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I got a letter from RWJ yesterday that I have been placed in the competitive category of either being accepted or placed on alternate list. This is better than rejection so I guess it's semi-good news. What should I do now? wait? send more supportive infor for my application? write kiss-@ss letters to the dean? WHAT? ••••I'm from Rutgers, and and I have some experience in UMDNJ's admissions process.
For NJMS, I do believe there is a ranked waitlist letter and another that just says "you've been put in the alternate list". The former is more positive, since I've gotten e-mail updates about the school from Dr. heinrich ever since I got the letter (before that, Betty Taylor delivered all news). I even replied to Dr. Heinrich and he responded in kind. So if you do get mail from him and are still waiting, you can inquire about your status at
[email protected]. Some of his e-mail updates include invites to seminars held at the school, so if possible, it might be good to attend them. There is also a MiniMed program given in April or May, and the price for attending is very cheap, so if you're waitlisted, it might be a good idea to attend these seminars to increase your chances of acceptance. MiniMed is also very informative of how the school operates because you get to have problem-based learning sessions with medical students themselves. Last year a classmate of mine inquired about her status and got a message stating that she was in the middle of the group, at a point where they haven't reached for acceptance... so if you do get that response, then it's pretty much over. Dr. Heinrich does consultation by the phone also, at least, that's what the secretary told me.
I also know a guy who applied to UMDNJ RWJ 3 times. He interviewed early and got the same letter you have twice. He was disgusted with how the letter sounded, saying that he should be congratulated and he's competitive and all, because he ended up in the waitlist and when we went to the pre-med advisor to inquire the school, they told him that he (my friend) was borderline. The third time (this year), he improved his GPA and credentials, but he ultimately got rejected without interview. However, he got in Albert Einstein just recently, and so he couldn't stop saying that in the end, he got the better deal. Anyway, RWJ is pretty frank about giving the status of their applications, so if you've interviewed with them, you can ask Meryle at
[email protected]. Don't even bother with Dr. Terrigino, she's almost always unavailable (as opposed to Dr. Heinrich). Sometimes it is difficult to discern whether adcoms takes notice of file updates, since the 2nd time my friend applied and got rejected off the waitlist, Meryle said that his fate was already decided in December (the month after his interview) despite the updates and extra letters of recommendations he sent during the waiting period.
