Waitlist rankings

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bufer1

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While some schools let you know your relative tier (Michigan, Yale, etc.) , some insist that their WL is "unranked"... is it just me, or does anyone else feel that this is pure bull****? I realize that some institutions like to find "similar" candidates to the one withdrawn, but how picky can they get? it seems completely inefficient and impractical to re-review each candidate every time a position opens up. it is my belief that the committees on schools that advertise "unranked" WL's actually have some sort of "tiering" or "ranking" of who they ACTUALLY consider for a position, and who they are just stringing along on the bottom of the batch. it absolutely sucks to have NO idea where you are on a 500-candidate waitlist, the least they could do is to let you know you have no shot and to get on with your life... that's what Michigan told me..effectively, by putting me on their bottom third- and i respect them for their honesty and straightforwardness. as for (cornell, MSSM, NYU, northwestern), it would benefit me more than a little to know where i am on their lists. did i mention im frustrated with my 7 waitlists? :(

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I think that the schools have unranked waitlists decide who to consider depending on who withdrew their acceptance. For example if the school favors state residents they will first look at state residents on the waitlist if another state resident withdraws.

In other words the med school to some extent try to have a diverse class. If one of the people that makes the class more diverse withdraws, they will first consider candidates with similar backgrounds to fill that gap.
 
TheRussian said:
I think that the schools have unranked waitlists decide who to consider depending on who withdrew their acceptance. For example if the school favors state residents they will first look at state residents on the waitlist if another state resident withdraws.

In other words the med school to some extent try to have a diverse class. If one of the people that makes the class more diverse withdraws, they will first consider candidates with similar backgrounds to fill that gap.

In other words, white males from CA, withdraw from Cornell ASAP! :D
 
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I agree with what TheRussian wrote, however, I believe what the OP's beef is when schools have wl of over 200 where the odds of gettin accepted from the wl are the same as gettin accepted straight.

Ex. UTMB supposedly has an unranked wl of 200 for a class of around 300. So, the adcom probably does what TheRussian said.

On the other hand, WU has an unranked wl or god knows how many--my guess is 500+ for a class of 120. I doubt they review every time someone declines, but I would think there is some organization to the process that they wont share.
 
Some med schools are a bit selfish about this: They try to keep as many people on the waitlist as possible just in case they have to dig deep into it.

Others are giving people benefits of doubts: If you update your file, you may bump yourself up the waitlist. It's too much of a hazzle to constantly tell you where you are on the waitlist.

However, I do think schools have have at least 2 tiers of waitlists. People on the lower tier lists can at least know there's virtually no chance of getting in, and can move on and settle down at another place.
 
Eraserhead, why the obsession with cornell? Go to UCSD. It's cheaper, more laid back I'm sure, and you, your stats, or your activities just don't seem like a gunner. There isn't wrong with packing up and driving down the road to a state school.
 
what do you know--southbelles post included the word gunner
 
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southbelle said:
Eraserhead, why the obsession with cornell? Go to UCSD. It's cheaper, more laid back I'm sure, and you, your stats, or your activities just don't seem like a gunner. There isn't wrong with packing up and driving down the road to a state school.
theres also nothing wrong with wanting to go to a dream school as well...esp when you have a good chance of getting in.
 
southbelle said:
Eraserhead, why the obsession with cornell? Go to UCSD. It's cheaper, more laid back I'm sure, and you, your stats, or your activities just don't seem like a gunner. There isn't wrong with packing up and driving down the road to a state school.

:eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Actually UCSD was much more gunner-like than Cornell.

You'd be happy there Southbelle.

Cornell is the extreme end of PBL, UCSD is extreme traditional lecture based. Cornell students were extremely happy, UCSD students were neutral. Cornell has great financial aid, UCSD isn't sure how much money they will have at all. I'm not a gunner (both schools are H/P/F though) and actually Cornell is not much more expensive with fee increases and considering the high cost of living in La Jolla (Cornell has dorms, we're talking 350 a month versus like 700)and the fact that I have no way to buy a car for San Diego. I prefer public transit and a more vertical city, etc.
 
Eraserhead said:
Actually UCSD was much more gunner-like than Cornell.

You'd be happy there Southbelle.

Cornell is the extreme end of PBL, UCSD is extreme traditional lecture based. Cornell students were extremely happy, UCSD students were neutral. Cornell has great financial aid, UCSD isn't sure how much money they will have at all. I'm not a gunner (both schools are H/P/F though) and actually Cornell is not much more expensive with fee increases and considering the high cost of living in La Jolla (Cornell has dorms, we're talking 350 a month versus like 700)and the fact that I have no way to buy a car for San Diego. I prefer public transit and a more vertical city, etc.

Well cornell's averages are higher, and I know a few true gunners who go there and I figured there were many more. UCSD being a non-UCLA/UCSF
UC school I figured they weren't quite as gunnerish. Have to admit I don't know any of their students though. I guess the desire of having a car depends on the person. You're right that it is possible to like nyc more than san diego.

But concerning pbl, I don't think it's a good idea to equate lecture schools with gunner philosophy and pbl with non-gunner. Lecture based can be extremely non-gunnerish if you take the right approach(don't go to class). With pbl sometimes there are 'required' group meetings and such. In my opinion a pbl environment fosters gunner behavior more than a lecture based environment. But you know more about cornell's pbl than me.

Whatever you do, don't let people at either school make more you more gunnerish. I don't think you're the type of guy who can be converted easily based on your college record, but still be careful. Sometimes you can fall in the trap and it takes a long time to get out.....good luck with the big red though!
 
southbelle said:
Eraserhead, why the obsession with cornell? Go to UCSD. It's cheaper, more laid back I'm sure, and you, your stats, or your activities just don't seem like a gunner. There isn't wrong with packing up and driving down the road to a state school.

southbelle said:
Well cornell's averages are higher, and I know a few true gunners who go there and I figured there were many more. UCSD being a non-UCLA/UCSF UC school I figured they weren't quite as gunnerish. Have to admit I don't know any of their students though. I guess the desire of having a car depends on the person. You're right that it is possible to like nyc more than san diego.

Whatever you do, don't let people at either school make more you more gunnerish. I don't think you're the type of guy who can be converted easily based on your college record, but still be careful. Sometimes you can fall in the trap and it takes a long time to get out.....good luck with the big red though!

if i hear the term "gunner" one more time... and now as an adjective too?
I'd be interested to know how southbelle has determined that:
southbelle said:
Eraserhead,.. you, your stats, or your activities just don't seem like a gunner.

and that:
southbelle said:
I don't think you're the type of guy who can be converted easily based on your college record, but still be careful.

you guys must know each other; or maybe southbelle's some sort of guidance counselor gone wrong. this is why i don't advertise on mdapplicants.
 
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I often see sorta anti-social people writing something along this line in their essays: "I'm an enthusiastic person and I enjoy working with people. I try to work together with others as a team and forsee any conflicts to solve them so the team will work smoothly"...it's almost like they realize what they weaknesses are and try to cover them up by claiming otherwise. Usually these claims are accompanied with no example or solid evidence.

Southbelle, your claim of NOT being a gunner just reminds me of that...
 
CalBeE said:
I often see sorta anti-social people writing something along this line in their essays: "I'm an enthusiastic person and I enjoy working with people. I try to work together with others as a team and forsee any conflicts to solve them so the team will work smoothly"...it's almost like they realize what they weaknesses are and try to cover them up by claiming otherwise. Usually these claims are accompanied with no example or solid evidence.

Southbelle, your claim of NOT being a gunner just reminds me of that...

CalBeE, I claim to be a hard core former gunner. I'm going to my state school next year(a non top 25 school). I think that reinforces the fact that I'm certainly not a gunner now.
 
southbelle said:
CalBeE, I claim to be a hard core former gunner. I'm going to my state school next year(a non top 25 school). I think that reinforces the fact that I'm certainly not a gunner now.
not really.
 
southbelle said:
CalBeE, I claim to be a hard core former gunner. I'm going to my state school next year(a non top 25 school). I think that reinforces the fact that I'm certainly not a gunner now.

If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

If I was a gunner I'd go to the worst school possible and thus increase my chances of being #1 in the class. But thats just what I'd do.
 
exmike said:
If I was a gunner I'd go to the worst school possible and thus increase my chances of being #1 in the class. But thats just what I'd do.


AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAhahahahahahahaha!! :laugh:
 
I totaly agree with all of this unranked crap being total BS. I said this in another post, but how on Earth can you NOT prefer one applicant to another? It just doesn't make sense! Were the interviewers paying attention? Did they review the applications fully? If they're having such a hard time deciding- assuming they are not just lazy or intentionally deceptive - give us a call, ask us more questions! I will drive my behind over there for another interview if it means the difference of getting me in!
And no, I'm not going to end this frustrated post with a dumb, over used [/rant] symbol. I prefer to be original in my b!TcHing!
 
they did call me and i still got placed on the waitlist.

i dunno...for me at least when it comes to the ranked waitlists i get afraid that they like to refer to gpa and mcat to rank...which would work against me. i rather have an equal chance just like the next guy when it comes to getting taken off the list.
 
exmike said:
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

If I was a gunner I'd go to the worst school possible and thus increase my chances of being #1 in the class. But thats just what I'd do.
Reminds me of John Nash's Game Theory :D

And BTW, SouthBelle, there's no need for you to disprove yourself as a gunner...I mean we don't even know you personally or goto your school...no need to try too hard to convince us.
 
jlee9531 said:
they did call me and i still got placed on the waitlist.

i dunno...for me at least when it comes to the ranked waitlists i get afraid that they like to refer to gpa and mcat to rank...which would work against me. i rather have an equal chance just like the next guy when it comes to getting taken off the list.
You're a "Splendid one to behold", you ain't got "equal chance" as the next random guy on the waitlist!!
 
CalBeE said:
You're a "Splendid one to behold", you ain't got "equal chance" as the next random guy on the waitlist!!
highly doubt geff peruses the boards...haha and if he did...i hit him up with some good karma. ;)
 
exmike said:
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

If I was a gunner I'd go to the worst school possible and thus increase my chances of being #1 in the class. But thats just what I'd do.

Me too. If i really cared about being #1, I'd go to one of them thar slacker schools. :cool:
 
bumnpgdfg fdgfd
 
CalBeE said:
"I'm an enthusiastic person and I enjoy working with people. I try to work together with others as a team and forsee any conflicts to solve them so the team will work smoothly"

:eek: I think I put something like that in mine :(

... except for the "forsee any conflicts" part. If they can't deal with it, tough! :smuggrin:

:laugh:
 
I think I would actually rather be on a waitlist than on these alternate lists :(
At least with the wl, you know that people were rejected post-interview.

It seems like with these hold/alternate lists, everybody that wasn't immediately accepted post-interview, just gets to sit and wait. Since there are sooooo many people on it, your chances are lower than what you think they would be.

Also, it gives people false hope? ?I?m on the waitlist? So I have a shot still??? ?Of course you do. But remember, we don?t send out ANY post-interview rejections until class starts in the fall. Have a nice summer.? *adcom member laughs uncontrollably on other end of phone while staring at applicant?s file with letters ?REJECT 11/02/03? stamped in big red letters on the front*
 
Does anyone know how many candidates WashU has on its waitlist?

Thanks!
 
Mr Reddly said:
I think I would actually rather be on a waitlist than on these alternate lists :(
At least with the wl, you know that people were rejected post-interview.

It seems like with these hold/alternate lists, everybody that wasn't immediately accepted post-interview, just gets to sit and wait. Since there are sooooo many people on it, your chances are lower than what you think they would be.

Also, it gives people false hope? ?I?m on the waitlist? So I have a shot still??? ?Of course you do. But remember, we don?t send out ANY post-interview rejections until class starts in the fall. Have a nice summer.? *adcom member laughs uncontrollably on other end of phone while staring at applicant?s file with letters ?REJECT 11/02/03? stamped in big red letters on the front*
Hey guys, is there a difference between an alternate list and a waitlist....i've heard many people use these words interchangeably??
 
The waitlist phenomenon is one of the most quirky aspects of the whole med school admissions process. To me 'alternate list' and 'waitlist' are more or less the same thing. Very few schools are upfront with their applicants about how exactly the process works. I agree that schools that claim to have an 'unranked' list are flat out lying. They must use some kind of reasoning when deciding who to pull off the list. The procedure at SLU is only slightly better. They openly admit to having a ranked list but refuse to give applicants any idea of their position on the list :eek:
 
I know how you feel Bufer1. I am on the waitlist at my top choice school and when I went in to talk to the dean, he said they have their waitlist ranked by the beginning of April, but they won't tell applicants where they are on the list. He said they have found it better for people not to know. His exmaple was what if you are number 15 on the list and find out they have room for only 14? Then you go crazy playing the "what if" game. Maybe they think some nut will start knocking off their fellow waitlisters. If they think I suck, I would rather know, but I just try to not think about it. Not doing very good, but trying. :D
 
I guess thats why they dont tell you the rank, maybe they are afraid you will go crazy and hunt down the ones ahead of you.

I would much rather know that I am number 161 out of 161 than spend the whole summer thinking the phone might ring or watching my inbox thinking that I may be number 15 on the list.

May 15th isnt even here...not sure if I will make it
 
Another reason that waitlist is "unranked" (but applications are reviewed in a certain order) is the school may be interested in maintaining a certain diversity...like if too many humanities majors withdrew, they may want to accept a humanities major off the waitlist...similar thing applies to ethnicity, undergraduate college/geographically location, etc.
 
chocolateshake said:
Does anyone know how many candidates WashU has on its waitlist?

You and I are on the same boat my friend.........waitlisted, with NO CLUE of how many of us there are or where we stand. From what I have read on SDN, the waitlist seems to be a rather large number exceeding 200 (I've even heard the number 500 being thrown about). Its absolutely killing me......i wish they'd let us know where we stand +pissed+
 
How do the waitlist work for the ones that are ranked? How do they go about ranking? By grades? By experience? By the person overall? Do they think, well if only there were one more spot, then this person would get in, so that person is number one on the waitlist??? And however they do rank it, once spots do open up and they want to take people off the waitlist, do they open your file again, or just pull the first person off, then the second, and so on?

I wish we had more insight as to this waitlist phenomenon. :cool:
 
I think the way the list is ranked is by having every committee member give you a score on a scale of 1 to 10 or something like that based on your whole application. Then they either add all the scores or average them or something and then when a spot opens up the person with the highest score gets offered that spot.
 
littledoc2be said:
How do the waitlist work for the ones that are ranked? How do they go about ranking? By grades? By experience? By the person overall? Do they think, well if only there were one more spot, then this person would get in, so that person is number one on the waitlist??? And however they do rank it, once spots do open up and they want to take people off the waitlist, do they open your file again, or just pull the first person off, then the second, and so on?

I wish we had more insight as to this waitlist phenomenon. :cool:
if you are ranked the adcom will meet and rank their applicants on the waitlist to a criteria that is school specific...just like their admissions process. once you are ranked numerically, and they need to take people off the list...then they just go down the ranked list one by one.

my friend was on ranked waitlists last year and i was there worrying with him...2 of the schools at least told him where he was so he was trying to extrapolate to see if he had a chance to get off. but its a nerveracking experience to call every week to see how much you have gone up the list...
 
I know CU ranks its waitlist by a mechanism similar to the following: The interview is semi blind so they see your personal statement, activities, undergrad attended, and biographical information. After the interview the interviewer provides a numerical score on how strong an applicant you are. Then the interviewer sees your complete application (including courses, GPA's, and MCAT's) and provides another numerical score. Then the adcomm reviews your file with input from the interviewer and provides a third numerical score. All of these scores are added up and the top ~105 in state and the top ~17 out of state applicants are accepted. Then the waitlist is counted down thereafter until a certain amount of waitlisters are reached. The waitlist is divided into thirds to let individual students know a relative position. I am sure other schools with a ranked waitlist use a similar mechanism of providing numerical scores to applicants.
 
the school that I am waitlisted on ranks the list and has three lists. When you call they will tell you what half or third you are in and on what list. I know that I am on the top half of the first list, the one that they start taking off from. But what I want to know is if when spots open up, do they start with #1 and work their way through, or does the committee meet again and maybe adjust the list?
 
littledoc2be said:
the school that I am waitlisted on ranks the list and has three lists. When you call they will tell you what half or third you are in and on what list. I know that I am on the top half of the first list, the one that they start taking off from. But what I want to know is if when spots open up, do they start with #1 and work their way through, or does the committee meet again and maybe adjust the list?
they prolly start with #1.
 
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