That's just not true. Nobody even gets our dean's letters until November which is a big part of determining interviews (at least for the more competitive spots). At my school (a UC) it works this way according to the chairman: they use a point scale (x points for your med school, x for your step 1, x for key words in the last paragraph of your dean's letter, and a certain amount of points if you've published) and based on points they determine who gets interviewed. they will not be doing this until november. i guarantee that almost all schools are on some sort of a similar point system, they just have to do it given the amount of applications and the full picture is simply not available for a few months. sure some schools are already offering interviews but i'm pretty sure this is based on step 1 scores alone (i.e. their point system says that if you got above a 230 or 240 that is enough to interview you without further info). i'm sure this is the case because my first interviews came about 2 hours after turning in if my application and without any letters of rec. California schools in particular (according to friends in residency now) don't start offering many interviews until Dean's letters are in.
Maybe some schools are only waitlisting after Oct. but those are almost definately the minority and it seems like a lot of people are getting worked up already for no good reason. there is plenty of time for us all to be stressed, let's not waste our energy early on (which it is right now) =).
and as for the point systems i noted, our chairman makes it clear that though this is a necessary evil it is not the end-all-be-all. he encourages people to email any schools you don't get interviews at that you really want them at and encourage them to look beyond the numbers, he says they've gotten a lot of great people over the years from doing that.
sorry for the massively long post but there is just no way that november interview requests are "wait-list" requests.
