally come from a finance background, so I'm pretty familiar with the concept of shopping around offers i.e. contacting Program B and communicating that, while Program A is great program and the acceptance is exciting, Program B is still the top choice because of resources around certain specialties, the research focus of the school, proximity to certain locations, etc. etc. -- is this type of interaction kosher in the med school world? If not, is there a best way to go about reiterating his desire to go to Program B while remaining respectful to Program A? Thank you!

This strategy doesn't work for medical schools unless the school the candidate has an offer from is in a higher class than the waitlisting one. So, for example, if you waitlisted at Drexel and accepted at NYMC, Drexel isn't going to care. But if you're accepted at JHU, then they might be interested. But it really is a pre-med delusion that simply having an accept allows you to shop around.