UPenn Waitlist Thread, ugggggh

[felipe5]

Just thought I'd start one b/c there seems to be so many of us!
Myself, I'm chillin' in tier 1 (aka limbo).....needless to say, I'm still am bummed about it! I don't really know what to make of it, but I guess the only thing to do is maintain hope and just wait it out.

Do you all think that they will do what they did last year and let certain applicants know if they are "at the top" of the waitlist??? When you guys get your official letter, let us know what it says!!!

Also, anyone decide to decline their waitlist position??? Hang in there guys, i feel your pain.

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[Mouseman]

I really dont know how to feel about this tier 1 waitlist. It seems that in the two past years there hasnt been much movement from the waitlist at all. From talking to students at PENN, it seems that those who did get off of the waitlist really inversted A LOT of effort. Calling, writing and begging ECT>. The guy who I toured with at Penn said that he was taking off the waitlist, but he had acceptances at JHU and UCSF to use as leverage. Im sorry to sound so negative. It seems like PENN likes to know that you really want to go there and you would be willing to pass up other great offers to attend.

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by Mouseman
It seems like PENN likes to know that you really want to go there and you would be willing to pass up other great offers to attend.

This is true to some degree, though I certainly know at least one person (in each the MD and MD/PhD program) who said nothing to Penn after interviewing and were taken off the waitlist.

But, I don't believe that there has been little waitlist movement here. I don't have any numbers, but my impression is that the statement "the two past years there hasnt been much movement from the waitlist at all" is not true at all. We mostly lose students to state schools (way cheaper) and other big name schools. There are of course other personal factors that come into these decisions.

Two cents from a waitlisted (MD/PhD) matriculant.

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by Mouseman
The guy who I toured with at Penn said that he was taking off the waitlist, but he had acceptances at JHU and UCSF to use as leverage. Im sorry to sound so negative. It seems like PENN likes to know that you really want to go there and you would be willing to pass up other great offers to attend.

I called the admissions office on Friday and one of the staff members told me that since "the waitlist is unranked", the admissions committee wants to see people who show a lot of interest!

 

[Mouseman]

Thanks for the info. I guess I need to just suck it up and write a LOI. Do you guys think its worth contacting your interviewer?

 

[periodic]

I got my official waitlist letter today. It says my application is among the top of the tier 1 waitlist.

Good luck to all those waiting...it says waitlist movement generally doesn't happen before April 15th.

 

[Grumpy Bear]

I also got my waitlist letter today, and it, too, suggested that I am at the top of Tier 1. It also invited me to the revisit weekend April 22nd-24th. Do all waitlistees get to revisit? I thought that was cool. Anyone else get UPenn letters today?

 

[periodic]

Doh, mine doesn't mention a revisit weekend. Actually, I was just about to post, asking if any waitlisted folks were thinking of going

 

[Grumpy Bear]

That's odd, periodic... the wording of my letter says something to the effect of: "first tier waitlist -- among those at the very top of the list" and the next paragraph is all about the penn preview weekend. Does your status page have the Penn Preview link on it, in the what's next section? That is where I went to RSVP. Best of luck to all!!!!

 

[Neuronix]

In response to two questions:

1) Don't write anything to your interviewer. If it happened to be me, I will get your letter, read it, and stick it in a file somewhere. The same goes for your faculty interviewer. Write it to Gaye or the admissions committee.

2) Top of tier 1 people seem to be getting the Penn Preview nod this year, which I think is very cool. As far as I know, this does not extend to other waitlisted individuals. I think if you're in this catagory and you show you want to come, you'll get a spot.

Good luck!
Eric

 

[thewebthsp]

Very cool... I don't think any other med school does that...
Hope to see some future class mates at Previews!

 

[PsychNOS]

Good luck to all who are waiting. Penn is a great school, even better when you are on the interview trail for residency! Many people in my class were taken off the waitlist. I can tell you from experience that you should call/write to Gaye and let her know of your interest in Penn. If you are persistent enough and you are on tier one, you have a chance.

 

[DrJ2B]

Hey all!

Does anyone know how many people get off the Tier 1 waitlist? I received my letter and had my mom read it to me over the phone. It did not mention the top of the Tier 1 waitlist so I assume I am in the regular Tier 1 waitlist. Do I have a chance as a regular Tier 1 waitlistee? I had thought it was an unranked waitlist as per the website and letter, but I guess that is not the case. I am even more worried now that I will not have a chance to get in. Please reply if you know anything about this. I would really appreciate this. Regardless, I am not giving up. Anything can happen!

 

[DLK]

what is the link to the status page??

i deleted my e-mail accidentally....thanks!!

 

[felipe5]

https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/AppStatus

there ya go!!!! still haven't got my letter, but I don't have a link to the preview weekend

 

[marshall]

Called UPenn today, and was told that there are 20-25 people considered at the top of tier 1 (this was an estimate) and that some people were definitely placed on tier 2. Hope this is useful.

 

[missmod]

I remember the Waitlist FAQ said 12-50 people come off the waitlist every year. If there are 25 people on the "top" of Tier 1, I feel like that gives us regular Tier 1 people so little chance...

Are there any Penn Med students who got off the waitlist in the past? What did you do and much did you write/call..?

 

[bongsen]

when we fill out the online form to show them we want to still be considered, is it really sent? everytime i come back to the site the online form is still there for me to fill out... should i worry if this is working correctly?

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by missmod
I remember the Waitlist FAQ said 12-50 people come off the waitlist every year. If there are 25 people on the "top" of Tier 1, I feel like that gives us regular Tier 1 people so little chance...

Think about it like this...

If there are 25 people on the "top" of tier 1 - how many of them will decide to go to Penn? Many of them probably have been accepted to other schools that they are more interested in.

If ~half of them decide to pursue Penn, then this means that the rest of us will have anywhere between 0 - 38 spots left on the waitlist. This could mean that we have no chance (0 spots) or a fairly good chance (38 spots) - or somewhere in between.

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Originally posted by bongsen
when we fill out the online form to show them we want to still be considered, is it really sent? everytime i come back to the site the online form is still there for me to fill out... should i worry if this is working correctly?

Mine did this too, at first, but after a day or so it only showed a form for withdrawal. So it looks like they got my info. Has anyone else gotten their letter from Penn?

 

[DLK]

i received my letter which says that i am near the top of the tier one wait list (same wording as grumpy bear), but no mention of preview week

however, my status page does have a link to sign up for preview week....hmmm

 

[felipe5]

I still haven't gotten mine.....maybe tomorrow

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Originally posted by DLK
i received my letter which says that i am near the top of the tier one wait list (same wording as grumpy bear), but no mention of preview week

however, my status page does have a link to sign up for preview week....hmmm

DLK are you going to go to penn preview?

 

[morecowbell]

has anyone been taken off the waitlist yet? i wonder how many people are considered to be among "those at the very top of the list.."

 

[thewebthsp]

Some information some might find important:

The total number of people admitted was 188 (enrolled class of ~150) for this year. Last year they took 245 total. So it seems they'd take about 50-60 a year, but this could be variable.

 

[lightning4]

Any knowledge of how many in the past/present are on tier 1 of the waitlist?

 

[chillin']

I was put on the tier one waitlist and have since turned PENN down. I went to PENN undergrad and was very disappointed with the interview day. I also couldn't turn down OHSU and the in-state tuition I will get.

Good luck everyone.