question-for-peeps

[Coolio30]

Hi, all. I was just wondering about the admissions process. If someone is to be put on a waitlist, after an early interview such as in October, wherease someone is put on a waitlist in January, does the person who was waitlisted earlier have a better chance of acceptance. In other words, is there any correlation between when you were put on a waitlist and the chances of admission. Thanks for your input.

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[::Seabass::]

my pre-med advisor says yes and that there is even such a thing as an "early" waitlist (which is better) but there was no further elaboration. to sum it up, the sooner you are put on the waitlist, the higher chance you have of coming off of it.

 

[Amy B]

Perhaps it is different per school. However that is not how MCV does
it.

You get a rating by having all 20 committee members vote and then
average to get your first rating. This is where you are put on their
waiting list. The next number then rates you according to what rating
your interviewer gave you.

The next rating you get is based on your GPA then your MCAT.

So you are put on the waitlist based on each rating you got. People who
are put on the waitlist after you are put according to their ratings and
NOT according to whom was interviewed first. The only time their
waitlist changes is on May 15th. That is when they split their list
into 2 lists - instate and out of state.

So you see, people on their waitlist are not put on according to when
they interviewed.

Hope this makes sense.

Amy Beth

 

[Woots32]

From what I remember at U Mich, we were told that if you are put on the waitlist, the adcomm will review your app at least once a month. Since they interview their "top" applicants earlier, I'm assuming that the earlier you get on it, the better chance you have of getting accepted eventually. (At least I hope so, because I think in a week I'll have my very own place there... maybe... please?)

 

[paean]

It depends on the school. Some do the aforementioned process of reviewing you against the current months applicants and all the others on the list monthly. Others, like the UCs, are just super slow. I can't say whether being on the waitlist early helped me at UCSF, because I interviewed in November, and got in in late July. I don't know of anyone in my class who wasn't offered an initial acceptance who was admitted before May 15th (but there may be someone, I just don't know of them).

Make sure that if you are on a list of a school that you really like, that you let them know that. Write a letter to the admissions committee telling them how much you want to be a student there, and if you have any strong recommendations you haven't sent in yet, do so. Don't pester the school, but if you have any significant undertakings to discuss, or new reasons you want to go there, sending an update letter every month is advisable at some schools, okay at some, and too frequent at a few (ask current students what level of corrospondance is too much).

Good luck, and as stressful as it is to wait and not know, try to remind yourself that the year is still young.