Stanford wait list

[mellantro]

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Is the general consensus that it's pretty much impossible to be pulled off the hold list?

 

[jlee9531]

with a class of 87 or so...its a pretty rough task...prolly not impossible but tough...

 

[sinnah83]

I think Jlee is right. One of the people from the admissions office (I think it was actually the financial aid guy) said that they don't like to "touch" the waitlist unless they have to. The reason, according to him: the same bunch of people usually get accepted at all the top med schools. Person 1's top choice may be Harvard but they are in at Stanford. Another person 2 may be in a Harvard but may really want Stanford. So say Stanford pulls person 2 off the waitlist, then person 2 will withdraw from Harvard to go to Stanford - leaving an empty slot at Harvard. Then, Harvard pulls a person off their waitlist and that happens to be person 1. So person 1 withdraws from Stanford. Basically, according to that guy, going to the waitlist creates problems for all the schools so they try to avoid.

I really debated about putting this post. I don't want to discourage you or make you feel badly. But if I figured its better to have as much information about where one stands than to not know. Also, every year there are people who get off the Stanford waitlist so its not completely hopeless. Another thing is that this source is from the financial aid office - so he may not know everything about the admissions info.

 

[LoneCoyote]

It's pretty much a huge long shot. i loved Stanford but I am wondering whether I should stay on the waitlist. I'm really happy to be into one of my top choices and part of me really just wants to start getting my life set for next fall and not be left hanging all summer. At my interview the admissions counselor said that last year no one got off the waitlist (they had overfilled the class) and the year before that a bunch of people did, 10-15 I believe. So it depends. But he said not to count on it. Anyway, good luck. I'll be here waiting with you, at least for awhile longer

 

[CalBeE]

Originally posted by LoneCoyote
It's pretty much a huge long shot. i loved Stanford but I am wondering whether I should stay on the waitlist. I'm really happy to be into one of my top choices and part of me really just wants to start getting my life set for next fall and not be left hanging all summer. At my interview the admissions counselor said that last year no one got off the waitlist (they had overfilled the class) and the year before that a bunch of people did, 10-15 I believe. So it depends. But he said not to count on it. Anyway, good luck. I'll be here waiting with you, at least for awhile longer

I feel the same too. It's just that I don't know how much I have to go to get off the waitlist list. How many phone calls and letters will it take to bump me up the waitlist? Or none of it will matter anyway?

Most schools say their waitlist are unranked, well at least Stanford is honest. I think they do assign you a score to your application, but they can't tell you what it is. It's just that if I know my chance is so slim on the waitlist, then I wouldn't even bother.

 

[mellantro]

Thanks for the honesty everyone. I am getting Waitlisted left and right here.

I'm sure Stanford accepted the same people who got into Hopkins, Harvard, and UCSF (the three big ones). Now I only hope those people go there!!

But I know it is a long shot.

 

[Lux Aeterna]

At the risk of sounding delusional (don't worry, I'm sane ), is anyone actively pursuing the wait-list through update letters or emails? Or is it pointless?

 

[missbonnie]

althought it's rare, there is hope! One of my college classmates got into stanford from the waitlist.

 

[LoneCoyote]

I don't know. I was thinking about maybe sending something, but I do not have that much new stuff to report. I was thinking I would just call after May 15 to find out if I am in the top or bottom tier of the waitlist and then maybe send something if I am in the top tier. My friend who goes there told me there might be a slim chance to get in if you are in the top tier. He says they are being more conservative about how many they admit this year since they over-filled the class last year. Is anyone lese sending stuff?

 

[LoneCoyote]

Also, were we supposed to do the finanical aid stuff if we are waitlisted? All I have done is sent them FAFSA. I went on that online system and it was so much work I never finished it....

 

[Lux Aeterna]

Thanks, missbonnie and LC. That sounds like a good idea, LC: in fact, I didn't realize they would tell us our waitlist tiers. Have you e-mailed or talked to Juhn about the waitlist?

Also, I was thinking, don't they go straight to the alternate list first (those people who could be accepted if they did not interview so late, and who are guaranteed spots in next years class) and once that's filled, they get to us?

I think they give out ~170 or so straight acceptances. I would have figured that they had accepted that many by now. I can't believe they are still interviewing folks at the end of April! Weird.

 

[LoneCoyote]

My friend claimed they would tell you top/bottom tier. I have also heard that they won't tell you at all. From what I have heard they only do they "deferred acceptance" thing for the following year when they have filled the class already. From what my friend said it would seem that they are trying not to have to do that this year. I have not contacted Juhn yet because I have been somewhat ambivalent about the whole thing. But now that May 15 is drawing near, I am starting to get curious as to whether I have a chance or not.

 

[Eraserhead]

Let me know what you guys find out. I sent an update and letter of interest awhile back. I don't know why, they basically said on interview day that there was no point.

 

[chicamedica]

Oohhhh, I remember that waitlist well!!!! I was waitlisted at Stanford Med 3 years ago. Basically I was one of those ppl who didn't even get looked at by the big schools like Harvard, JHU, Penn, etc, b/c of my weak MCAT score. I got interviewed by 3 schools (one of whom was Stanford), got into the 2 others (one was top 20 at the time, now it's top 15--which is where I ended up going), the other was like a top-30 school. Stanford would have been my ultimate number 1 choice had I gotten in. I send about 3 letters with updates and telling them of my interest. I called a couple of times (maybe I should have called more). Basically even though Stanford started later than the school I matriculated at, I still had hope that I'd get the phone call that I was off the wait list, and I actually called them one last time when I'd already started my med school. Maybe it's against the rules, but I didn't know that. But anyway, the administrator I talked to at Stanford must have known I'd already started at this other place, and she sounded pretty annoyed and mean to me. She actually told me somebody got off the waitlist, but that it wasn't me, and she was like "go ahead and go to the other places you got into."

Anyway, I have not a single regret. This may be a rationalization, but in fact I think it was a miracle that I didn't get into Stanford, b/c I may have ended up on one of those planes that were hijacked on Sept 11th, God forbid. I love my med school and wouldn't trade it for any other!!

 

[gramcracker]

Hey guys--I'd stay on the waiting list. Stanford's kinda behind in admissions this year (still, I know), so I don't think it hurts to stay on. Don't want to get your hopes up, but I don't think it could hurt.