Etiquette for Holding Acceptances

[sequoia]

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Holding Acceptances Etiquette

One should rank the schools he/she has applied to, ALL of them in order of priority. If you don't get a secondary to one, it gets crossed off, if you get put on hold somewhere, star it but leave it on the list.

When you receive an acceptance, evaluate where the school is on your list and circle it. Then immediately withdraw your application to all schools that rank lower in priority on your list.

Now the school you've been accepted to should be at the bottom of your list. All the schools above it are still in consideration. As soon as you receive another acceptance for a school you have ranked higher on your priority list, circle the new school. Now immediately withdraw your acceptace / applications from all schools ranked lower on your list below the one you just circled.

How many schools are above your new school? Would you be happy or satisfied attending that med school?

If YES, notify that school of your intent to enroll ASAP and withdraw your application from all remaining schools on your list.

If NO, hold your acceptance to that school until you have an acceptance from a school ranked higher on your list. If and when you get that next acceptance, follow the same process outlined above.

Remember, at no time should you be holding more than ONE acceptance.

Getting into a medical school that you will be satisfied with is important but holding multiple acceptances is simply wrong. There are a lot of qualified applicants that don't get a chance at a school they'd really like to go to because someone else was inconsiderate and held an acceptance to that same school with no intention of ever enrolling.

BE CONSIDERATE and EVERYONE BENEFITS!

Good luck everyone! 👍

Please feel free to comment and improve.

 

[superdevil]

Originally Posted by sequoia
Remember, at no time should you be holding more than ONE acceptance.

come on, people need to see individual schools' financial aid packages. i wouldn't just go carelessly discarding acceptances without knowing if i would have gotten a full ride or something. that kind of advice could cost people tens of thousands of dollars, but whatever.

Originally Posted by sequoia
There are a lot of qualified applicants that don't get a chance at a school they'd really like to go to because someone else was inconsiderate and held an acceptance to that same school with no intention of ever enrolling.

huh? i don't understand this. people don't get held out of medical schools because of those with multiple acceptances. they may just have a longer wait. the number of spots schools fill doesn't shrink because people are holding acceptances. besides, you're only allowed to hold one acceptance after may 15--so everyone on waitlists gets their shot starting then.

maybe i just misunderstood that, though.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

come on, people need to see individual schools' financial aid packages. i wouldn't just go carelessly discarding acceptances without knowing if i would have gotten a full ride or something. that kind of advice could cost people tens of thousands of dollars, but whatever.


huh? i don't understand this. people don't get held out of medical schools because of those with multiple acceptances. they may just have a longer wait. the number of spots schools fill doesn't shrink because people are holding acceptances. besides, you're only allowed to hold one acceptance after may 15--so everyone on waitlists gets their shot starting then.

maybe i just misunderstood that, though.

Superdevil is right. It's perfectly acceptable to hold as many acceptances as necessary until you have all your information, such as revisit weekend and financial aid. Not all of us have the luxury of making a decision irrespective of the price tag. Furthermore, many people with multiple acceptances need to know more about the school (such as what their classmates are like) to make this rank list the OP is talking about. If you worked hard enough to get multiple acceptances, you have earned the privilege of being able to make a careful decision.

If you KNOW you will not attend a school under any circumstances, then sure, be nice and withdraw.

Holding multiple acceptances has NO bearing on whether anyone else gets in, just on how soon those people find out they have gotten in.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Furthermore, if anything, people who hold multiple acceptances could INCREASE others' chances if they hold on so long (past May 15) that they lose ALL of their spots.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

To quote Bill O'reilly, "If you aren't looking out for yourself, who IS looking out for you?"

 

[skhichi]

Definitely, the OP's system works fine in principle. But really, how many people do you think will actually follow it. For just that reason I would be unlikely to use this system. Why should I, after working so hard fret over holding 3-4 acceptances? Can I count on the entire applicant class to worry about my chances for admission? This whole getting into med school thing isn't easy and you have to look out for yourself.

 

[secretasianman]

To quote Bill O'reilly, "If you aren't looking out for yourself, who IS looking out for you?"

bill oreilly is a big blubbering vagina.
http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=bill_oreilly

 

[constructor]

i am amused by him... as someone who worked for a senator for two summers in dc, i don't think he really knows as much as he claims to know about the political scene. he talks a little about politics, but mostly goes on rants about how 80% of the media is left-biased and that it's his God-given duty to present the information "FAIRLY" (yeah right!) to the ******* people (who are by the way 75% republicans because conservatives see him as God and liberals only watch his show to mock it). yeah, he's annoying (a vagina as was mentioned) but he's also hilarious because he's a complete egotistical idiot.

 

[purple_rainbow]

i think the key to this is "how soon?"

regardless of how many acceptances you hold at a given time, the same amount of people will be getting into medical school. in other words, just because you withdraw your acceptances will not give another person a "better" chance at getting into that school per se, because historically this has already been taken into account and therefore more acceptances are offered than spaces available.

HOWEVER, the difference is that someone who is waiting for your spot might hear from the school SOONER if you withdraw your spot. so although i do agree that people shouldn't be out there collecting acceptances and not withdrawing from those they will certainly not want to go to, i also agree that as long as you abide by the aamc rules, (ie. can only hold one acceptance after may 15), and you withdraw from those you are positive that you won't go to, it is still okay to hold multiple acceptances that you are considering (anyhow, for some it is really difficult to definitively rank these schools since many factors are considered)

 

[IndyZX]

withdraw if you KNOW you wont go somewhere. if you are not 100% sure, then other people are just gonna have to wait.

life sucks, sometimes. sorry.