True! and not only highly ranked medical schools. I personally know of one student who was accepted of the wait list at an unranked medical school (not one discussed on this thread) with just a few days before the start of class. He accepted and is now well on his way to becoming a doc.
Just spoke to a parent of R/B wait-listed child:
The Director at Baylor had shared the following during the interview:
- There are 4 students in the wait-list.
- Post May1, they will look at the RICE admitted students list. Any of the 6 students who decline or do not accept, they offer that seat on May 2 itself. This is pretty fast turnaround. (NOTE: This conflicts with RICE UG Admissions Officerâs view).
- On an average, 2 students from the wait-list get offers.
@trk136 - If Baylor maintains what was indicated in #2 above, then your assumption of knowing by May 3 is correct.
@NoviceDad â I got my wait list information from the 2017 threads. But when you think about it, it makes sense due to the relatively small numbers.
First of all, for lots of UGs, the wait list is as large as the entire entering class, while relatively few are called off of it. It gives the schools the flexibility to pull in exactly what they want with respect to special talent, geographic diversity, URM, ORM, etc. With BS/MD, in larger programs schools can estimate their yield, accept more students than they actually want, and let the size of the class vary slightly, with or without the use of a wait list.
For Rice/Baylor or Baylor/Baylor, the size of the class is so small that they cannot play the yield since they cannot afford a deviation of even one or two students, since that would be a big percentage difference and would mess up their class. So they donât offer more acceptances than the number of seats they have. Now, with the 16 kids who are left after acceptances have been offered, what would be the point of rejecting 8 and wait listing 8 when they can just wait list all of them, given the relatively small numbers? Also, realize that not everyone is going to agree to fork over a non-refundable deposit for a low percentage lottery ticket, especially if they have good alternatives (as all of these kids undoubtedly do!), so they offer 16 wait list spots and take whatever deposits they get, and then take 0, 1 or 2 kids after leaving them hanging for days, weeks or months, depending on whether anything actually opens up!
Anyway, this is what was reported a few years ago. Have you heard of anyone invited to an interview this year and subsequently actually rejected? I thought I saw everyone here either reporting acceptance or wait list. This is why I think it is particularly obnoxious for Rice (or Baylor) to require a deposit just to have a chance, with no guarantee, just because May 1st has arrived. No UG, including HYPSM does this merely to stay on a wait list.
Is the deposit really $1,000? I thought it would be more like $200, and I thought even that was too much without an actual offer of admission!!! This is cruel because, yes, I agree it is hard for parents (and kids) to give up the dream at this point when they are so close, but, on the other hand, the odds are terrible because the program is so small, desirable and prestigious that it is very unlikely that more than 1 or 2 spots will open up (if any), and itâs unfair to ask for money without letting you know where you are on the wait list, or without returning it if you are not offered admission.
This is why I thought they were actually looking for a commitment to attend the UG regardless. It is clear, however, based on the information you gathered directly from the admission office, that they are under no illusion and are not actually seeking such a commitment. They are simply exploiting familiesâ desperation to gain admission to the program. Kind of scammy in my opinion; preying on peopleâs hopes.
We send in a decline letter back to Baylor2Baylor ProgramâŠhope someone else gets in the program.
Son finally going to BU.
Thanks allâŠ
Congrats @sajju786
Please share your experiences in the results thread, if you have not already done so:
@NoviceDad â 4 sounds like a very low number for 6 spots. I wonder if itâs accurate, and, if so, it means 12 kids turned down the chance to make a deposit to be on the list. I know that this thread is not representative of the entire population of applicants, but we do have several people reporting acceptance and wait list for both R/B and B/B, with no reported post interview rejections, so where are the rejections if only 4 out of 16 were offered WL?
Anyway, May 2 turnaround sounds good for kids who donât take the acceptance by 5/1, but that doesnât account for the kid who does take the acceptance by 5/1 and then withdraws when he gets off someone elseâs WL later, so both the Rice admission office and Baylor Director could be correct!
I just hope the Baylor Director wasnât jerking the parent around to give false hope that the kid has a 50% chance to be called off WL. I also really hope it works out for the parent, since he is committed to WL at this point. At least we wonât have long to find out!!! 
I thought the students on the waitlist are ranked even though everyone is on it. But it seems I may be wrong.
@NoviceDad -Really appreciate the information!
@trk136 â I am sure you are correct, but why do you think they communicate the rank to the student? That would serve as a disincentive for anyone other than those at the top to pay to stay on the list, defeating the schoolâs purpose of having a big enough list to ensure every seat is filled.
I meant it is ranked but the rank is not communicated to the student.
@trk136
I am sure there is ranking but complicated. Even after taking candidates off wait list they would be maintaining intended diversity.
@NoviceDad
Thanks for your efforts and information.
@bsmdseeker2019 â what you say about diversity is true of wait lists at pretty much every program I can think of, with the exception of a BS/MD program with 6 students!!! I doubt there is a lot of diversity there, with the 20 or so people invited to interview carefully selected from hundreds across the country based on accomplishment rather than diversity. (If you were correct, these programs would not be dominated by ORMs to the extent that they are!! )
At this point I am sure they really just want to make sure the 6 seats are filled, and the ranking is probably strictly based on merit. With a list this small, I would bet it is ranked and they just go down the list as spots become available.
@sajju786 Thanks for the post in results thread. Wanted to ask this question but was waiting you may shed some light on results thread. What are the reasons behind accepting BU than B/B, if you are ok to share in public forum? If you prefer just ignore my question.
@sajju786 - Interesting observation about medical missions. How long were your sonâs trips? short term trips like one week spring break trips are discouraged on SDN.
Thanks for posting for your DS. Personally wouldnât have been surprised if you didnât since you have another child in line right behind, and so may have wanted to keep the info confidential. On the contrary I have never seen the stats of children of some heavy weight posters here over past few years though it appears they had no apparent reasons for not sharing that info.
And yes, donât answer questions on public forum if you are not comfortable with.
Good luck to your D as well, I am sure she will have great time with the inspiration and guidance of big brother.
@sajju786 one input from you may help others in the following year. Do Rice or Baylor or Baylor Medical state that student need to apply only to one program (similar to what AMC has done)? At least it was not in cycle 2016. Even if they have not stated explicitly, did you feel since Baylor UG already forwarded your resume to Baylor Medical, suspect Rice did not forward? Any thoughts based on your experience?
@GoldenRock son wanted to go to BU SMED despite getting Regentâs Gold Scholarship at Baylor for being a NMF which covers compete tuition and also some Room for 4 yrsâŠI tried persuading him but he liked BU and wanted to go there and he is happy so is our familyâŠNo price on happiness of kids I guessâŠ
@srk2017 He went to Bangladesh for almost 2 weeks worked in deep inside refugee medical camps and a make shift field hospital taking vitals and help triaging patients and listening to their stories, I myself saw a huge difference in him when he came back from Bangladesh.
Another trip was to Dominican Republic in a small village bordering Haiti there also he helped with indigenous populations.This was also for 2 weeks +. Both in summer time.
He was asked about the missions and what he did there by all interviews he attended. Some programs also told that they send medical students on these kinda mission trips in their 3rd and 4th year of medical school.
@sajju786 Congratulations to your son!
@sajju786 absolutely right, Kids happiness is priceless for everything else there are student loans. 
@PPofEngrDr âŠlol
@trk136 thanks