mid december and not heard back for interviews... bad??

[bissmeyer]

It is mid-december and I have not heard back from any of the schools I applied to regarding interviews. I just am getting worried because friends of mine have already gotten interviews and some acceptances. When should I really be worried if I have not heard back from any school?

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[Leejwwc]

It depends on went you submitted your apps. If you were complete only recently give it some time, it can take 1-2 months or even longer to hear back about interviews. I have yet to hear from 4 schools I was complete at back in August. Of course the earlier you hear back the better since most schools are rolling admissions, but you can get interviews into March or even April of next year. Good luck!

 

[dynezxice]

hmm.. in order to gauge at your situation, we need to know more.

1. what are your stats (GPA and MCAT)?
2. when were your apps completed?
3. how many schools did you apply to?
4. how many schools of the following categories did you apply to (high tier, mid tier, low tier)?

but in general, as the saying goes, "the early bird gets the worm". Of course, this is not always the case.

 

[halekulani]

i finished most of my secondaries in the end of august and now i'm just starting to get interview invites

so it all depends when you were complete

 

[tdittyx2x3]

I've been accepted to a few reputable osteopathic schools, but I've been complete at all of my allopathic schools since August/early September and have only had one interview that ended in a waitlist (would probably rather PCOM anyway).

The next couple weeks are coming up on 4 months of being complete. Each school must have seen my application at least once and decided not interview at that time. And I would think that most schools would have scheduled interviews through Jan and into Feb by now, slowly dwindling down the interview season.

That said there's no reason to give up on any of the MD schools yet. It's just a waiting game anyway and plenty of people will get those late interview spots that translate to acceptances. Best of luck everybody!

 

[Rabbit36]

Late January is panic time. You can still hear from schools until then. That said, it's good to be realistic so you know what you need to do. It might be good to start thinking about how to improve your application to make you a strong candidate if you do need to reapply. Can't say what that would be without specifics of your application. Definitely complete your AMCAS in the first few weeks of June, I can't stress that enough.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

Late January is panic time. You can still hear from schools until then. That said, it's good to be realistic so you know what you need to do. It might be good to start thinking about how to improve your application to make you a strong candidate if you do need to reapply. Can't say what that would be without specifics of your application. Definitely complete your AMCAS in the first few weeks of June, I can't stress that enough.

So no schools interview after then? I'm a little confused on this topic. What exactly is the significance of the March date given by the AAMC? They need to have accepted a number of people at least equal to their class size? Given that so many people will get multiple acceptances, and let those spots go over the next several months, I don't see why schools just stop inviting after mid january.

 

[Rabbit36]

It's not an absolute rule (what is?), but I think interview invitations will pretty much slow to a trickle after January. That's paraphrasing LizzyM, since I certainly don't know what adcoms will do. I think a few invites after that will happen, but don't count on it for yourself. By that point it's better to start preparing for the possibility of reapplying. If you do get an invite in feb or march and get in great! But if not, it's good that you've already started putting effort into making yourself more competitive for next time. It's really hard to make any significant improvements to your app in only a few months, and you don't want to waste another cycle (and maybe not be allowed to apply a third time) because schools don't think you look much different than last time. I am personally assuming that I'll be reapplying until I have an acceptance in my hand, even though I've had good interviews and feel very optimistic.

Schools need to accept at least that number of people by march, but they eventually end up giving something around 100 more acceptances than available spots in the class to account for multiple acceptances. Interviews themselves don't end in january by any means, but will continue at many schools through march and even april.

 

[pasdechat28]

I have also been anxiously awaiting to hear from schools re: interviews (reapplicant, 3.9 gpa, 30R, complete in september, applied to a few upper tier but mostly those with class avg stats around mine). With the exception of my in-state school (UA), I have not heard from any re: interviews. I keep checking my status' at each school periodically--only a couple have me "on hold" and the rest are saying my application is still under review...I have heard this same story from other friends applying, so perhaps the schools with rolling admissions are simply backed-up right now. Maybe more applications this year than usual? Or perhaps all of us who have great stats, but not fantastic, are left to squander in limbo for a while.

 

[Surferboy]

Yep I'm here waiting too. I was complete around mid October. I know the UCs will take their sweet time considering they had to screen, but I figured the non-Californian schools would have contacted me by now. No rejections. No holds. Nothing.

 

[HaveHope]

I, too, have not gotten a single interview! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 9 rejections, waiting to hear on 18 more. Complete at most late Sept or early Oct

 

[medfool24]

I was in the same boat this time last year.

Fortunately, I recieved an interview invitation in January.

Unfortunately, I ended up not getting into that school and having to re-apply for this cycle.

I'd tend to agree that if you don't hear by the end of January you should probably start preparing your application to re-apply.

I don't agree with the "Early Bird gets the worm" reasoning, I applied really early last year and did not, like I said, interview until this past January. I think it only applies to those that have above average stats. I believe those that have average to borderline stats for any particular school well get pushed behind those who are "better" applicants. Obviously schools will want to consider stellar applicants before anybody else.

Then again, it still is a crapshoot and some schools value qualitative things more than others.

 

[RoyBasch]

Hey guys, I too am gearing up for reapplication (no acceptances at this point) but don't lose hope, I just got an interview invite today (12/18). So the game isn't totally over.
Have heart!
-Roy

 

[DALee33]

I had not heard back from any schools until Monday of this week... Since then, I now have 2 interviews.... I had already started planning applications to post-bacc programs to start in May! So... when it rains, it pours!! Don't give up hope!