I was in your shoes this week as well. I ended up declining an invitation to a school I was otherwise very excited about because of the exact same reasons you've mentioned (other acceptances and that it was in the same city as one of my other acceptances which I felt was a little bit of a better fit for me). I think all that comes down to is if you receive an acceptance to this school, would it be a serious contender with your other schools? If not, then why spend the time, money, and energy doing this? Ultimately, you will only attend one school.
Excellent points, and congrats on your acceptance/s!
Do you see yourself going to this school over other schools where you've been accepted? If not, you should probably declined the II. It would open up a slot for other applicants and save you some money. Congrats on your acceptances and good luck
It seems unlikely that I'd attend this school over one or two of the other acceptances, but without visiting the school I can't say I'm sure of that. Great point about opening up a slot for other applicants though.
there's no right or wrong answer to this however this is what it sounds like you should do:
- respond to the interview invite email by thanking them for the invite and graciously declining (you don't necessarily have to give a reason why you're declining)
- send an email to the remaining 20 schools withdrawing your app. it can be as short as two sentences...telling them that you're withdrawing and then thanking them for considering your candidacy.
- congratulations, your app cycle is officially over
Thanks for the tips! I'm curious why you suggest withdrawing all my remaining applications though, can you elaborate? I am considering withdrawing several of them, but there are still a few schools I'd definitely consider, including my original top choice. I definitely want to be done with the application cycle, but not enough to take myself out of the applicant pool at my top choice.
Some people finish early, some people sit on all their acceptances until April to let money make their decision for them. Sounds like you want to finish, though.
In terms of the humanistic point of view: if you attend the II, you're taking an interview someone else might have been able to have, even though you're not really interested in it. Doesn't seem the best way to go, if you really have no interest
You're very right about taking an interview away from someone else. I REALLY don't want to do that. Also I love your username.
You seem like you want to decline the II, and it's perfectly fine to. If you already have an acceptance (or more than one!) and can't see yourself attending the II school over the one you've been accepted to, then decline. It is an expensive process, and it's good to save as much money as possible before starting med school! I declined my last 2 II's because I couldn't see myself attending those schools.
My opinion - unless it's a dream school, don't feel bad about declining II's!
Thanks for the support! It's hard not to feel a little bad about declining, but you're right.
If you think you might go to the school, go to the interview. You might like this school better than the one in the same city you're already accepted to, or even better than your top choice. There's a lot you can't know about a med school unless you actually go there. If you get accepted at the new school and tuition there is substantially cheaper than at your current top choice, you can try using it as a bargaining point to see if your top choice will reduce tuition or provide incentives to get you to choose them. That being said, I've already declined three interviews and two acceptances as soon as I knew I wouldn't be going to those schools.
Thanks for the input! I think we might end up in the same place, I've seen your posts in the school-specific thread for my current favorite. Unfortunately tuition at the recent II school is pretty high, as is cost of living.
I was recently in a similar situation and decided to go to 2 interviews after having an acceptance. I am fortunate enough that my parents can pay for the hotel and airfare. I figured ~$1000 now could save money in the long run as my current sole acceptance is at a private school and even the OOS tuition is 20K cheaper per year. Plus I have heard great impressions about these 2 schools on SDN from interviewees.
Either way it sounds like you will be going to medical school next autumn so congrats!
Thanks for the kind words! It's nice that your parents are willing and able to help with airfare and hotel. My parents might be helping a little bit with tuition but I'm on my own for applications and interviews. Anyway, congrats on the acceptance and IIs!
I just turned down an II to BU after getting accepted to UVM.
I've lived in the suburbs my entire life, and I don't want to live in a big city like Boston, NYC, or Philly. I applied to their schools to improve my chances of getting into at least one med school. Now that I have an acceptance to a more rural/suburban med school, I can cross off the big city schools. I keep thinking I might be shooting myself in the foot financially, but I'm leaning more and more toward "fit" here.
"Fit" seems to be a very big deal, and I think I can see why. Are you planning on withdrawing your applications to the big city schools?
Thanks for all this input, it definitely helps! After reading all these responses, I'm leaning towards politely declining the invitation. I'm a reapplicant and last year I got a single II in late February so it feels a little crazy to me now to pass up an interview to any school. But MrBrightside167 and Bearstronaut both brought up a great point -- I absolutely do not want to take a spot away from someone else who might get more out of that interview than I would. I guess now I will start looking at withdrawing some applications -- did any of you withdraw applications?
