What if you're accepted way early to your non-first choice?

[harposnarpo]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What if you interview in September and get accepted in say, October.

Now, the MSAR says this school only let's you hold on to an acceptance for 2 weeks.

And this school is say, your 12th choice. And you interview to your first choice in October.

What do you do?

 

[thegold91]

What if you interview in September and get accepted in say, October.

Now, the MSAR says this school only let's you hold on to an acceptance for 2 weeks.

And this school is say, your 12th choice. And you interview to your first choice in October.

What do you do?

Accept. You can hold on to multiple acceptances until may 15th.

 

[punkindrublic]

Yeah, you can HOLD as many acceptances as you want until May 15. It could be a real problem if you could only hold it for two weeks (after all, my school starts pretty early, and that's still 5.5 weeks away).

What the MSAR says is that if you want to hold the acceptance, you have two weeks to notify the school, otherwise they'll assume you don't want it and will give the spot to someone else.

 

[Law2Doc]

Now, the MSAR says this school only let's you hold on to an acceptance for 2 weeks.

As others have mentioned, this simply isn't the rule for US allo schools. They may ask you to put down a deposit, but cant require a binding acceptance until may.

 

[Mobius1985]

For AMCAS schools, the deposit you are asked to put down is usually $100, and if you formally give up the acceptance before 5/15, you will get the deposit back.

 

[BigRedder]

Basically it's awesome. You will be way less stressed out at your other interviews because you know that you are going to medical school. That translates into a confidence that will impress your interviewers (as long as you keep it in check). However, for everyone else's sake, don't hang onto it after you get into a school you prefer. That's just selfish.

 

[Fibroblastman]

Thanks for the clarification, I was slightly confused as well.

 

[notdeadyet]

Thanks for the clarification, I was slightly confused as well.

Some schools require you to send in a deposit within two weeks of your acceptance in order to hold it. I know this is especially true with osteopathic schools, many of which require a four figure, non-refundable deposit.

 

[seraph524]

Some schools require you to send in a deposit within two weeks of your acceptance in order to hold it. I know this is especially true with osteopathic schools, many of which require a four figure, non-refundable deposit.

Which I think is BS.

 

[notdeadyet]

Which I think is BS.

I agree. I refused to apply to those schools on principle.

 

[WinterLights]

What if you interview in September and get accepted in say, October.

Now, the MSAR says this school only let's you hold on to an acceptance for 2 weeks.

And this school is say, your 12th choice. And you interview to your first choice in October.

What do you do?

I would attend any school that I put on my list. So naturally if accepted I would accept it. However, if they provided no financial assistance, I would probably be hesitant to do so.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I agree. I refused to apply to those schools on principle.

Wow, can you tell me how you found the information regarding deposit amounts? Is it in the MSAR or on the individual schools websites? I need to skip applying to those schools...

 

[notdeadyet]

Wow, can you tell me how you found the information regarding deposit amounts? Is it in the MSAR or on the individual schools websites? I need to skip applying to those schools...

None of the allopathic med schools I applied to had this policy. It seemed pretty common at the osteopathic schools, but I was only looking at a handful, so my view might be skewed.

Take a look at the deposit requirement. If it's more than $200, look close to see if it's refundable. Some of the osteopathic schools I was considering had $1,000+ deposits. Those schools were all non-refundable. Scam.

 

[etf]

I agree. I refused to apply to those schools on principle.

why? they know that they are most likely a backup option, and that there are going to be a lot of dropped acceptances...why not capitalize on it?

 

[Bacchus]

Some schools require you to send in a deposit within two weeks of your acceptance in order to hold it. I know this is especially true with osteopathic schools, many of which require a four figure, non-refundable deposit.

These deposits are usually due after the new year sometime and some go as late as April. If you apply early you shouldn't be dropping Benjamins to hold onto acceptances.

 

[RySerr21]

don't you have control over your interview scheduling? why couldn't you just fill out your secondaries for your top choices first, send them in first, and then when asked to schedule an interview schedule it as soon as possible. if a school lower on your priority list asks you to schedule for an interview, tell them you can't until october/november/december or whatever. or does it not work so nicely in reality?

 

[LucidSplash]

don't you have control over your interview scheduling? why couldn't you just fill out your secondaries for your top choices first, send them in first, and then when asked to schedule an interview schedule it as soon as possible. if a school lower on your priority list asks you to schedule for an interview, tell them you can't until october/november/december or whatever. or does it not work so nicely in reality?

In reality-land, most schools who choose to interview you (which is not all, as getting interviews is half the battle) will dictate the date of your interview. At best, a few will give you a choice of a few dates within a discrete range.

 

[notdeadyet]

why? they know that they are most likely a backup option, and that there are going to be a lot of dropped acceptances...why not capitalize on it?

Sure. Why not just have a sliding scale where your deposit goes up $200 with each MCAT point below 30?

It's an ethics thing. Schools are free to play that game if they want, and I'm free to not bother with them.

 

[Mister Pie]

don't you have control over your interview scheduling? why couldn't you just fill out your secondaries for your top choices first, send them in first, and then when asked to schedule an interview schedule it as soon as possible. if a school lower on your priority list asks you to schedule for an interview, tell them you can't until october/november/december or whatever. or does it not work so nicely in reality?

That's not a good idea because some schools will take forever to invite you to an interview (if at all) whereas others will invite you literally within a week or two after your submission. So you could ask the schools you aren't as interested in to delay your interview until October/November/December, but for all you know, your top choice school won't invite you until January (or at all), in which case you basically delayed your interview for no reason. This might seem harmless but at the schools with rolling admissions, delaying your interview for a few months might hurt your application.

 

[Manyac86]

This happened to me last year. I had one interview in early Sptember that gave me an acceptance in October. Afterwards I didn't bother going to interviews at any school that I considered "worse." In retrospect, it was a pretty stress-free year. This first acceptance ended up being my only one too but I'm still happy as a pig in sh-t.

The only consequence is that in April/May no schools were competing over me. From what I've heard, if you hold multiple acceptances schools might increase/match other schools financial aid offers to hold onto you.