To All Applicants with multiple acceptance, Withdraw!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

GujuMD

1K member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
1,178
Reaction score
1
The title says it all. People who have multiple acceptances....start withdrawing from schools you know you won't attend. this will speed up the process for people like me (right now I am on two waitlists- wayne state and WVU...and no acceptance).
 
While I don't have either of those schools and can't help you - I'm planning to withdraw as soon as I hear about financial aid stuff...

It sure would be nice if they did those sooner than march.
 
I like this thread, as I am currently waitlisted as well.

I do suppose that's why they don't tell you WHERE you are on the waitlist, so that you don't start searching for people with acceptances in order to go "neutralize" them. 🙂
 
yeah i wont withdraw from any school until i see the financial package they offer
 
yeah, in most cases i gotta wait to hear about financial aid. sorry. once i get the scoop on that i'll have all the info i need to make a decision in a matter of days.
 
I've withdrawn 3 acceptances and canceled 5 interviews and withdrawn 3 applications pre-interview invite (all in early/mid January). Happy? I've kept just 1 acceptance (top choice thus far). I'm so preoccupied on being quick about withdrawing that I gave myself a migraine about it a week ago when I was making some hard decisions.
 
I do suppose that's why they don't tell you WHERE you are on the waitlist, so that you don't start searching for people with acceptances in order to go "neutralize" them. 🙂

it would be interesting if they gave us where we are on the waitlist and the name's and contact info of the people who have been accepted and people who are ahead on the waitlist. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
I like this thread, as I am currently waitlisted as well.

I do suppose that's why they don't tell you WHERE you are on the waitlist, so that you don't start searching for people with acceptances in order to go "neutralize" them. 🙂

In fact, that's the plot of the movie: Getting In.
 
yeah i wont withdraw from any school until i see the financial package they offer

ditto! i feel like--after putting thousands of dollars into this, i owe it to myself (and my parents... 🙂 )to weigh my options and visit them before withdrawing!
 
it would be interesting if they gave us where we are on the waitlist and the name's and contact info of the people who have been accepted and people who are ahead on the waitlist. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

😱 I think people would pull a Tonya Harding and club them in the knee.
 
I will withdraw from Pitt if 5 people withdraw from Hopkins.

Am I kidding? Im not sure myself.
 
yeah i wont withdraw from any school until i see the financial package they offer

Unfortunate for anyone who is on the waitlist, but I agree. A fat scholarship to your second choice school may change your mind...
 
yeah i wont withdraw from any school until i see the financial package they offer

Have you sent deposits into all those schools? I know DO schools expect deposits within two weeks of acceptance to save your spot, how about allo schools? Can you get your deposits back if you withdraw in a month of so?
 
Have you sent deposits into all those schools? I know DO schools expect deposits within two weeks of acceptance to save your spot, how about allo schools? Can you get your deposits back if you withdraw in a month of so?

Yes to the deposits--you get them back as long as you withdraw before the May 15 deadline.
 
Deposits are refundable through May 15th. After that date, you can only hold on to one acceptance. If you're in a waitlist situation, and you find out you have been accepted to your wl school after May 15th, your deposit to your other school is no longer refundable. Then again, if you held on to that waitlist and received an acceptance, I don't think you'd care about a $100 or so deposit at that point.
 
Have you sent deposits into all those schools? I know DO schools expect deposits within two weeks of acceptance to save your spot, how about allo schools? Can you get your deposits back if you withdraw in a month of so?

In my experience, some allopathic schools don't require a deposit at all, while others require deposits that are refundable if you withdraw before May 15. There probably are non-refundable deposits for allo schools, but I'm not sure.
 
I withdrew from 2 but am holding onto 2 because I honestly can not decide between the 2....the financial aid package will make a big difference on what i decide
 
Deposits are refundable through May 15th. After that date, you can only hold on to one acceptance. If you're in a waitlist situation, and you find out you have been accepted to your wl school after May 15th, your deposit to your other school is no longer refundable. Then again, if you held on to that waitlist and received an acceptance, I don't think you'd care about a $100 or so deposit at that point.

$100 deposit will pay for 1/3 of a med school book, so after putting out all that money, yes I care.
 
OP said withdraw from schools you know you won't go to...
 
I am withdrawing from :

5 schools I have been accepted to today. Hope that helps.
 
OP said withdraw from schools you know you won't go to...

fair enough. i *know* i need my financial aid offer before i *know* which schools i won't go to, aside from the one i already withdrew from.
 
I am withdrawing from :

5 schools I have been accepted to today. Hope that helps.


Nice to be accepted to five schools!
Even nicer to hear that means five total spots nationwide have opened up due to your actions! We waitlisters and yet-to-hear-anything types appreciate it. 🙂

If I could, I'd give you a cookie out of appreciation
 
$100 deposit will pay for 1/3 of a med school book, so after putting out all that money, yes I care.

Well, presumably you are holding on to that waitlist spot because it's at your top choice school (or at least a school where you'd be happier than where you currently hold an acceptance). For me, the sheer joy of getting into a school I love would more than make up for losing a deposit at a school I like.
 
Actually, if these people withdraw now, more acceptances might be handed out to those that are still interviewing, with an additional number who are currently interviewing placed on the waitlists with you. Med schools don't JUST consider how qualified applicants are, but also how many spaces are left and how long they want their waitlist to be. So it would make more sense to ask them to withdraw after the interviewing finishes. :meanie:
 
Actually it would be best to kill off/tonya harding/convinvce to withdraw people who are very like you. I and I'm sure my fellow waitlisters have been told by schools that they reserve the right to not follow even a ranked or prioritized WL if it adds to the diversity of the class. That generally means, if a girl withdraws, another girl would be accepted in her place. And so on down the similarity line- background, gender, age, residency status, race, etc.
So start trying to cajole the people who are just like you, only luckier.
 
Actually it would be best to kill off/tonya harding/convinvce to withdraw people who are very like you. I and I'm sure my fellow waitlisters have been told by schools that they reserve the right to not follow even a ranked or prioritized WL if it adds to the diversity of the class. That generally means, if a girl withdraws, another girl would be accepted in her place. And so on down the similarity line- background, gender, age, residency status, race, etc.
So start trying to cajole the people who are just like you, only luckier.

What happened to that line about "factors not taken into consideration: race, religion, sexuality, gender, age, etc"

Do you think that schools have to take these factors into account just to create a diverse class? Or do they let meritocracy reign supreme?
 
Chill out. At least you're on the waitlist... the spots will open up eventually. I also am waiting on financial aid deals and won't be withdrawing until I see em. To do other wise would be foolish.
 
Rok! hey, have some compassion for others so when you need it, it is there for you. It does not hurt you to turn down those schools that you will not go.
 
Rok! hey, have some compassion for others so when you need it, it is there for you. It does not hurt you to turn down those schools that you will not go.

I don't think he means to display a lack of empathy, but only (this is my interpretation) try to get his fellow premed hopefuls to look on the bright side. Sometimes this crowd can be quite grumbly and entitlement-minded, as though those with multiple acceptance owe it to the waitlisters to bow out quickly. As if.

Now I'm on some waitlists myself, and I can feel the squeeze, but it's downright un-American to try and coerce from people that which they have earned themselves. As the man said, at least we're on waitlists. And I think this year there's going to be a lot of movement. It's great to be an applicant, isn't it?
 
Ummmm.... like colleges most Med schools give out more acceptances initially than they have positions in the first year class, so each person withdrawing an acceptance will not necessarily mean someone else gets in off the waitlist. Word around the block is that last cycle many school got burned and ended up over enrolling, i.e. more students than expected in the first year class, thus no one gets in off the wait list. Anyhow good luck to the folks still waiting, its still early, waitlists really start rolling in April and May.
 
The waiting stinks indeed for those on the waitlist, but have you not recalled that many schools (UPenn, Harvard), haven't even accepted anyone yet, and most other schools haven't given out financial aid packages? You've been waiting since June, what's a 2-3 more months going to hurt. And, as others have said, I don't think schools even give the waitlist a nod until after May 15.

That said, I actually did withdraw from 2 schools I was accepted at. For early withdrawals, I follow the rule to withdraw "If I wouldn't go there, even if given a full-ride and a generous stipend." I think it's a pretty good rule. But now don't turn around awith the "why did you even apply." We all need safety schools and many schools one doesn't get a complete picture of until one interviews there (My rank list was turned upside down post interviews).
 
The title says it all. People who have multiple acceptances....start withdrawing from schools you know you won't attend. this will speed up the process for people like me (right now I am on two waitlists- wayne state and WVU...and no acceptance).

actually, it won't. waitlists aren't going to start moving now just because people start withdrawing now. if you're on a waitlist, you're not going to hear anything from most schools until at least may 15, and if it's like last year, most schools didn't really get rolling on the waitlists til about a week or two after that magic date.
 
WVU's "waitlist" isnt really a traditional waitlist so people dropping their acceptances may not really help anyway. Everyone that gets past the first committee is put on the "waitlist" until the dean's committee gets around to reviewing apps. The dean's committee has not really met regularly at all and they have only met just these past two fridays to review what must be around 50 applicants. I am on the waitlist too but be patient, they are a bit behind.
 
The waiting stinks indeed for those on the waitlist, but have you not recalled that many schools (UPenn, Harvard), haven't even accepted anyone yet, and most other schools haven't given out financial aid packages? You've been waiting since June, what's a 2-3 more months going to hurt. And, as others have said, I don't think schools even give the waitlist a nod until after May 15.

So if we apply the logic that a withdrawal now will mean someone with a late interview will get offered that acceptance, isn't it better for the waitlisters (but worse for the late interviewees) if the multiple-acceptance people hold on to their acceptances until, say, May 1st, when the interviewing is all done and the adcom will have no choice but to pull from the waitlist?
 
Yuck. This thread makes me sick. People should be able to take up to the deadline to think carefully before make their decisions.

How early or late people decide to withdraw will have no real impact on individuals on waitlists.
 
maybe people like collecting their acceptance letters in a large vault and swimming in them Scrooge McDuck style
 
Yuck. This thread makes me sick. People should be able to take up to the deadline to think carefully before make their decisions.

How early or late people decide to withdraw will have no real impact on individuals on waitlists.

I agree with your premise: as I said, it's downright un-American to try and coerce from people that which they have earned themselves, but I also think that it might have an impact. Unfortunately, that impact cannot be predicted from the meager facts in our meager hands.
 
This doesn't really apply to mean because as of today, I still only have one acceptance, but...

I don't really think there should be any pressure on people to withdraw. I suppose if they KNOW they won't go there then maybe the argument could be made, but these types of things can change during this process (ie...suddenly they WOULD like to be there).

We're all going through this process: we've all paid the money and grinded through interviews. Everyone owes it to her/himself to wait and see everything before making a choice. I understand the anxiety that a waitlist spot carries, but as with everything else in this application process, try to proceed with patience. If things are going to work out, it makes no difference if its the first week of February or May 16. Just try to hang in there...
 
I wholeheartedly believe that OP was being tongue-in-cheek with this posting.
 
Top