Accepted/Rejected/Waitlisted??? (for current applicants)

[BlessedBeyondBelief]

I received the phone call at approximately 10:30am. I was on the "high priority" wait list.

 

Degree: University of Waterloo, Health Studies and Gerontology (graduated this year)

 

GPA: best two years 3.95ish

MCAT: 9PS, 12BS, 12VR, S WS

 

Interviewed: Queen's, Western

Waitlisted: Queen's, Western

Accepted: Western, London Campus (first choice!)

I will be removing myself from the Queen's waitlist.

[Lilly]

SWOMEN

Undergraduate: Western

 

GPA (best two years): 3.96

MCAT: BS 10 V 10 PS 11 W S

 

Applied: Western, Queens, Mac, Ottawa, U of T

Interviewed: Western, Queens, U of T

Wait-listed: Everywhere!

 

Accepted to the London campus today (I was on the "high" wait list) at approximately 12:30pm.

 

I will be taking myself off the other two wait lists, so good luck to everyone else there!

[bnface]

I'm sorry if I sounded a bit rude...I meant no offense. I have white friends back in Vancouver, though they are of course, very culturally urbane! ... PS we'll all be colleagues one day - so lets bury the hatchet. I'm picking UWO over Queen's if it comes down to a choice.

 

First of all, whether or not you meant offense, I'm sure offense was taken. Second of all, with that kind of idiot attitude, I may work beside you, but I assure you will not be my "colleague" in any true sense of the word.

[bittersweet08]

Non SWOMEN

Undergraduate: York- Schulich

 

GPA (best two years): 3.9ish

MCAT: BS 11 V 11 PS 10 W S

 

Interviewed: Western, Queens, U of T, Mac

Accepted: Queens, Mac

 

Accepted to the London campus today (I was on the "high" wait list) at approximately 12:00pm.

 

Will be accepting Western

[Mac_guy]

Non SWOMEN

Undergraduate: Mac

 

GPA (best two years): 3.95

MCAT: BS 11 V 10 PS 11 W S

 

Interviewed: Western, Queens, U of T, Mac, Ottawa, U of S

Accepted: Queens, Ottawa

Waitlisted: Western, U of T, Mac, U of S

 

Got off waitlist yesterday around 9:50am and was offered a spot at London campus. I was on the "high" wait list

 

not sure if I will be accepting the offer yet. good luck to those still waiting!

[wanting]

know where you might go?

[JPJ]

Now that I've made my decision, I guess I should post here:

 

U of T 4th year undergrad

 

GPA: 3.95

MCATs: 37S

ECs: Leader of several student groups, sports, recreational activities, research (NSERC, CIHR awards), international travel experience

 

Accepted: Queens, Mac, Western

Attending: gruelling, gruelling decision!! But ultimately, I went with western-its the best match for my priorities and goals. All the three schools are great though! Looking forward to meeting other UWO meds 2013 in August!

[Master23]

GPA: 3.84 (best 2 years) ; 4 year GPA: 3.81

MCAT: 35T; 12 PS, 12 BS, 11 VR

ECs: multiple clubs, intramural sports, leader of club, volunteering etc.

 

Interviewed: UWO and Queen's

 

Waitlisted: UWO and Queen's

 

And still waiting...

Question for those placed on the waitlist at UWO...how did your email read? Did the message tell you you were high up on the wait list or simply say "It was recommended, however, that your name be placed on our Wait List"? So far I've counted approx. 5 people moved off of the wait list for UWO (London campus). Does anyone know how many typically move up? does 40 sound reasonable?

[crockett]

the last year for which data was available (the link to the AFMC brochure is in several places on this site but i can't seem to find it right now) said 60 offers were declined- i would guess most people don't decline waitlist offers (although i'm sure there are a few), so probably more than 40 people "move up". plus the twelve new spots for next year means there should be more next year...my guess would be that the top 220ish people overall will end up getting an offer at some point or another, but given the "high" waitlist this year, id say for regular waitlistees such as myself, that means you are hoping to be in the top (20? 30? who knows?) of what i'd assume to be around 300 of the "regular" waitlisted, the odds of which i'd rather not think about at this point, haha.

[Master23]

Agreed. I'd rather not think of where I am either. What really urks me about the schools who don't inform those who on the waitlist, exactly where they are, is that you cannot plan for your future really at all. I mean, I applied to grad. school etc. and I can surmise what I'd do next year if not getting into med. school. But waiting around like this is like that weird hiatus period in a relationship when people go on a "break" for a while. Such bull****. I'd rather know right now that I'm not getting in to med. school so I can introspect upon that, deal with it psychologically and pursue other interests for the upcoming year. I understand that med. schools are covering their bases as to make sure that classes are full each year. BUT, you would think that schools would let the 250th person on the wait list know that they don't have a flying hope. I've heard of Ottawa and other schools wording it that way, so people don't get their hopes up. Going through this viscious cycle of thinking I will get in or perhaps not is like experiencing Chinese waterdrop torture whilst in the dark at the bottom of a cold lifeless well.

[Microbiodude]

hahaha well put

[rmorelan]

hahaha well put

 

I understand the schools reasoning, but I sense there must be a better way. Leaving people in limbo just doesn't feel like the right approach. Maybe some sort of website you can log into that gives you position? OMSAS maybe could run that?

[~me~]

I understand the schools reasoning, but I sense there must be a better way. Leaving people in limbo just doesn't feel like the right approach. Maybe some sort of website you can log into that gives you position? OMSAS maybe could run that?

 

I agree that putting people on a waitlist without them knowing where on the waitlist they are placed, is not the best way.

 

But then again, the alternative is not so favourable either. If I had a great chance (top 40 waitlisted), or a horrible chance (100+ on waitlist), sure, I'd want to know. But what if I know I'm # 60 on the waitlist, read the forums and find out that #59 got accepted but I didn't. I don't know if I'd want to know that It would be so painful to know that I was sooo very near.

[rmorelan]

I agree that putting people on a waitlist without them knowing where on the waitlist they are placed, is not the best way.

 

But then again, the alternative is not so favourable either. If I had a great chance (top 40 waitlisted), or a horrible chance (100+ on waitlist), sure, I'd want to know. But what if I know I'm # 60 on the waitlist, read the forums and find out that #59 got accepted but I didn't. I don't know if I'd want to know that It would be so painful to know that I was sooo very near.

 

I think that is the primary reason they don't do it. U of S gets around that a bit by sending out deciles, saying you were in the top 1-10%, 11-20% etc. I think that is maybe a good compromise.

 

What you don't want happening is someone crushed by being so close and yet so far. That would be heart breaking for sure.

[Master23]

I completely disagree. I would rather know that I was metaphorical inches from getting into med. school and know that I essentially have a great chance of getting in the following year than wondering what the hell is wrong with my application or if I screwed up my interview in some way. Because if you don't get in off of the waitlist, you will never know truly where you were situated past those 60 some-odd spots before you. Ignorance is not bliss in this context.

[rmorelan]

I completely disagree. I would rather know that I was metaphorical inches from getting into med. school and know that I essentially have a great chance of getting in the following year than wondering what the hell is wrong with my application or if I screwed up my interview in some way. Because if you don't get in off of the waitlist, you will never know truly where you were situated past those 60 some-odd spots before you. Ignorance is not bliss in this context.

 

I can see your point, and probably would be the same way myself There is that fear that some people couldn't deal with it very well I guess and do something unfortunate. They seem to be REALLY afraid of that - I wonder if it happens a lot in the past or something?

 

I still think knowing the decile you are in is close enough for both problems. You generally know if you improved/where you stand, and you still can sort of guess your chances of getting of the waitlist. A lot better of what we get now.

 

I think we can all agree some added transparancy would be nice for the applicants, no matter how they do it

[Master23]

Decile is the answer for sure. And I never really thought of the "self assassination" possibility (suicide as Dane Cook likes to describe it). It probably has happened in the past before. I don't think being completely in the dark is the answer though. Perhaps even "translucency" is the best word to describe what I want. Not even where I stand exactly, but the general vicinity.

[rmorelan]

Anyone who is willing to commit suicide if they were not admitted to medicine was not fit to practice in the first place.

 

sure, but I still don't want such people killing themselves over it

 

Got enough of that coming from those who do become doctors (probably hyper sensitive to that, but after two family doctors I personally knew tragically commited suscide it just sticks with you. One was going to hopefully be a reference for me!)

[Guest viscous]

sure, but I still don't want such people killing themselves over it

 

Got enough of that coming from those who do become doctors (probably hyper sensitive to that, but after two family doctors I personally knew tragically commited suscide it just sticks with you. One was going to hopefully be a reference for me!)

 

wow, any specific reasons for the suicide?

[Microbiodude]

Don't the schools out east tell you your position...and doesn't NOSM? I don't hear about an abnormally high suicide rate among those applicants...are southern ontarians just soft? I'd argue to the contrary, no?

[Jochi1543]

wow, any specific reasons for the suicide?

 

Mental illness?

[~me~]

absolutely agree. Even so, you want to know if you improved from year to year as well. I have no idea of knowing whether i improved, stayed the same, or declined in performance. It leaves me at square 1 again.

 

Fair enough But then again, *improvement* on the waitlist is not only indicative of your performance on the interview. It probably also is a result of your interviewers' perspectives/energy levels, the type of questions you were asked and your comfort level with them, etc. etc...

 

But I completely agree however - Giving out quantiles would be sooo much better than not knowing at all

[rmorelan]

wow, any specific reasons for the suicide?

 

Nothing publically disclosable. We all know doctors see/deal with some pretty nasty stuff sometimes, and it can get to you

[Retsage]

wow, any specific reasons for the suicide?

 

Medicine has an absurdly high suicide rate. People get into a very high-stress job for the wrong reasons, realize that it doesn't fix all the problems in their lives they expected it to, and become crushingly depressed. Seems like all the key ingredients rolled up into one.

 

 

Edit - Also, I think it's very funny that some of you people honestly believe that med schools don't tell you where you are situated on the waitlist because they want to be kind to applicants (the whole "OH NOES, I WAS 60 AND THEY ACCEPTED 59" story from above). No. If you haven't realized it yet, med schools don't give a **** about you. They avoid telling you your place because they are prestige sensitive and for no other reason. If Queen's had to admit that it reached into the 500th person on its waitlist, while Western only went 100 spaces deep, and U of T went 30, well, that doesn't look too good for Queen's, does it? This is the only reason that you are kept in the dark.

[Microbiodude]

and you know this how....? Or are we just firing opinions? Besides, the AFMC tends to publish data regarding how many offers were sent out...so people can get a rough idea about how much the waitlist moves...oh no...there goes the prestige, law suit from OMSAS against AFMC?? lol