How do waitlists work? waitlist = reject?

[geldrop]

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Do school's send out more acceptances than spots they have? Or do they only keep the # of acceptances outstanding = # of spots, and when someone withdraws they grab someone from the waitlist? I guess the latter makes more sense, but I remember hearing that school's will accept more than they have spots available which means to me that the waitlist is a last resort and one should give up if given a waitlist spot.

 

[turtlemd]

Some schools issue waitlists until all interviews are complete except to the outstanding students. At which time when the interviews are completed they may pull people from the waitlist and issue offers. According to several friends in medical school, do not give up on waitlists...all my friends have been accepted from waitlists. I know for Loyola, at least 40 spots last year were filled from the waitlist. Good luck...I am in the same position!
🙂

 

[Woots32]

Not necessarily. Alot of schools claim that a significant portion of their class comes off the waitlist.

Think about it - how many SDNers are currently holding multiple acceptances? These people will only go to one school. And it's probably also likely that several premeds who don't waste all their time on SDN (what's wrong with these people? 😕 ) may have multiple acceptances. Most could be waiting for financial aid info. So come May 15th (ta-da!) everyone has to pick one, and waitlists will start to move. Many schools will allow you to call after a certain date (like March 31st, for example) to find out your relative spot and will give you a rough estimate of your odds of getting in.

I have to believe this - c'mon UMich! 😉

 

[geldrop]

Have you guys sent a letter of intent if its your choice school? I think I will do that.

I was reading on the internet that one can get more recommendations. Or, should call the interviewer and dean like every week. But, I don't want to annoy anyone, so I dunno what to do besides write a letter of intent, and maybe ask for some advice from my interviewer.

 

[e-spin]

I HOPE to GOD that waitlist doesn't mean reject!!! I think you are right tho, most schools accept more spots that they have off the bat....but this is how I look at it:
For argument's sake, lets say that there are only 200 spots in all the med schools, lile 2 spot/school....And there are 500 applicants who all the interviewed at all the schools...Like I said , this is just for argument's sake!!!
Let's say that each school accepts like 5 people knowing that all wont accept their offers (if their schools wants these people it is safe to assume that at least one other school will) and WL 10 and reject the rest...BUT of the 5 each accepted they accepted 3 of the same people people!!! So, each of those 5 end up choosing 3-4 different schools. So the other 96-97 schools have to fill their spots and they go to their WL. I know the example is very elementary, but do you get my point. AT LEAST I HOPE THIS IS HOW IT WORKS..or something similar to this for the sake of all of us WL-ers!!!
ANYWAY, Upstate said in years past they've exhausted their High Priority WL...except for last yr when 2 or 3 didnt get offers...so I am holding on to hope for dear life!!! 😀

HOPE WE ALL GET OFF A WL!!!!!

Still Waitlisted in 4 States,
Spin🙂

 

[geldrop]

Ok, looking at statistics in these medical book guides. They will say interviewed 500, accepted 240, spots 120.

Anyone know if those accepted #s include the number of waitlisted students that were offered an acceptance?

 

[manicmaven]

I think the acceptance information does include waitlist acceptances. Often schools will state that say 50% of interviewees will ULTIMATELY be accepted...I'd assume this means some acceptances will come after waitlists.

I'm also waitlisted in too many states to count. Can't wait until they start to move.

 

[e-spin]

I have the Princeton Med School Guide and I think that since they compile their numbers after the application cycle is all said and done, it is my impression that those accepted # reflect ALL who are accepted regardless of how/when.

 

[aquaboy]

ALmost all schools overbook their class and then they have a huge waiting list. This is so at the end of the day they will not have fewer matriculants than spots available. It is possible to get off of the waitlist but inmany cases it is not probable. If a waitlist is ranked and you know where you are at on the list (top 1/3) then you have a good chance of being accepted. the hard part is that many schools don't rank their waitlist and everyone is thrown into it. Some schools have >300 people on their waitlist. So if the school has 150 spots and even if half of the class comes from the waitlist that is only 75/300 (25%). The chances of getting of off one waitlist are unlikely but if you have multiple waitlists then your chances are better.🙄

 

[Bob Dole]

Waitlist does not mean reject, otherwise, you would've just gotten a rejected letter.

Some schools have more movement on the waitlist than others. They probably told you about waitlist movement at their school when you interviewed.

Writing a letter of intent will help you get off the waitlist, particularly if the list is huge.