rejected from "safer" school

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ccCrazie

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Yesterday I got a rejection letter from Georgetown (post-interview), which surprised me because the school was pretty much my safety (i know Georgetown is not really a safety, but I shot really, really high). I figured I had a really good shot there considering I've already interviewed at harvard, upenn, duke, dartmouth, and uva. My friend told me that Georgetown is really into accepting students who have them as their #1 choice, which definitely wasn't the case for me. Anyway, his logic goes that Georgetown will reject people who they don't believe will matriculate. Does anyone have any thoughts on this logic? When I think about my interview, I definitely did not give the impression that they were even in my top 5 choices, and I didn't have very good reasons for wanting to go there during my interview or in my secondary. Plus, my interviewer asked me where else I applied and based on my list he could tell that Georgetown was a "safer" school. Then I never sent any thank you cards or the love letter that mrs. sullivan was talking about (which I didn't really understand anyway). So what do you guys think? Any chance I was rejected because they didn't think I would come, or am I just trying to come up with an excuse to protect my fragile ego?

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Originally posted by ccCrazie
Yesterday I got a rejection letter from Georgetown (post-interview), which surprised me because the school was pretty much my safety (i know Georgetown is not really a safety, but I shot really, really high). I figured I had a really good shot there considering I've already interviewed at harvard, upenn, duke, dartmouth, and uva. My friend told me that Georgetown is really into accepting students who have them as their #1 choice, which definitely wasn't the case for me. Anyway, his logic goes that Georgetown will reject people who they don't believe will matriculate. Does anyone have any thoughts on this logic? When I think about my interview, I definitely did not give the impression that they were even in my top 5 choices, and I didn't have very good reasons for wanting to go there during my interview or in my secondary. Plus, my interviewer asked me where else I applied and based on my list he could tell that Georgetown was a "safer" school. Then I never sent any thank you cards or the love letter that mrs. sullivan was talking about (which I didn't really understand anyway). So what do you guys think? Any chance I was rejected because they didn't think I would come, or am I just trying to come up with an excuse to protect my fragile ego?

you must have some friggin amazing stats if you can consider georgetown a safety school
 
It is hard for me to feel much sympathy when your safety school is a top 50 school, that is especially competitive because of its prime location in DC.

Naturally, schools want to admit students that they believe want to go to their school. Why should they bother accepting or waitlisting anyone who doesn't really want to attend? That would be a waste of time. Every one of the 20 schools that I applied to is one of my top choices!
 
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Originally posted by JBJ
Every one of the 20 schools that I applied to is one of my top choices!

Amen to that one! I will run full speed across the country for any of the 13 schools I applied to if they decide they will take me!!:p
 
I tried to phrase that post carefully, but I guess it was still misinterpreted. I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm just wondering what you guys think about that logic. I know georgetown is not a flat-out safety for anyone, and my stats are not amazing (they are strong though), but I applied to a bunch of schools that are in the same league as it, which collectively make a safety just because I figure one of them has got to bite. Therefore it's not unimaginable that I get rejected from them, but I thought I had a real strong chance and would at least get waitlisted. If I didn't already have an acceptance, I would really be worried by this.

By they way, I didn't even see georgetown in the top 50 in this year's ranking.
 
Maybe you should ask Georgetown for the answer instead of us.
 
where have you been all my life indiangirl?:love:
 
Part of your admission is based on the interview. You say that at your interview "I definitely did not give the impression that they were even in my top 5". If you lacked enthusiasm for the school this will not only have affected how they perceived your application to them, but also how they perceived you as a whole ie it's unlikely they thought "wow, he's a great and enthusiastic person" because thats evidently not how you acted. Thus you got rejected. I would suspect this had more to do with the rejection than the list of other schools you had applied to. Many people apply to 'reach' schools like UPenn etc, but not everyone gets screened out on that basis. Good luck with your other schools and congrats on having one acceptance already. With that I don't really understand why you are worried about being rejected from a school you describe as a 'safety'...
 
what is your biodata?
 
Common sense dictates that if one exhibits a lack of interest for a school that they will look to another student to fill that spot (obviously stats/background need to be competitive).

Whether that is the real reason you were rejected or if it is due to stats/supporting credentials, or a combo, one cannot say definitively. What is for sure is that you did not help yourself by displaying apathy.
 
Your stats are obviously stellar based on where you were invited to interview and the fact that you have already been accepeted somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised, however-and please know that I do not mean to offend you- I woudl not be surprised if Georgetown saw some arrogance in your application process. If it is true that they want only people who want them, it is obvious you did not want them. You are looking for a big name. They can see that and so can the people on this board. Hey, if you have the numbers, you deserve a big name. You earned it. But perhaps Georgetown wants people who just want an MD. They were probably giving your spot to someone they knew would appreciate it.
 
Definitely sounds like you got rejected because you didn't show interest. Med schools seem to take pride in having a high matriculation rate among people they accept. In other words, just as you don't want to get rejected, neither do they! I've always been careful when they ask where else I've interviewed and just try to sound humble about it. I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just keep it in mind for upcoming interviews that you might not want to mention ALL the schools you interviewed at, esp if they're all "big" names.b
 
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ccCrazie... don't listen to these guys, they're just being overly sensative.

Yeah, I think your theory might be true. Think about it... if all medical schools accepted the same top 200 applicants, then there'd be a lot of good schools (like Georgetown) rushing to pull most their students from waitlists. I do think that schools will reject/waitlist an applicant if they get the impression that the student wouldn't want to go there given another option... or even if they think the student is a little too good for them and might turn them down for a better school. Did you tell them you interviewed at all these top schools? Like the other guy said, you might have "scared them off" if you mentioned all these other big name schools you've interviewed at.

B/c honestly, if I were a Georgetown adcom, I'd reject anyone with your interviews... I'd just think "this is a waste of an acceptance... this kid's not going to come here."

We tend to think of med schools as holding all the cards... but really, they don't like being rejected either. They have their pride. They would rather accept an applicant with solid stats who really really really wants to come.... vs. an exceptionally outstanding applicant who's probably going to turn them down for Harvard or Duke.
 
Originally posted by relatively prime
B/c honestly, if I were a Georgetown adcom, I'd reject anyone with your interviews... I'd just think "this is a waste of an acceptance... this kid's not going to come here."

And you would be right. Lets be honest. if you had lots of interviews at top schools, you'l get an acceptance at one of them for sure, and then why would you pay the highest tuition in the nation to go to Georgetown unless you have a special reason. Such as family in the area or program at the school. And if that is the case, then tell them that!

Anyway to the OP, congrats. Don't obsess about GT, because obviously you did not want to go there, and you will be a medical student at a very top school.:clap:
 
I don't like that whole "reject cause you might not come." If you're not gonna go there, then your spot will end up opening up soon enough, and the people who remain waiting for it are the ones that want to be there the most anyways. I was at Univ of Missouri yesterday, and although the interviewer was really nice, he kept saying, "why would you come here...you know, you're gonna get something better than this." I'm not writing this to say that I am, cause it's the only interview i've even had so far, and it's actually not at the bottom of my list of places i'd seriously go to. I was kind of annoyed, I don't really feel like it's their place to say you would not go if you got accepted. There are a lot of factors that go into that decision other than just what school is ranked better or matches your exact stats. It's just another irritating thing to deal with.
 
I too applied to Georgetown as a back-up school. Not that it matters anymore (i have yet to get my decision, but I wont' be going). However, from what I've read on SDN they seem all about people who promise to come there.

I was talking to my friend about considerations adcoms make. LIke the question of if a person is TOO good to admit, since they will almost definitely not come there. Although I'm sure you're an amazing canidate with interviews at penn, harvard, and duke, there is a good chance that you get waitlisted or rejected at them which would seriously screw over canidates who apparently aren't good enough for the top five schools, yet too good for the run of the mill schools (in my mind anything not in the top 30 or top 25% of med schools). For example, I was telling my friend I would definitely interview the best applicants late in the cycle hoping they would withdraw their applications if they are "too good" if I was an adcom member. I know when I was at Pitt, I told my student host where I had been accepted and his roommate said, "So basically you aren't coming here," to which I responded, "I wouldn't have spent $200+ on airfare and stuff to interview here if I wasn't interested." And that is the truth. How many of you are interviewing at schools you don't want to go to after recieving acceptances from better schools?

Just my thoughts...........
 
Well I will relate my PERSONAl experience with regards to this...

At one of my interviews (I will leave nameless for obvious reasons), I had an absolutely derlightful frankfully truthful conversation with the Dean of Admissions. We talked about everything, and we talked about the admissions process at length. At the end he/she said I could have an acceptance on the spot, if I thought I would come to the school. I told her the schools I would go to ahead of this one (about 5), then she said that she withhold an acceptance in that case. He/she explained that evaluations of deans are made based of matriculation rates, and are therefore motivated to pick the students that really want to come to the school. "Look, we see thousands and thousands of applications year after year for two decades. At this point, us deans can look at applications and in thirty seconds know what kind of schools a student will end up at, even if the students themselves don't know at that point in the process. We are blatantly concious of where we fall in the line up. Our goal is to admit the best students we can, that will attend"
 
Thanks for the feedback guys, I think you made some really good points. For the sake of (an optimistic) argument, let's say I got rejected because they thought I'd get in somewhere better and go there instead. What happens if all my mid range schools said that and none of the top ones let me in. Without my acceptance to uva, I'd be going nuts right now adding more schools because you never know what's going to happen. These admissions really are a crapshoot, and right now I'm just happy I'm not going to come up snake eyes. Admissions committees should however realize that students don't show up for interviews unless they are genuinely interested in the school. I showed up because I was interested but then by the time I got to the interview portion of the day I knew it wasn't the place for me. I don't know if it was the relative lack of new technology, or the jesuit backdrop to everything, or just the fact that it was raining and miserable outside, but it just wasn't a good fit. Seems to me that it at least wouldn't hurt to put these candidates on a waitlist and then measure their interest at a later point when they've heard from other schools. There are a few elite schools I applied to that I love, and a few that I've applied to only because their elite but I'm not all that interested in anyway, so it's entirely possible that I would choose a lower ranked school instead. Just my thoughts.
 
I was rejected from a few safety schools. At one my interviewer even told me that she didn't think that I'd ever attend her school, so there was no point in her offering me an acceptance.

I mean Sheeesh if I didn't take their school seriously then I wouldn't have written the essays, paid money, and then spent even more money and time going out for an interview.
 
I'm curious to know what some of your thoughts are on this topic as it relates to state schools. Not to say that I'm overqualified for my state school, but do you think the same considerations apply as they would to a private school like Georgetown? If any of you have thoughts or personal experiences (I'm not interviewing at my state school til next month), I'd love to hear em.
 
I experienced a similar thing, I was waitlisted post-interview at Georgetown and GWU. I have interviewed at the top schools in the country, and was accepted to Umich and Emory. I found this to be a little strange, but I think they are reluctant to take applicants who they are pretty sure wouldn't go to their school. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
 
In response to nupedogg, I'd imagine it would be different for state schools only if it is your state school, because then students might come because of in-state tuition/scholarships as well as the convenience of being close to family. In extreme cases they might discriminate against the overly qualified but normally I doubt that's the case because I know a few people who chose state schools over top 10 schools because of tuition.
 
if ur going to spend the money flying to an interview, why not just show some interest and relay that to ur interviewer? i don't understand the big deal. if ur interviewer thinks ur app is "too good for them," just tell them that rank is not that important to u and ur really interested in what the school has to offer. the advice i've been getting from med students is to always tell the school ur interviewing at that it's one of ur top choices since every school u apply to should be one that u'd be willing to attend. if it's not a fit for u, u can either suck it up and pretend that it is (and either get a waitlist or acceptance), or just let it go and don't worry about the rejection. it's ur choice, really.
 
I think it may apply to state schools as well because they are in competition with the other state schools. I applied EDP to Cincy because it was my 1st and only choice because I wanted to stay local and they quizzed me extensively during the interview as to why I didn't apply to a top 10, and then if I got in at CWRU or OSU would I go there (I didn't even apply at these schools). It seems to me that by applying EDP you pretty much have committed yourself to that school but they still seemed concerned about it. I guess they were worried that I might change my mind and apply to other schools later, but I didn't think that was allowed. I had another friend that applied to Wright (reg decision) and they had a similar experience and ended up getting waitlisted at Wright even though they had great stats and when he talked to Wright they said it was because he would get in elsewhere and go there.
 
Originally posted by zer0el
if ur going to spend the money flying to an interview, why not just show some interest and relay that to ur interviewer? i don't understand the big deal. if ur interviewer thinks ur app is "too good for them," just tell them that rank is not that important to u and ur really interested in what the school has to offer. the advice i've been getting from med students is to always tell the school ur interviewing at that it's one of ur top choices since every school u apply to should be one that u'd be willing to attend. if it's not a fit for u, u can either suck it up and pretend that it is (and either get a waitlist or acceptance), or just let it go and don't worry about the rejection. it's ur choice, really.

amen
 
i completely agree with the theory. i interviewed at ucsf, penn, columbia, accepted to U of Mich and my interviewer (the Dean of ad.) at UCSD asked me point blank where I had interviewed/been accepted. boom, Im on the A-list (that's code for waitlist). it's annoying because how do they know that I don't want to go there? I only applied to 8 schools, ALL of which I would love to go. oh, well.

i think we have to just realize that they have experience in this game and can recognize the candidates they think will fit in and matriculate.
 
Originally posted by cabruen
Well I will relate my PERSONAl experience with regards to this...

At one of my interviews (I will leave nameless for obvious reasons), I had an absolutely derlightful frankfully truthful conversation with the Dean of Admissions. We talked about everything, and we talked about the admissions process at length. At the end he/she said I could have an acceptance on the spot, if I thought I would come to the school. I told her the schools I would go to ahead of this one (about 5), then she said that she withhold an acceptance in that case. He/she explained that evaluations of deans are made based of matriculation rates, and are therefore motivated to pick the students that really want to come to the school. "Look, we see thousands and thousands of applications year after year for two decades. At this point, us deans can look at applications and in thirty seconds know what kind of schools a student will end up at, even if the students themselves don't know at that point in the process. We are blatantly concious of where we fall in the line up. Our goal is to admit the best students we can, that will attend"

cabruen,

how come it seems as if people know immediately if you'll get in or not? first vandy interview where the guy says u'll be waitlisted then this. pretty strange.
 
Originally posted by Yogi Bear
cabruen,

how come it seems as if people know immediately if you'll get in or not? first vandy interview where the guy says u'll be waitlisted then this. pretty strange.


That Yogi is a great question!!! Two theories.

1. That Interviewers always tend to know that kind of information, and I just ask so many questions and keep them talking long enough that I get it out of them.

2. There is something in my application that stands out so much, that they can tell by reading it how the admissions commmittee will vote.

My personal guess is #1 is more true, but I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide.
 
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