Holding Multiple Acceptances

[OrganLibrarian]

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I know this may be (and likely is) a question that I could find the answer to with a bit of searching, but I think that since we're getting to the time when many people are receiving their first acceptances, what are the guidelines for holding multiple acceptances?

Are we able to make deposits to every school we're accepted to, and then withdraw anytime before May 15? I went to the AAMC website for these answers and I was left somewhat confused.

The wording in some acceptance letters makes it appear as though making the deposit is practically signing in blood that you will attend an institution.

Also, if you are waitlisted somewhere, and you get off the waitlist in the summer, are you allowed to then withdraw from your previous final choice?

I hope that others will be interested in these answers as well!

Good luck to everyone who is playing the waiting game!

 

[Caligrl]

I know this may be (and likely is) a question that I could find the answer to with a bit of searching, but I think that since we're getting to the time when many people are receiving their first acceptances, what are the guidelines for holding multiple acceptances?

Are we able to make deposits to every school we're accepted to, and then withdraw anytime before May 15? I went to the AAMC website for these answers and I was left somewhat confused.

The wording in some acceptance letters makes it appear as though making the deposit is practically signing in blood that you will attend an institution.

Also, if you are waitlisted somewhere, and you get off the waitlist in the summer, are you allowed to then withdraw from your previous final choice?

I hope that others will be interested in these answers as well!

Good luck to everyone who is playing the waiting game!

You are able to hold multiple acceptances until may 15th. If you wait until then to withdraw from schools, your acceptance deposit is non-refundable (for some schools at least, withdrawing earlier allows them to refund your deposit).

A waitlist spot does not count as an acceptance. I knew one girl who got into med school in Iowa and even moved out there, then got off the waitlist at her top choice (UC Irvine) 3 days before classes started and moved back to CA! That's exactly why people get in off the waitlist up until classes start. So yes, even if it is past May 15th and you get in off a waitlist you are not held to your previous choice, you just forfeit the deposit.

Good luck!

 

[OrganLibrarian]

You are able to hold multiple acceptances until may 15th. If you wait until then to withdraw from schools, your acceptance deposit is non-refundable (for some schools at least, withdrawing earlier allows them to refund your deposit).

A waitlist spot does not count as an acceptance. I knew one girl who got into med school in Iowa and even moved out there, then got off the waitlist at her top choice (UC Irvine) 3 days before classes started and moved back to CA! That's exactly why people get in off the waitlist up until classes start. So yes, even if it is past May 15th and you get in off a waitlist you are not held to your previous choice, you just forfeit the deposit.

Good luck!

Thank you so much, Cali! That was very helpful. Good luck to you as well.

 

[Conqueror]

It really depends on the school, too. For instance, to hold my spot at Tulane required no money, just my word. I have to send the $500 by May 15 to keep the spot. To hold my spot at Chapel Hill required $100 and that was the whole deposit. So the system for holding really varies by school, but as long as you've chosen one by May, you're in good shape.

CQ

 

[TimmyTheWonderD]

I understand holding some acceptances until May so you can choose and really think about your choice and research it so you feel you made the right decision, but when I see some of these people with like 4+ acceptances on their MDApps profile I have to start wondering....OK! Didn’t they do any research on these schools before applying, giving them some sort of idea which they would want to choose….if there are that many that you have to hem and haw about that is a little strange. You have proved you are a more than praise-worthy applicant already, could you really be mulling over that many schools? Surely one of those is your least favorite, and if you have more interviews yet to come which could possibly mean more acceptances why not cut some of the ones you are feeling "eeh" about free so that people that REALLY want to go to that school have a shot at it!

Just my opinion.... 😉

 

[snobored18]

I understand holding some acceptances until May so you can choose and really think about your choice and research it so you feel you made the right decision, but when I see some of these people with like 4+ acceptances on their MDApps profile I have to start wondering....OK! Didn’t they do any research on these schools before applying, giving them some sort of idea which they would want to choose….if there are that many that you have to hem and haw about that is a little strange. You have proved you are a more than praise-worthy applicant already, could you really be mulling over that many schools? Surely one of those is your least favorite, and if you have more interviews yet to come which could possibly mean more acceptances why not cut some of the ones you are feeling "eeh" about free so that people that REALLY want to go to that school have a shot at it!

Just my opinion.... 😉

Two words: Financial aid...every school I applied to I would attend because I like each of them and the decision will likely come down to the best financial offer for me hence why I am holding 4+ at the moment...clearly i have my top choice but i just can't afford 35K a year...it may sound ******ed but once you've come this far you kind of owe it to yourself to see what each aid package is like...i wish i could drop the others and go to my #1 right now so poeple wouldn't be waitlisted but how the aid process works i just can't

 

[TimmyTheWonderD]

Two words: Financial aid...every school I applied to I would attend because I like each of them and the decision will likely come down to the best financial offer for me hence why I am holding 4+ at the moment...clearly i have my top choice but i just can't afford 35K a year...it may sound ******ed but once you've come this far you kind of owe it to yourself to see what each aid package is like...i wish i could drop the others and go to my #1 right now so poeple wouldn't be waitlisted but how the aid process works i just can't

that is most certainly an understandable logic....now, i only hope that is why everyone else has a death grip on all these spots.

 

[jeffsleepy]

Surely one of those is your least favorite, and if you have more interviews yet to come which could possibly mean more acceptances why not cut some of the ones you are feeling "eeh" about free so that people that REALLY want to go to that school have a shot at it!

I never really understood this logic. It doesn't matter when people drop their other acceptances. A school still needs to fill its class up to a certain amount. The only difference it makes is that some people find out about their acceptances a little later. I'm waiting on a few schools as well and I know that it sort of sucks, but it's not like my chances differ depending on whether people drop them now or May 15th.

 

[trishaaa]

Two words: Financial aid...every school I applied to I would attend because I like each of them and the decision will likely come down to the best financial offer for me hence why I am holding 4+ at the moment...clearly i have my top choice but i just can't afford 35K a year...it may sound ******ed but once you've come this far you kind of owe it to yourself to see what each aid package is like...i wish i could drop the others and go to my #1 right now so poeple wouldn't be waitlisted but how the aid process works i just can't

Same here. I think it's all gonna come down to the dough. I'm holding 3 acceptances at schools I liked. If they all end up being the same cost, then I can think more about where I really want to spend the next 4 years.