Waitlist vs. Research Job

you do not want to withdraw that waitlist at all...even if you are the last possible applicant on the list, do not withdraw it...you would go to the school if accepted, no? thats why you applied there?

waitlist means > 0% chance of being accepted this year, and withdrawing it = 0% chance...and since your ultimate goal is to go to medical school do not pull it

as for the research position, you could explain your situation, im sure they would be understanding, see if you can work something out with the PI

 

If you absolutely, positively, in no way want to go to the medical school you are waitlisted at, you should withdrawl. Why? Because if you are accepted and then turn it down, you then have to explain why you turned down an acceptance the next application cycle. That won't necessarily look good.

However, that being said, if you have just small doubts about attending the school, hold out for the acceptance (and I think that if you are open about this possibility to the PI, they will be understanding and able to work something out). While your opportunities sound great for the upcoming year, there is no telling what would happen the next time around. Assuming everything works out, you most likely would be a more attractive applicant, but who knows...

If things are going to be difficult potentially living far away from you and your wife's families, then that could be good reason to give it another go in a year. In that case, stick to paragraph #1. Think though that you still have residency to deal with and with that another chance to come closer to home (or also maybe be forced to go away depending on how things pan out).

Good luck.

 

just wanted to add that i've been having trouble finding jobs for this summer because i can't confidently give that commitment for the whole summer... It's a weird state to be in...

 

That's relatively understandable, especially if there's training involved. I'm applying for the 2008 cycle, and I had serious trouble finding a job because I couldn't commit for at least 2 years, which is ridiculous since I was applying for research tech jobs and I have 4 years of research experience... I'm already trained!

 

Will you be under contract for 1 year or is this "at will" employment? At will employment means you could be terminated for any reason or no reason at all at any time. See http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2001/01/art1full.pdf for exceptions by State.

Take the research job. Given your current situation, you have every intention of being there for a year. Stay on the wait list if you would go to that med school if called. Drop that waitlist if you've decided that you would not want to go to that school given your current circumstances. In the unlikely event that you get off the waitlist, you hand in your resignation. In the unlikely event that you win $45 million in the lottery, would you work the rest of the year? You can be sure that in the unlikely event that your research team lost its funding, they would fire you so you are even. They expect you to stay, you expect to stay but one never knows what might happen that is unlikely and unexpected.

 

You may also want to ensure that your new job will be willing to give you some time off to go to interviews, etc, if you're going to reapply.