Good enough to interview, but not good enough to accept

[Infinitydrop]

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is what i feel as the waitlists are starting to pile up (4). Doesn't seem to matter if I "mess up" my interviews or were told I would fit well, result is the same. so frustrating.

 

[bravofleet4]

i felt the same way until I got 2 rejections when I assumed I would get waitlisted like the first two times. thankfully, i got an acceptance afterwards. however, i am saying it could be worse.

 

[doc4life2010]

is what i feel as the waitlists are starting to pile up (4). Doesn't seem to matter if I "mess up" my interviews or were told I would fit well, result is the same. so frustrating.

yeah i think this is exactly what it is...i have an amazing application overall but have just ONE glaring weakness (a low MCAT--a 31 with a 9 on verbal)..i got interviews at Harvard and Mayo among other schools..my only rejection post-interview has been Harvard (but they only waitlist like 30 people so its expected) and the rest have all been wait-lists..its so disapppointing

I know I'm doing well during my interviews but its definitely my MCAT that is keeping them from accepting me outright..im good enough to interview but not good enough to accept outright

 

[MDtobe31311]

Waitlists = too good to reject

I have no acceptances at the moment, but no rejections either. So I try to see it in a positive light

 

[auburnO5]

yeah i think this is exactly what it is...i have an amazing application overall but have just ONE glaring weakness (a low MCAT--very low 30s)..i got interviews at Harvard and Mayo among other schools..my only rejection post-interview has been Harvard (but they only waitlist like 30 people so its expected) and the rest have all been wait-lists..its so disapppointing

I know I'm doing well during my interviews but its definitely my MCAT that is keeping them from accepting me outright..im good enough to interview but not good enough to accept outright

You need to gain some perspective if you think a MCAT score in the low 30's is a glaring weakness.


OP at least you have heard that you are on the waitlist. I've interviewed at 3 schools and none of them have put their waitlists out yet.

 

[doc4life2010]

You need to gain some perspective if you think a MCAT score in the low 30's is a glaring weakness.


OP at least you have heard that you are on the waitlist. I've interviewed at 3 schools and none of them have put their waitlists out yet.

i know it could have been much lower but im talking about my specific application..it was perceived as a weakness by admissions...and im non-URM...proof:

• i was questioned about my "low MCAT" at more than one of my interviews
• Harvard is the only top-10 medical school to give me an interview because my MCAT falls below the 10th percentile score for the rest of the top-10/top-20 schools
• applied to 25 schools and only got 7 interviews (only 2 top-20 schools interviewed me) because I was pre-screened by the top 20 schools due to low MCAT (vandy, UCSF, uchicago, etc) and got no interviews from my safeties because they probably thought I would not attend (NYU was the lowest ranked school that gave me an interview and its ranked pretty high)
• waitlisted at rest..which is better than a rejection because Mayo rejects a lot post-interview and so do some other schools where I am currently on the wait-list

its been a really stressful and disappointing cycle

 

[lstone13]

is what i feel as the waitlists are starting to pile up (4). Doesn't seem to matter if I "mess up" my interviews or were told I would fit well, result is the same. so frustrating.

I feel your pain Infinitydrop! 4 interviews, 3 waitlists/post-interview holds, and 1 decision still yet heard. It's definitely discouraging, but as I keep telling others, chin up! It's not over 'til it's over.

 

[He2]

With March Madness in the air, i'd like to remind everyone of Stephen Curry. high school star, but upper tier D1 schools just didn't think he'd be too successful in college, since you know, people are awesome judges of talent and character

 

[IDoIt4Love]

I felt the same way; of my 4 interviews, I got wait-listed at my first 3 and started to feel really discouraged, but finally got accepted after my 4th one. With 7 interviews, you're bound to get in somewhere. Hopefully your list of schools wasn't just extremely top heavy, and that you applied to a few schools with averages well enough below yours to fall back on just in case.

 

[NNukibw77]

I got waitlisted @ 6 in a row before getting into one of if not my favorite school.

Believe.

 

[Bernoull]

is what i feel as the waitlists are starting to pile up (4). Doesn't seem to matter if I "mess up" my interviews or were told I would fit well, result is the same. so frustrating.

I thought you recently posted that good news (acceptances) started to roll in recently, or am I mistaken??

Don't lose hope on the waitlists, they can still turn into acceptances..

 

[He2]

Int 1: WL
Int 2: WL
Int 3: WL
Int 4: WL
Int 5: WL
Int 6: R
Int 7: R
Int 8: A
Int 9: A
Int 10: A
Int 11: R
Int 12: R
Int 13: Withdrew pre int

WL at the One school I really want to go to....

 

[Musclemass]

Admissions are not determined strictly on objective criteria. The interview is your chance to sell yourself, show you belong. With all the time and effort spent on prereqs, test prep, activities. etc to become successful applicants, why do so many people still think that a successful interview just happens without significant advance prep? Or, better yet, that they don't much matter?

Interviews are not perfunctory.

 

[doc4life2010]

Admissions are not determined strictly on objective criteria. The interview is your chance to sell yourself, show you belong. With all the time and effort spent on prereqs, test prep, activities. etc to become successful applicants, why do so many people still think that a successful interview just happens without significant advance prep? Or, better yet, that they don't much matter?

Interviews are not perfunctory.

a lot of schools screen out applicants purely on objective criteria before determining whether or not to send you an interview invitation..not all schools but many of the top-20 do..some dont even read LORs until after the interview invitation (duke doesnt even ask for LORs until after you been invited for an interview)

and its also false to assume that interviews are the one determining factor after getting an invitation..its just one aspect of the entire application..i had really good interviews (including at harvard)..im a people's person and had meaningful discussions with all my interviewers who all praised me after my interview...but the interviewers are just advocates on your behalf to the entire admissions committee..they present your ENTIRE file to the rest of the committee members, they discuss it and ask your interviewer questions and they then vote on your application or rate it...if there is a glaring weakness (my 31 MCAT is definitely sub-par for harvard so yes it would be glaring) which im sure caused a lot of the committee members to either not vote for me or rank me lower despite a positive interview

and remember that they have soo many freaking applications to review (pre-interview and post-interview) that all they need is one reason to reject you and move on to the next application...

like i said this is mostly for top schools who receive more than enough applications from amazing applicants

 

[sewcurious]

i know it could have been much lower but im talking about my specific application..it was perceived as a weakness by admissions...and im non-URM...proof:

was that comment about URMs necessary?

• Harvard is the only top-10 medical school to give me an interview because my MCAT falls below the 10th percentile score for the rest of the top-10/top-20 schools

not sure how you know why you didn't get an interview?

• applied to 25 schools and only got 7 interviews (only 2 top-20 schools interviewed me) because I was pre-screened by the top 20 schools due to low MCAT (vandy, UCSF, uchicago, etc) and got no interviews from my safeties because they probably thought I would not attend (NYU was the lowest ranked school that gave me an interview and its ranked pretty high)

once again, not sure how you know why you didn't get an interview? I'm pretty sure no school has an MCAT cutoff for secondaries above 30.

its been a really stressful and disappointing cycle

a little perspective? some people got no interviews. Good luck, now that March 15th is past there is about to be a lot of movement on waitlists.

 

[stevesavi]

This thread has gone in an unexpected direction, and that direction appears to be doc4life's unappreciated awesomeness.

 

[topsurgeon2010]

.

 

[NNukibw77]

sorry for coming off as bitter or self-entitled...wasnt my intention..my bad..just been really stressful..just one acceptance anywhere would be nice

you came off fine. don't worry and good luck.

 

[friendlybear]

was that comment about URMs necessary?
once again, not sure how you know why you didn't get an interview? I'm pretty sure no school has an MCAT cutoff for secondaries above 30.

I agree with doc4life's statements about MCAT. Look, let's cut away the fluff comments that disrespect the power of scores. Comments like "Your SAT I scores aren't really that important", "Your MCAT scores aren't really that important", and "Your USMLE Step I scores aren't really aren't that important" are misleading. Just because a certain child wrestles wolves down to the ground every day doesn't mean that all children fearlessly overpower wolves. Likewise, just because a few exceptional individuals chance to be interviewed and even accepted to top schools with low scores but otherwise mind-blowing applications, does not mean that this is the rule. Rather, it is the exception, as we may confirm from the high SAT, MCAT, and Step I averages for highly competitive colleges, medical schools, and highly sought after residency programs. With a limited number of parameters to judge people by, schools unfortunately can't afford to disregard standardize test scores as a measure of ability.

was that comment about URMs necessary?

Affirmative action exists. Otherwise, we could take these words out of the vocabulary and out of US law.

As for you, doc4life, my best wishes go to you man! Try to keep sending your waitlisted places letters of interest and intent, and give them phone calls every so often. Visit the University of Chicago thread to read all about how to do this: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=625459. They have a culture of pretty much informally waitlisting a bunch of people, "continued applicants"; to get out it, students must play the game of wooing the admissions committee with letters and phone calls.

This year has been expensive and frustrating for me as well as I faced multiple pre-interview rejections, but I ended up getting accepted into a great school. Don't stop trying.

 

[BlueElmo]

Hang in there, OP. I was also waitlisted/rejected before I got accepted. Give it some more time.

 

[MiniMoo]

Hang in there, OP. I was also waitlisted/rejected before I got accepted. Give it some more time.

I'm confused. I totally thought Infinitydrop got accepted already and was planning a tattoo to boot? Or was that someone else?

 

[hereigoagain]

I'm still sitting on no acceptances after nine interviews. I've only been rejected from 2 (both of which were fairly expected) but it just seems like I can't go the extra mile. Ive got 2 left to hear from, but I've given up on getting in before the May-June waitlist acceptances. Hopefully with 5-7 waitlists, one will pan out. It's incredibly frustrating because everyone assumes that with 9 interviews somebody has to let you in, but its not necessarily so.