JHU alternate list

[herring]

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Does anyone here know anything about the odds of getting pulled from the upper portion of this list? I am dying to hear from Hopkins about this. Loving the school as much as I do, I find it hard to imagine that anyone would turn them down...does anyone know of anyone (or IS anyone) turning Hopkins down?

I have sent a letter of intent already.

Also, does anyone know anything about how the committee notifies applicants who get accepted off of this list? Do they call, or write?

I would also love to hear from others on the list who are feeling the same way I do. Good luck, everyone.

 

[turtleboard]

I do every night while dreaming...

Seriously though Hopkins, being what it is, probably won't have all that many spots to offer to its alternate list candidates. Since the AAMC deadline of May 15th has come and gone, you should probably hear from them soon enough.

I don't want to give even a hint of discouragement, but several people I know, including myself, were waitlisted at "top-tier" schools (Hopkins was the big one) last year and none of us were pulled off the list.

Do you have any alternatives?


Tim of New York City.

 

[herring]

I do not have any alternatives...I am waitlisted at three other schools--high priority at one and two unranked. I could not get residency in any state, so I was rejected by my state school. I'm preparing to apply again....ugh.

I have a friend who is an MSI at JHU and she said that a lot of people get in from the alternate list. Of course, I don't know how many people are listed, let alone how many people who are listed in the upper portion. The other thing I know is that JHU just switched over to being an AMCAS school this year. Do you know if this will affect the alternate list?

Also, do you know where your friends were on the alternate list?

Thanks a lot for replying, Tim of NYC....

 

[turtleboard]

I don't believe switching to AMCAS would make a difference in waitlisting policies and the like.

As for where my friends were on the alternate list, I don't have a clue, but I can easily ask them (we're all currently in the same school).

Good luck.

Tim of New York City.

 

[herring]

Tim,

it would be awesome if you could find out where they were. It might help me get a more realistic idea of my chances. If your friends who were on the JHU alternate list were in the upper portion, then it doesn't bode well for me and maybe I should stop dreaming about it.

Will they send out rejections to people in my part of the list before August? I hope I know before then.

Thank you.

 

[DentalDi]

Hi herring,

I'm in the same boat on an unranked alternate list at a top-tier dental school. As you say, I'm still hoping and dreaming... I'm going crazy waiting (slowly but surely), but right now I'm telling myself that no news is good news. Yet, like you, I'd just like to have everything resolved to be able to plan what to do over the next few months. I tried asking the school (via e-mail) when they typically admit applicants off the wait list (now, mid-summer, or just before school starts), but I have not yet received any reply. I'm hoping that the AAMCAS May 15 deadline works some magic for me in domino fashion (I know some people who apply to med school also apply to dental as a "backup"--hopefully they get in to med school to leave room for those of us who truly want dental!). In my case, the alternate list is my only hope for admission this year.... It's nice knowing that others are in a similar state of limbo. I wonder how they choose people off of an unranked list? Do they pick someone w/a similar background to the one vacating the spot or what??? It's tough knowing what to do at this point; my advisor had told me not to bug the schools--express interest, yes, but bugging them too much means less time for them to spend offering admission to people!

Good luck to you, too!

------------------
You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

[This message has been edited by DentalDi (edited 05-19-2000).]

 

[herring]

Actually, I've heard that most alternate lists are ranked even though some of them are called unranked. "Unranked" means that they're just not going to tell you your rank. But I really don't know. They must be organized in some way, though. I wish I knew. Good luck. Are you on any other lists at other schools?

 

[dthankins]

I was in the "bottom 1/3" at Hopkins last year. Sent me like 3 letters saying that it was not likely that I would be accepted but did not officially reject me until August. I suspect more people than you think will turn down Hopkins: 1. Some might also be accepted other top tier schools such as Harvard. 2. Some may choose their state school because it is cheaper. 3. Some people are scared of the crime rate in that area.
Good luck there and at your other schools! What are the other schools?

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[email protected]

 

[turtleboard]

herring, I spoke to the two people I know here who were waitlisted at Hopkins and they were both lower 1/3. That's not the worst news, but it's definitely a lot more encouraging!

Just chill out, relax, and wait.

On a side note, why is Hopkins the only school that waitlisted you? How did your other interviews go?


Tim of New York City.

 

[herring]

TofNYC,

I am waitlisted top tier at Penn, waitlisted unranked at WashU, and in the "acceptance range" at Tulane, a school I think is pretty cool, even though it is unranked. (Just goes to show how much the rankings really mean....)

I thought my interviews were all right. JHU was the strongest. Only one of them could be honestly said to have been bad. (And they've rejected me already, so it must have been.) But I guess I must be doing something wrong--something I'm doing in my interviews must be making me less competitive with the other applicants. (I also applied as late as possible. I wish I'd known how important it was to apply early! I won't make that mistake again.)

By the way, I applied to several schools that are not as competitive as the four where I'm currently waitlisted. I just seemed to get interviews at the more competitive schools....weird.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your encouragement. It really helps.

 

[UHS03]

My guess is that the only thing that will change because JHU became an AMCAS school is they will start getting way more applications than before (it's much easier to just check a box then it is to request a whole separate application.) So I think that joining AMCAS will make JHU even more competitive than it already is (if that is possible.) It's a great accomplishment in my mind that you even got on the waitlist at Hopkins. You should be proud of that (I know that isn't much consolation when you haven't gotten an acceptance yet, but I think it's a big deal.) Good luck!

 

[turtleboard]

A popular misconception amongst premed students is that your grades and MCAT get you to the interview stage, and once there, all applicants are on equal footing.

That idea is simply untrue, although it makes a lot of sense.

While the interview is a very important part of your application, just getting one and doing well doesn't always translate into an acceptance. Once an interview is done and an evaluation is written up by the faculty person, the committee sits around, looks at it, and reviews the entire appplication, taking into account your MCAT, GPA, and extracurrics -- yet again!

Perhaps I should mention that I was at Penn too, and that now I'm not.

Tim of New York City.
(TWO MORE WEEKS!)

 

[herring]

Well, that makes more sense, TofNYC. I mean, it's sort of a relief to hear, because I was feeling like a social failure. On the other hand, I don't want to retake the MCAT, and I've finished school, and so the interview and application essays are really the only spots I have left to make myself more appealing. I guess it also matters what I will be doing in the upcoming year. (In case it matters, my MCAT is decent but below avg for JHU, and my GPA is above avg, but my BCPM GPA is probably slightly below avg.) Ugh, time to start marketing myself again...

When I think about the others who were interviewing with me, I can recognize that I was competing with, on the whole, a bunch of really neat people. That's true of every place I applied--not just the top-tier schools.

What year are you? Do you graduate in two weeks?

 

[turtleboard]

Just finishing up my first-year, and I'll be an MS2 by June 9th.

I only wish I was graduating.

Tim of New York City.
(SIX MORE DAYS OF CLASS)

 

[herring]

Just wanted to let everyone here know that I got a call from JHU yesterday. I'm in!!!!

I could not be happier than I am right now.

Thanks to all of you for listening to my worries and telling me what you knew. It helped me through a difficult time.

And to the rest of you on waitlists--it can happen for you, too! Hang in there!

Good luck to everyone.

herring JHU '04

 

[turtleboard]

Congratulations, Doctor.


Tim of New York City.