Most WL with no Acceptances

[Musclemass]

..basically a waitlist means you're too good to reject but not good enough to outright accept

Not always. Many schools "wait list" everyone not offered a spot. On those greater "WLs" are people the Adcoms have decided to not make offers to, in addition to the true WL used to fill the class as openings arise. While I'm sure it varies somewhat from year to year, most schools know quite well how far down the WL they will need to go, and also know that people put at the bottom will (generally) stay there.

That's why some schools will tell you if you've been put on a priority list or a high tier, so you know you've not been sent to oblivion.

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[Appless]

..basically a waitlist means you're too good to reject but not good enough to outright accept

Just to add what muscle said this is not the way to think of things. For example, UCI and UCLA. At UCI everyone who is not accepted is WL, therefore you dont know if you failed miserably or have a good chance of getting in. Nobody is rejected post interview at UCI. At UCLA there are several hundred people who get hold and rejections. So a WL there while not a guarantee (since about 200 are WL or so), it certainly says at least a small amount since so many students are rejected or put on hold (probably 200-300 or so). There are several other schools like this i was just listing 2 i can think of. Its best to look at how a school does things before you say something like what a WL means. It varies school to school.

 

[pppfcr]

Yeah it sucks, but I guess they do it because they know not everyone they straight up accept will attend. They keep a waitlist because they need to. Perhaps I was interviewing for the waitlist, but maybe they decided to waitlist me with the intent to accept after May 15th. Who knows. I'll let you guys know how things end up for me here.

Are you also waitlisted somewhere Ilvcurst?

JGarza,
Thank you for articulating what I could not. I was so irate after reading previous posts, that I could not formulate a well-written response. I graduated from a top ten university, with a mediocre (at best) science GPA; and an excellent GPA in the humanities. For this reason, I completed graduate coursework and graduated with a M.S. with honors. I interviewed at what I would consider to be top medical schools, and was waitlisted at all of them. I was told at my interview that I would be a great fit at the schools where I interviewed, but my undergraduate GPA was still going to be a challenge the admissions committee would ("have to overlook")...
My hope is that for candidates like us, med schools wait to ensure their MCAT/GPA averages are very well off before "taking a risk" of our GPAs bringing down their average.
Just a guess?
Good luck to you, and thanks for the eloquent response.

 

[Musclemass]

JGarza,
I interviewed at what I would consider to be top medical schools, and was waitlisted at all of them. I was told at my interview that I would be a great fit at the schools where I interviewed

If you are confident that your ability as an interviewee is at least adequate, it sounds like you were too optimistic in choosing which schools to apply to. No safety schools on your list?

"You would be a great fit" is a throw-away comment. It's completely noncommittal. It really doesn't mean anything.

 

[FutureScaresMe]

If you are confident that your ability as an interviewee is at least adequate, it sounds like you were too optimistic in choosing which schools to apply to. No safety schools on your list?

"You would be a great fit" is a throw-away comment. It's completely noncommittal. It really doesn't mean anything.

It means you didn't tank the interview...

 

[Appless]

It means you didn't tank the interview...

not even that. There are several interview traps and techniques. It means literally nothing. It could mean something but you will never know since you are not present when you are presented.

 

[Musclemass]

It means you didn't tank the interview...

I disagree. Any pseudo-compliment that doesn't expect a response or leave room for a comment on your part is just taking up dead air. Meaningless.

Compare that comment to one of these, all of which are similar and are asked to provide relevant info for the adcom presentation:

"Are we one of your top choices?"
"Are you holding many other acceptances?"
"Would you matriculate if you receive an acceptance?"
"Are there other things you might want to know about our school that could help you decide?"

These predict an offer. "You'd be a great fit" predicts that the interviewer is running out of things to say and perhaps has lost interest.

 

[Ilvcurst]

Wow.. how did the interviewer respond?

Oh I thought that to myself I wouldn't like say it out loud although I sure did want to...it was weird because he almost acted like he didn't understand why I got an interview. The sad part was he was supposed to be my advocate for the admission's committee. Oh well, I still made their final wait list but god knows where I am on it!

Yeah it sucks, but I guess they do it because they know not everyone they straight up accept will attend. They keep a waitlist because they need to. Perhaps I was interviewing for the waitlist, but maybe they decided to waitlist me with the intent to accept after May 15th. Who knows. I'll let you guys know how things end up for me here.

Are you also waitlisted somewhere Ilvcurst?

I got 2 interviews and 2 waitlists. I'm more of a desperate candidate, I'll be happier to go ANYWHERE

 

[FutureScaresMe]

I disagree. Any pseudo-compliment that doesn't expect a response or leave room for a comment on your part is just taking up dead air. Meaningless.

Compare that comment to one of these, all of which are similar and are asked to provide relevant info for the adcom presentation:

"Are we one of your top choices?"
"Are you holding many other acceptances?"
"Would you matriculate if you receive an acceptance?"
"Are there other things you might want to know about our school that could help you decide?"

These predict an offer. "You'd be a great fit" predicts that the interviewer is running out of things to say and perhaps has lost interest.

Your examples are neither "pseudo-compliments" nor do they imply an offer. Listen, I'm sure there are some interviewers out to trick you, but c'mon, saying "you're a good fit" because they have nothing else to say or have lost interest? Do you really believe that? Most interviewers don't have ulterior motives behind their questions and statements. Is it so hard to believe that they just simply want to get to know the person behind the application? I really think interviewers say things like this because they mean it. An interviewer's opinion however doesn't always translate into an acceptance (or rejection) because they typically don't have the final say, unless of course you interview with the dean of admissions. They still have to convince a committee who may not be swayed by one person's subjective view of an applicant that lacks the GPA or MCAT scores "appropriate" for the school.

 

[AlanAlanine]

I wouldn't over analyze things that people say. You can be cynical and think that the interviewer is trying to trick you. Or you can accept it as a compliment -- I think it's much better to go through life this way.

At the end of one of mine, the interviewer said: I'm sure you'll make a great doctor -- you have great communication skills. Of course I went on SDN and made a thread about it, asking if it meant anything lol. People had the same debate -- some people said it was good, some said it was neutral, some said it was bad.

I got accepted a couple of weeks later. So I say, accept a positive comment for what it is. It's not a guarantee you're going to get into the school, and it's not a rejection.

I will also say that at another school, my interviewer told me that he would give me the highest recommendation, and said he would spend the rest of the interview trying to convince me why I should go to that school. I got waitlisted. Go figure.

 

[sickandtired]

anyone on this post get in off one of their multiple WL yet?

 

[lstone13]

anyone on this post get in off one of their multiple WL yet?

I got in 2 over the past week and a half!! Good luck to everyone else still waiting out there!

 

[sickandtired]

Thought I'd update and give hope to next year's applicants....Science major at an Ivey, 3.9 GPA and 39 on MCAT ....Was on 8 WL as of middle of April with no acceptances .... 3rd week of April first acceptance (straight acceptance, late interview), May, two more acceptances off WL and 1st wk of June was accepted to a top 10 school off WL.... never give up hope... keep sending LOIs...it really is imp for admissions to believe you will accept if admitted off wL

 

[hasslefree]

Thought I'd update and give hope to next year's applicants....Science major at an Ivey, 3.9 GPA and 39 on MCAT ....Was on 8 WL as of middle of April with no acceptances .... 3rd week of April first acceptance (straight acceptance, late interview), May, two more acceptances off WL and 1st wk of June was accepted to a top 10 school off WL.... never give up hope... keep sending LOIs...it really is imp for admissions to believe you will accept if admitted off wL

Congrats!!!!! Was the top 10 your first choice or are you still waiting?

I was also wondering how people with lots of WL were doing this cycle...I had 5 and now have an acceptance!!!