Slightly dumb question about acceptances.

[Green1080]

Hi, in advance, sorry if this may seem like a dumb question as I honestly was more concerned with getting in my DO apps and praying for interviews rather than what happens afterwards. I wanted to ask: If a DO school extends an acceptance to you/offer of admission, how long do you have to say yes or no? Do you typically have enough time to wait on other interviews from other DO schools? I know AACOMAS has those Traffic Guidelines but wanted to make sure. Is submitting a deposit effectively agreeing to attend the said school? Again, sorry if this is a dumb question, tried searching it but I couldn't really find anything specific.

Thanks in advance!

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[lumya]

Each DO school will be different.

For example, if you get into School A and they tell you have 3 weeks to get a deposit in and you're waiting to hear back from School B, if you don't hear back in time, you have to put a deposit in at School A (assuming you want to attend a medical school). Not paying a deposit would make you lose your spot.

Now, let's say you got into School B later down the road, you can give a deposit to School B, but you likely will not get your deposit for School A back. Giving a deposit is just saying "hold my spot." It's not binding you to attend the school, but a lot of DO deposits are large, so you'll lose a chunk of change if you decide to go elsewhere.

 

[Green1080]

Each DO school will be different.

For example, if you get into School A and they tell you have 3 weeks to get a deposit in and you're waiting to hear back from School B, if you don't hear back in time, you have to put a deposit in at School A (assuming you want to attend a medical school). Not paying a deposit would make you lose your spot.

Now, let's say you got into School B later down the road, you can give a deposit to School B, but you likely will not get your deposit for School A back. Giving a deposit is just saying "hold my spot." It's not binding you to attend the school, but a lot of DO deposits are large, so you'll lose a chunk of change if you decide to go elsewhere.

Ah, thank goodness!

I had presumed so but that's really reassuring, thank you. Losing the money would be a bummer but at least this gap year job can lighten the burden if it comes to it!

 

[Blueprint Med School]

It's a good idea also to kind of have your schools ranked to a certain degree so that you can decide how to proceed if you get an acceptance into a certain school. For example, I applied both MD and DO and knew that Rowan was my top DO school. I got an acceptance there and immediately withdrew from all my other DO applications because if I was going to go that route there was no place better. While I did not end up attending they were a great place and it was the right decision to give up that deposit (the amount I have no remembrance of at this point) but I didn't compound it by continuing to apply to schools with high deposit requirements. For example, Touro NYC has a very high deposit so I didn't complete my secondary for them once I got into Rowan. Since DO schools can extend their acceptances earlier, if you are lucky enough to get into one early you can weigh how much you like the school versus others and perhaps simplify your choices and pathways.

David D MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
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