on hold

[zeebs32]

---

Members do not see this ad.

i received an e-mail from Case Western telling me that my status is "on hold" for an interview and could remain that way until March. i guess it's better than a rejection. has anyone had experience with this type of situation before? any ideas of what i should do to improve my chances of actually getting an interview (besides having a better MCAT score...)? 😕

 

[Reckoning]

You and me both!
Sending updates is a good idea, but not sure how much movement there is on this hold. At least we are still in the mix! 😀

 

[Neuronix]

I dunno how it is at CWRU, but at most programs a pre-interview hold is the kiss of death and rarely/never does anyone come off. Still, here's to hoping I'm wrong. If you wanted to try to nudge things a bit you can send app updates if you have anything to update.

 

[Reckoning]

No offense Neuronix, but I asssume there is SOME purpose to a pre-interview hold, ie to review the application after some fraction of the applicant pool has been interviewed. A hold means the school is not ready to throw your app away, just yet. (Which I understand is basically what you are saying, but kiss of death?)

Personally I prefer a hold to months of agonizing, mind-numbing silence. Here's to months of non-committal courtship.

BTW, love the UPENN program in orthopedic engineering! What's it look like from the inside? 👍

 

[zeebs32]

i was afraid it was the "kiss of death" 🙁 but i'll still keep hoping and maybe try to do a little butt-kissing at the neuroscience meeting in a few weeks 😉 definitely can't hurt, i figure!

 

[Neuronix]

No offense Neuronix, but I asssume there is SOME purpose to a pre-interview hold

The purpose is typically just in case the school can't get enough people to interview, the second application cycle apps (i.e. August MCAT or latecomers) all suck, or after acceptances get sent nobody wants to come. All three of these are very unlikely, but it has happened in the past which is why schools have these categories. In three years on this site I'm not aware of any MD/PhD applicant who has come off of a pre-interview waitlist, but I encourage you to do a search and prove me wrong. It has happened very rarely for MD programs.

Personally I prefer a hold to months of agonizing, mind-numbing silence. Here's to months of non-committal courtship.

Agreed there. I wish schools were better about keeping applicants up to date about their application statuses.

BTW, love the UPENN program in orthopedic engineering! What's it look like from the inside? 👍

I'm afraid I don't know anything about orthopedic engineering here and I don't know anyone doing anything in that program. Penn MSTP is still very much a molecular program and we tend to only take 1 student for engineering per year despite the very high caliber engineering students that apply. Most of these do radiology or engineering projects involving molecular research. The program will be somewhat strict about you doing a project that is "basic science" enough for them with a professor that is well enough established or promising enough. As I've found, this may be trickier than you expect...

As for myself now interested in neuroradiology research, I'm finding that the best way to go for that here is in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (BMB).

 

[Evil Monkey]

UCSD's MSTP put me on "hold" a couple of years ago but invited me to interview soon thereafter.... it happens. I didn't interview though because I had already decided to go elsewhere. Claims that being put on hold is the 'kiss of death' are overly dramatic and competely false. Given that the applicant pool for MSTPs is sooooo much smaller than that for MDs, the statistical rules of thumb applied to the latter group don't translate to MudPhuds to anywhere near the same degree. Only the program's admissions committee knows the true reason that you are on hold and the rationale could extend well beyond Neuronix laudry list of conditions.