oh, waitlists

[Sartre]

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Everyone keeps telling me how it's such a "great sign" that I'm on so many waitlists (6 waitlists, 0 acceptances, 1 interview remaining). But based on what I've heard about the low number of applicants accepted off waitlists, I don't think my chances look good at all.

I know a lot depends on where I rank in those waitlists, but if anyone has had experience with this -- generally, what are the odds of acceptance for an applicant on 6-7 waitlists?

 

[VoiceofReason]

Waitlists are not far removed from rejections in the vast majority of cases. Or in other words, (even though it varies by school) relatively very few people ever get accepted off waitlists.

I was personally only on half that number of waitlists, but nothing ever came of it and I had to reapply. Were you really late this cycle? If your uGPA and MCAT scores are nice and competitive, then in my opinion you should add a few new activities to your schedule in preparation for reapplication. And of course, if you didn't this time, apply early!

 

[Bacchus]

Keep your head up champ. There is another thread on here saying more waitlist spots are going out this year for atleast a couple of schools in order to prevent overadmittance.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=494122

 

[thoffen]

Waitlists are not far removed from rejections in the vast majority of cases. Or in other words, (even though it varies by school) relatively very few people ever get accepted off waitlists.

It varies widely by school. Some take a great deal off wait lists. My advice? Don't worry about things you can't control. Most likely you'll get a spot offered to you this cycle. If you don't, ask them for some feedback and use it to your advantage next cycle.

 

[Lshapley]

It varies widely by school. Some take a great deal off wait lists. My advice? Don't worry about things you can't control. Most likely you'll get a spot offered to you this cycle. If you don't, ask them for some feedback and use it to your advantage next cycle.

Agreed. Best thing to do if you unsure about your status on a waitlist is to contact the specific schools were you were waitlisted and ask them for the past movement of their waitlists. Some schools have little movement, others have a ton.

 

[VoiceofReason]

It varies widely by school. Some take a great deal off wait lists. My advice? Don't worry about things you can't control. Most likely you'll get a spot offered to you this cycle. If you don't, ask them for some feedback and use it to your advantage next cycle.

Yeah that's true, I was speaking generally but I should have been more clear. I think that it is more common for there to be less movement, although some schools do see a lot of movement. Come to think of it I can name one school (buffalo) which supposedly takes a lot of applicants from it's waitlist. If you want, op, you can try to dig up old threads on the schools at which you are waitlisted. That might give you a more accurate picture.

 

[aaj117]

with six interviews and all waitlists, it sounds like your interview skills might be a problem. If you have time before that next interview, see if you can schedule a mock interview with your pre-health advisor or someone of a similar ranking to see what they tell you could be improved on there.

 

[Jolie South]

with six interviews and all waitlists, it sounds like your interview skills might be a problem. If you have time before that next interview, see if you can schedule a mock interview with your pre-health advisor or someone of a similar ranking to see what they tell you could be improved on there.

yea, it's best to get someone that doesn't know you.

 

[Lshapley]

Yeah that's true, I was speaking generally but I should have been more clear. I think that it is more common for there to be less movement, although some schools do see a lot of movement. Come to think of it I can name one school (buffalo) which supposedly takes a lot of applicants from it's waitlist. If you want, op, you can try to dig up old threads on the schools at which you are waitlisted. That might give you a more accurate picture.

Vermont and OHSU also have a considerable amount of waitlist movement but for very different reasons. OHSU will never offer more acceptances than seats (usually resulting in them moving through 70-80 waitlist spots) and UVM is reluctant to admit OOS applicants unless they show interest while waitlisted (they actually do not even rank the waitlist).

 

[Sartre]

Thanks so much for all the feedback and encouragement. My stats are at the lower end of competitive (competitive, but certainly not stellar), and I applied quite early (was complete by mid-July). I appreciate the advice regarding interview skills, but that is the one area where I feel quite confident (I'm one of those "lower-stats-but-great-people-skills" kind of applicants; we sometimes get lost in the applicant pile 😳)

All my interviews have gone very well, but I get the sense that even a stellar interview isn't quite enough to push me into the "acceptance" category.

I appreciate all the advice! Good luck to anyone else in a similar situation

 

[silverlining1]

Thanks so much for all the feedback and encouragement. My stats are at the lower end of competitive (competitive, but certainly not stellar), and I applied quite early (was complete by mid-July). I appreciate the advice regarding interview skills, but that is the one area where I feel quite confident (I'm one of those "lower-stats-but-great-people-skills" kind of applicants; we sometimes get lost in the applicant pile 😳)

All my interviews have gone very well, but I get the sense that even a stellar interview isn't quite enough to push me into the "acceptance" category.

I appreciate all the advice! Good luck to anyone else in a similar situation

I'm worried that this will happen to me too =/ We'll see what happens, I guess. Best of luck while waiting on those waitlists 🙂

 

[scowdeva]

I'm worried that this will happen to me too =/ We'll see what happens, I guess. Best of luck while waiting on those waitlists 🙂

Haha, silverlining, both your GPA and MCAT are above average for accepted kids! If you have good people skills, and interview well, you will be forced to make some decisions pretty soon! G'luck, don't worry about being a 'lower stat' applicant! Some of us definitely have that hurdle to overcome, but I would most certainly not classify you as one of them! You'll be fine!

 

[vader34mt]

OP i'm rooting for you...i am on 5 waitlists with no acceptances and 2 interviews to go...pretty much the same boat

 

[1956Goldtop]

Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know what the movement of the JHU waitlist generally is like?

 

[hra87]

Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know what the movement of the JHU waitlist generally is like?

Very good, I believe. Like 40% of the class. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[silverlining1]

Haha, silverlining, both your GPA and MCAT are above average for accepted kids! If you have good people skills, and interview well, you will be forced to make some decisions pretty soon! G'luck, don't worry about being a 'lower stat' applicant! Some of us definitely have that hurdle to overcome, but I would most certainly not classify you as one of them! You'll be fine!

I appreciate the kind and encouraging response 🙂 I'm really hoping to get into UCSF and/or Stanford, though, and I feel very "below average" at those schools =/

 

[darkelven29]

3 waitlists, 2 no responses, 3 just interviewed...... I just don't understand either

 

[Textuality]

I appreciate the kind and encouraging response 🙂 I'm really hoping to get into UCSF and/or Stanford, though, and I feel very "below average" at those schools =/

Haha, I know what you mean. I was aiming for Hopkins and Penn, and my numbers are kind of "below average" for those schools, hence why they were reach schools. I think I was the only one at the Hopkins interview that didn't break 35 on the MCAT...

 

[Dayne]

I hear that some schools put everyone who they don't give a straight out acceptance after an interview on a waiting-list. So, for those schools, getting off the waiting-list would probably be a crap-shot.

But for others, it all depends on how conservative the school is with handing out initial acceptances. And occasionally, there are small to medium fluctuations caused by either an increase or decrease in applicants accepting or declining the school's initial offers.

 

[mopmay1]

Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know what the movement of the SUNY Upstate waitlist looks like?

Thanks🙂🙂😳

 

[MamadP]

Sorry to hijack, but does anyone know what the movement of the SUNY Upstate waitlist looks like?

Thanks🙂🙂😳

I would also like to know this...

 

[1956Goldtop]

I don't have the stats but anecdotally, I had a friend get in off the wait list pretty late in the game which leads me to believe that the movement is good.

 

[dienekes88]

Everyone keeps telling me how it's such a "great sign" that I'm on so many waitlists (6 waitlists, 0 acceptances, 1 interview remaining). But based on what I've heard about the low number of applicants accepted off waitlists, I don't think my chances look good at all.

I know a lot depends on where I rank in those waitlists, but if anyone has had experience with this -- generally, what are the odds of acceptance for an applicant on 6-7 waitlists?

Well, like everyone said... it probably varies a lot. However, since you sound like you need the comforting of some math-action, let's bust out the old TI-83. If we take a wild guess at it being about 15% coming off the wait list, then you have a good chance at scoring at one. With 15% coming off the waitlist (that seems awfully low), then you have a 68% chance of getting into at least one school; the probability of getting neg'd is 0.85, so the probability of getting neg'd at 7 schools is only 0.32.

I say that 15% seems awfully low, because schools should generally know from their historic data the number of acceptances they need to hand out and how long a waitlist they need to stack in order to fill a class. They wouldn't stack a waitlist 6x longer than necessary unless they have a history of having people drop off the waitlist. Get around that by staying on the waitlist.

If the number is actually 20% coming off the waitlist, then your chance of scoring at least one acceptance goes up to just over 79%. If it's more like 10%... your chances of getting a thick envelope are still 52%.

Write a couple update letters and stay on the waitlists. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised in the next couple months!

I appreciate the kind and encouraging response 🙂 I'm really hoping to get into UCSF and/or Stanford, though, and I feel very "below average" at those schools =/

Good luck!

I kinda hope that nobody feels above average at those schools. I can only imagine how aware of your own bad*ss-ness you would have to be to think, "man... these mere mortals, aka my Stanford classmates, got nothing on me." 🙂

 

[Sartre]

Write a couple update letters and stay on the waitlists. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised in the next couple months!



Good luck!

Thanks so much for the encouraging perspective, dienekes88 -- this is exactly what I plan on doing. I hope it works!

The worst part is, I can't rely on getting an acceptance off a waitlist -- so I feel I need to go ahead and reapply for next cycle (even if I do get off a waitlist, I probably won't find out until late May at the earliest). For the other people in the same boat (isn't this boat fun!?!), are you preparing to reapply/retake the MCAT/etc?

 

[neurofreak]

Thanks so much for the encouraging perspective, dienekes88 -- this is exactly what I plan on doing. I hope it works!

The worst part is, I can't rely on getting an acceptance off a waitlist -- so I feel I need to go ahead and reapply for next cycle (even if I do get off a waitlist, I probably won't find out until late May at the earliest). For the other people in the same boat (isn't this boat fun!?!), are you preparing to reapply/retake the MCAT/etc?

if i were you, i'd probably go ahead and wait it out until at least june before you start to reapply. if your MCAT score was fine before (and i imagine it was if you got at least 6 interviews) then you won't have to re-prep for that.

and god forbid that you do have to reapply, you'll have a lot of your essays already completed (including your personal statement, which i assume wouldn't change too much) so you can afford to submit in july and would still be earlier than most people.

stick it out until at least june, and hopefully you'll hear some good news. i'll be rooting for you, OP!

 

[darkelven29]

I am looking to improve my verbal score on the MCAT now.....

 

[Sartre]

if i were you, i'd probably go ahead and wait it out until at least june before you start to reapply. if your MCAT score was fine before (and i imagine it was if you got at least 6 interviews) then you won't have to re-prep for that.

and god forbid that you do have to reapply, you'll have a lot of your essays already completed (including your personal statement, which i assume wouldn't change too much) so you can afford to submit in july and would still be earlier than most people.

stick it out until at least june, and hopefully you'll hear some good news. i'll be rooting for you, OP!

Thanks, neurofreak! My MCAT is okay (29R), but this is already my second time applying! So I don't think I could reapply a third time with the same MCAT score (I think they would be expecting me to retake it). And I actually wrote a new personal statement this cycle, and got a couple of new rec letters (including updated committee letter) -- so that's why I'm feeling a little antsy to start preparing my application now 🙁

But I won't start panicking just yet, thanks to your encouragement 😀

 

[Luxian]

Thanks, neurofreak! My MCAT is okay (29R), but this is already my second time applying! So I don't think I could reapply a third time with the same MCAT score (I think they would be expecting me to retake it). And I actually wrote a new personal statement this cycle, and got a couple of new rec letters (including updated committee letter) -- so that's why I'm feeling a little antsy to start preparing my application now 🙁

I'm there with you, brother. I'm on my second round and so far I've just got waitlists. (For me it's great MCAT, so-so GPA.) Still waiting to hear back from a couple interviews, but I may be one of those with nothing but waitlists in May. Still, there's a fair bit of movement. I just hope if I DO get in, that I'll have more than two weeks notice to move!

 

[Sartre]

I'm there with you, brother. I'm on my second round and so far I've just got waitlists. (For me it's great MCAT, so-so GPA.) Still waiting to hear back from a couple interviews, but I may be one of those with nothing but waitlists in May. Still, there's a fair bit of movement. I just hope if I DO get in, that I'll have more than two weeks notice to move!

I hope so, too! This process is so never-ending -- I feel like I've spent every day of the past two years applying to med school. Every day!! And it isn't over yet...

Glad to hear there are others in my position. Oh, and I'm a girl. With a male user name 😉

 

[IrishCol5]

The worst part is, I can't rely on getting an acceptance off a waitlist -- so I feel I need to go ahead and reapply for next cycle (even if I do get off a waitlist, I probably won't find out until late May at the earliest). For the other people in the same boat (isn't this boat fun!?!), are you preparing to reapply/retake the MCAT/etc?

I've got a ticket on that boat as of so far (5WL, 1 pending interview, and 6 silent schools) and I feel your pain Sartre. Although its nice to know you have a shot, you can't bank on that shot, so you're kinda in limbo. Personally, I'm going to start looking at some clinical research positions around my home town and in Boston and send out some resumes. It sucks to start doing this while your still in the waning moments of the application process, but the Waitlist God's smile on those who are prepared. I think about it this way, it would be just my luck to set up a whole elaborate plan for my gap year, job/apartment/volunteering and everything, only to get pulled off a WL at the last minute, so that's the route I'm taking. Worst comes to worst you take the position and have to later respectfully turn them down if you get in. They'll probably be a little mad at you, but I doubt you'll ruin their lives.

As for the MCAT and essays, I personally won't be taking the exam again next cycle (31Q) especially since this is my first time applying. Essays, however, I've heard varying opinions on. Some people think you should rewrite everything, including personal statement, in an effort to show "how you've grown" since you last applied. Although I do like the sound of that, I'm not sure how I could write a whole new PS about new experiences considering all my time this year was spent applying and interviewing.

Anyways, good luck to you and all the other WLers out there.

 

[Sartre]

I think about it this way, it would be just my luck to set up a whole elaborate plan for my gap year, job/apartment/volunteering and everything, only to get pulled off a WL at the last minute, so that's the route I'm taking.

Thanks, IrishCol5 -- I like your acceptance of the absurdity and randomness of this whole process (and the real Sartre would like it, too 😉)

I agree with you about starting alternate plans now -- it sucks, but at least it gives us something to keep busy with (rather than go insane with anxiety and anticipation). Thanks for the refreshing perspective.

Best of luck to you!!

 

[IrishCol5]

Well, like everyone said... it probably varies a lot. However, since you sound like you need the comforting of some math-action, let's bust out the old TI-83. If we take a wild guess at it being about 15% coming off the wait list, then you have a good chance at scoring at one. With 15% coming off the waitlist (that seems awfully low), then you have a 68% chance of getting into at least one school; the probability of getting neg'd is 0.85, so the probability of getting neg'd at 7 schools is only 0.32.

I say that 15% seems awfully low, because schools should generally know from their historic data the number of acceptances they need to hand out and how long a waitlist they need to stack in order to fill a class. They wouldn't stack a waitlist 6x longer than necessary unless they have a history of having people drop off the waitlist. Get around that by staying on the waitlist.

If the number is actually 20% coming off the waitlist, then your chance of scoring at least one acceptance goes up to just over 79%. If it's more like 10%... your chances of getting a thick envelope are still 52%.

Also, I'd shy away from this statictical analysis of "chances" of getting pulled off the waitlist. These numbers assume WL decisions are based on completely random chance at each individual school that will add together to create a better overall chance, when they are most certainly not. Since WL positions are ranked based on your application, you will be in better or worse standing at a school and therefore have an advantage or disadvantage of getting pulled off the WL. Since most schools are "close" in admissions requirements, if you're not in our theoretical 20% "accepted" off of one school's WL, you're less likely to be in that 20% for other schools as well. Not trying to be a downer here, just realistic.

 

[Sartre]

Since most schools are "close" in admissions requirements, if you're not in our theoretical 20% "accepted" off of one school's WL, you're less likely to be in that 20% for other schools as well. Not trying to be a downer here, just realistic.

This is what I've been worried about -- and why I feel the value placed on occupying several waitlist spots is somewhat misplaced.

I guess it's always possible that one of our waitlist schools happens to rank us higher than the others, based on some less tangible quality. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself to make the pain go away 😳

 

[Lshapley]

This is what I've been worried about -- and why I feel the value placed on occupying several waitlist spots is somewhat misplaced.

I guess it's always possible that one of our waitlist schools happens to rank us higher than the others, based on some less tangible quality. At least, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself to make the pain go away 😳

Well, you could also try to look at the bright side. You did not have the same interview at each of the schools, so it is very possible that you received different interview scores, hopefully scores that became increasingly better as you became more experienced. Some of the schools had secondary essays and that could either add or detract from your application. Also, each school has a slightly different system for ranking people on a waitlist so it is possible to be at totally different spots at different schools (different weights to gpa, mcat, interview, essays, ecs, etc.). If schools ranked us equally then the same 500 people would have interviews at all the schools while everyone else sits and waits it out. Keep you head up. I doubt you are sitting in the same position on every school's waitlist.

 

[dienekes88]

Also, I'd shy away from this statictical analysis of "chances" of getting pulled off the waitlist. These numbers assume WL decisions are based on completely random chance at each individual school that will add together to create a better overall chance, when they are most certainly not. Since WL positions are ranked based on your application, you will be in better or worse standing at a school and therefore have an advantage or disadvantage of getting pulled off the WL. Since most schools are "close" in admissions requirements, if you're not in our theoretical 20% "accepted" off of one school's WL, you're less likely to be in that 20% for other schools as well. Not trying to be a downer here, just realistic.

Hmmm... If we were talking about 2 or 3 schools, I would agree with you. However, the likelihood that 7 schools are looking for the same thing is exceedingly low, so one school's 20% is likely to be different from another's 20% in off the WL. There are so many different factors that unless there's one major confounding factor... it isn't out of the question to assume that it might be random. Here's my reasoning: if one school has one kind of student it wants: it rate OP as a 10% chance, another school wants a student like him so OP has a 30% chance... the way they rate him is going to be close to random as it's based on their typical applicant population and their current accepted population, and I'm assuming each school has a slightly different group. Averaged over the various schools, he'll begin to approach the statistical mean for a chance at acceptance at each school the more waitlists he's on unless there is a confounding factor: 20% (the wild guess).

I dunno if that makes sense. I took stat 7 years ago. Anyone stronger at stat want to apply some brain power to this question?

 

[SketchLazy]

I would also like to know this...

This is directly from Mrs. Jennifer Welch during my interview day. She said that it depends on which waitlist you are on. I think they have a high priority list and then another list that is just a backup in case all the high priorities decline. I remember her saying that chances are good if you are on the high priority list while if you are on the other list, your chances are really slim. I guess of course this all depends on your place on the high priority list but they're not going to tell you that.