Trigger Warning: NOT a humblebrag

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

GoinHardenYaHoe

Membership Revoked
Removed
5+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Messages
40
Reaction score
48
I've been accepted to my top choice school but have had 0 communication from any other school. I applied to 8 schools, including 3 state schools (LizzyM = 73).

Should I be worried that there is something weird with my app? I have good ties with the school I've been accepted to, so maybe that's why they were willing to ignore a "red flag" per se?
 
It’s possible. It’s also possible that you applied to few places that were low yield and/or didn’t match well with your stats. I’ve only received responses from schools where my stats aligned pretty well with their medians. If yours are significantly higher, the school could potentially avoid your app.

But yeah you should just celebrate now and not worry.
 
I've been accepted to my top choice school but have had 0 communication from any other school.

Should I be worried that there is something weird with my app?
Since you've already been accepted to your top choice, the only abnormality here is that you care.

latest

Sent from my Pixel 2 using SDN mobile
 
I've been accepted to my top choice school but have had 0 communication from any other school. I applied to 8 schools, including 3 state schools (LizzyM = 73).

Should I be worried that there is something weird with my app? I have good ties with the school I've been accepted to, so maybe that's why they were willing to ignore a "red flag" per se?
Without any details from your app it's hard to tell. Given that you have an acceptance, it seems pretty unlikely that you have some glaring red flag that they were able to overlook.

I have to ask, if this is your #1 school, then why care about the other programs? I got accepted to my #1 and canceled an interview at a different school to save money. Maybe our circumstances were different, but I was more than happy to save money on a plane ticket, hotel, etc.
 
If you have already been accepted to your top choice, why worry about silence from other schools? Last time I checked, you only can matriculate at one school.
 
Many people from what I've seen on SDN apply to 20-30 schools and get average of 3 II (obviously bias, but at least from what I've seen). Given that you applied to only 8 schools and got 1 II, I feel like proportionally you're on par with other applicants (in terms of # II : # schools applied)
 
Fair enough. I guess I'm just having trouble accepting that the struggle is over and I can relax knowing I'll be able to be a doctor one day. I'm paranoid that my school accepted me only to reject me as a a cruel joke
 
Fair enough. I guess I'm just having trouble accepting that the struggle is over and I can relax knowing I'll be able to be a doctor one day. I'm paranoid that my school accepted me only to reject me as a a cruel joke
The struggle is just beginning. #MedSchoolThenResidency
 
Fair enough. I guess I'm just having trouble accepting that the struggle is over and I can relax knowing I'll be able to be a doctor one day. I'm paranoid that my school accepted me only to reject me as a a cruel joke
This is definitely going to happen now that you said it. Better follow up with all 7 schools you've heard nothing from. Jk. You're in. Relax now, school will hit you like a ton of bricks soon.
 
It could be that the other 7 are yield protecting and assume that you're likely to get in to your top choice and go there so they are just wasting their time chasing you... and in this case, they're right.

Sorry to hijack in the thread, but is it possible to get yield protected from your state schools, even if one is a top 20 (UNC)? Is there any reason why it would send out an interview later in the cycle as opposed to earlier?
 
It could be that the other 7 are yield protecting and assume that you're likely to get in to your top choice and go there so they are just wasting their time chasing you... and in this case, they're right.
How do other schools know which school is my top choice? Its not like I wrote it in my PS. From my secondaries, you'd think that I have 8 first choices haha
 
Yeah, I’m confused why you care. You got into your top choice.
Not singling out the OP, but many SDNers fail to comprehend how competitive this process is, and there are also those who think that they're God's gift to Medicine.

You usually see them post in September and October, asking "I have a LizzyM score of 80, where are all my IIs?"
 
Fair enough. I guess I'm just having trouble accepting that the struggle is over and I can relax knowing I'll be able to be a doctor one day. I'm paranoid that my school accepted me only to reject me as a a cruel joke

Avoid:
Getting drunk at Second Look
Posting racist/sexist/hostile comments in social media
Landing in jail
Being hospitalized for 6 months

Those could derail your matriculation. Otherwise, rest easy.
 
I actually can think of one good reason to ask this question, but in a context that makes the question much harder to ask.

The way I read your post and follow-ups, OP, it looks like you're asking, "Is something wrong because the schools haven't contacted me?" i.e., "Is it possible the school that accepted me made a mistake?" This is looking for external explanations for what's going on.

The much, much harder (and more emotionally mature) way to ask the question involves rephrasing it, "Have the schools not contacted me because something is wrong?" i.e., "Is there something in me that made 7 out of 8 schools look elsewhere?" That's looking for internal explanations. It's much harder to do because -- if done sincerely -- it opens you to learning things about yourself that you'd rather not know.

The second way is the way every one of us should respond to every rejection. The answer will most often be, "No, there's nothing particularly wrong with me, this is just a really competitive field." But it may also be, "There's something about me that actively derailed my application." And since you'll go through several more application cycles in your career (the first being for residency), it's worth doing an honest self-inventory to see if there are problems that should be addressed.

I rather suspect the answer is simply that you only applied to 8 schools and receiving a single acceptance, as @Goro indicated, is par for most matriculants. But if you're feeling particularly reflective, and if you're emotionally secure enough to do an honest self-inventory, you can go ahead and examine yourself more thoroughly. You may find stuff you don't like, you may not. If you do, the immature response is to fret, panic, obsess, and become depressed. The mature response, for which we should all strive, is to pick yourself up and address the problem.

Best of luck.
 
Last edited:
It could be that the other 7 are yield protecting and assume that you're likely to get in to your top choice and go there so they are just wasting their time chasing you... and in this case, they're right.

Would having an MCAT that is 7 points higher than the median (with an on par GPA) be grounds for yield protecting?
 
Would having an MCAT that is 7 points higher than the median (with an on par GPA) be grounds for yield protecting?

Yes -- But then you also hinted at a red flag...

But here's what you do. Withdraw from the other seven schools. Do it quickly, before they get a chance to reject you. Then you can casually drop that you were 1:1 on your applications.
 
Yes -- But then you also hinted at a red flag...

But here's what you do. Withdraw from the other seven schools. Do it quickly, before they get a chance to reject you. Then you can casually drop that you were 1:1 on your applications.

I actually am considering doing this....not so I can brag about having a good record (besides, I have been rejected from one school already)....just to play it safe tho
 
I can honestly relate to what you're saying. I'm a fourth time re-applicant and just got my first acceptance. I still can't believe its real.

I was rejected post-interview at a less prestigious school, one I didn't even like, several days later. The entire thing made me feel like I'd come within inches of not getting in anywhere. After so many years its hard to break out of the mindset of clawing your way toward an acceptance. Been trying to focus more on my hobbies and family.
 
Top