Not getting interviews from mid tier schools

[VIZ1]

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This cycle, I applied to nearly 30 schools and found that mainly the top tier schools have been interviewing me. Is there such a thing as being overqualified for some schools? Out of 7 interviews, only one of them is a mid tier school.
NYU is another one of my interviews that some people consider to be mid tier since their top 15 ranking is very recent and I've seen many people speculate that their rank could drop back to ~30 soon due to their FEMA lump sum wearing off.
It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

 

[gyngyn]

State public schools are usually safeties.

 

[JPSmyth]

What's your MCAT score/GPA?

 

[Dr.Kat]

and you're complaining because...?

 

[Goro]

Schools practice resource protection. A school like Albany knows from historical data that a Harvard-caliber applicant will rarely attend Albany. Interviews are time and staff consuming, hence you interview people who are most likely to attend if offered an acceptance.

While I don't place NYU into the Harvard/Yale class of schools, it is hardly "mid-tier." It is im it's own class along with Vandy, Pitt, Northwestern etc.

This cycle, I applied to nearly 30 schools and found that mainly the top tier schools have been interviewing me. Is there such a thing as being overqualified for some schools? Out of 7 interviews, only one of them is a mid tier school.
NYU is another one of my interviews that some people consider to be mid tier since their top 15 ranking is very recent and I've seen many people speculate that their rank could drop back to ~30 soon due to their FEMA lump sum wearing off.
It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

 

[Luka75]

and you're complaining because...?

Well, obviously because those 7 IIs were not enough.

 

[Dr.Kat]

Well, obviously because those 7 IIs were not enough.

and only from top-tier schools...how embarrassing!

 

[IMakedThese]

 

[VIZ1]

Thanks for the input everyone
Lol by no means is this a humble brag
I'm legitimately concerned because as @Luka75 stated, they were clearly not enough
7 interviews and 6 of them are waitlists
Some people say 6 waitlists sound good but I'm getting a feeling that I'm low on the waitlists just because of my lack of acceptances

 

[efle]

OP are you 7 II, 7 waitlists? I don't think your list/number of interviews is your issue

 

[VIZ1]

OP are you 7 II, 7 waitlists? I don't think your list/number of interviews is your issue

7 II, 6 waitlists, 1 rejection
I know I'm not the best interviewer and I really worked hard to improve on them
My med student friends tell me that my interview skills are decent as well
I'm just really unsure what I can do at this point

 

[efle]

Based on post history this is cycle #3 and in total you went to 11 interviews resulting in 11 waitlists?

Dude you gotta go do practice interviews, or get something to bring down anxiety levels if that's been an issue. With the caliber of school you're interviewing at and the sheer number you've done, very poor interviewing is the only answer.

 

[IMakedThese]

Thanks for the input everyone
Lol by no means is this a humble brag
I'm legitimately concerned because as @Luka75 stated, they were clearly not enough
7 interviews and 6 of them are waitlists
Some people say 6 waitlists sound good but I'm getting a feeling that I'm low on the waitlists just because of my lack of acceptances

Your "lack of acceptances" has the same correlation for your position on the waitlist as my love of broccoli.
None!

 

[efle]

7 II, 6 waitlists, 1 rejection
I know I'm not the best interviewer and I really worked hard to improve on them
My med student friends tell me that my interview skills are decent as well
I'm just really unsure what I can do at this point

Have you already tried practice interviews, that kind of thing? Do you know what the issue is at least? Practicing with med school friends isn't the same, you gotta simulate it with someone at a career center

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Yeah, I applied to 25 schools and got 12 invites. ALL my interviews were Top 30 or state schools with no love from the mid tiers (applied to 10) or Ivies (applied to 3).

 

[VIZ1]

Your "lack of acceptances" has the same correlation for your position on the waitlist as my love of broccoli.
None!

Isn't that a good indication of weak interview skills?

Yeah, I applied to 25 schools and got 12 invites. ALL my interviews were Top 30 or state schools with no love from the mid tiers (applied to 10) or Ivies (applied to 3).

I've been to the career center as well. I'm really unsure what my issue is to be honest. I can probably be a bit more confident and have a bit better answers but I can't imagine any glaring red flags in myself.

 

[efle]

I've been to the career center as well.

What did they tell you? Said you seemed alright?

 

[VIZ1]

What did they tell you? Said you seemed alright?

Yeah :S
In previous years I wasn't as good but I think I've definitely improved a lot by this year
You got my post history about right
cycle 3, 14 total II, 10 total waitlists

 

[efle]

I think there are people who advise about this kind of thing professionally, that you can pay to interview you on camera and then go over it with you after. After 3 cycles and 14 interviews I can't think of anything else that you could really do.

That said you are on a ton of waitlists, odds of one admitting by fall is decent, if you were just borderline at interviews this time around

 

[NotYou20]

7 II, 6 waitlists, 1 rejection
I know I'm not the best interviewer and I really worked hard to improve on them
My med student friends tell me that my interview skills are decent as well
I'm just really unsure what I can do at this point

Are your answers rehearsed? I could see that being a big problem. Someone who tends to be overly critical and doesn't really know you would be a good person to practice with, because friends aren't going to give the harsh truth.

Maybe email your interviewers and ask what was problematic in your interview

 

[pseud0]

6 waitlists should = at least 1 acceptance, no?

 

[Lawpy]

Schools practice resource protection. A school like Albany knows from historical data that a Harvard-caliber applicant will rarely attend Albany. Interviews are time and staff consuming, hence you interview people who are most likely to attend if offered an acceptance.

While I don't place NYU into the Harvard/Yale class of schools, it is hardly "mid-tier." It is im it's own class along with Vandy, Pitt, Northwestern etc.

yeah having a good school list matters to minimize the problem of resource/yield protection. but OP has had more interviews this cycle compared to his previous cycles. this would likely rule out problems of application, essays, and bad letters... which makes me think his interview performance was pretty bad.

 

[efle]

6 waitlists should = at least 1 acceptance, no?

It really depends on the schools. Some places will reject post-interview and only waitlist a small group that they actually draw a good number from (for example Yale waitlists ~75 and admits 20-30 of them). Other places simply waitlist everyone post-interview that doesn't get in, and you can safely assume it's a reject (for example Penn waitlists like 500 people and admits 10-15 of them).

 

[Lawpy]

This cycle, I applied to nearly 30 schools and found that mainly the top tier schools have been interviewing me. Is there such a thing as being overqualified for some schools? Out of 7 interviews, only one of them is a mid tier school.
NYU is another one of my interviews that some people consider to be mid tier since their top 15 ranking is very recent and I've seen many people speculate that their rank could drop back to ~30 soon due to their FEMA lump sum wearing off.
It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

Could you give us your stats (relative estimation) and a summary of your ECs?

 

[Goro]

I agree

yeah having a good school list matters to minimize the problem of resource/yield protection. but OP has had more interviews this cycle compared to his previous cycles. this would likely rule out problems of application, essays, and bad letters... which makes me think his interview performance was pretty bad.

 

[Goro]

If you get shut out again this cycle, I suggest taking a service job, lime in sales, or food service, OR take a class in acting, public speaking, or debate

This cycle, I applied to nearly 30 schools and found that mainly the top tier schools have been interviewing me. Is there such a thing as being overqualified for some schools? Out of 7 interviews, only one of them is a mid tier school.
NYU is another one of my interviews that some people consider to be mid tier since their top 15 ranking is very recent and I've seen many people speculate that their rank could drop back to ~30 soon due to their FEMA lump sum wearing off.
It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

 

[deleted480308]

11interviews and no acceptance means you blowing it that day....get professional help or join the service industry because you have to get better with people

 

[VIZ1]

Thanks everyone
I did get professional help and have worked customer service before
I guess I might need to try more of that

 

[deleted480308]

Thanks everyone
I did get professional help and have worked customer service before
I guess I might need to try more of that

Before this round of 7interviews?

 

[raiderette]

I had a similar issue. I didn't get interviews at all the schools that my advisor expected to love me, and was waitlisted at all schools where I was on the high end of stats, except my state school. I had a ton of waitlist movement, getting into my top choice two weeks before orientation. Send updates, keep working and prepare to improve the non-number driven parts of your application.

 

[VIZ1]

Before this round of 7interviews?

Yes

 

[VIZ1]

I had a similar issue. I didn't get interviews at all the schools that my advisor expected to love me, and was waitlisted at all schools where I was on the high end of stats, except my state school. I had a ton of waitlist movement, getting into my top choice two weeks before orientation. Send updates, keep working and prepare to improve the non-number driven parts of your application.

It's such a weird process :/
I'm hoping for a lot of waitlist movement then

 

[VIZ1]

My GPA is around 3.9 and a 38 MCAT
I've been involved in many clubs on campus, student government, hospital volunteering, shadowing, research with a publication, and athletics

 

[Gurby]

Fellow terrible interviewer checking in. Good luck OP, I hope it works out for you 😢

 

[Sardinia]

@VIZ1 Did you tailor your interview for each individual school e.g. school's mission, core demographic, and what unique value you would add to that school compared to other candidates? Also those ECs sound relatively passive around patient contact. Considering these are top notch schools, they could have gone with candidates that have demonstrated hands on patient handling e.g. EMTs, CNAs, PCTs, RNs. Therefore it means that you would really have to kill an interview to make them believe that you have enough interpersonal skills to select you over the more reliable "pre-packaged candidates."

 

[Sardinia]

@VIZ1 Assuming the three app cycles included at least one gap year, what have you been doing to pay the bills? Laboratory technician? I'm asking because if I had a stacked roster to select from I would start weeding out the students that looked like they were begging for amnesty to become a physician as a pathway to a middle class over applicants that were willing to sacrifice a middle class sunny suburbia type lifestyle because they were head over heels for medicine.

 

[VIZ1]

@VIZ1 Did you tailor your interview for each individual school e.g. school's mission, core demographic, and what unique value you would add to that school compared to other candidates? Also those ECs sound relatively passive around patient contact. Considering these are top notch schools, they could have gone with candidates that have demonstrated hands on patient handling e.g. EMTs, CNAs, PCTs, RNs. Therefore it means that you would really have to kill an interview to make them believe that you have enough interpersonal skills to select you over the more reliable "pre-packaged candidates."

I tried to tailor my answers to the school
I suppose some more strongly than others
That explanation makes sense too
I've worked as a hospital translator before and I think that gave me some pretty close contact with patients but there are jobs where I can get closer

 

[candbgirl]

So do you think if the mid tiers had interviewed you , you would have been accepted? Is that why you're asking? I think you are applying exactly where you should be applying. You get lots of interviews. It's what happens after(when) you interview that's the problem. I hope you do get off the WL this year.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[VIZ1]

So do you think if the mid tiers had interviewed you , you would have been accepted? Is that why your asking? I think you are applying exactly where you should be applying. You get lots of interviews. It's what happens after you interview that's the problem. I hope you do get off the WL this year.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

I guess that's what I'm hoping for
But I can't imagine what's wrong with my interview skills at this point other than the fact that I'm just mediocre and could improve every bit slightly

Thanks

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

@VIZ1 Assuming the three app cycles included at least one gap year, what have you been doing to pay the bills? Laboratory technician? I'm asking because if I had a stacked roster to select from I would start weeding out the students that looked like they were begging for amnesty to become a physician as a pathway to a middle class over applicants that were willing to sacrifice a middle class sunny suburbia type lifestyle because they were head over heels for medicine.

Am I understanding this correctly? Are you saying you'd rather pick those coming from richer families who have time to spend doing medical ECs over those struggling to make over $30k a year because they went all in with a biology degree and can't get any other job?

 

[Sardinia]

So do you think if the mid tiers had interviewed you , you would have been accepted? Is that why you're asking? I think you are applying exactly where you should be applying. You get lots of interviews. It's what happens after(when) you interview that's the problem. I hope you do get off the WL this year. Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app.

He is very likely being triaged out by schools who perceive that he is triaging them as a Plan B. A competitive GPA should not exclude you from being accepted into a medical school if we lived in a meritocracy. But the fact that there is no match system in place for medical school applications means that schools don't have a reliable commitment from any applicant, while applicants don't have a reliable commitment from any school. The mutual rejection is synonymous to the Prisoner's Dilemma in which the logical conclusion for both criminals who doubt each other would result in both of them ratting the other one out in order to avoid the maximum penalty of incurring the largest amount of loss.

 

[VIZ1]

@VIZ1 Assuming the three app cycles included at least one gap year, what have you been doing to pay the bills? Laboratory technician? I'm asking because if I had a stacked roster to select from I would start weeding out the students that looked like they were begging for amnesty to become a physician as a pathway to a middle class over applicants that were willing to sacrifice a middle class sunny suburbia type lifestyle because they were head over heels for medicine.

Yes this year I worked as a scientist
I poured most of the money I earned into this application cycle :/

 

[Sardinia]

In other words, you'd pick those coming from richer families who have time to spend doing medical ECs over those struggling to make over $30k a year because they went all in with a biology degree and can't get any other job?

I'm not an adcom. Do not connote anything I write regarding the process with me having anything to do with the admission cycle. That being said I used to be the guy struggling and making $30k a year with a biology degree that did nothing for me. If that's the only thing that you have going for you, then I would still not accept you. Medical schools aren't charities, they aren't there to feed your entitlement complex or your self-narrative that you own the world's smallest violin.

You think it's the end of the world. But if life moves on then it means you just wasted an entire day doing nothing about changing your current circumstances. You think you won't survive, but you end up surviving. When you run to CVS or Walgreens to self-diagnose rash X, Y, or Z or simply hope your current symptoms go away it helps build character. I was told that my radiating oral pain required a five figure dental treatment. I couldn't afford it. I used $6 of DenTek wax and cried for a couple of weeks while working extra hours to meet the minimum required payment plan.

You think that struggling is the end of the road. But you are still laughably not anywhere close to the end of it when you complain about the struggle. It's laughable to type this out because there are very few people who have discovered the places that are below rock bottom. When you reach there you discover that there has always only been two options and if you decide to keep going then you begin to realize that everyone is struggling to create something for themselves.

 

[Sardinia]

@ace_inhibitor111 Also something else I find laughable and I'm sorry I come across as being very crass. But maybe ten years down the road you will thank me. Maybe not. You think that having a biology degree excludes you from getting any other job aside from being a physician. You are the one at fault for being unable to find jobs because you are untrained and incompetent when it comes to expanding your field of knowledge. When someone with military experience lands a civilian job, do you really believe they did so because the military hooked them up or their veteran status got them a favored employment? Oh I served in Iraq, so I can only look at jobs that employ for military specialists... woe is me.

This has nothing to do with your biology degree, it's because you are naive that you really believe that in order to self-sustain yourself you have to be responsible for the lives of other people. This type of thinking is everything wrong with the specialist culture we have indoctrinated in students and will likely lead to our next collapse where everyone is more focused on how to maximally screw each other out of rendered services rather than just providing the rendered service out of decency and civic service.

 

[raiderette]

What were your stats and ec's?

3.9 GPA, 516 MCAT. Solid but normal ECs, strange family background that was not a big part of my app but was probably in my committee letter.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Yes this year I worked as a scientist
I poured most of the money I earned into this application cycle :/

VIZ - I think this reason is way down on the list of possibilities as to why you're on the waitlist instead of accepted.

I'd suggest applying to Tulane's ACP program which only accepts applicants who are waitlisted. Tulane ACP 2015-2016

 

[tarheelpenner]

It really depends on the schools. Some places will reject post-interview and only waitlist a small group that they actually draw a good number from (for example Yale waitlists ~75 and admits 20-30 of them). Other places simply waitlist everyone post-interview that doesn't get in, and you can safely assume it's a reject (for example Penn waitlists like 500 people and admits 10-15 of them).

Actually, Penn only waitlists like 400 people, so theres still a chance. 😵. lol, jk. (but also me: 10-15 get accepted, I could be one! Hope is a dangerous thing.)

OP, you could call your schools and see if they will tell you your rank on the WL (if they are ranked). At least then you'd have a better idea of where you stand if they are nice enough to tell you.

 

[efle]

Actually, Penn only waitlists like 400 people, so theres still a chance. 😵. lol, jk. (but also me: 10-15 get accepted, I could be one! Hope is a dangerous thing.)

OP, you could call your schools and see if they will tell you your rank on the WL (if they are ranked). At least then you'd have a better idea of where you stand if they are nice enough to tell you.

I'm pretty certain they give all non admits a waitlist position (500+), ~400 accept their waitlist position, and they internally cut it down to ~100 from which 10-15 get drawn

 

[avgn]

It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

Correct. There is no such thing as a safety school in med school admissions. SDN likes to throw the term around as if we're still on College Confidential. People like @efle and I knew this and calibrated our school lists carefully. There is something to be said about getting "stuck in the middle" when you float between just being below average at many top schools but way above average at places that will know right off the bat you're likely using them as a safety and have your sights set higher. Play the game, folks. There are no guarantees

 

[Mad Jack]

This cycle, I applied to nearly 30 schools and found that mainly the top tier schools have been interviewing me. Is there such a thing as being overqualified for some schools? Out of 7 interviews, only one of them is a mid tier school.
NYU is another one of my interviews that some people consider to be mid tier since their top 15 ranking is very recent and I've seen many people speculate that their rank could drop back to ~30 soon due to their FEMA lump sum wearing off.
It just seems quite hard to set some "safety schools" if schools reject people for being over qualified.

Nice humblebrag.

Yes, it's a thing called Yield Protection. You want to ensure the highest percentage of interviewees that are qualified and you offer an acceptance to also end up attending your institution.