Suppose you get into a post-bacc program that has linkages with medical schools, and you express interest in a linked school, are you obligated to go to that school or are you allowed to attend a different school? By choosing a different, unlinked school, you'll obviously have a glide year. Does anybody know?
Linkages -- are they obligatory?
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If you apply via a linkage, then you are contractually obligated to attend that school if accepted.
You are NOT obligated to apply through a linkage just because you attend a postbacc that has linkage agreements, nor are you contractually obligated to attend a school with whom your postbacc has a linkage agreement if you applied and were accepted through the general application cycle.
So the only way to take advantage of a linkage is to be obligated to take it. Post-bacc students cannot, at the end of two years, simply state an interest in taking advantage of a linkage: it has to be stated at the beginning, and this statement obligates him/her to go that school.
Okay. Thanks, betterlate. 🙂
Okay. Thanks, betterlate. 🙂
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Uh. In a word, no.
You can be interested in any program. You can state that you are interested in said program. However, up until the time that you actually submit an application to that school, *and the application is submitted through a linkage agreement* (which works a bit like early decision), you are not obligated to attend that school.
Random metaphor: saying 'I want to be an astronaut!' when you're a kid doesn't mean you are obligated to fly to the moon when you grow up. You're not obligated to go to space until you are strapped into a seat on the shuttle.
Saying you are interested in linking to a med school doesn't mean you you have to link. Stating an interest is an important step in gathering enough information to make a decision about where you want to apply. There are no obligations *until you submit that application through the early decision/linkage system*. Anything and everything up until that point is free game.
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While everything you said is true, in reality, you need to either apply To linkage or not bc the applications are due at the beginning of your postbac year.
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Huh, that must vary by program. That's not the case w/ Goucher, for example. The earliest linkage applications weren't due until mid- to late-October of the postbacc year, while the majority of the linkage schools had deadlines in December or January. Since the program begins in June, you had a minimum of 5 months before you had to make a final decision about whether or not to submit an application.
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Good to know! Of all the things that I knew varied by program, it never occurred to me that the linkage process could be one of them. I'll be more careful when answering such questions in the future.
Thanks for the clarification!
I think it's pretty obvious that literally stating an interest in a linkage, much as one expresses an interest to become an astronaut as a child, doesn't in any way obligate one to attend the linked school, or become an astronaut. To state the obvious and pretend to explain it is patronizing.
The phrase "stating an interest" is a euphemism for something a little more serious, a little more binding. As you've noted, it's an "early decision" type of thing, which does obligate you. If I knew a little more about post-bacc programs and linkages, I might've put the question differently; but then again, if I knew more about linkages, I wouldn't have written this post to ask.
I guess the question should've been, "How early (do you need to express interest in, commit to, and/or contractually obligate yourself into attending a linked school)?"
And the answer seems to be, "It probably varies by program."
The phrase "stating an interest" is a euphemism for something a little more serious, a little more binding. As you've noted, it's an "early decision" type of thing, which does obligate you. If I knew a little more about post-bacc programs and linkages, I might've put the question differently; but then again, if I knew more about linkages, I wouldn't have written this post to ask.
I guess the question should've been, "How early (do you need to express interest in, commit to, and/or contractually obligate yourself into attending a linked school)?"
And the answer seems to be, "It probably varies by program."
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Regardless, you need to decide to link or apply open pool, it doesn't make any difference whether the deadline is august or January, what's going to happen in those 4 months to make you change your mind anyways? Most scripps students were happy to get conditional acceptances by October of their postbac year; takes a lot of pressure off.
A lot of people in my class changed their minds actually. When we first started in June, there were at least 10 people who had come in hoping to apply to link to Brown and 3 or 4 who were thinking about Tulane, but in the end only one person ended up applying to each of those programs. (There were other changes too, but those were the most dramatic.) Visiting linkage schools and hearing admissions reps from other places swayed a lot of people one way or another; also getting a far amount of grades and MCAT practice tests in gave people an idea of what other schools might be available to them if they were to apply in the regular pool.
Anyway, the process of applying to linkage programs varies from school to school, but one thing that most programs seem to have in common is that, once you apply, you are obligated to that school should you get in.
