Waitlisted in an MD, accepted to a DO, Question about April 30th

[1991Danny1991]

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Thanks for your help,

If by April 30th you still are not accepted to the MD school, and that MD school is telling you that will remove you from their waitlist (if you "matriculate" anywhere else); then what are you supposed to do to not lose your position on the waitlist:

1. What is Matriculation? Paying the fee upfront obviously doesn't matriculate you, what does matriculate you into a school? Does attending orientation matriculate you? So does that mean singing your name on the sign in sheet, that's what matriculates you into a school? I kind of don't get it.

2. How long can you hold on to your acceptance before "matriculating" (whatever that means); in hopes of being accepted off the waitlist? When is the matriculation date, so to speak?

3. Do you need to report your DO acceptance to ACOMAS/AMCAS, will your MD school know about it?

Edit: and the DO school has a second fee, (the first one is 250 box, the second one is like 1300 or so; unlike other DO schools, which only have 1 fee, this one divides its fees into small increments), but I have never read anywhere that the second fee is what matriculates you on any of their brochures.

The MD School is saying that matriculating into any MD or DO school will remove you from the waitlist.

 

[Jdp00921]

Matriculation means that you are formally accepting an offer of admission to one institution and your name is added as part of that class. If I understand what you're saying correctly - the MD school is telling you if you pay the 2nd DO deposit and formally accept their offer of admission, at which time your name will be added to the class roster, then the MD school will remove you from their waitlist. I'm not an adcom member but I've never heard of this before now throughout all my time on SDN - I'd be interested to hear what some adcom members would say about this.... @Goro may have some insight. (Please also correct my understanding of matriculation if need be!)

I would assume that the MD school would have absolutely no way of knowing you officially accepted a seat at a DO school. I'm pretty sure AMCAS and AACOMAS are different entities and don't communicate this information. Again, I may be wrong.

Wait for Goro's response, but hopefully I helped a little.

 

[1991Danny1991]

Matriculation means that you are formally accepting an offer of admission to one institution and your name is added as part of that class. If I understand what you're saying correctly - the MD school is telling you if you pay the 2nd DO deposit and formally accept their offer of admission, at which time your name will be added to the class roster, then the MD school will remove you from their waitlist. I'm not an adcom member but I've never heard of this before now throughout all my time on SDN - I'd be interested to hear what some adcom members would say about this.... @Goro may have some insight. (Please also correct my understanding of matriculation if need be!)

I would assume that the MD school would have absolutely no way of knowing you officially accepted a seat at a DO school. I'm pretty sure AMCAS and AACOMAS are different entities and don't communicate this information. Again, I may be wrong.

Wait for Goro's response, but hopefully I helped a little.

I don't know if paying the second fee is what matriculates you, either. Thanks for your help.

 

[Jdp00921]

Well... I think it's the combination of paying the fee and telling the school "I accept your offer...." Again, wait for someone more familiar with the process... just figured I'd offer my $0.02! Or maybe my $0.015 if what I said was wrong lol

 

[Microbug]

Matriculation means that you are formally accepting an offer of admission to one institution and your name is added as part of that class. If I understand what you're saying correctly - the MD school is telling you if you pay the 2nd DO deposit and formally accept their offer of admission, at which time your name will be added to the class roster, then the MD school will remove you from their waitlist. I'm not an adcom member but I've never heard of this before now throughout all my time on SDN - I'd be interested to hear what some adcom members would say about this.... @Goro may have some insight. (Please also correct my understanding of matriculation if need be!)

I would assume that the MD school would have absolutely no way of knowing you officially accepted a seat at a DO school. I'm pretty sure AMCAS and AACOMAS are different entities and don't communicate this information. Again, I may be wrong.

Wait for Goro's response, but hopefully I helped a little.

Incorrect. Matriculation is when you show up to first day of class. You can remain on that MD waitlist until you go to first day of class at the DO school.

 

[Jdp00921]

Incorrect. Matriculation is when you show up to first day of class. You can remain on that MD waitlist until you go to first day of class at the DO school.

SDN 1, JDP 0

 

[1991Danny1991]

Incorrect. Matriculation is when you show up to first day of class. You can remain on that MD waitlist until you go to first day of class at the DO school.

So is it just signing in when you enter the class that gets you matriculated? Like do you do anything specific on the fit's day of class that gets you matriculated?

So what about reporting to ACOMAS your acceptances? That doesn't matriculate you? You don't have to pick a school?

 

[DokterMom]

So is it just signing in when you enter the class that gets you matriculated? Like do you do anything specific on the fit's day of class that gets you matriculated?

So what about reporting to ACOMAS your acceptances? That doesn't matriculate you? You don't have to pick a school?

Put away the microscope.

What the statement means is that you're on the waitlist at the MD school until you actually begin school somewhere else. Med school admissions being what they are, if you withdraw from ABC Med School the day before school starts, ABC will be able to find someone qualified to take your place that very next day. But if you withdraw after school starts, ABC is down one student and out a good chunk of your tuition money for the year.

 

[1991Danny1991]

Put away the microscope.

What the statement means is that you're on the waitlist at the MD school until you actually begin school somewhere else. Med school admissions being what they are, if you withdraw from ABC Med School the day before school starts, ABC will be able to find someone qualified to take your place that very next day. But if you withdraw after school starts, ABC is down one student and out a good chunk of your tuition money for the year.

I see. So the schools are willing to wait until the first day of class to find out who shows up where on the first day of class?

 

[DokterMom]

I see. So the schools are willing to wait until the first day of class to find out who shows up where on the first day of class?

Per AMCAS traffic rules, you can only hold one acceptance after a certain point - 'Traffic Day', when students holding multiple acceptances have to choose just one. So after a flurry of withdrawals on Traffic Day and the subsequent ~week-long wait-list-shuffle, there are relatively few changes after that.

Students who continue to hold more than one acceptance past Traffic Day risk having that acceptance rescinded, so few break those rules. Students who comply with the rules and hold only one acceptance rarely drop it except in exigent circumstances. And then, schools look to timing when re-filling the dropped spot. A last-minute opening is likely to go to a student holding no other acceptances since that student is more likely to drop everything and GO!

 

[1991Danny1991]

Per AMCAS traffic rules, you can only hold one acceptance after a certain point - 'Traffic Day', when students holding multiple acceptances have to choose just one. So after a flurry of withdrawals on Traffic Day and the subsequent ~week-long wait-list-shuffle, there are relatively few changes after that.

Students who continue to hold more than one acceptance past Traffic Day risk having that acceptance rescinded, so few break those rules. Students who comply with the rules and hold only one acceptance rarely drop it except in exigent circumstances. And then, schools look to timing when re-filling the dropped spot. A last-minute opening is likely to go to a student holding no other acceptances since that student is more likely to drop everything and GO!

I see, wow thanks. But if I have no MD acceptances, and only DO, then the traffic rules don't apply right, so on April 30th, I am not picking one school on AMCAS, but I will probably do something similar for ACOMAS? Will the MD school know about the ACOMAS acceptance pick then? Or do they not find out anything from ACOMAS?

 

[1991Danny1991]

@1991Danny1991 you are being a very neurotic premed here so lets see if we can clear this up.

1) AACOMAS and AMCAS are completely separate and unaffiliated systems. What happens in one has nothing to do with the other. They dont know about each other. They dont care about each. So stop mixing them in your head
2) Matriculation means you actually start/physically show up at the school, usually at orientation. Once you do that, by AMCAS rules, no other school can offer you a spot. Since all this movement is tracked by AMCAS via your AMCAS ID. You will show up as "matriculated" in AMCAS system and that is the end of any. The line you read from your your waitlist school is simply the AMCAS rule.
3) You can remain on as many waitlists as you want until you actually/physically matriculate.
4) The only possible issue between DO and MD is, if you physically matriculate at a DO school and assign your loans to pay there, and then you get off an MD waitlist, the DO can make a fuss that they already have your loan money. However, if I recall correctly, several years ago the Federal DOE purposely does not disburse loan money t schools until mid to late September specifically for the reason of last minute attendance changes. The DOE and banks dont care which school you go to and once you are approved for a loan, it can be reassigned to a different school for disbursement.
5) MD schools dont wait to see who shows up first day; as @DokterMom noted, on April 30th the schools have a list of single acceptances and all other are waitlisted. If school A has accepted you and then school B offers you a waitlist position, school B must informed school A immediately. Actually, I believe the process is they inform the school before they inform you. And then you have a set time to accept/reject the offer. After July 1st I believe it is 2 days.
6) So if a school has a sudden opening right before classes start (usually over a loan issue for a student), even after orientation has begun, they can take someone off the waitlist. There are always people who have not had any acceptances who suddenly get a phone call or email on Friday saying you gave been accepted and classes start Monday.
7) Just to reiterate, AMCAS and AACOMAS are apples and oranges. Stop mixing them in that neurotic head of yours
8) if you start getting anxiety over this again, take a freezing cold shower until your turn blue then stand in front of the bathroom mirror and slap yourself hard until the felling passes

Thanks