<p>I understand it's a bit pre-mature for this, as I'm only a sophomore, but I'm really starting to take a liking to Yale SOM. I've been shadowing a young Yale Med graduate and researching the program and I like what I'm hearing. </p>
<p>Anyway, Yale Medical School has an Early Decision Program (EDP). According to Yale's website:
[quote]
E.D.P. applicants make a single early application to the school of their choice and are guaranteed a prompt decision by the school. E.D.P. applications to Yale must submit their AMCAS application by August 1, and the Yale Supplemental Application by August 31, 2008.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Is there a significant advantage to applying EDP if Yale is your clear-cut, unequivocal number-one choice? I stress 'significant' because if one gets rejected, they pretty much are screwed. Given that EDP applicants are restricted from applying to other schools, they will be at a huge disadvantage for late AMCAS submissions. Am I correct?</p>
<p>Also, is the EDP acceptance rate published? </p>
<p>Do any veteran posters here have experience with this or any stories?</p>
<p>You need to fulfill two criteria to make applying EDP worthwhile:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You need to be overqualified for the school you are applying to. Almost no one is overqualified for Yale Med (overqualification for Yale would be if you're a Rhodes Scholar or a URM with 4.0/39-stats).</p></li>
<li><p>You need a good reason for HAVING to attend the med school. "I like the curriculum" is not a good reason. "I'm 28 and have 2 kids entering school. My husband just got a new job and therefore we can't move. So, even though I have a 3.9 GPA and a 40 MCAT, I would like to attend your low-tier state school" is a good reason. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>In fact, family obligations and finances are often cited reasons for applying EDP. Most people applying EDP apply to lesser known schools.</p>
<p>No data is given out about EDP at any of the med schools that offer it. I haven't seen evidence of a significant advantage. It's for schools that you already have a 80% chance of getting in at but want to boost your chances to 99%.</p>
<p>My pre-med advisor warned us that applying early decision was essentially a way to advertise to a medical school that either you were going to attend that medical school next year, or you weren't going to medical school next year. I'm not sure that it cuts down your chances at other schools to quite that degree, but it significantly decreases them. ED doesn't work like it does in undergrad. You're not allowed to apply to anywhere else unless you've gotten a rejection (or a deferment) from the school to which you applied ED, which can be as late as October 1st. In med. school admissions, submitting a primary in October can ruin your chances can wreck your chances of admission.</p>
<p>For my kid, it's got to be the worst idea ever. My D asked about it and I said she'd have to get an absolute lock from someone in power (that she has reason to trust) -"apply here, you are in". And even then I'd be nervous as a cat. </p>
<p>I literally just got off the phone with D . I ended the conversation with a "heartfelt suggestion" that she needs to work out the timing for next year's applications with her LOR's (she already has commitments from them) and Committee chair (who compiles the letters) before Christmas break (or early spring term, like the week she gets back). She's a Texas gal and goes to school OOS so they may not be that familiar with the Texas system.</p>
<p>Hi Curm -- I would frame it even more strongly than that. Admissions committees are notorious for telling students things which subsequently turn out to have been unreliable. I have several friends who were convinced they'd been admitted various places -- and even I had "the closest thing I can give you to a guarantee" -- and ultimately did not.</p>
<p>I see, thanks for the responses. I certainly will not be overqualified for Yale, nor do I plan on conceiving children in the New Haven area haha. </p>
<p>However. If, in two years, I like Yale SOM as much as I do now, what can I do to display to Yale (or any school) that it is my unequivocal first-choice? Would they even care? (With the big assumption that I have competitive stats--let's say 3.7+/37+) Also, just curious, would writing letters expressing interest/sending art supplements make any impact?</p>
<p>Just tell them. It won't matter much until the waitlist stage of the game, but it matters a little. Art supplements will also matter a little.</p>
<p>Once you're at the waitlist stage, it matters a LOT. Absolutely huge. The single most important factor, in fact.</p>