High-priority waitlisted...do I still have a chance?

[deleted436726]

I interviewed at a med school in December of 2013 and was waitlisted in January. About a week ago I received an email from them informing me that they had finished ranking the waitlist and I was on the high-priority section. I emailed one of the admissions deans a couple of days ago and they wrote back a very short reply simply saying the "class was full".

However, as I understand it the class would've already been full - otherwise there would be no need for a waitlist. Is their admissions office simply being tight-lipped, or am I already out of the running?

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[Heday]

The likelihood of someone dropping out the class at this point is very low. I think after May 15, you are only allowed to hold one acceptance. So if someone were to have an acceptance at this school were offered a position off of the wait-list, and accepted, it would open up a spot. Simply put, a lot of things need to happen for you to get an offer. Is it impossible? No. I know of a student that was offered a spot off the wait list two days before orientation in August. Should you expect it that to happen? No.

I assume you have submitted for this cycle and worked on improving your weaknesses? What are your plans for this upcoming year?

 

[Ismet]

They mean that unless someone drops from the class, no one will be taken from the waitlist. At this point, the only way someone can drop from the class is if that person gets accepted somewhere else and they choose to withdraw and attend the new school. The amount of movement can vary from school to school and from year to year. For example, at my school, I know several people in my class got off the waitlist over the summer. Last year, there was zero waitlist movement after April. While there's probably a chance you may get off the waitlist, understand that the movement will be very slow if there is any movement at all.

 

[deleted436726]

The likelihood of someone dropping out the class at this point is very low. I think after May 15, you are only allowed to hold one acceptance. So if someone were to have an acceptance at this school were offered a position off of the wait-list, and accepted, it would open up a spot. Simply put, a lot of things need to happen for you to get an offer. Is it impossible? No. I know of a student that was offered a spot off the wait list two days before orientation in August. Should you expect it that to happen? No.

I assume you have submitted for this cycle and worked on improving your weaknesses? What are your plans for this upcoming year?

Thanks for the insight. I've already got verified AMCAS and AACOMAS apps out and the major differences from last year are having an SMP degree under my belt and having a better MCAT score (32 vs 30) from the get-go.

Nevertheless, I do plan on retaking the MCAT for the 3rd and last time this September. I know everyone says not to retake a 32, but since this is the last run of the old MCAT I figured I'd give it a shot considering my somewhat underwhelming undergrad and SMP GPAs. I'm also going to brush up on my interview skills in preparation for next cycle.

 

[akaMondo]

It also probably depends where you're waitlisted. Some schools get through almost their entire "priority" waitlist, some schools see almost no movement. Though at this point, as people have said, it's very unlikely waitlists will continue moving.

Best of luck, especially with reapplying! A 32 is fantastic, I wouldn't worry about retaking. Other parts of your app could probably easily be improved before having to retake the MCAT... BLAH. You don't want to have to do that!

 

[darklabel]

It depends. Remember that May 15 isn't a hard deadline and schools are known to extend the time students have to make decisions (usually 2 weeks). I know people who get off the wait list throughout this summer so don't lose hope. However, don't depend on previous year's wait list to gauge movement. For instance, I was told at one of the schools I interviewed that wait list isn't a death sentence at all and a lot of the class usually comes from the waitlist, but this year they haven't touched the wait list at all.

There is always going to be movement until the last day because people will defer a year, realize medicine isn't for them or other extenuating circumstances that may make them change their mind about medicine at the last moment or defer it. But, the time for greatest movement is usually around May 15 as said. I would call the school and see if they can shed any light on where you are. Maybe you're at the top of the list and thus have a high likelihood or maybe you're at the bottom of the priority list and unlikely to come off. I usually found that most admission at this point will be earnest about where you are and work with you.

As for retaking the MCAT, sounds like a bad idea since one of the most important things is having an early application and taking it September will mean schools won't look at your app until October. A 32 is a great MCAT.