Re: Waitlist Stats

[MonkeyNuts!]

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So how many matriculating students per school on average got in off the waitlist? Someone told me half, but I can't imagine that half the school is put on waitlist and then notified after April...

 

[Kikaku21]

So how many matriculating students per school on average got in off the waitlist? Someone told me half, but I can't imagine that half the school is put on waitlist and then notified after April...

I'd be shocked to hear that the number is really that high. Of course it would depend on the school.

 

[jillibean]

I am sure it really varies by school. I doubt the Texas schools (with the match) take very many people from the waitlist, but I know other schools (like OHSU) have ranked waitlists and last year they took 100 off the list for a class of 120. It sounds like a lot, but they may have had to accept 5-6 people from the list for each person that withdrew.

 

[BuckeyeSurgn]

Does anyone know on average what percentage of interviewers get waitlisted?

 

[aertzin]

So how many matriculating students per school on average got in off the waitlist? Someone told me half, but I can't imagine that half the school is put on waitlist and then notified after April...

I think it varies from year to year. Last year was not a good year for waitlist movement. I was on the waitlist at two schools last year. Both ended up taking very few from the waitlist and most of the waitlist movement that did occur was at the last minute - literally the week or two before classes started. The same story unfolded at many, many schools - even ones that historically have taken a good number of people from the waitlist. Some (Penn State comes to mind) didn't take anyone off the waitlist last year. Still keeping my fingers crossed that'll I'll get in somewhere. To be waitlisted - and still hoping to get a phone call on June 28 is beyond cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[PhotoMD]

As with anything else, it's highly, highly school-dependent, so trying to figure this out and gauge your chances is like reading tea leaves. One thing I wish I had done is not used SDN as much and spent more time at coffee shops.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

not using it to gauge chances... just wanted to know if what my bud said was correct...

 

[Whichdoctor]

As with anything else, it's highly, highly school-dependent, so trying to figure this out and gauge your chances is like reading tea leaves. One thing I wish I had done is not used SDN as much and spent more time at coffee shops.

Well, obviously it's school dependent. But last year, while I'm sure there were exceptions, most schools took far fewer people from the waitlist than they historically did. To the OP, yeah ... I heard the same thing from a friend of mine. Told me that one of the schools I was applying to took about one-third of their class from the waitlist. That turned out to be a load of sh#t. Last year they took less than 10.

 

[yahoo123]

How would one go about checking the waitlist stats of a school?

 

[LizzyM]

Here's what happens:

The school will invite about 6-9 applicants for each seat.

Given last minute cancellations, travel delays, etc, maybe 5-10% of invitees will be no-shows.

The school will make offers to somewhere between 1.1 and 3 applicants for each seat to be filled.

The remaining applicants will be waitlisted or declined. Some schools will decline only those applicants who were really odd or inappropriate at the interview and put almost everyone on the waitlist (big waitlist in relationship to number interviewed). Other schools will keep a smaller waitlist and put the rest of the pool out of its misery.

If a school makes few initial offers, they may take many applicants from the waitlist in order to fill the class. If a school has a "bad year" and most everyone who gets an offer turns it down, then they will take a large number from the waitlist. Some schools will make enough initial offers to fill (or over fill) the class and do not need to go to the waitlist.