Med School Admission makes NO sense!

[med21]

So, has anyone received acceptances from schools they totally didn't expect to and were rejected from ones that seemed to be safeties? It's quite mind-boggling and very stressful considering many letters will be arriving in mid-March! If you can post which schools you were accepted to and rejected...it would at least offer some assurances for those of us who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary!!

I have some good acceptances, but I also have some rollings that are not getting back to me at all, so I am anticipating waitlist/rejections.

I am really happy about my acceptances, so I am not complaining! I just want to know if some of you have the same experiences, where you scratch your head at why you didn't get an interview at a #15 school, but got accepted to #4 or something like that.

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[happydays]

it's the game of life: you win some, and you lose some.

 

[tacrum43]

So, has anyone received acceptances from schools they totally didn't expect to and were rejected from ones that seemed to be safeties? It's quite mind-boggling and very stressful considering many letters will be arriving in mid-March! If you can post which schools you were accepted to and rejected...it would at least offer some assurances for those of us who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary!!

Accepted: Rochester, UChicago, Stanford
Waitlisted: UCSF, NYU

So maybe you under-estimated your app. Better to have done that than to be on the flip side with no acceptances. Probably the lower ranked schools knew that it was unlikely you would come there, and so they rejected you.

You've done incredibly well. Stanford hates like 99% of people from what I can tell. Just be happy and grateful. You must have something medical schools really love to see in an applicant.

 

[BMW M3]

You've done incredibly well. Stanford hates like 99% of people from what I can tell. Just be happy and grateful. You must have something medical schools really love to see in an applicant.

what he said

 

[cyclohexanol]

So, has anyone received acceptances from schools they totally didn't expect to and were rejected from ones that seemed to be safeties? It's quite mind-boggling and very stressful considering many letters will be arriving in mid-March! If you can post which schools you were accepted to and rejected...it would at least offer some assurances for those of us who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary!!

Accepted: Rochester, UChicago, Stanford
Waitlisted: UCSF, NYU

Accepted: none
Waitlisted: none
Interviewed: none
Rejected: all (44)

Yay!

Hope that offers some assurances for those of you who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary.

 

[med21]

Thanks for responding guys. I feel better. I'm sorry cyclohexanol about your application process. I'm not complaining about the schools I've been accepted to. I just wanted to figure out what makes some schools that have around the same ranking make different decisions on an applicant. I figured most med schools are looking for people who have good scores, GPA, life experiences, and passion about subjects outside of academics.

 

[tacrum43]

Accepted: none
Waitlisted: none
Interviewed: none
Rejected: all (44)

Yay!

Hope that offers some assurances for those of you who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary.

Sounds like me last year. Well, I didn't apply to 44. But I completed 24 secondaries. I'm surprised you've already been rejected by all of them. Seems like lots of schools are pretty lazy about notifying applicants. I think I got my rejection from SLU (or was it Drexel?) sometime in July, when I had already reapplied. Ha.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Thanks for responding guys. I feel better. I'm sorry cyclohexanol about your application process. I'm not complaining about the schools I've been accepted to. I just wanted to figure out what makes some schools that have around the same ranking make different decisions on an applicant. I figured most med schools are looking for people who have good scores, GPA, life experiences, and passion about subjects outside of academics.

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc. Too bad common sense isn't on the MCAT. Don't mind me, I'm just jealous

 

[dr.z]

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc. Too bad common sense isn't on the MCAT. Don't mind me, I'm just jealous

 

[cyclohexanol]

Thanks for responding guys. I feel better. I'm sorry cyclohexanol about your application process. I'm not complaining about the schools I've been accepted to. I just wanted to figure out what makes some schools that have around the same ranking make different decisions on an applicant. I figured most med schools are looking for people who have good scores, GPA, life experiences, and passion about subjects outside of academics.

There isn't a standard acceptance formula that can be applied across the board; if there was, everyone would already know where they were going. Different schools look for different things. Good MCAT scores, and high GPA are only part of it. Everybody has life experiences, some are more interesting (attractive?) than others, some aren't, and maybe that school doesn't even care.

Maybe the day the admissions panel is going over your application, they just have it out for people with your name. Anywhere you go, you'll find people who like you or don't like you for whatever reason. Maybe you tie your shoes using the "bunny ears" method, but they like the "loop and swoop" technique. Or maybe they really like people who button their shirts from the bottom, not the top. For every reason you have to get in, there are hundreds of others for them to consider, even if it doesn't seem logical or "right".

I think your original topic sums it up pretty well, that admissions make no sense, you just have to accept it and move on.

Congratulations on your acceptances, try not to concern yourself with the whys and hows of admissions, because most of the time they are just a crapshoot.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

For the OP


then build me a bridge and get over it...


It's easy to understand...As much as diff schools look for diff things and all that jazz...it really comes down to a numbers game. Just look at how many applicants there are for like 100 spots. No matter how good you are, there are enough people just as good to fill up the class many times over. Statistically, nothing is guaranteed. In fact, I would say that you did pretty well considering the odds, unless you had like a 40+ MCAT or something. Take stats, it's useful

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc.

This pattern is the usual case for getting rejected by many of the lower ranked (per US News) schools. Schools keep track of how many of those people they accept actually matriculate. Not only does it make it very hard logistically for a school to accept a lot of folks who in mid may say no thanks, forcing the schools to turn to the waitlist. But schools also are "grading" themselves based on the percentage of folks they accept who actually attend. I have heard schools brag about how X% of their acceptances actually attend, or how they have to use the waitlist less than other schools etc. It is important to them. And hence not random.

 

[ND2005]

So, has anyone received acceptances from schools they totally didn't expect to and were rejected from ones that seemed to be safeties? It's quite mind-boggling and very stressful considering many letters will be arriving in mid-March! If you can post which schools you were accepted to and rejected...it would at least offer some assurances for those of us who have no idea why this process seems so arbitrary!!

Accepted: Rochester, UChicago, Stanford
Waitlisted: UCSF, NYU

Let me preface this by saying that I mean it in the nicest way possible.



YOU GOT INTO STANFORD!! SHUT THE F*** UP!!!!!!

 

[med21]

Let me preface this by saying that I mean it in the nicest way possible.



YOU GOT INTO STANFORD!! SHUT THE F*** UP!!!!!!

Well, I already said that I wasn't complaining, just trying to understand the process. Thanks, Law2Doc for explaining a possible reason.

 

[Depakote]

There's no rhyme or reason to this process.

But when you come on a board where a fair number of people aren't holding any acceptances and you appear to be wondering why X trophy school let you in and Y trophy school didn't, you're not going to get a whole ton of sympathy.

 

[Em1]

I don't understand this process either... Johns Hopkins wanted to interview me and one of my state schools did not (again, not complaining, just a little confused)

 

[adcomm]

my guess is you gave off a "you're a safety school" aura to your supposed safeties. that'll get you a "no" pretty quick.

 

[med21]

my guess is you gave off a "you're a safety school" aura to your supposed safeties. that'll get you a "no" pretty quick.

I was definitely trying not to do that. When I interviewed, I didn't even know which schools I really wanted to go to. However, I'm pretty sure interviewers have amazing intuition about this kind of stuff.

 

[2010MD]

So, has anyone received acceptances from schools they totally didn't expect to and were rejected from ones that seemed to be safeties?

Accepted: Rochester, UChicago, Stanford
Waitlisted: UCSF, NYU

While I sort of feel you on this, I also want to say that if you've found a magic portal to a universe in which UCSF can be considered a safety, please tell me where it is.

 

[med21]

I don't understand this process either... Johns Hopkins wanted to interview me and one of my state schools did not (again, not complaining, just a little confused)

Haha. Yea, I didn't even get a Johns Hopkins interview *scratches head*.

 

[med21]

While I sort of feel you on this, I also want to say that if you've found a magic portal to a universe in which UCSF can be considered a safety, please tell me where it is.

UCSF is definitely not a safety, especially since I'm out of state. I just posted all my schools so far on there. Some of them make sense. Some of my rollings aren't getting back to me, so that's what I was referring to.

 

[adcomm]

However, I'm pretty sure interviewers have amazing intuition about this kind of stuff.

 

[2010MD]

UCSF is definitely not a safety, especially since I'm out of state. I just posted all my schools so far on there. Some of them make sense. Some of my rollings aren't getting back to me, so that's what I was referring to.

Got it -- just FYI though, that's not very clear from your OP...

(and congrats on your Stanford acceptance, btw)

 

[med21]

Got it -- just FYI though, that's not very clear from your OP...

(and congrats on your Stanford acceptance, btw)

Thanks!

 

[AStudent]

Does it make no sense because it threw a stop codon your way?

 

[Centinel]

Maybe this is just an RNA world and med school admissions makes Antisense?

 

[KAI1927]

Maybe this is just an RNA world and med school admissions makes Antisense?

wow pre-meds are dorky

 

[tacrum43]

Maybe this is just an RNA world and med school admissions makes Antisense?

Nerd humor.

 

[USArmyDoc]

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc. Too bad common sense isn't on the MCAT. Don't mind me, I'm just jealous

I second that!

 

[jaylicious]

2 + 3 = 6 according to medical school admissions

 

[sunnymed]

Maybe this is just an RNA world and med school admissions makes Antisense?

...I concur. That was a super nerdy comment. ...I think I love you.

 

[med21]

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc. Too bad common sense isn't on the MCAT. Don't mind me, I'm just jealous

I don't think it has to do with common sense. I think it's just paranoia and a little OCD, a relatively common trait among pre-meds, no?

 

[FutureDoc2005]

I'm fascinated by how the people who can't ever figure this out always seem to be holding acceptances to Stanford, UCSF, Harvard, etc. Too bad common sense isn't on the MCAT. Don't mind me, I'm just jealous

Couldn't have said it better. If you're fortunate enough to get admitted to these schools, you should make up your mind as a courtesy to others who are waiting. I'm not making a blanket statement, but I know you guys understand what I'm saying.

 

[Centinel]

...I concur. That was a super nerdy comment. ...I think I love you.

Haha, yes this might be love. You see, my palms got clammy before I posted that comment. Maybe I was thinking "I'm in love." Or maybe I was thinking, "This is the nerdiest thing I have ever said but, damn, what an appropriate place to say it."