Starting at a DO school and getting off an MD wait list

[Anicetus]

Hi everyone!

I am not as active on these forums anymore after getting an acceptance (luckily), but I had a question for a good friend of mine who (comically) doesn't like using SDN. I tried looking in the archives for a similar situation, which I am sure is quite common, but I was wondering exactly what the rules would be for something like this. I also wasn't sure whether to post this in MD or DO forums.

So my friend applied to MD and DO schools this cycle and has gotten accepted to her #1 DO choice and is currently on the waitlist for an MD. She knows that if she gets off the MD wait list, she will drop the DO seat and attend the MD. However, the DO school orientation starts in early August while the MD orientation starts in mid August. She was also informed that it is possible to be called off the waitlist LITERALLY the day before orientation at the MD.

My question is this, I know for MD schools, once you attend orientation, you are locked into that school. Correct me if I am wrong, but does that not apply to DOs? So could she be able to pull out of the DO school in that first week of school if she is called off the waitlist for the MD and just attend the MD even after going through orientation/first week of classes at the DO?

If anyone has any information regarding these rules between AACOMAS and AMCAS or have been in a similar situation, please let me know!

Thank You!

-A

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[NontradCA]

"My friend"

 

[gyngyn]

The traffic rules to which you refer apply only to MD programs. We cannot take someone off a waitlist if they have started orientation at another MD school. There is no cross communication with the DO schools.

 

[Anicetus]

"My friend"

I got excited when I saw a reply. Alas. Yeah my friend wanted me to ask on SDN because she didn't want to make a profile for her own personal reasons.

The traffic rules to which you refer apply only to MD programs. We cannot take someone off a waitlist if they have started orientation at another MD school. There is no cross communication with the DO schools.

Thanks for the response! So have you seen cases where a student has already started at a DO school and left the school to attend an MD one? I'm surprised this question hasn't come up more on these forums.

Should I try asking the pre-DO forums?

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks for the response! So have you seen cases where a student has already started at a DO school and left the school to attend an MD one? I'm surprised this question hasn't come up more on these forums.
Should I try asking the pre-DO forums?

I'm sure it has happened. I've met people who had been on my waitlist who now are DO's..

 

[Catalystik]

Some years back, there was a report on SDN of a person who had started at a DO school down South and got into Toledo off the waitlist. He returned to Ohio to take the spot.

Your friend should know that once one matriculates, in general, one owes the tuition and fees for the first term even if one doesn't take advantage of the education. How it would work with loans to have to cover two schools' tuition and fees, I don't know.

 

[kami333]

I looked into the issue last year and the only problem I could see was financial; depending on when you drop the DO school you may not get a full refund and it may take several weeks to sort out the loans as they need to be refunded then reissued.

 

[EMDO2018]

Some years back, there was a report on SDN of a person who had started at a DO school down South and got into Toledo off the waitlist. He returned to Ohio to take the spot.

Your friend should know that once one matriculates, in general, one owes the tuition and fees for the first term even if one doesn't take advantage of the education. How it would work with loans to have to cover two schools' tuition and fees, I don't know.

But some school give refunds of tuition and fees if you pull out the first week right?

 

[gyngyn]

But some school give refunds of tuition and fees if you pull out the first week right?

Mine does.

 

[Catalystik]

But some school give refunds of tuition and fees if you pull out the first week right?

Results might vary if, eg, one has a child just diagnosed with a serious disease vs "I decided to go to another school."

 

[Goro]

It's happened at my school. We don't take personally.

So have you seen cases where a student has already started at a DO school and left the school to attend an MD one? I'm surprised this question hasn't come up more on these forums.