could this be possible?

[dk33]

So last year, I had an AMAZING interview at my top choice school. I mean the interviewer (who is an asst dean, but not of admissions) shook my hand as I walked out of his office and said "It was nice meeting you, I really hope to see you here in August, and I will definitely convey that to the admissions comittee." The entire interview went really well. It was late the season, however, (early march), so I was told on the phone before the interview that "beware-you are essentialy interviewing for a waitlist position because the class filling up."

Now, that same school, my top choice, has not even offered me an interview this year at all. (Quite depressing). I spoke to my premed advisor, and she told me that there is a chance that being that have this amazing interview on file from last year (they have only one interviewer per student, so it wasnt like one good one, one ok one, it was just one amazing one), and that I was waitlisted anyway, they might just not be offering me any interview at all, and will notify me at some point (january 15 she said, is when they offer their first group of acceptances) that Im accepted without an interview? Im very skeptical - could that be possible? sounds way too optimistic for me. Any opinions?

this is my mdapplicants info:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=16390).

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[Thrombomodulin]

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[dk33]

I think that MDapplicants.com is down right now, so I am unable to view your stats. However, I have never heard of a student receiving an acceptance without an interview. Not only is this too optimistic, it is incorrect.

oh
she told me it has happened, with people who were interviewed the year before and waitlisted and then reapply, but doenst happen often, and usually is with like exceptional off the charts candidates,which (if my mdapps was working, i dont know what happened to it...youd see), im not. Id say im average- 30 overall MCAT, 3.6 gpa. Lots of amazing extracurriculars (hundreds of shadowing hrs, NIH fellowship, volunteering galore, leadership roles with bio and premed clubs in college, section editor for college newspaper, publications, etc etc etc), but when it comes down to the numbers, im nothing out of hte ordinary at all.

I just otherwise cannot make sense of the fact that they havent offered me an interview. my last interview was amazing,a nd if they itnerviewed me with my worse mcat score last year, and i have since retaken it, an dimproved my application in other ways as well, well, how could i be faring worse than last year. I dont get it...

 

[Excelsius]

So last year, I had an AMAZING interview at my top choice school. I mean the interviewer (who is an asst dean, but not of admissions) shook my hand as I walked out of his office and said "It was nice meeting you, I really hope to see you here in August, and I will definitely convey that to the admissions comittee." The entire interview went really well. It was late the season, however, (early march), so I was told on the phone before the interview that "beware-you are essentialy interviewing for a waitlist position because the class filling up."

Now, that same school, my top choice, has not even offered me an interview this year at all. (Quite depressing). I spoke to my premed advisor, and she told me that there is a chance that being that have this amazing interview on file from last year (they have only one interviewer per student, so it wasnt like one good one, one ok one, it was just one amazing one), and that I was waitlisted anyway, they might just not be offering me any interview at all, and will notify me at some point (january 15 she said, is when they offer their first group of acceptances) that Im accepted without an interview? Im very skeptical - could that be possible? sounds way too optimistic for me. Any opinions?

this is my mdapplicants info:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=16390).

You should also think about why you were not accepted last time. You would not be interviewed if they didn't have at least some spaces available. I'm sure at least some people got off the wait list. Did you call to find out why you didn't? If they decided last year to not offer you a position and if you're applying this year with no significant changes in your resume, it could be why they are not calling you. On the other hand, I don't know how early you applied this year. You have until January 21 to receive an interview. If you don't, only then you might assume that you probably didn't get in (but that still won't be 100%).

What about other schools? Were you not accepted at a single other school? If so, why? If you had been accepted and you chose not to go, then you have the likely reason why you're not being called for an interview. Schools can see your acceptances starting March, so that school would know if you have turned down an acceptance.

 

[GoSpursGo]

You should also think about why you were not accepted last time. You would not be interviewed if they didn't have at least some spaces available. I'm sure at least some people got off the wait list. Did you call to find out why you didn't? If they decided last year to not offer you a position and if you're applying this year with no significant changes in your resume, it could be why they are not calling you. On the other hand, I don't know how early you applied this year. You have until January 21 to receive an interview. If you don't, only then you might assume that you probably didn't get in (but that still won't be 100%).

OP said their MCAT score went up, and apparently also "strengthened" their app in other ways... some schools absolutely do have interviews where it's all for just waitlist spots, and it's possible that the OP was high on the waitlist, but maybe only a handful of people got in from the waitlist that year.

OP, I'm sure in the long, storied history of med school apps, anything has happened at least once; so sure, anything is POSSIBLE, and nobody really knows what the med schools are doing until they do it. That said, this would be the first time I've heard of anything like this, so I wouldn't get your hopes up as this sounds a complete shot in the dark. Also, realize you wouldn't be the first person who had extremely positive interview feedback only to not get in later; some interviewers just close all of their interviews with a standard "hope to see you next August," which while they're trying to be nice, can wind up being quite cruel if it doesn't work out that way.

If nothing else, take solace in the fact that nobody else gets this process either; to those of us on the outside looking in, it can sure seem random sometimes

 

[Thrombomodulin]

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[bcat85]

So last year, I had an AMAZING interview at my top choice school. I mean the interviewer (who is an asst dean, but not of admissions) shook my hand as I walked out of his office and said "It was nice meeting you, I really hope to see you here in August, and I will definitely convey that to the admissions comittee." The entire interview went really well. It was late the season, however, (early march), so I was told on the phone before the interview that "beware-you are essentialy interviewing for a waitlist position because the class filling up."

Now, that same school, my top choice, has not even offered me an interview this year at all. (Quite depressing). I spoke to my premed advisor, and she told me that there is a chance that being that have this amazing interview on file from last year (they have only one interviewer per student, so it wasnt like one good one, one ok one, it was just one amazing one), and that I was waitlisted anyway, they might just not be offering me any interview at all, and will notify me at some point (january 15 she said, is when they offer their first group of acceptances) that Im accepted without an interview? Im very skeptical - could that be possible? sounds way too optimistic for me. Any opinions?

this is my mdapplicants info:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=16390).

It's highly unlikely. I've certainly never heard of it. It's still sort of early though. Don't give up yet.

 

[Law2Doc]

If you don't get an interview, I wouldn't expect to get in. If they felt they had no need to interview you again for acceptance, they would have informed you of this fact.

You have to realize that stats for applicants have been on the rise at a lot of places, and what got folks interviewed last year, might not be enough this year. You also have to realize that reapplicants are held to a higher standard -- you have to show substantial improvement from the prior year's cycle, and it tends to have to be improvement in the area the school felt was lacking, not a self identified flaw. (Meaning if you improved your MCAT but they were focused on something else in the app as your weakness, that wouldn't be a substantial improvement).

I also would not put too much weight in what you yourself perceive as an amazing interview -- premeds are notoriously bad at gauging this -- nor would I put any weight to what the interviewer told you afterwards. As you can read in SDN, many interviewers tell every applicant how great they did, or give them false hopes.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I think your advisor is missing the boat on this.

 

[NTF]

I feel like such an urban legend tool for saying this...lol.

BUT... My student host at Case described a situation like that with a friend of his who got into Wisconsin as a reapplicant. Waitlisted one year and then accepted w/o interview the following year. But the different thing about his story is that his friend was in constant contact with the admissions office and was basically told that if he reapplied he would be guaranteed a spot in the following years class. If I remember correctly, he turned down an acceptance to another school the prior year to reapply to Wisconsin. That's the only story like that that I've heard.