Deadlines to Accept Admission

[Simon]

Here's a thought I had. I'm applying to 18 schools. Even if I get interviews in many of them, the interview dates will probably stretch out over the entire interview season (October - March).

The question is: do medical schools and/or MSTP programs give admissions that have deadlines (i.e. 4 weeks to accept or it's revoked)?

This could be a real problem if, for example, I receive admission in #2 school that has a time limit to accept, and I haven't yet interviewed at #1 school. Any ideas?

~Simon

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[none]

Most schools will require you to "accept" their offer within 2 weeks. But your acceptance is not binding. Until May 15th, you may hold onto as many acceptances as you wish. After that point, schools will require you to relinquish all but one acceptance. If you receive further acceptances after that point, you will be required to make decisions roughly immediately, i.e. the school will call and ask you right you away. If you do not release the extra acceptances by May 15th, AMCAS will notify the schools that have accepted you and they are all free to withdraw their offers of admission.

And per the recommendations of AMCAS, schools should treat MSTP admission timetables identically to regular MD admissions. Some schools will try to make you feel guilty because of MSTP and try to get a decision out of you sooner, but they'll abide by the recommendations in the end.

http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/policies/recommendations.htm

 

[Rumit]

One little note to add to None's reply is that a lot of schools, particularly those that require a summer rotation before starting MS1 really want to know by the begining of April. This is so that they can begin organizing the summer and get people in there. I don't know if they can actually take any real action, but they certainly got on my case around that time to make a decision. But, just like with regular MD, if you know you aren't going to go some place then it's very nice to tell the school that so they can offer your spot to someone else.

Good luck,

Adam