Waitlist Support Group 2017-2018

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dr.dareyou said:
Thinking back to my interview at my top choice, and the emails after that with my interviewer and some other profs there...they were so supportive and gave me such great vibes. Having missed multiple waves of acceptances, I'm just like, were you all just lying to my face fam???
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I interviewed students for my undergrad this year and it helped me to realize that the people who interviewed me for med school had very little impact on my actual acceptance - they could write the most glowing reviews, but ultimately the acceptance decision came down to so many factors. So they probably really liked you, but the final decision is out of their hands.


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DBC03 said:
I interviewed students for my undergrad this year and it helped me to realize that the people who interviewed me for med school had very little impact on my actual acceptance - they could write the most glowing reviews, but ultimately the acceptance decision came down to so many factors. So they probably really liked you, but the ultimate decision is out of their hands.
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I hear you, and thanks all for the encouraging responses. I interviewed students at my undergrad too, and have close to little bearing to their acceptances too besides pointing out red flags, the initial yes/no etc...but like, these were voting members of the committee and the dean of admissions that said these things...i just don't get it.
 
dr.dareyou said:
would you ever (not like you, literally, but like a collective 'you') or any of our faculty colleagues ever give someone false hope during the interview about their strength as a candidate? To the point of talking about potential mentorship, internships and faculty led study trips that you foresee this candidate participating in were they to come to your school? (I don't mean this as in bribes)
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Interviewers are specifically trained not to give the applicant a "prognosis," for good or ill.
It is reasonable to make opportunities that may be of interest to a candidate known during the interview, though. The interview interaction is an assessment and recruitment tool for both participants! Interviewers have no way of knowing what a final decision will be so it is good to be pleasant and informative (without giving a false sense of the outcome).
 
dr.dareyou said:
I hear you, and thanks all for the encouraging responses. I interviewed students at my undergrad too, and have close to little bearing to their acceptances too besides pointing out red flags, the initial yes/no etc...but like, these were voting members of the committee and the dean of admissions that said these things...i just don't get it.
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This probably comes down to how large the committee is - if it’s very large (which is likely), then they could have been overpowered by the other members. It’s such an odd process...


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so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
 
Arturiase said:
4 ii 2 waitlist 1 reject and 1 pending still ...

I’m so done with this crappp just dreading filling out qmcas again
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dr.dareyou said:
so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
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Remember adcom members are only seeing a reflection of you from stats, an application, and a short interview. They don’t see the whole person and can’t ever know for sure how you’ll do in med school. If you end up at that school, use the opportunity to show who you are and prove that you deserve to be there and will be a capable doctor.
 
dr.dareyou said:
so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
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These people would only" know you" on paper based on what you describe above therefore their opinion could easily change when they meet you in person. Further, at least in my opinion, I think adcom people would be voting against you due the large amount of competition and the fact that there are better candidates, not necessarily because they dislike you. Also, you are waitlisted not rejected- they could've rejected you if they wanted to
 
dr.dareyou said:
so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
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The way I see it is that there are so many people qualified to become a doctor, that decision-making can afford to nitpick minor fallings of an applicant. If you get in somewhere, that means that they believe you are qualified, but could have been better in some regard which they could afford to wait on because of the applicat pool.

These people don't dislike you, they just see that somebody has worked harder than you and want to reward people appropriately. If some adcom actually dislikes you, then that speaks more to their character, not yours.
 
Oddball1221 said:
worked harder
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I agree but I wouldn’t say that any one has worked harder than anyone else objectively. It’s obvious that this process is stacked against low SES and they may or may not take that into consideration and I would argue people of low SES work harder than others but that’s my opinion. But in the case of the interview, the chemistry between 2 people really determines a lot of your future and maybe as an interviewee you weren’t everything in person as you are on paper. this is probably my case as I’m a modest person and interviewing is my weakness.
 
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dr.dareyou said:
so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
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I don't care, I'll prove it to them. I just want to get in!
 
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gyngyn said:
Interviewers are specifically trained not to give the applicant a "prognosis," for good or ill.
It is reasonable to make opportunities that may be of interest to a candidate known during the interview, though. The interview interaction is an assessment and recruitment tool for both participants! Interviewers have no way of knowing what a final decision will be so it is good to be pleasant and informative (without giving a false sense of the outcome).
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I wish my one of my interviewers did this. At the end of one of my faculty interviews he said "your gonna get in" 4-6 weeks later I was placed on the wait-list and still there. 🙁
 
SCN1a said:
I agree but I wouldn’t say that any one has worked harder than anyone else. It’s obvious that this process is stacked against low SES and they may or may not take that into consideration and I would argue people of low SES work harder than others but that’s my opinion. But in the case of the interview, the chemistry between 2 people really determines a lot of your future and maybe as an interviewee you weren’t everything on paper that you could have been but this is probably my case as I’m a modest person and interviewing is my weakness.
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I agree with you. From my premed experience, I completely lacked any mentorship and guidance until I found SDN, and even then SDN is limited in how much it can help. I see other kids who have well connected parents and mentors in medicine doing way better than I even thought was possible.

I've thought about this a lot and discussed it with my family, but the best advice I've gotten is that you should compare yourself to who you were, and expect of yourself in comparison to peers in your situation. I'm proud of how far I've come, but I recognize that I still have a long way to go, and a lot to learn.
 
Oddball1221 said:
I agree with you. From my premed experience, I completely lacked any mentorship and guidance until I found SDN, and even then SDN is limited in how much it can help. I see other kids who have well connected parents and mentors in medicine doing way better than I even thought was possible.

I've thought about this a lot and discussed it with my family, but the best advice I've gotten is that you should compare yourself to who you were, and expect of yourself in comparison to peers in your situation. I'm proud of how far I've come, but I recognize that I still have a long way to go, and a lot to learn.
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Excellent attitude to have man I’ll definitely use this going forward thanks I’m trying my best not to feel worthless as a part of this whole process and this really helped especially with 0 acceptances on my plate
 
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SCN1a said:
But in the case of the interview, the chemistry between 2 people really determines a lot of your future...
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Absolutely. I’ve seen absolutely massive differences between interviewers and interview styles at the same school. I’m not gonna sit here and complain about it being unfair that one person gets a highly interactive, emotive and friendly interviewer versus the other person who gets someone who was late, doesn’t look at them and grills them on inconsequential details but this can absolutely make or break an interviewee. That’s why I’m all in favor of more objective interview styles with either set questions or MMI format.
 
~ME~ said:
I'd say the process is stacked against people who more recently decided to pursue medicine. We lack the whole "I've wanted to do this all my life and thus have checked all the appropriate boxes and more to stand out."
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Aren’t most careers like that?


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dr.dareyou said:
so my point to raising this is, even after this tumultuous wait, if I were blessed enough to get admitted, how do I not even slightly be concerned about the rest of the members of the large ad-committee who didn't think i had any business being a student at their med school? some of those members have to be professors that teach/dictate opportunities, letters of rec, right?
I guess to sum this up, if the confidence of one of their colleagues wasn't convincing enough, what business do i have attending that school?
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Prove them wrong for only wait listing you in the first place
 
AddisonMontgomery said:
Have you heard anything from Saint Louis University?
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If there is no mention, I didn't see it. That said, we don't have a whole lot of overlap with SLU, so there could be a lot of movement there and we wouldn't see it...
 
Hey @gyngyn do you know/heard anything about North Dakota? Thanks in advance.
 
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@gyngyn Before waitlist traffic season even officially began, I'd read back on a few of the waitlist threads from previous years.

I notice how you get asked the same questions year after and year and sometimes multiple times in the same year and I notice how you always patiently (sometimes snidely too - but who can fault you) respond to each one.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we appreciate you for all you do for us anxiety ridden (and sometimes ungrateful) premeds


You are the real OG!
 
gyngyn said:
If there is no mention, I didn't see it. That said, we don't have a whole lot of overlap with SLU, so there could be a lot of movement there and we wouldn't see it...
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Hi @gyngyn do you know if there is movement in the UC schools and USC?
 
hi @gyngyn do you know if either Perelman or Hopkins have started to move?
 
When the school states the waitlist is unranked, how do they decide who gets off the waitlist? Specifically USC LOL

Thanks!
 
buckoh24 said:
Prove them wrong for only wait listing you in the first place
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@dr.dareyou
Edit: tag

I’d like to offer some insights on this idea of having ‘no business being there.’ I see waitlist as ‘we’d love to have you if/when there is space.’ They don’t waitlist unqualified people they don’t want at their school, i.e. that have ‘no business going there’, that’s what rejections are for.

They love you, but at the end of the day they only have so much space. When space clears up, it may become your turn. They could love 10 equally qualified people who the committee all agree belong there but only have 1 spot there. So each has ‘business going there,’ they just have to wait there turn. The original acceptances aren’t the only people the committee decided have ‘business being there.’
 
Are the people talking about the dean of admissions telling everyone they're great etc. referring to UVM?
 
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JungleeBilli said:
Yaaaasssss !!! Congratulations. I can hear thatthat sigh of relief all the way from here. Was rooting hard for you
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Thank you!!! I think people in europe can hear my sigh of relief lol
 
Well yesterday was a big day for UCSD. I'm talking double digits!
Multiple accepts at Drew, and UCSF as well.
There were also new acceptances at Cornell Columbia, and GW.
 
gyngyn said:
Well yesterday was a big day for UCSD. I'm talking double digits!
Multiple accepts at Drew, and UCSF as well.
There were also new acceptances at Cornell Columbia, and GW.
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Any news on mizzou or vcu?
 
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gyngyn said:
Well yesterday was a big day for UCSD. I'm talking double digits!
Multiple accepts at Drew, and UCSF as well.
There were also new acceptances at Cornell Columbia, and GW.
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Do you know how many people were taken off the wait list at Cornell?
 
Lurker here... I'm starting to feel really depressed. Currently waitlisted at three schools, no acceptances. Two of the schools have had WL movement and the third told all WL-ers not to expect any movement until June. I've done everything I can - sent updates to all three, letter of intent and some phone calls to my first choice, but even that isn't enough. I'm feeling unwanted and unqualified (not great for the constant imposter syndrome, amiright?). I'm fearful because I'll need to retake the mcat (my test date was too long ago to reapply this upcoming cycle) and find a new job (I'm miserable at my current one). Just wanted to express my frustration in a forum of solidarity.
 
drkks1516 said:
Just got my first acceptance from 6 waitlists!
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DrNever said:
Lurker here... I'm starting to feel really depressed. Currently waitlisted at three schools, no acceptances. Two of the schools have had WL movement and the third told all WL-ers not to expect any movement until June. I've done everything I can - sent updates to all three, letter of intent and some phone calls to my first choice, but even that isn't enough. I'm feeling unwanted and unqualified (not great for the constant imposter syndrome, amiright?). I'm fearful because I'll need to retake the mcat (my test date was too long ago to reapply this upcoming cycle) and find a new job (I'm miserable at my current one). Just wanted to express my frustration in a forum of solidarity.
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me too 🙁
 
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