When do waitlists start moving?

[MDRus]

is there any need to start pestering my waitlist schools now, or do they not start turning to them until the spring when they have interviewed all/most of the applicants?

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[Johannen]

is there any need to start pestering my waitlist schools now, or do they not start turning to them until the spring when they have interviewed all/most of the applicants?

Scary answer?

Sometimes, they don't.

 

[MDRus]

Scary answer?

Sometimes, they don't.

i don't even get that. if you mean that some schools never turn to their waitlist, i know that (tho i suspect even the top schools do usually take a few).

my question is a perfectly logical one: if you are on a waitlist might they turn to you soon, or will they all wait until spring?

no flippant answers, please.

 

[Old Grunt]

i don't even get that. if you mean that some schools never turn to their waitlist, i know that (tho i suspect even the top schools do usually take a few).

my question is a perfectly logical one: if you are on a waitlist might they turn to you soon, or will they all wait until spring?

no flippant answers, please.

I wouldn't bother them right now. It's very early in the season.

I would imagine that most waitlists move in the spring, most likely after the deadline on March 15 when they have a better idea of what their class is looking like.

 

[searun]

Significant waitlist movement does not happen until the Spring. Applicants can hold multiple acceptances until May 15. Most people with multiple acceptances wait to compare financial aid packages. You will begin to see waitlist movement in mid april and then the pace really quickens after May 15. Obviously, some schools have alot of waitlist movement and others, not so much, e.g. Harvard and other top tier schools. If you are waitlisted now, you better be prepared for a long wait.

 

[ClockworkDoc]

I was on 6 WL last year.

UB - lots of WL turn over
Creighton - a little turn over
RFU - a little turn over
NYMC - a little turn over
Albany - no turn over
OSU - no turn over

I think it depends on whether (or how much) the school overfills their class. All the movement started close to May and slowed to a trickle by early June.

 

[ADeadLois]

Unless you are VERY high on the list, don't except to hear anything until after May 15. Also, are you sure you're on a waitlist, or just a hold? There's a difference.

 

[MDRus]

Unless you are VERY high on the list, don't except to hear anything until after May 15. Also, are you sure you're on a waitlist, or just a hold? There's a difference.

i'm on pre-interview hold at GW and post-interview waitlist at Rochester. i don't expect much from the hold, but i am hopeful about the waitlist.

Comments seem to indicate i should leave them alone until spring and then let them know I WANT IN!!

 

[XerxesMD]

i'm on pre-interview hold at GW and post-interview waitlist at Rochester. i don't expect much from the hold, but i am hopeful about the waitlist.

Comments seem to indicate i should leave them alone until spring and then let them know I WANT IN!!

I don't see anything wrong with sending one (just one, as I'm sure they'd hate to hear from the same people over and over again) short email to the dean of admissions expressing your continued interest in the school and thanking them for considering your application. I highly doubt this will hurt you in any way, especially if it's polite, short and sweet, and it very likely might help.

The Dean of admissions at UC Irvine recommended that we do exactly this in the event that we are wait listed. She correctly observed that if she has to decide between two people to accept from the wait list, she is but a human like the rest of us and would be predisposed to accept the person who showed continued interest through that single email.

I say you should go for it at Rochester.

 

[MDRus]

thanks much. that makes sense to me.

 

[Lshapley]

I think the bonus of taking Xerxes advice is that you are showing interest because you like the school. You have gone on the interview, you liked it, you were waitlisted but you still like it there. If your first email to them is in the spring, it might appear more motivated by desperation to get into any medical school, as opposed to having a genuine interest in a particular medical school.

 

[MDRus]

I think the bonus of taking Xerxes advice is that you are showing interest because you like the school. You have gone on the interview, you liked it, you were waitlisted but you still like it there. If your first email to them is in the spring, it might appear more motivated by desperation to get into any medical school, as opposed to having a genuine interest in a particular medical school.

excellent advice also. makes sense. and has the benefit of being true. i DID love the school and was very disappointed at getting waitlisted. might as well let them know.

thanks.