Damned Waitlists

[The JockDoc]

So after all six of my interviews, I'm now 0-5-1. That's 0 acceptances, 5 waitlists and 1 rejection.

It is frustrating as hell having to wait for mail that may or may not come in order to plan the rest of your life, with still no idea if you're going to land on the "in" pile, or the "out" pile. There's no warning from the school or SDN threads telling me when I'll be plucked out or left languishing. I'd rather get rejected from all 5 waitlists now, find some job in time for the summer so I can get money and reapply next year than get wrung out like this.

It's also impossible to play sour grapes with the waitlisting entities. If I was rejected, I could at least say that the school wasn't meant for me or was too expensive, or full of people who I didn't like. But what do you say to a waitlist? I can't say that a school is no good; I might just end up there.

I've been playing the waiting game since I took the MCAT last April, and I want out of this purgatorial mess. I need some med school loving here real quick.

Who else here shares my multiple-waitlist-no-acceptance angst?

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[Medikit]

2 waitlists and 1 rejection post interview. Not as bad as your record but I know the feeling you're talking about and it's totally wearing on me. My whole life feels waitlisted right now.

 

[burgers]

im 0-4-0 right now and i couldnt agree more that this sucks. i have 3 more responses that should be on the way, and thats it.
am i getting into a med school here or what?!?!

also i hate it when schools put u on hold and u have no idea whether they just flushed your application down the toilet or something (downstate)...

 

[Jody Sadler]

Same boat here bro...a way that I am coping with it is just keeping busy. I have 2 jobs and work 90 hours a week. When I get stressed out during some of my free time I work out or run with my dog. It alleviates a lot of stress. especially the dog thing, they put everything into perspective. All you should do is eat, sleep, visit the tree and play.

 

[Timmythemic22]

Good to know others are going through this ****... for me so far 0-1-3 and still waiting on 8 schools... not good.

 

[j04177117]

0-4-2...waiting to hear back from one more school i interviewed at, a bunch of others i haven't heard back yet, which probably means rejection.

 

[Bigsheed920]

Same boat here bro...a way that I am coping with it is just keeping busy. I have 2 jobs and work 90 hours a week. When I get stressed out during some of my free time I work out or run with my dog. It alleviates a lot of stress. especially the dog thing, they put everything into perspective. All you should do is eat, sleep, visit the tree and play.

90 HOURS!......u r a trooper!!

 

[lfesiam]

90 HOURS!......u r a trooper!!

I'm with you guys, 0 acceptance, 1 waitlist here. Starting to look for back up plans.

 

[lakersfan]

Have you tried sending out a letter of intent to one of the schools you are waitlisted at? It may not help now, but it might help when they rank their waitlists that you committed to that school so early on. good luck everyone.

 

[The JockDoc]

Have you tried sending out a letter of intent to one of the schools you are waitlisted at? It may not help now, but it might help when they rank their waitlists that you committed to that school so early on. good luck everyone.

You know, I would if I had a school that stuck out as a number one choice. But there are three schools that I'd really like to go to, and financial aid plays a big part in my choice (one of them is my state school). I don't want to write a letter to one place, get in at a different, cheaper school and have to reneg my intent. I could just bs a LOI to just improve my chances someplace, but that's a real jackass move in my book.

Maybe I can send a more general letter that says that I'm still interested, but not that they are my number one choice? I doubt that will have as much power, but hey, it might work.

 

[scrappysurfer]

You know, I would if I had a school that stuck out as a number one choice. But there are three schools that I'd really like to go to, and financial aid plays a big part in my choice (one of them is my state school). I don't want to write a letter to one place, get in at a different, cheaper school and have to reneg my intent. I could just bs a LOI to just improve my chances someplace, but that's a real jackass move in my book.

Maybe I can send a more general letter that says that I'm still interested, but not that they are my number one choice? I doubt that will have as much power, but hey, it might work.

I sent updates to everyone but my first choice, reiterating specific details about my interest in the school.

Until last week, I was just like you -absolutely freaking out. I finally got 1 acceptance last week, but I am still waiting on two other schools. I do triathlons and found that keeping extremely active helped immensely. Seriously, try going for an hourish run. When you get back, you'll be too tired to care anymore. At the very least, you can leave some bitterness behind you in the trails.

Best of luck to you.

 

[iggyboop]

I've been playing the waiting game since I took the MCAT last April, and I want out of this purgatorial mess. I need some med school loving here real quick.

Who else here shares my multiple-waitlist-no-acceptance angst?

When I read this, I was like, that's totally me right now. 7 interviews and 0-3-1-3 (3 waiting - 1 not looking so good, and 2 impossible to tell). I feel like I've been waiting since yes, the MCAT, but also since October, when some of the schools I had interviews at began sending waves of acceptances. Five months later, we're still waiting...

 

[Kazema]

Same with me, I've been waiting since October, back when I got my first "hold" list letter. I've got 0 acceptances, 3 waitlists, am waiting on 1 school's decision and have an interview next week at another.

I'd rather be on a waitlist than have a rejection, but I definitely know what you mean about wishing you could be sure one way or the other. The uncertainty definitely sucks, especially when schools refuse to reveal any information about where you are on the waitlist or anything like that.

 

[2tall]

You know, I would if I had a school that stuck out as a number one choice. But there are three schools that I'd really like to go to, and financial aid plays a big part in my choice (one of them is my state school). I don't want to write a letter to one place, get in at a different, cheaper school and have to reneg my intent. I could just bs a LOI to just improve my chances someplace, but that's a real jackass move in my book.

Maybe I can send a more general letter that says that I'm still interested, but not that they are my number one choice? I doubt that will have as much power, but hey, it might work.

I've only written one letter so far. I'm not a fan of writing, but I definitely call every now and then.

As far as the letter is concerned...you don't have to say top choice or I'll definitely go there. "I am still interested. I can see myself there. I want to be there. I hope to be there. I see myself flourishing here." They should suffice and no little white lies would be told. Additionally, just talk about what you liked about their curriculum, facilities, students, faculty. Something had to make an impression on you. Update them if anything's changed. Tell them about some you insight you've gained. Make it as personal as your personal statement.

IMO, the jackass move would not be a jackass move. It's a smart one. I'm sure you won't hurt the adcom's feelings. I have no doubt that they'd shed a tear for you, but they'd move on. You'd be making your decision based on what's best for you AND you'd be giving up your spot to someone on the waitlist who'd probably rather be there.

Write a letter. Send an e-mail. Call. Waitlists move and you wanna be the one movin'!

 

[iggyboop]

Write a letter. Send an e-mail. Call. Waitlists move and you wanna be the one movin'!

It's rare that I see a post on here that actually inspires me to do something!

I think what it's been up to this point is that it's hard not to take the process personally. All these waitlists and rejections amount to something like, "hey, you look good on paper, but you suck in person." It's taken me a while, but I think I'm getting to a place where I'm okay with the fact that I don't make the greatest first impressions on people. Oh well.

So this fits in perfectly. If I don't impress people in person, then I can only keep trying to do it in paper. I thought I was through with writing after the secondaries, but as that seems to be the only thing that worked, well, back to work...

 

[burgers]

out of curiosity, with how many waitlists can one be confident that in the end they will get accepted somewhere?
does any such number exist?

 

[gdubb]

My whole life feels waitlisted right now.

i feel your pain. hang in there...

 

[futrorthodr]

Can anybody here guide me to the US News issue that has all the information about the acceptance numbers of med schools, or possible provide a link??

 

[Code Brown]

Can anybody here guide me to the US News issue that has all the information about the acceptance numbers of med schools, or possible provide a link??

You need to have access to the paid version for this information. The next one should be coming out in April sometime and will have the data for the 2004-2005 entering class.

 

[Ames980]

oy vay. in a way, its nice to see that im not alone in this horrible horrible painful waiting hell, but at the same time i feel so bad for everyone for having to experience this in the first place!!!

i feel like ive been working at this since last year january when i bunkered down to take the mcat... there was a break for a couple months but was kicked into gear again for the amcas and since then its been 1 huge waiting game. waiting for secondaries, waiting and waiting and waiting for interviews, waiting for the inevitable rejections, waiting to see if the schools actually *liked* me...... and now i have 12 [count em'] rejections, am on 3 waitlists, and have still not heard from 4 schools.

and now, it seems like every time i check in with one of my waitlist schools ive dropped in their ranking, so god only knows what my chances really are. i have sent my 3 waitlist schools updates/letters of interest, and the schools i havent heard from i have sent emails telling them how interested i am in their program so if there is still room for me to interview blah blah blah.... at this point, even if i manage to squeeze an interview out of one of these 4 schools itll be for the waitlist anyway - but i figure the more waitlists the better the chance of getting off of one.... right???

so at what point do you throw in the towel, accept that it might not happen this year and go from there? in my case, i know i need to bring up my mcat so id have to sit for that in august and start studying circa may.... which is right when waitlists move anyway.... how long do you hold on to the hope that youll get plucked from a list?

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. please excuse my uber post. i have been in major venting need and i dont think my friends and family can listen any more!! hahaha.... ok. while im as far as a triathelete as one can get, im going to take scrappy's advice and go for a run.....