Wait-listed at 6 out of 6 schools, what is going on?!

[CaliBalla]

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Ya I'm not sure, it's hard to believe that ALL 6 schools I interviewed at would assume that I would go somewhere else, thus WL'ing me in order to keep their acceptance:matriculation ratio high.

 

[dbeast]

Ya I'm not sure, it's hard to believe that ALL 6 schools I interviewed at would assume that I would go somewhere else, thus WL'ing me in order to keep their acceptance:matriculation ratio high.

Honestly, I think this might be what is happening... I'm also a CA resident and heard from multiple people back east that those schools tend to wait until after March 15th (or whatever date your acceptances are made public) to make sure you don't immediately jump ship for a UC school. If you have zero acceptances, they know it won't be a waste of an offer to give you one. Six interviews = solid app, and you don't seem like a d-bag here on SDN (for what that's worth), so your interview skills should be passable. Just be patient, I have friends who got their first acceptances in May.

And no, sorry, I don't understand the obsession with acceptance:matriculation ratio either. But I'm pretty confident it exists and people follow it.

 

[linebacker57]

CaliBalla, im in the same boat as you, i've had 3 interviews, and I havn't received anything finite from any one of them. I have a great MCAT (35), but a very poor GPA, (>3.3), so I just have to believe that my stats and application were good enough to get me a few early interviews, but my GPA is going to hold me back from being accepted right off the bat. I also think that reading posts on SDN is going to present you with an incomplete picture of the applicant pool. IMO a much smaller percent of seats at medical schools are filled right now than you would believe from reading this site, just hang in there, from my understanding, these wait lists really start to move from Feb all the way up through august.

 

[LizzyM]

Deans and Directors of Admissions have no greater fear than overenrollment. Imagine you have 100 seats (really, not so much chairs in lecture hall as slots in clinical sites but you get my drift) and 150 offers outstanding on May 1. Will 50 people decline those offers in the next 15 days? Will people have to be offered a generous package to defer a year? Anyone who has been through this, or remembers someone who has, will be very careful about making too many offers too early. It is easier to make later offers or pull qualified applicants from the waitlist (particularly when almost 60% are empty handed at the end of the cycle) than to go out on a limb expecting dozens of highly qualified applicants to reject the school.

And about G'town. I have heard of Mrs. Sullivan and the emphasis that the school places on a good fit and their brand of medical education focusing on their Jesuit values and adherence to Catholic medical ethics. I've also heard of their enormous number of applications despite having one of the highest application fees. Clearly the school is not in line with every applicant's sensibilities and I can see how making applicants articulate their "buy-in" before and after interview could help them narrow the field to those who want to attend that somewhat unusual school.

 

[Isoprop]

Deans and Directors of Admissions have no greater fear than overenrollment.

they really ought to move that deadline to april instead of may.

 

[typicalindian]

@op I don't really have advice to give you but hopefully you get off of one of those wait lists👍

 

[Sephiroth]

they really ought to move that deadline to april instead of may.

So, now someone who's been thruogh the process agrees with my previous statement. Now I can no longer just take music2doc's word for it. So, what do other people think of the 1-acceptance deadline? If it were moved up, would that make the waitlist game more reasonable, or would consequences such as those music2doc mentioned manifest as he said and outweigh this?

 

[MrBird]

Deans and Directors of Admissions have no greater fear than overenrollment. Imagine you have 100 seats (really, not so much chairs in lecture hall as slots in clinical sites but you get my drift) and 150 offers outstanding on May 1. Will 50 people decline those offers in the next 15 days? Will people have to be offered a generous package to defer a year? Anyone who has been through this, or remembers someone who has, will be very careful about making too many offers too early. It is easier to make later offers or pull qualified applicants from the waitlist (particularly when almost 60% are empty handed at the end of the cycle) than to go out on a limb expecting dozens of highly qualified applicants to reject the school.

And about G'town. I have heard of Mrs. Sullivan and the emphasis that the school places on a good fit and their brand of medical education focusing on their Jesuit values and adherence to Catholic medical ethics. I've also heard of their enormous number of applications despite having one of the highest application fees. Clearly the school is not in line with every applicant's sensibilities and I can see how making applicants articulate their "buy-in" before and after interview could help them narrow the field to those who want to attend that somewhat unusual school.

Georgetown is the most overrated medical school in history. And no, making applicants effuse about why they want to attend Georgetown three times (app, interview, post-app essay) is FOS. The majority of students aren't writing that BS essay because they really really really want to go to Georgetown. They write it because they want to get accepted to at least one school and most will be willing to get on their knees if prompted.

 

[LizzyM]

they really ought to move that deadline to april instead of may.

How would that change the anxiety about over-enrollment except to cause the pain to occur earlier in the season but to last as long?

 

[Beekachu]

Honestly, I think this might be what is happening... I'm also a CA resident and heard from multiple people back east that those schools tend to wait until after March 15th (or whatever date your acceptances are made public) to make sure you don't immediately jump ship for a UC school. If you have zero acceptances, they know it won't be a waste of an offer to give you one. Six interviews = solid app, and you don't seem like a d-bag here on SDN (for what that's worth), so your interview skills should be passable. Just be patient, I have friends who got their first acceptances in May.

And no, sorry, I don't understand the obsession with acceptance:matriculation ratio either. But I'm pretty confident it exists and people follow it.

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but your acceptances aren't made PUBLIC to all schools. Only schools who have accepted you can see which other schools have also accepted you.
That's how it was explained to me by an ADCOM member at an interview day.

So I wouldn't say that the OP is being waitlisted until schools are sure he/she will choose them. I think one reasonable explanation is that the set of schools are just ones that waitlist a large proportion.

 

[Bluvip]

OP:

I think this might be of some use to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMXYE_50Ts

 

[235788]

Your creds are great and you'll likely get in a couple but your choice of schools seems illogical. Oh and F*** georgetown and that pandering crap.

👍

 

[235788]

That's what I thought too, but no...

"The AAMC disseminates application information to medical schools to which you have applied. The AAMC also shares acceptance information across schools in order to assist medical schools’s adherence to AAMC recommendations. This acceptance data is shared as follows:

a) Beginning in February of each year, a medical school that has accepted an applicant can view the other school or schools that have accepted the applicant, if applicable.
b) Beginning in April of each year, a medical school can view the school or schools that have accepted an applicant, even if that applicant has not yet been accepted by the medical school."

oh man!! thats news to me

 

[ppfizenm]

The list of schools includes Gtown, BU, U of Miami, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook and a UC. I have no interviews lined up. I have extensive experience interviewing and have always had a successful outcome, I'm pretty sure poor interview skills is not the reason; one of my interviewers claimed she gave the adcom a "glowing recommendation of me post-interview" and that she is "very surprised" that I am on the WL after I sent her an email asking for advice. I've worked in healthcare (ambulance and hospitals) for quite ~5 years and am personable and social, although 6 WL's would make one believe that I'm some introverted socially awkward Bio nerd!

A quick summary of my app: 3.82 cGPA and 3.93 sGPA in BME from a UC. 31R (11/10/10) MCAT. Couple of scholarships (including full ride to my undergrad). 1.5 yr Biomedical Research. 1 yr stem cell research. Philanthropy through fraternity involvement. 3 yrs EMT on ambulance during college (24hrs/wk). Volunteer EMT abroad for 2 weeks. 1 yr ER Tech in a community hospital. Currently full time Trauma Tech (~8 months so far) at a trauma center.

There won't be too many "updates" these next few months as I plan on working full time in Trauma until I hopefully start medical school somewhere in August.....so I don't know what kind of updates I can send schools; I've already sent a few LOI's to the schools I really want to go to and believe to be a good fit for.

What are the red flags?

 

[Beekachu]

That's what I thought too, but no...

"The AAMC disseminates application information to medical schools to which you have applied. The AAMC also shares acceptance information across schools in order to assist medical schools’s adherence to AAMC recommendations. This acceptance data is shared as follows:

a) Beginning in February of each year, a medical school that has accepted an applicant can view the other school or schools that have accepted the applicant, if applicable.
b) Beginning in April of each year, a medical school can view the school or schools that have accepted an applicant, even if that applicant has not yet been accepted by the medical school."

Ah, thanks for sharing this! It's definitely good to keep in mind.

I still don't know how much I buy into the idea that a school would intentionally wait on an applicant to get a better guess at whether they will matriculate.. based on other acceptances.. just to keep some school acceptance stat a certain way. I don't think the adcom is a team of tricksters like that.

If that is the case those, the OP's letters of intents to his top choice(s?) should help convince them.

 

[robertch8]

Ah, thanks for sharing this! It's definitely good to keep in mind.

I still don't know how much I buy into the idea that a school would intentionally wait on an applicant to get a better guess at whether they will matriculate.. based on other acceptances.. just to keep some school acceptance stat a certain way. I don't think the adcom is a team of tricksters like that.

If that is the case those, the OP's letters of intents to his top choice(s?) should help convince them.

I think I remember one of the adcoms on one of the school specific threads addressing this once and saying that schools do not look at that list to make a determination on whether that applicant will get in, rejected or in/out of the waitlist and that it'd be unethical for a school to do that. I do hear though that schools though will take a look at where else you've been accepted to when taking into consideration scholarships, which I think makes complete sense.

 

[candav]

That's what I thought too, but no...

"The AAMC disseminates application information to medical schools to which you have applied. The AAMC also shares acceptance information across schools in order to assist medical schools’s adherence to AAMC recommendations. This acceptance data is shared as follows:

a) Beginning in February of each year, a medical school that has accepted an applicant can view the other school or schools that have accepted the applicant, if applicable.
b) Beginning in April of each year, a medical school can view the school or schools that have accepted an applicant, even if that applicant has not yet been accepted by the medical school."

Whaaaaaaat.

 

[NickNaylor]

That's what I thought too, but no...

"The AAMC disseminates application information to medical schools to which you have applied. The AAMC also shares acceptance information across schools in order to assist medical schools's adherence to AAMC recommendations. This acceptance data is shared as follows:

a) Beginning in February of each year, a medical school that has accepted an applicant can view the other school or schools that have accepted the applicant, if applicable.
b) Beginning in April of each year, a medical school can view the school or schools that have accepted an applicant, even if that applicant has not yet been accepted by the medical school."

A makes sense - in fact I would say that it even works in the favor of the applicant since schools will be able to see who they're "competing" against and, as a result, may be more likely to offer you generous scholarships and financial aid.

B is unfortunate and only goes to hurt applicants IMO, especially those accepted to multiple schools trying to get off waitlists.

 

[LizzyM]

Have I said that letters of interest make sense in April. Can you see why? Also, don't be a douche; if you get into a school that you prefer over the school that has waitlisted, or if you have given up on getting off the waitlist and have moved forward with arrangements to matriculate elsewhere (signed a lease, etc), please, withdraw from the school(s) that waitlisted you. Letting them see their waitlist options dwindle is the best revenge.

 

[Sephiroth]

Did a med school adcom member really just say "don't be a douche"?

While pulling off the waitlist in those situations is certainly the right thing to do, I wouldn't be surprised if people stayed on just to try to get as many acceptences as possible just to brag about it. I've met people who I think would do that.

 

[HipChick]

Did a med school adcom member really just say "don't be douche"?

I literally snorted out loud in my physics class when I read Lizzys post.

 

[Neurocentric]

I literally snorted out loud in my physics class when I read Lizzys post.

haha I had to read it at least three times and then make sure it was in line with her avatar.

 

[ppfizenm]

I literally snorted out loud in my physics class when I read Lizzys post.

ditto at work

 

[pdxjazz]

A makes sense - in fact I would say that it even works in the favor of the applicant since schools will be able to see who they're "competing" against and, as a result, may be more likely to offer you generous scholarships and financial aid..

Unless the applicant only has one acceptance. Then there is no incentive for the school to offer them anything as it is their only choice.

 

[music2doc]

they really ought to move that deadline to april instead of may.

How would that improve anything? It's not like the waitlists need more time for movement to occur. Students will shuffle around until orientation begins regardless. Unless there are schools that actually have entering classes with empty seats (following the first-day-of-orientation shuffle that occurs at some places), I don't really see much reason to move the date earlier. (Especially considering the fact that that orientation day shuffle seems to occur largely because some students simply don't show up to that first day and never bother to notify their one acceptance they won't be attending.)

 

[Atherosclerosis]

Obvious answer: bad luck.

 

[chiapet874]

Obvious answer: bad luck.

When someone is waitlisted 6/6, it is not just "bad luck".

 

[Ssina]

OP:

I think this might be of some use to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyMXYE_50Ts

🤣
OP hopefully you'll get 6 acceptances ALL AT ONCE!!! wouldn't that be sometin

 

[sibitrum]

What is the chances of being waitlisted OR not accepted, on average? If you assume the op is an average applicant for the schools he/she interviews at and an acceptance rate of about 40%, my guess is somewhere around 65%. 0.65^6 = 7.5% This number suggests that it could well be random chance at work here. Please let me know if I did the probabilities wrong; it's been a while since I've done them.

 

[CaliBalla]

What is the chances of being waitlisted OR not accepted, on average? If you assume the op is an average applicant for the schools he/she interviews at and an acceptance rate of about 40%, my guess is somewhere around 65%. 0.65^6 = 7.5% This number suggests that it could well be random chance at work here. Please let me know if I did the probabilities wrong; it's been a while since I've done them.

Well I figure with an average acceptance of ~50%, the chance of not getting a SINGLE acceptance out of 6 interviews to be 1 in 64. I can't imagine I'm that bad of an applicant that I can't get in to a single school out of 6 interviews lol. I hope it is just bad luck and things pick up when schools start pulling off of the wait lists...

 

[kpcrew]

Hey at least you didn't get rejected.

 

[raltima07]

Hey at least you didn't get rejected.

aint that the truth

 

[sibitrum]

Well I figure with an average acceptance of ~50%, the chance of not getting a SINGLE acceptance out of 6 interviews to be 1 in 64. I can't imagine I'm that bad of an applicant that I can't get in to a single school out of 6 interviews lol. I hope it is just bad luck and things pick up when schools start pulling off of the wait lists...

Even if you assume 50%, most schools still wouldn't accept all 50% right off the bat. There would be a small percentage who are waitlisted/deferred/etc. that would eventually be accepted.

 

[Porfirio]

The list of schools includes Gtown, BU, U of Miami, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook and a UC. I have no interviews lined up. I have extensive experience interviewing and have always had a successful outcome, I'm pretty sure poor interview skills is not the reason; one of my interviewers claimed she gave the adcom a "glowing recommendation of me post-interview" and that she is "very surprised" that I am on the WL after I sent her an email asking for advice. I've worked in healthcare (ambulance and hospitals) for quite ~5 years and am personable and social, although 6 WL's would make one believe that I'm some introverted socially awkward Bio nerd!

A quick summary of my app: 3.82 cGPA and 3.93 sGPA in BME from a UC. 31R (11/10/10) MCAT. Couple of scholarships (including full ride to my undergrad). 1.5 yr Biomedical Research. 1 yr stem cell research. Philanthropy through fraternity involvement. 3 yrs EMT on ambulance during college (24hrs/wk). Volunteer EMT abroad for 2 weeks. 1 yr ER Tech in a community hospital. Currently full time Trauma Tech (~8 months so far) at a trauma center.

There won't be too many "updates" these next few months as I plan on working full time in Trauma until I hopefully start medical school somewhere in August.....so I don't know what kind of updates I can send schools; I've already sent a few LOI's to the schools I really want to go to and believe to be a good fit for.

Where is the interest? Where is the passion? You have everything that the majority of all applicants have.

Your stats and background got you in the door, but it seems your personality/interests/unknown Adcom politics did not work in your favor. It could be that the majority of all applicants have those things in common with you, thus you were skipped over. Medical schools are looking to create diverse communties. Are you diverse enough? You have to go beyond just medicine for a passion - we all have that.

 

[mafunk]

With your background I imagine that you will be accepted to at least one school.

It's not really possible to know why you were wait listed. One theory... a total shot in the dark... is that someone inadvertently wrote something stupid that could be negatively construed on your LOR.

 

[CaliBalla]

Where is the interest? Where is the passion? You have everything that the majority of all applicants have.

Your stats and background got you in the door, but it seems your personality/interests/unknown Adcom politics did not work in your favor. It could be that the majority of all applicants have those things in common with you, thus you were skipped over. Medical schools are looking to create diverse communties. Are you diverse enough? You have to go beyond just medicine for a passion - we all have that.

I disagree with you. I feel like my engineering background and research experience is pretty unique, not to mention the incredible cases I get to work on working in trauma. I have talked to numerous med students and interns who have commented on the fact that they themselves have not done some things I have had the opportunity to do (ex. cardiac massage on a GSWx4 to chest pt who had undergone a thoracotomy). I just got off of a 12hr night shift, and did CPR on a TFA pt followed shortly by assisting on the repair of a pt who had blown half his face off w/ a hand gun; if the typical pre-med does that on a Sunday night, then damn I really am the run of the mill applicant. Lack of interest and passion? I didn't drop a $65k+/yr engineering position to make big bucks as a trauma tech, believe me.

 

[LizzyM]

I disagree with you. I feel like my engineering background and research experience is pretty unique, not to mention the incredible cases I get to work on working in trauma. I have talked to numerous med students and interns who have commented on the fact that they themselves have not done some things I have had the opportunity to do (ex. cardiac massage on a GSWx4 to chest pt who had undergone a thoracotomy). I just got off of a 12hr night shift, and did CPR on a TFA pt followed shortly by assisting on the repair of a pt who had blown half his face off w/ a hand gun; if the typical pre-med does that on a Sunday night, then damn I really am the run of the mill applicant. Lack of interest and passion? I didn't drop a $65k+/yr engineering position to make big bucks as a trauma tech, believe me.

On the other hand, you could come off as too self-important and arrogant.

 

[CaliBalla]

On the other hand, you could come off as too self-important and arrogant.

Possible, just trying to illustrate that I don't THINK my application is that boring.....but I may be wrong. I apologize if my post came off as "self-important and arrogant", I am fully aware that I'm at the BOTTOM of the totem pole in the delivery of care to patients.

 

[LizzyM]

Not saying that you did come off that way in your post but depending on how you present yourself at interview, some interviewers might get that vibe... be careful.

 

[Catalystik]

A quick summary of my app: 3.82 cGPA and 3.93 sGPA in BME from a UC. 31R (11/10/10) MCAT. Couple of scholarships (including full ride to my undergrad). 1.5 yr Biomedical Research. 1 yr stem cell research. Philanthropy through fraternity involvement. 3 yrs EMT on ambulance during college (24hrs/wk). Volunteer EMT abroad for 2 weeks. 1 yr ER Tech in a community hospital. Currently full time Trauma Tech (~8 months so far) at a trauma center.

There won't be too many "updates" these next few months as I plan on working full time in Trauma

It might be a good idea to mention some ongoing regular hands-on nonmedical community service in update letters, especially as Georgetown particularly looks for that type of involvement.

How much shadowing did you list? How much was office-based primary care?

 

[scarshapedstar]

Where is the interest? Where is the passion? You have everything that the majority of all applicants have.

I disagree with you. I feel like my engineering background and research experience is pretty unique, not to mention the incredible cases I get to work on working in trauma. I have talked to numerous med students and interns who have commented on the fact that they themselves have not done some things I have had the opportunity to do (ex. cardiac massage on a GSWx4 to chest pt who had undergone a thoracotomy). I just got off of a 12hr night shift, and did CPR on a TFA pt followed shortly by assisting on the repair of a pt who had blown half his face off w/ a hand gun; if the typical pre-med does that on a Sunday night, then damn I really am the run of the mill applicant. Lack of interest and passion? I didn't drop a $65k+/yr engineering position to make big bucks as a trauma tech, believe me.

We're talking about your feelings, you personally, on the inside. A positive reason for why you want to be a doctor. Yes, it's true that you do cool stuff that most people would be insanely jealous of, and that's very very good, but "obviously if I didn't want to be a doctor I wouldn't have done all this" is a tautology that still doesn't answer the question.

And for all I know you had a wonderful answer to this question that you don't feel comfortable sharing here, I'm just trying to imagine ways in which the interviewers didn't think you did as well as you think you did. And if you answered questions about your heart with items from your resume, that might have hurt you.

Also, as far as clinical experiences go, "I regularly encounter cellulitic, diabetic feet with two-week old bandages on them that require a bottle of saline and trauma shears to remove and replace, but I do it, and I don't even gag anymore!" can, in some contexts, be more useful than "assisting on the repair of a pt who had blown half his face off w/ a hand gun". You don't want to come across like "I've seen more blood and guts than the other applicants" until you're applying for residency.

 

[robertch8]

Well I figure with an average acceptance of ~50%, the chance of not getting a SINGLE acceptance out of 6 interviews to be 1 in 64. I can't imagine I'm that bad of an applicant that I can't get in to a single school out of 6 interviews lol. I hope it is just bad luck and things pick up when schools start pulling off of the wait lists...

I would say that would be a harsh estimate right now because most schools do not accept 50% of their interviewees and many of those schools won't initially accept many of their eventual interviewees. Right now, I'd say most schools have accepted anywhere from 20-30% of their interviewees (with variances both ways) so in reality the chance that the applicant has not been accepted to any of the 6 schools would be about (.25)^6 = .177. So therefore, about a 18% chance which while unlikely is still a very significant percentage.

 

[235009]

A quick summary of my app: 3.82 cGPA and 3.93 sGPA in BME from a UC. 31R (11/10/10) MCAT. Couple of scholarships (including full ride to my undergrad). 1.5 yr Biomedical Research. 1 yr stem cell research. Philanthropy through fraternity involvement. 3 yrs EMT on ambulance during college (24hrs/wk). Volunteer EMT abroad for 2 weeks. 1 yr ER Tech in a community hospital. Currently full time Trauma Tech (~8 months so far) at a trauma center.

If I had to guess, it might be my average MCAT preventing these schools from accepting me right off the bat. Perhaps I am on the back burner until those with higher numbers who are accepted withdraw to free up some spots. Whether I am a unique applicant or a good interviewer seems to be irrelevant, because at the end of the day it appears to be all numbers with these schools. I could be totally wrong, but I don't know what else to pin it on..

this is exactly what i was going to say and most likely the case. your mcat score, though good, is average or a touch below average for all of these schools so, even though your experiences got you an interview, even if you did perfectly fine on it you aren't the kind of candidate they're scrambling to get in the door because your MCAT score does nothing for most/all of these schools.

IMO if you just hang on and send strong LOI (which it seems you have done) you should get an acceptance eventually. if i remember correctly at some point schools get to see whether or not you've been accepted and one of these schools might offer you a spot off the waitlist because you'd be a sure thing.

Since you are a Cali resident, my recommendation would be NY schools. They tend to matriculate a large number of west coast students.

you really should have applied to upstate, buffalo and possibly hofstra and rochester. you're right that cornell/columbia/sinai/NYU would have been reaches for you but it seems you passed on many less competitive NY schools.

 

[obgflightdoc]

No. I applied to ~20 schools. 3 pre-interview rejections. 6 WL's post-interview. Waiting to hear from another 8-9 schools.

I'm in almost your exact situation- 20 schools, 3 pre-interview rejections, 6 interviews- I'm waitlisted at 4 of them and still waiting on one reply, but I just got accepted yesterday to one of the 6 schools I interviewed at- so don't lose hope!

Also, regarding Georgetown, I know that the Dean told us that waitlisted applications get bumped to the top of the review pile every time they receive an LOI- so keep writing them!

 

[obgflightdoc]

i doubt that it's a numbers game thing. it may be the fact that there are so many outstanding applicants and schools don't want to commit to someone that they don't know will choose their school.

I think that this is the best explanation- it's like they expect you to fall over yourself to express your undying devotion when you interview- they don't want to take a chance on an acceptance if they don't think you love them enough. But, this makes it so hard to actually seek and receive honest information about each school on interview day! Questions about a school make you seem hesitant and disinterested.

 

[ppfizenm]

on the other hand, you could come off as too self-important and arrogant.

+1

 

[CaliBalla]

It might be a good idea to mention some ongoing regular hands-on nonmedical community service in update letters, especially as Georgetown particularly looks for that type of involvement.

How much shadowing did you list? How much was office-based primary care?

20 hours of shadowing a family physician in an office-based primary care clinic.

 

[BrainBuff]

I think that this is the best explanation- it's like they expect you to fall over yourself to express your undying devotion when you interview- they don't want to take a chance on an acceptance if they don't think you love them enough. But, this makes it so hard to actually seek and receive honest information about each school on interview day! Questions about a school make you seem hesitant and disinterested.

This is so true, especially with some of the schools the OP applied to. Georgetown and Boston University get applications from almost everyone wanting to stay in the North East, even though the students may be not be really serious about matriculating. For that reason, both schools will flat out reject applicants they think are not likely to attend (based on their algorithms, considering stats and undergrad schools). You need to go all the way out showing your interest during the interview.

 

[tantacles]

Ok. I'm going to put in my two cents. Which is actually zero cents in terms of an actual reason. That is to say that your not getting into any of these medical schools might be based on myriad factors. Yes, it might be related to your interview. Yes, it might be related to your MCAT score. Yes, it might be because you come off as arrogant. It also might not be because of any of these things.

There's no meaningful answer to the question you're asking. It's great that you're concerned about the way that you're perceived and how your application comes across throughout the process; that's proof that you have enough introspective drive to try to change your behavior if it's terribly aberrant. But people have been accepted to the same schools with lower MCATs than you. With worse interviews. With terrible odor (I fear for my olfactory glands given one of the interviewees at a particular school).

If you want a real answer, wait until you don't get in this year, and then call up each school and try to wrangle yourself an answer. That's the only way you're going to get one that is actually meaningful. I'm not belittling the other post authors who have contributed to this thread, but the only people who have first-hand knowledge of why you weren't admitted are the people who didn't admit you. If you get into one of these schools off of the waitlist, who cares about your interviews? You're in! If not, do your worrying at that point. You can't change the interviews you've already done, but you can try your best not to dwell on them until you can actually figure out, for certain, what went wrong.

And if you do get into medical school and you're still worried about the interviews from those schools that didn't accept you, you have even less to lose by calling them up and saying, "Holla! What went down that you weren't happy with, bro? Was it my intense odor?" You may or may not get a straight answer, but you can certainly say you tried.

 

[tantacles]

Taking a tangent off this... OP, keep in mind 6 waitlist spots might not all be due to the same reason. For example maybe two schools were not wow'ed by your academic record enough for a straight admission, two other schools felt that your interviews were just "so-so" and the last two schools are just the "bad luck of the draw".

Yeah, that's true too. But determining which of them is which, at this point in the game, is still impossible.