thanks katie!
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http://www.tufts.edu/med/medissue/index071802.html
Attention Applicants to the TUSM Class of 2006: Read Below for Information about the Wait-List
by Katherine Kenny, M'05
Special Thanks to Mr. Thomas Slavin, Director of Addmissions for providing the information.
Here is a bit of the information that the Class of 2005 was provided, hope it's useful.
What are my chances of being admitted from the Wait List?
The greatest factor affecting your chances is the number of withdrawals we will receive before our class matriculates at the end of August. Any number of individuals currently holding positions in our entering class may also be holding multiple wait list positions at other schools, and any number of those individuals may receive an offer from another school and withdraw from Tufts to accept it.
I simply do not know how many withdrawals we will receive between now and matriculation, and hence I cannot give you any meaningful assessment of the likelihood of your admission to Tufts.
How many people are usually admitted from the Wait List?
The number of applicants admitted from the Wait List varies greatly from year to year. There is no meaningful average. In some years, we have filled as many as a third of the seats in the entering class from the Wait List; in other years, as few as a dozen.
I can tell you that we do not over-fill the class in the winter or spring, which means that we do replace everyone who leaves our class with someone from the Wait List.
Is the Wait List ranked? What is my position on the Wait List? How are applicants selected from the Wait List? How often does the Admissions Committee review the applications?
We do not rank our Wait List. As people withdraw from our class, we monitor the demographic composition of the class (geographical distribution, representation of undergraduate institutions, etc.) and admit candidates from the Wait List who would best balance the composition of the class.
During the summer months, the Admissions Committee does not meet on a scheduled basis as it does during the academic year; rather, it meets on an ad-hoc basis, reviewing wait list applications as needed.
What can I do to improve my chances of being admitted? May I add new documents to my file?
Letting us know that you remain interested and available is most helpful, especially after July 1. Sending an email message to
[email protected] is the most effective method of doing this.
We are happy to include in your file any new material you would like to send, such as spring semester transcripts or new letters of recommendation. However, it is not necessary for you to do this, and to be candid, at this point in the process such material is unlikely to change the outcome of your application.
Other than that, there is really nothing more for you to do.
What is the size of the entering class? How many people are on the Wait List? How many offers of admission have been made to date?
We expect to enroll 168 people in the Class of 2005. We do not disclose admission statistics while the season is still in progress.
What is the earliest/latest date that I may be admitted?
You could be admitted at any time from late May until the entering class matriculates on August 27, 2001. Most offers are extended in June and July, although we often admit people in August, sometimes during the week preceding matriculation, and sometimes even on registration day itself.
Once you register at any medical school, you are no longer eligible to be admitted to other schools.
Is there a date after which candidates currently holding a position in the entering class cannot withdraw?
No, and that's what drives the final phase of the admissions process.
After May 15, candidates should be holding only one acceptance at any given time, and the medical schools generally enforce this. However, in addition to the one acceptance, candidates may hold an unlimited number of wait list positions and, prior to matriculation, are free to accept any offers which may be extended to them. Although withdrawing from one school to accept an offer from another school during the summer sometimes means forfeiting a (typically very modest) tuition deposit, candidates are not truly committed to a medical school until they actually matriculate.
Should I make alternative plans for next year?
This is perhaps the most difficult issue faced by people holding one or more wait list positions but no acceptances. There is no simple answer.
Some candidates in this position intend to apply to medical school for the following year if not admitted this year, and those candidates often begin the reapplication process in June or July. This is not uncommon. If you are planning to reapply, it is probably best to do so earlier rather than later.
Other candidates are considering employment opportunities or other academic programs. Such alternatives often require a commitment (to an employer or to a school) that precludes accepting a late summer medical school admission offer. These are very difficult decisions to make. You must decide how much risk you are willing to tolerate to remain available for a medical school offer, or at what point in time you feel it is in your best interest to withdraw from the Wait List and make other commitments for the fall.
) to post a link to an article I (with Chirayu Gor, M'05) wrote for the Connective Issue last year about the waitlist. Actually the article is mostly an FAQ sent by Tom Slavin about the waitlist to those waitlisted for the class of 2005.
