<p>So, I got waitlisted at my #1 choice, the medical school in my hometown. They said they won't start admitting from the waitlist until May, so what can I do until then to increase my chances of getting off?</p>
<p>Here's my plan, so far:</p>
<p>1) Talk to my university's pre-med advising, get some advice.
2) Call the admissions office and see if I can find out my number on the waitlist, the overall size of the waitlist, my statistical chances of getting off the waitlist, the reasons for being waitlisted, and if they'd like to receive anything else from me.
3) Send update letters to the med school about my schoolwork, research, and peer education work every 4-6 weeks.
4) Send no more than 2 additional significant letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>If any of you experienced people can give me feedback or advice, I'd appreciate it!</p>
<p>Make sure that your update letter promises them in explicit terms that you will attend their school if admitted. That's the single most important thing. Also be sure to reiterate the specific reasons for your interest.</p>
<p>Of course, the wording matters. You need to promise them that "I will withdraw from all other medical schools if you admit me", but there are probably smoother ways to say that than the example I just gave.</p>
<p>Above all, be optimistic. I was waitlisted at 6 of the 11 med schools I interviewed at. I withdrew from four of those six -- one of which actually took me despite my warning them that I would not attend -- and continued to pursue two. Of the two, one of them actually admitted me as well, and I go there now.</p>
<p>In my class -- I forget where I read this -- nearly 40% of us were taken off of the school's waitlist.</p>
<p>Waitlists are used much more liberally in med school than in undergrad -- where they're already used substantially -- because medical schools have extremely small class sizes and need to compose their classes of a relatively very precise size. I know one year Duke took an extra 250 undergrads. It was annoying, but they dealt with it. If their medical school took an extra 30% of their class, it would wreak utter havoc on their funding and such.</p>
<p>In other words, congratulations. I suspect you have a reasonable shot.</p>
<p>BDM:</p>
<p>I can't thank you enough for your advice and encouragement. Just... thank you.</p>
<p>I was actually wondering about the admissions process at medical schools. I dunno if you know any of this stuff, but I thought I'd ask. The school I'm looking at now has a class size of 148, which I feel like is a really odd number - why not round up to 150, for example? I'm guessing that 148 is the number they need to remain financially solvent as well as the maximum they can accomodate in classrooms, etc. Is that a reasonable thought?</p>
<p>Also, regarding waitlisting and admitting, I've heard that medical schools in their first round of acceptances send out no more letters than total spots available, in the (unlikely, but theoretically possible) event that all first-round applicants accept. Is that true? If so, I feel like I'll have a better shot at getting accepted - I'm damn sure people will decline due to the fact they got into where else they'd rather go. Combine that with people dropping off the waitlist as well... so realistically, I DO have a good shot at admittance?</p>
<p>I'm not sure about the precise mechanism of control, but I do know that the government has influence over medical school class sizes. (Certainly the federal government is in charge of the size of residency programs.) So medical schools have a very strong incentive to stay tightly under the limits.</p>
<p>Generally, however, I'm going to guess that medical schools probably aim for a target number that's a round-ish number (I believe my school aims for 120) and miss by a couple or so. So your school might well target 150 and get 148, or target 140 and get 148, that sort of thing.</p>
<p>While I think your premise is not quite right -- I don't think medical schools EXACTLY match their admitted kids to their class size* -- I do think your overall conclusion is right: you are still very much in the running. Medical schools will take much fewer risks with their class sizes than undergrad, and this forces them to draw a much larger pool from their waitlists.</p>
<p>(*My school has already admitted more students than our class would have room to accomodate, and we still have a lot of admissions to give out.)</p>
<p>A waitlist is certainly very far away -- psychologically -- from the feeling of an admission. But there is still a great deal of shifting to be done. Remember, I tried to get into two schools off of the waitlist and was admitted to two schools off the waitlist. (We'll pretend to ignore the fact that they aren't the same two schools. :))</p>
<p>I was admitted to a medical school on May 16 and another one on May 21. Things move fast once May 15 rolls around. I've known students who were admitted to medical school in late July, too.</p>
<p>*
"What do you call the last kid to get into medical school?"
"Doctor."*</p>
<p>You do have a good shot, and depending on your location on the waitlist, it may actually be a certainty. </p>
<p>Class size is very much a consideration of the things you mentioned. Whether it's the number of lab tables, the available seating spot in lecture halls, or the number locations they can place students to during clinical rotations, all those things must be balanced. Also realize that because students do fail and have to remediate a year the numbers may be slightly off depending on where you're getting them from - like the AAMC reports on matriculation numbers for example.</p>
<p>A guy in my class was called a week and a half before orientation week started with the offer of a spot. A fraternity brother of mine was offered a spot in dental school a full week into classes because a student dropped out that day.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your pep talks. :) I appreciate it. If you still have time, can either of you comment on my "plan"? Does it sound reasonable? Is there anything I shouldn't do, anything I should add?</p>
<p>Again, I do want to mention that your plan as mentioned initially leaves out the vastly most important part now.</p>
<p>You need to express interest. Very strong interest in very concrete terms. Do it poetically, of course, but the message you need to convey is:</p>
<p>"I will attend your school if admitted. I will withdraw from all the other medical schools if you admit me. I will do this because I am crazy about your school, and that is for the following four reasons. (For example, You have unique programs I like. Your location is very important to me. Your mission statement lies right in line with my own personal values. Etc.)"</p>
<p>Interest, interest, interest. That's the most important part of this.</p>
<p>Joni Huff, University of Chicago: "Sure, there's a component of this that's concerned with yields and admissions rates and all that, but the most important thing when we get to the waitlist is that we need to get our class filled. So, naturally, we're going to look to admit the kids that we know would come if we took them."</p>
<p>PS: My mom has always analogized this process to a courtship. So, she always told me: "If you were looking for a prom date, can't you imagine that you'd be more appealing to a girl if she knew you were actually interested? That if she says yes, you'll actually go with her?"</p>