Waitlisted ... what are you chances?

[ABC321]

Hey guys a quick question coming from someone who has no acceptances but is waitlisted at several schools...

Ok so when I look at the admissions stats on these schools they interview lets say 1000 people and accept 500...so the average acceptance after interview is about 50% for all of my waitlisted school...So my question is...when some gets waitlisted, does that mean they are no longer in that 50% category? Like do 450 people get accepted prior to waitlist and only lets say 50 get in off the waitlist?

For example does the school interview 1000 people, waitlist 550 directly after interview and accept 450 directly after interview and eventually pull off 50 from the wailist? Or....do they interview 1000 people and then lets say accept 150 (the class size) then just waitlist the next 350...of which most end up getting an acceptance offer?


I am like lost because when I look at the stats of acceptance after interview i feel confident that lets say 50% chances at 5 schools should give me 1 acceptance...but if the waitlist category isnt part of that 50% chance....then I have no data and im lost....ah

lol please help

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WayChanger]

I was under the impression that acceptance figures included people yanked off the waitlist. So, while admissions certainly isn't a random 50-50 coinflip, theoretically you should get about one acceptance for every 2 interviews. Keep in mind, however, that some schools pull a LOT of people from the waitlist (as much as half the class!), so it might actually be more likely you get in from the waitlist rather than a straight acceptance.

 

[ABC321]

I still dont get it...like are they going to accept their full class size and then just wailist everyone after that and when students start declining acceptances they just take people off the waitlist?

 

[WayChanger]

I still dont get it...like are they going to accept their full class size and then just wailist everyone after that and when students start declining acceptances they just take people off the waitlist?

No...since a lot of applicants hold multiple acceptances, no school (not even Harvard) can expect all of their accepted students to attend. Most schools accept somewhere around twice the class size. Some schools accept even more. After May 15th, applicants are only allowed to hold one acceptance, under AAMC guidelines. After that point, schools yank people from the waitlist, if spots are open. I understand some schools are a bit more rolling with waitlists...I'm not sure how those work. I think they evaluate how many suitable acceptees they have periodically in the spring, and take people off the waitlist as needed.

 

[ABC321]

So i guess the ultimate stats to have would be how many students the school intervies/accepts directly after interview/accepts off the waitlist.

I wonder what the percentages are for rejection, acceptance, waitlist...after the interview.

 

[Law2Doc]

No...since a lot of applicants hold multiple acceptances, no school (not even Harvard) can expect all of their accepted students to attend. Most schools accept somewhere around twice the class size. Some schools accept even more. After May 15th, applicants are only allowed to hold one acceptance, under AAMC guidelines. After that point, schools yank people from the waitlist, if spots are open. I understand some schools are a bit more rolling with waitlists...I'm not sure how those work. I think they evaluate how many suitable acceptees they have periodically in the spring, and take people off the waitlist as needed.

Exactly. Schools have pretty accurate guesstimates of how many people they need to accept to get close to a full class. But they don't want to overenroll if they can help it. So if they think they need to accept 500 people to ensure a full 150 person class, they will probably accept 450, and use the waitlist if needed to fill out to an even 150 at the end. Some schools take as many as half the students off the waitlist in a given year, as a lot of those accepted ultimate choose to go elsewhere. Others take just a few. A lot depends on how popular the school is in a given year, what kind of financial aid packages they give out etc. And bear in mind that people can be moving around, getting off other schools waitlists and withdrawing their acceptances, throughout the summer, so each school's class composition is actually going to be slightly in flux up until the first week of classes in August. Hope that clarifies.

 

[ABC321]

So if people say you have a 50 50 chance to be accepted after an interview...what are the odds of acceptance after you have been waitlisted? If I am on 4 waitlists...what does that mean?

I must be doing something wrong in the interview cause its 4 out of 4 for the waitlist for me.

 

[Law2Doc]

So if people say you have a 50 50 chance to be accepted after an interview...what are the odds of acceptance after you have been waitlisted? If I am on 4 waitlists...what does that mean?

I must be doing something wrong in the interview cause its 4 out of 4 for the waitlist for me.

Whether you are doing something wrong in the interview depends on what kind of interview candidate you were. If you were someone who was given an interview but needed to "wow" them, (i.e you had odds to overcome) then getting onto the waitlist isn't so bad an outcome. If you were a "shoe in" on paper going into the interview, then perhaps you interviewed poorly. Interviewing is a skill which can be improved by practice and preparation.

The percentage of folks getting in after interview is less than 50% at a lot of places. I think MSAR shows each places current post-interview percentage. Some places accept as few as 1 out of 4 interviewees. (I posted a link to a college advising premed advising site, at Amherst, a while back, which indicated to its students that the acceptance percentage to med schools after interview was at some places even as low as 10%, but folks on SDN seem confident that the number is no longer that low anyplace, and I accept that). Plus bear in mind that it is certainly possible to beat the odds and not get 1 in 2 acceptances if you are a poor interviewer or interviewing at super competitive places.

 

[ABC321]

Whether you are doing something wrong in the interview depends on what kind of interview candidate you were. If you were someone who was given an interview but needed to "wow" them, (i.e you had odds to overcome) then getting onto the waitlist isn't so bad an outcome. If you were a "shoe in" on paper going into the interview, then perhaps you interviewed poorly. Interviewing is a skill which can be improved by practice and preparation.

The percentage of folks getting in after interview is less than 50% at a lot of places. I think MSAR shows each places current post-interview percentage. Some places accept as few as 1 out of 4 interviewees. (I posted a link to a college advising premed advising site, at Amherst, a while back, which indicated to its students that the acceptance percentage to med schools after interview was at some places even as low as 10%, but folks on SDN seem confident that the number is no longer that low anyplace, and I accept that). Plus bear in mind that it is certainly possible to beat the odds and not get 1 in 2 acceptances if you are a poor interviewer or interviewing at super competitive places.

I can say that my stats won't wow them...but I still feel like out of 4 i should have gotten atleast 1 🙁 Most of the schools I have interviewed at have been between 45-62% acceptance after interviews.

 

[happydays]

you should talk to a pre-med advisor or an experienced interviewer to see what it is that you're doing wrong. Get your problems fixed before the next interview!

Some schools take 1/3 to 1/2 of their incoming class from the waitlist, so it really depends. Some schools' waitlists don't even move. Last year, UMich didn't take anyone from their waitlist and they over-enrolled! Hang in there!

If there's one school you really really want to go to, send a letter of intent. (Never send a letter of intent to two different schools, though.) This letter will say that you will attend if admitted; you won't go anywhere else, no matter what. Only write it when you're sure. Good luck!

 

[mtDNA]

you should talk to a pre-med advisor or an experienced interviewer to see what it is that you're doing wrong. Get your problems fixed before the next interview!

Some schools take 1/3 to 1/2 of their incoming class from the waitlist, so it really depends. Some schools' waitlists don't even move. Last year, UMich didn't take anyone from their waitlist and they over-enrolled! Hang in there!

If there's one school you really really want to go to, send a letter of intent. (Never send a letter of intent to two different schools, though.) This letter will say that you will attend if admitted; you won't go anywhere else, no matter what. Only write it when you're sure. Good luck!

I am in the same boat as the op. I have an acceptance to an osteopathic school, and am happy about that, but I still don't have any MD acceptances, in spite of the fact that I have interviewed at 4 different allopathic schools. I went ahead and sent a letter of intent to my first choice school (Wayne State), did that last week, so we will see what happens. Couldn't hurt.

 

[wowzer]

I am in the same boat as the op. I have an acceptance to an osteopathic school, and am happy about that, but I still don't have any MD acceptances, in spite of the fact that I have interviewed at 4 different allopathic schools. I went ahead and sent a letter of intent to my first choice school (Wayne State), did that last week, so we will see what happens. Couldn't hurt.

hey, i met you at the wayne state interview back in sepember, along with sailcazy. i got waitlisted as well, but im sure that its all about waiting...the good news is bound to come one of these days. Judging from the other interviews you have gotten, its a certainty. 🙂

 

[gary5]

One major factor is how long a school's waitlist is and how many people they expect to pull from it. If a school tends to keep a waitlist of 100 people but only pull 10, then that's 10% of the people. And it's not a 10% chance, because the top ten people have roughly a 100% chance, while the bottom 10 have roughly a 0% chance. School's typically won't say where a person is on the list. You could try asking how long their waitlist is and how many they typically pull.

I have an idea: you could post a poll asking previous applicants how many were waitlisted and accepted versus waitlisted and not accepted. That might help. I'd be curious to see the numbers.

You could also sift through the profiles on www.mdapplicants.com, using your stats to search, and see how many waitlisted's were converted to acceptances.

 

[Law2Doc]

I have an idea: you could post a poll asking previous applicants how many were waitlisted and accepted versus waitlisted and not accepted. That might help. I'd be curious to see the numbers.
QUOTE]

Even better, at one point in the distant past on SDN, people compiled a list, by school, of which schools historically pulled how many people off the waitlist. Not sure how you'd find it, but that should give you a good idea if the schools you are listed at historically use the waitlist a lot or a little.

 

[jbone]

That would be great. How do we find it???

 

[doctorFred]

i think it would be helpful if you told us which schools you were waitlisted at (i just heard tim curry's voice in my head: you've got a dangling participle!) certain schools, which many people consider to be "safety schools", accept up to three times or more of their class size, expecting that up to two thirds of the accepted students will decide to attend elsewhere. so, being on the waitlist at harvard is a lot dicier than being on the waitlist at, say, hollywood upstairs medical college.