MD Admissions office sees more information regarding our application status than we do?

[Overachiever12]

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Today I called two schools that I still have yet to hear back from. I mostly wanted to inquire about my status and to see if they would be open to me transmitting updates (new grades/publications). The first med school that I contacted searched my name and pretty much gave me an inconclusive answer as to what I should do. She did at one point say that I can send in the updates and it potentially might have an impact "if the admissions committee decides to re-review" my app. My status at this school reads 'under review' with no indication that my app has already been read. From my talk with her today, she pretty much inferred that there was no hope with me.

The second school I contacted was a lot more informative. After searching my application, the admissions counselor (or whomever she was) pretty much told me that the reason they have yet to invite me to an interview is because they have to get to the "elite" applicants first. She told me -- cheerfully -- that I had nothing to worry about. When talking to her, it sounded like they already made their decision with my application. Before looking at my app, she stated that an update might be beneficial if the adcoms hadn't made a decision yet. After talking to her, she told me that it's unnecessary to send in any updates at this point.


So to my question --

Can the admission offices see more than us on their computers in regards to our application status? And if so, why can't they release that info to us?

 

[IL Pre Med]

Today I called two schools that I still have yet to hear back from. I mostly wanted to inquire about my status and to see if they would be open to me transmitting updates (new grades/publications). The first med school that I contacted searched my name and pretty much gave me an inconclusive answer as to what I should do. She did at one point say that I can send in the updates and it potentially might have an impact "if the admissions committee decides to re-review" my app. My status at this school reads 'under review' with no indication that my app has already been read. From my talk with her today, she pretty much inferred that there was no hope with me

Misusing the English language is just a pet peeve of mine and I firmly believe you should be able to use it properly if you're applying to medical school so I'm going to to correct you. She implied, you inferred.

 

[DarknightX]

Misusing the English language is just a pet peeve of mine and I firmly believe you should be able to use it properly if you're applying to medical school so I'm going to to correct you. She implied, you inferred.

Annoying and pretentious pre-meds who post unnecessary comments are a pet peeve of mine.

 

[Ismet]

So to my question --

Can the admission offices see more than us on their computers in regards to our application status? And if so, why can't they release that info to us?

The admissions office (home of the admissions dean, assistant dean(s) etc as well as the secretaries) is the one making the decisions so it should be pretty obvious that they know everything about the current status of your application. The specific process that goes on does not have to be relayed to applicants because it's usually not something that can be easily relayed. "You have nothing to worry about" is not an application status. "Under review" is an application status, and I think many schools are good about those kinds of updates. They're not going to personalize everyone's status when they have thousands of applicants.

 

[Overachiever12]

The admissions office (home of the admissions dean, assistant dean(s) etc as well as the secretaries) is the one making the decisions so it should be pretty obvious that they know everything about the current status of your application. The specific process that goes on does not have to be relayed to applicants because it's usually not something that can be easily relayed. "You have nothing to worry about" is not an application status. "Under review" is an application status, and I think many schools are good about those kinds of updates. They're not going to personalize everyone's status when they have thousands of applicants.

I perfectly understand that, but what about when rejection decisions have already been made? There are also some schools that will notify you when you've been placed on 'Hold'. Why is it that some schools will wait until May or not inform you at all?

 

[LizzyM]

All decisions are final. Ergo, some schools will not give you a final decision until well into the Spring. Your application may have been reviewed on day one but you'll still be listed as "under review" on the off chance that something comes to their attention (e.g. the University President is your grandparent) or they can't find enough students to fill the seats (maybe something terrible to hurt the region's reputation), and they need to issue interview invitations late in the cycle.

A status up-date will not help if you'd been queued for an interview but the school prefers to issue invitations no more than 4 weeks in advance. The school isn't going to tell you that you are in line for an invitation but you are; the update won't help.

If you just don't make the initial cut for review, but the school wants to hedge its bets and not reject you only to find out that you are a VIP's relative, they will put you in the queue for rejection and an up-date won't help but they don't want to tell you that you'll be rejected in the Spring.

 

[Overachiever12]

All decisions are final. Ergo, some schools will not give you a final decision until well into the Spring. Your application may have been reviewed on day one but you'll still be listed as "under review" on the off chance that something comes to their attention (e.g. the University President is your grandparent) or they can't find enough students to fill the seats (maybe something terrible to hurt the region's reputation), and they need to issue interview invitations late in the cycle.

A status up-date will not help if you'd been queued for an interview but the school prefers to issue invitations no more than 4 weeks in advance. The school isn't going to tell you that you are in line for an invitation but you are; the update won't help.

If you just don't make the initial cut for review, but the school wants to hedge its bets and not reject you only to find out that you are a VIP's relative, they will put you in the queue for rejection and an up-date won't help but they don't want to tell you that you'll be rejected in the Spring.

I guess I understand the logic behind the process, but an "in-line" notice would certainly help us neurotic premeds decompress. Thank you for clearing up my confusion! You are great, LizzyM! 🙂

 

[mvenus929]

I guess I understand the logic behind the process, but an "in-line" notice would certainly help us neurotic premeds decompress. Thank you for clearing up my confusion! You are great, LizzyM! 🙂

Unlikely. People would just obsess over which 'in line' they are, and would either be planning their schedule for a potential interview that may not come (if you're way back in line) or ignore everything for a rejection that was unfounded (the school needed more bodies to interview for whatever reason).

 

[bear2roo]

Annoying and pretentious pre-meds who post unnecessary comments are a pet peeve of mine.

#rekt

 

[darklabel]

Yes for sure. I remember more towards end of fall I called for a few schools and was told "updates aren't necessary at this point" at schools that accepted updates.

It gets worse for wait lists when you can be in line throughout the entire summer and they don't tell you a thing. But your file has a lot of notes on you and it's pretty clear if you'll get in or not, at least according to my school's adcom member, but i'm sure it's the same everywhere.

Some schools reject quickly and some don't and make you wait until the final moment and don't tell you anything about your chances or where you stand in line. I never understood why this process couldn't be more open, but oh well.