Waitlist Party 2020/2021

[JohnGrisham]

1 hour ago, razzmatazz said:

Interesting developments. I was waitlisted last year and received regrets this year and would definitely appreciate more insights as to how this whole process works. I know that in certain nursing programs, wait lists carry over from year to year so not sure why UBC couldn’t just do something like that?

No medical school does this, as unfortunately they are different processes and free to do different things. Its unfortunate for your specific situation, but as you can see, it would be unfortunate to a different set of individuals if the policy shifted to be more favourable for you etc. 

[Fast_Layne]

10 hours ago, 4everwaitlist said:

So it is a bit perplexing why UBC had a class size of 287 as of this date. The simple answer is that when it was all said and done,  UBC mismanaged their waitlists and left a deserving applicant on the list when there was room available in the class. 

 

I'm in this class and can confirm there were 288 new students enrolled at the start of the year, not 287. We get a list of students in our incoming class and there were 288 on the list that got in our year. So I doubt the waitlist was mismanaged.

[4everwaitlist]

12 hours ago, Fast_Layne said:

I'm in this class and can confirm there were 288 new students enrolled at the start of the year, not 287. We get a list of students in our incoming class and there were 288 on the list that got in our year. So I doubt the waitlist was mismanaged.

Thanks for confirming @Fast_Layne ! I suppose the numbers from AFMC cannot be trusted 100%. 

[veryhopeful]

Hi everyone! I never understood before why people would post and tell people they are rejecting their offer (seems a little self-important) but I was on a waitlist last year and always appreciated these posts for the momentary hope they brought. The waitlist is really tough but I'm rooting for you all 

All this to say I will be declining my OOP VFMP offer to go to UofT! Good luck to everyone, you all deserve it so much!! 

[PLZ46]

Hi Everyone! I just declined my OOP offer for NMP as I will be staying closer to home to attend U of Manitoba. I hope the spot goes to one of you!! Best of luck to everyone who is waiting!!

[Gumby]

*This post is not intended to be precise. My intentions are to outline some reasons why waitlist are long, and why schools cannot provide specific numbers (hint: too many uncertain variables)* Near the end I'll offer a (probably very useless) formula for determining waitlist numbers, if it keeps folks preoccupied. 

Those offered seat

Possibilities:

1)      Accept: no idea (90+%?)

Factors leading to variability in waitlisted movement:

2)      Decline: no idea (see accept %)

3)      Accept, pay deposit, then decline closer to start date: maybe a couple per year? Usually happens when someone has multiple offers but doesn’t yet want to decide (or something comes up and they change their mind); accepts and pays deposit on multiple offers (oh the privilege); last minute declines their UBC offer

4)      Offers sent to a waitlister, they decline: maybe they have already accepted another school's offer, or they know that the UBC site they are offered will not work for them

 

Waitlist

Assumptions that could influence # waitlisted, and waitlist movement:

-          Im pretty sure this was answered in a Q&A session, but I think UBC just uses one ranking list with both IP and OOP applicants, post-interview; will go down the offer list based on ranking and offer to the next candidate regardless of IP/OOP status, until OOP spots are full (then only next available IP candidate will be selected)

-          COVID hasn’t drastically changed the way that applicants are accepting or rejecting offers

-          Ratio of OOP:IP interviewed hasn’t changed drastically

-          Alternative selections processes cannot be accounted for

-          Site selections do not influence post-interview rank/offers off waitlist (not even going to attempt to account for this)

-          The applicants that were sent offers still, on average, receive the same number of offers to other schools as previous years (applicants who receive multiple offers are more likely to decline); this includes those waitlisted that later receive offers

-          UBC’s reputation/desirability hasn’t changed much

I'm sure there are many other factors I haven't accounted for.

 

Fake formula

The formula for number of offers and waitlists could be much more simple than what has proposed.

I think we can all agree that their intentions are good, and that UBC’s main goals are this: (1) don’t outright reject anyone that might still have a chance, and (2) ensure that it’s basically impossible that not all 288 seats will be filled.

In order to do this, it could hypothetically be as simple as this:

-          Determine the minimum number of applicants that decline their offer (historical avg?) (Dmin)

             o   Dmin + 288 = minimum number of initial offers sent out (X)

               Hypothetical made up numbers: 20+288= 308

-          Take the max number of those who decline their offer (DMax)

             o   (DMax + 288) – (X)= absolute minimum number of waitlists that they’d want to offer (Y)

                Hypothetical made up numbers: (40+ 288) - (308)= 20

o   To account for various factors that could influence number of offer declines, they will intentionally inflate Y, so as to ensure that those who could possibly be accepted remain on the waitlist. Maybe at least double to be safe? Who knows

This is all PURELY speculation and for fun. I didn't spend much time looking into details, so please correct if I’ve made any incorrect assumptions and I'll edit the post.

If someone wants to take this further to input some (accurate) historical averages, go for it! 

My point here is that there are so many different factors at play; these cannot be predicted with much certainty, so med schools tend to extend their waitlist, just in case.

BUT FINALLY: As a fellow waitlister, I understand that getting waitlisted brings on added ongoing uncertainty that can be quite stressful—not to mention that we’re all still trying to do our best in some pretty challenging times. Do whatever you need to do to bring yourself some relief (even if that includes making up equations around waitlist stuff). Just caution assuming they’re stringing you along out of malice; you’ve made the waitlist, so they obviously like you! They’re just trying to cover their bases.

Ultimately, the biggest predictor for chances of acceptance of the waitlist is your ranking, which none of us know. SO, my best advice is to just do whatever you need to do to bring yourself some relief over the coming weeks, and (very cliché) try not to get too wrapped up in the details.

Congrats to the fellow waitlisters for making it this far! 

[PMUser1]

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[sanitizer]

2 hours ago, smolbean said:

If anyone else in this cruel limbo is trying to motivate themselves to re-study for the mcat while simultaneously remaining hopeful I AM HERE FOR AND WITH YOU 

oh god yeah. I keep delaying dropping $$ on practice materials  :/

[JustSayian26]

13 hours ago, smolbean said:

If anyone else in this cruel limbo is trying to motivate themselves to re-study for the mcat while simultaneously remaining hopeful I AM HERE FOR AND WITH YOU 

I feel ya. I've been holding off as well ugh.

[newmy88]

After a lot of thought I have decided to decline my OOP VMFP offer! I hope this makes any one of you deserving people very very happy 

[PMUser1]

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[Goodlucktous]

Has anyone heard back yet?

[PMUser1]

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[etacarinae]

Hi Fellow Waitlisters, I just got an offer to NMP, which wasn't my first choice but I am feeling incredibly grateful for the offer. Sending good vibes for your wait. They haven't updated the blog yet, so I hope there is still some good news on the way for others today as well. 

[PMUser1]

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[etacarinae]

Just now, smolbean said:

Huge congrats!!! IP or OOP?

Oh sorry! IP

[Hulu]

Who’s feeling disappointed all over again? I’m imagining 2nd round of offers was probably the biggest after the first? 

[Cannot_hurt]

I'm hopeful that this first wave is mostly people shuffling around the sites. So mostly affecting people who already received offers 2 weeks ago?

[PMUser1]

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[JustSayian26]

1 hour ago, Cannot_hurt said:

I'm hopeful that this first wave is mostly people shuffling around the sites. So mostly affecting people who already received offers 2 weeks ago?

i highly doubt this

[JustSayian26]

Waitlist seems awfully quiet this year. I dont know if that is just because people are not posting or what.

[4everwaitlist]

Hey fellow waitlisters. I'm still here with you! Keep the faith. TIme is already flying, it's June 1st, weather is super! I'm ready to enjoy life while still young!! Ready to go to the MOON!! 

[Gumby]

Still here! Wishing you all the best, and if you're in the Lower Mainland, that you're enjoying this incredible weather to take your mind off things.  

It seems like things are moving quickly and that most of us should have a decision either way within the coming weeks. I hear that there are a few folks that will be on the waitlist up until classes start, though.

[struggling2getin]

On 5/16/2021 at 8:40 PM, Fast_Layne said:

I'm in this class and can confirm there were 288 new students enrolled at the start of the year, not 287. We get a list of students in our incoming class and there were 288 on the list that got in our year. So I doubt the waitlist was mismanaged.

My interpretation of this number is that the student list was given in Feb 2021, and by that time a certain person was removed from your class earlier in the year. Its not a waitlist issue at all and the accounting was proper.

[ma17]

Declined OOP offer at VFMP earlier today. Congrats to whoever gets it!