Waitlist Support Group 2017-2018

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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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in the same boat homie 🙁
 
I haven’t seen anything here about Boston University. Is anyone here on their WL or has heard anything about movement? As well, Penn State?
 
I got an email today from a director of admissions asking me to confirm my interest in staying on their waitlist (even though I've already confirmed this back when I was waitlisted)-- any idea as to why a school would do this? Has anyone else had experience with this and then was ultimately accepted?
 
md4dayz said:
I got an email today from a director of admissions asking me to confirm my interest in staying on their waitlist (even though I've already confirmed this back when I was waitlisted)-- any idea as to why a school would do this? Has anyone else had experience with this and then was ultimately accepted?
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Because no one ever takes themselves off a waitlist! We have folks accepted to Harvard still holding a spot on the waitlist.
 
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I thought "traffic day" was way hyped up. None of my friends (myself included, haha) got any acceptances after traffic day. But there were so many people holding multiple acceptances that I have to ask myself "HOW!!!!!"

Do any of you guys know if this year has been atypical? And why?
 
gyngyn said:
No one ever takes themselves off a waitlist! We have folks accepted to Harvard still holding a spot on the waitlist.
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... what tier of school are you at? Or are you a school known to give crazy financial aid?
 
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3toedsloth said:
I thought "traffic day" was way hyped up. None of my friends (myself included, haha) got any acceptances after traffic day. But there were so many people holding multiple acceptances that I have to ask myself "HOW!!!!!"

Do any of you guys know if this year has been atypical? And why?
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There has been quite a bit of waitlist movement for May. Perhaps a bit more than usual compared to recent years.
Traffic day usually depletes most (but not all) of the excess acceptances. Waitlist movement at any school does not start until the excess is depleted. This can take weeks to months, depending on the goals of the school.
 
gyngyn said:
There has been quite a bit of waitlist movement for May. Perhaps a bit more than usual compared to recent years.
Traffic day usually depletes most (but not all) of the excess acceptances. Waitlist movement at any school does not start until the excess is depleted. This can take weeks to months, depending on the goals of the school.
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I know its probably school dependent, but do most schools try and balance gender ratios as a top priority? I randomly looked at one of the facebook groups for a school I'm WL at and from the past few weeks 45/50 people added are female! Just curious although that number does include some current students definitely
 
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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You’re 100% not alone in this I feel the same way some times and we’re pretty much in the same boat. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you and you can keep yours for me. We got this.
 
boogiecousins94 said:
I know its probably school dependent, but do most schools try and balance gender ratios as a top priority? I randomly looked at one of the facebook groups for a school I'm WL at and from the past few weeks 45/50 people added are female! Just curious although that number does include some current students definitely
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If you’re talking about USF remember that it’s current students and the class of 2021 DPT students
 
Basil246 said:
If you’re talking about USF remember that it’s current students and the class of 2021 DPT students
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haha yes! but no I had no idea that group included that too, I forgot that they took the same classes first year etc to some extent but didn't realize the groups were combined. I wonder how full the class is then since that number in the FB group is pretty low (other ones where I'm WL are at least 2x the class size)
 
boogiecousins94 said:
haha yes! but no I had no idea that group included that too, I forgot that they took the same classes first year etc to some extent but didn't realize the groups were combined. I wonder how full the class is then since that number in the FB group is pretty low (other ones where I'm WL are at least 2x the class size)
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I know! I had forgotten about it too until a current student reminded me of it. Yeah I had been trying to gauge possible waitlist movement by the group size but it’s pretty hard to do that here
 
boogiecousins94 said:
I know its probably school dependent, but do most schools try and balance gender ratios as a top priority? I randomly looked at one of the facebook groups for a school I'm WL at and from the past few weeks 45/50 people added are female! Just curious although that number does include some current students definitely
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A very unbalanced sex ratio would certainly be considered in drawing from an unranked waitlist (from similarly qualified candidates).
 
Paris569 said:
Sorry if this was already discussed, but what and when is traffic day
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Traffic day is the day in which applicants with multiple acceptances must choose one school to attend while withdrawing from all others. You can stay on WLs on as many schools as you want, but you can only have one acceptance. This year it was April 30th (last Monday). If you get off of a WL after this time, you will have to decide within 5 days (I think?) between the two schools. Repeat till you only have one school.
 
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Does anyone know whats up with RFU? Feels like there have been few acceptances, mostly waitlists, yet little movement post traffic day?
 
So, why do you think medical schools call people on the waitlist to make an offer? Why not just send an email? Are they trying to gauge your level of enthusiasm before putting anything in writing?
 
DosageMTP said:
So, why do you think medical schools call people on the waitlist to make an offer? Why not just send an email? Are they trying to gauge your level of enthusiasm before putting anything in writing?
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Yup. They want to keep their acceptance rates low. I’m assuming that’s also why they email and ask if you still want to remain on the waitlist. They don’t want to make offers to people who arent going to say yes.
 
DosageMTP said:
So, why do you think medical schools call people on the waitlist to make an offer? Why not just send an email? Are they trying to gauge your level of enthusiasm before putting anything in writing?
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grateful_phys said:
Yup. They want to keep their acceptance rates low. I’m assuming that’s also why they email and ask if you still want to remain on the waitlist. They don’t want to make offers to people who arent going to say yes.
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Isn't verbal offer of admission count as an acceptance according to AAMC? Or do you think they ask in a different way to make it not count or not report it if people say no?
 
DosageMTP said:
So, why do you think medical schools call people on the waitlist to make an offer? Why not just send an email? Are they trying to gauge your level of enthusiasm before putting anything in writing?
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They probably want immediate feedback to gauge your likelihood of accepting.
 
boogiecousins94 said:
Isn't verbal offer of admission count as an acceptance according to AAMC? Or do you think they ask in a different way to make it not count or not report it if people say no?
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I have no clue. Maybe @gyngyn can offer expert opinion. Mine was merely what I’ve heard and I’m not sure it’s for sure the truth.
 
boogiecousins94 said:
Isn't verbal offer of admission count as an acceptance according to AAMC? Or do you think they ask in a different way to make it not count or not report it if people say no?
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asking people to reaffirm their interest in staying on a waitlist is not exactly an offer of admission, both verbal or written.
 
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drchs said:
I haven’t seen anything here about Boston University. Is anyone here on their WL or has heard anything about movement? As well, Penn State?
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Also curious about BU if anyone has any info. This is my only waitlist :/
 
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Edit: this is a copy of my letter of intent
 
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I’m on 5 WL’s at UCONN, Quinnipiac, Vermont, WVU, and Nova Southeastern. The threads have for the most part been silent. Anyone hear anything from these schools?
 
Is waitlist movement still going on? I feel like the peak has finished at most schools.
 
5sosfan said:
Is waitlist movement still going on? I feel like the peak has finished at most schools.
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From what I can tell some schools adcom haven’t even met yet to tabulate the waitlist. Case in point: Dartmouth (Geisel) hasn’t had any WL movement and they will meet soon to move their WL nor has UCLA as far as I can tell (though this may be due to over acceptance than the adcom not meeting yet in UCLA’s case)
 
SCN1a said:
From what I can tell some schools adcom haven’t even met yet to tabulate the waitlist. Case in point: Dartmouth (Geisel) hasn’t had any WL movement and they will meet soon to move their WL nor has UCLA as far as I can tell (though this may be due to over acceptance than the adcom not meeting yet in UCLA’s case)
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Adding in Stony Brook, Rochester (as per the waitlist tracker)
 
Paris569 said:
This is the best thing I’ve read all week
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It honestly might be better for a school to wait a little- if they do it right away (before other, "better" schools) a lot of the people they accept could just dip anyway and go to better schools, then they'd have to find people again. I'm sure this happens regardless quite often but some places maybe start later to try and avoid it? Idk haha- I also assume unranked WL may take a little longer
 
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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I may have had a similar experience like you. The pre-med program at my school was as close to the point of non-existence that you can get. Fortunately, I also talked with my family about this early on, and I realized that I was going to have to go it alone and be my own advisor. When the pre-med dean spoke to the group junior yr - it was the first time we saw her since first sem freshman yr. At this meeting, she explained to everyone what they should have done by then. There were at least two students out of 30 who said they just wasted the last three years, because they weren't on track.
I also don't have any medical connections via family and friends, and I think that was the toughest part, because it was difficult to get my foot in the door for experience.
You have a great attitude and approach to this, and it helps to know that my experience with undergrad wasn't unique compared to the entire appliant pool. Good luck with your future!
 
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Hi all! I’ve been following (but never posting on) this thread for a while. I just got MY FIRST ACCEPTANCE yesterday after being on 7 WL. I am so excited and so hopeful for everyone else on this thread! Thanks for all the inspiration and positivity because I really needed it after waiting for what seems like an eternity. Good luck to you all!
 
Howdy from the Texas side:
There have been waitlist offers from all the Texas schools (10 now!) except Dell and Texas Tech Paul Foster. Most of the offers have come from UTSW, Baylor, and Texas Tech. More action to come as folks holding a spot get their new WL offers and need to choose.
 
wysdoc said:
Howdy from the Texas side:
There have been waitlist offers from all the Texas schools (10 now!) except Dell and Texas Tech Paul Foster. Most of the offers have come from UTSW, Baylor, and Texas Tech. More action to come as folks holding a spot get their new WL offers and need to choose.
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How is the UTMB waitlist movement?
 
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