No Interview, No Rejection Whats going on??

[monkay86]

Hello,

 

I applied to U of A this year and still haven't heard back from them. I know people have had thier interviews already but have they sent out rejections as well??

[Jochi1543]

No, apparently this year they are not sending out rejections until May 15, maybe even slightly after.

[monkay86]

OIC. Thanks for the reply. Do they only have one set of interviews?

[Icebox]

OIC. Thanks for the reply. Do they only have one set of interviews?

 

Yes it was just the one set. However, one year there was a case where they had exhausted their waitlist and still not filled their seats, so they had to call up & interview people that were initially rejected. As a result, rejection letters aren't sent out until May or so, just in case that happens again.

[Charlatan]

Yes it was just the one set. However, one year there was a case where they had exhausted their waitlist and still not filled their seats, so they had to call up & interview people that were initially rejected. As a result, rejection letters aren't sent out until May or so, just in case that happens again.

 

That is kind of a selfish act

[tallguy408]

Not really. If interview week or even January for that matter has passed, and you don't have an interview here, hopefully you are smart enough to put 2 and 2 together. It's a cordial formality that they even send you a rejection letter. You don't have some right to that. Any contact after not recieving an interview (ie. getting one late in the year because they need to interview more candidates) should be viewed as a positive.

 

Word.

[xone]

they do charge applicants a pretty substantial fee for applying, in addition to all the sweat and hard work that went into applying. I too would be frustrated if I didn't get an interview, but also did not get a rejection letter til later on. Its not that people aren't smart enough to put 2 and 2 together..its more like they are feeling down for a couple weeks when they realize they aren't going to get an interview. Then, once they finally come to grips with it, a rejection letter arrives a couple months later. It probably costs them nothing to send out a letter, and saves the applicant a lot of anxiety. Its a respect thing really.

 

So I wish they would send out those letters, atleast to the people who may not have a chance at getting an interview (even if the entire waitlist is exhausted). That is my opinion anyways.

[tallguy408]

You bring up good points, but how are they to know who has "no chance" of getting an interview? The process sucks and there is definitely room for improvement, but I think this is the best they can do along this particular vein. Competetion and applications are stressful for anything, but it's really not that bad if you have things to distract you.

 

Word.

[futuredoc]

Yes it was just the one set. However, one year there was a case where they had exhausted their waitlist and still not filled their seats, so they had to call up & interview people that were initially rejected. As a result, rejection letters aren't sent out until May or so, just in case that happens again.

 

:eek: :eek: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That actually happens?!

[xone]

hmmm...if 1500 applicants apply (not sure of actual #), and 400 get interviews, I think you should be safely able to exclude at least 1000 of them, if not the entire 1100. I'd find it really hard to believe that 144 individuals among 400 could not be found and they need more students. <shrugs> its just the insult to injury type idea that I don't like about this delay, is all.

[Devari]

Yes it was just the one set. However, one year there was a case where they had exhausted their waitlist and still not filled their seats, so they had to call up & interview people that were initially rejected. As a result, rejection letters aren't sent out until May or so, just in case that happens again.

 

That sounds completely retarded. Although I understand the benefit to the school to do this it doesn't reflect well on the school if they think they need to keep their entire applicant pool waiting just to fill enough seats. Personally I think U of A has some serious problems if they're keeping everyone waiting until May for formal rejection letters just because they can't seem to calculate an appropriately-sized interview list and/or waiting list.

[Devari]

Not really. If interview week or even January for that matter has passed, and you don't have an interview here, hopefully you are smart enough to put 2 and 2 together. It's a cordial formality that they even send you a rejection letter. You don't have some right to that. Any contact after not recieving an interview (ie. getting one late in the year because they need to interview more candidates) should be viewed as a positive.

 

Word.

 

I've got to disagree completely here. All applicants have a right to be treated with proper respect and professional courtesy. Keeping an applicant waiting for a rejection letter when they are so far down on the list that admission is nearly impossible is quite simply disrespectful to the applicant.

 

Unfortunately I've seen these types of issues happen at several schools, i.e., accepted applicants are notified promptly but rejected applicants are basically ignored and have to "infer" that they were rejected because of the lack of an acceptance letter. Completely unprofessional behavior on the part of the schools as far as I'm concerned. Then again, since medical admissions are so competitive its not like the schools are going to be hurting for applicants, so apparently they feel that they can treat unsuccessful applicants however they want without any repercussions.

[agentchris]

Not really. If interview week or even January for that matter has passed, and you don't have an interview here, hopefully you are smart enough to put 2 and 2 together. It's a cordial formality that they even send you a rejection letter. You don't have some right to that.

 

Maybe we don't have the right, but a little common courtesy never hurts.

[Jochi1543]

Maybe we don't have the right, but a little common courtesy never hurts.

 

Totally agree.

[tallguy408]

I'm not saying I disagree with you guys, but I'm sure you can understand the Faculties' logic. I feel for the people that did not get in, but it's impossible to determine a waiting list year to year. 144 spots, who the heck thought it would be possible to use up a 100 spot waiting list (I'm guessing here, but I think I'm close)?

 

If any of you have ever worked, you know that you typically only get contact again from a company if they want you...otherwise you get nothing. It may sting the feelings a bit, but this is life. At the risk of sounding harsh, move on. I know exactly what you guys are going through, it took me 3 times to get in. It sucks, but deal with it. That's all I can say.

 

Best of luck to everyone, and if you don't have a rejection letter in your hand, please infer appropriately.

 

Word.

[Devari]

I'm not saying I disagree with you guys, but I'm sure you can understand the Faculties' logic. I feel for the people that did not get in, but it's impossible to determine a waiting list year to year. 144 spots, who the heck thought it would be possible to use up a 100 spot waiting list (I'm guessing here, but I think I'm close)?

 

Well, I think there are definitely better solutions then keeping around 1200+ applicants waiting to hear back from the admissions committee. One option is to simply increase the size of their waiting list. If they feel they need a waiting list with 200 spots instead of 100 to ensure they fill their class, then fine, simply increase the size of the waitlist. But there's no real reason why the other 800+ applicants who aren't even being interviewed and whose chances are basically zero can't be notified in a timely manner. At the very least the school should contact applicants who are below a certain point on the list to tell them that even though they are not formally rejected yet their chances of gaining admission are not high. Otherwise the applicant has to wait and worry about things like whether their application was lost, or if there was some mixup or problem with the required documents, and so on.

 

If any of you have ever worked, you know that you typically only get contact again from a company if they want you...otherwise you get nothing.

 

Actually, from what I've seen an employer who interviews someone for a job but doesn't hire them will often notify the unsuccessful candidate that they aren't being offered the job. As far as I'm concerned some contact from the employer would be necessary to maintain minimum professional standards/courtesy. After all, if you never hear from the company how do you know it isn't a result of some simple error or mistake? They may have incorrect contact information, or simply lost the contact info, or there could have been some other error or mixup. Not being contacted at all really seems very unprofessional as far as I'm concerned. In the case of medical admissions this is particularly important since the applicants are expected to be completely professional at all times and it really isn't asking for too much to expect the admissions department to hold themselves to the same standards.

[tallguy408]

Ahhh, if there is needless picking apart and meticulous dissection of everything someone says, it must be Devari on the forums again. Still trying to get into meds? Or did you find somewhere that appreciates your anality? PS - Don't bother to reply to that, because I won't reply. I'm not going to get into semantics with you. You get a rise out of it, and I won't grant you that satisfaction.

 

As I said, I am not defending the admissions committee, just pointing out their position. It's not easy to deal with 1500 applications that have to be gone through with a fine-tooth comb. If an applicant is sincerely worried about the status of their application, they can feel free to contact the admissions office. The people there are very nice and happy to help as much as they can.

 

Word.

[Devari]

Ahhh, if there is needless picking apart and meticulous dissection of everything someone says, it must be Devari on the forums again.

 

I would really be doing the other forum users a great disservice if I failed to pick apart arguments. It's almost like my posts are a public service announcement, except that instead of informing the public of something important I instead choose to destroy unsupported and/or irrational arguments.

 

No need to thank me or anything, I'm just trying to help out any way I can.

 

Still trying to get into meds?

 

No, I'm currently trying to finish my thesis. I got into medical school last year, I just deferred admission.

 

Or did you find somewhere that appreciates your anality?

 

Doesn't everyone appreciate my rigorous analysis of arguments and ideas?

 

PS - Don't bother to reply to that, because I won't reply.

 

Really? You do realize that if you stop arguing you automatically lose, right? That's how these internet forums work.

 

I'm not going to get into semantics with you.

 

But you already have.

 

As I said, I am not defending the admissions committee, just pointing out their position. It's not easy to deal with 1500 applications that have to be gone through with a fine-tooth comb. If an applicant is sincerely worried about the status of their application, they can feel free to contact the admissions office. The people there are very nice and happy to help as much as they can.

 

As I stated above, I do understand why they've chosen to keep everyone in the applicant pool waiting for rejection letters, I just don't think its either necessary or the best solution to their problem. Personally, I don't know of any other school that feels they need to inconvenience their entire applicant pool to ensure they can fill their seats. It's not like other schools feel they have to resort to this so it's hard for the U of A to justify this on rational grounds, even though I do understand why they've chosen to do this.

[xone]

as someone who used to frequent alot of internet forums and enter into debates, that was some pretty impressive picking apart devari. only problem with picking apart arguments is that people get annoyed sometimes and then all that effort that went into making that long post goes to waste cuz they'll just ignore what you've posted. thats why i stopped a long time ago.

 

that being said (back to the problem at hand), i think it is an oversight the admissions just needs to get through. i don't think there is any particular (justifiable) reason they aren't sending them out other than logistics; it is easier to send out the same letter all at once rather than do two bunches. the school itself is very wonderful and i can attest to the integrity of those involved in the admissions process. so please don't use this one thing as a way to smear UofA... i hope they will start sending these out, and if we push them enough they probably eventually will.

[BrendanJ]

hey devari,

 

I agree with you that there probably could be some adjustments made to the whole rejection letter thing.

 

Is it unprofessional? Not even close. You'll learn quickly that not everything regarding the practical aspect of medicine is fair. I'm not saying those things should be changed but being "unprofessional" is a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of in a medical practice.

 

Hopefully you'll also learn that it's unprofessional and ineffective to complain, and act childish about something involving your medical career instead of taking a proactive approach.

 

If you don't like it, do something about it and have it changed. In case you didn't know the faculty here bends over backwards to respond to feedback and treat applicants well.

[Devari]

as someone who used to frequent alot of internet forums and enter into debates, that was some pretty impressive picking apart devari. only problem with picking apart arguments is that people get annoyed sometimes and then all that effort that went into making that long post goes to waste cuz they'll just ignore what you've posted. thats why i stopped a long time ago.

 

I've tried to cut down on the picking apart of posts, but sometimes it’s necessary because someone makes a series of incorrect or unsupported statements and each one needs to be addressed individually. Plus, it's much more fun to cut an argument into tiny, bite-sized pieces.

 

that being said (back to the problem at hand), i think it is an oversight the admissions just needs to get through. i don't think there is any particular (justifiable) reason they aren't sending them out other than logistics; it is easier to send out the same letter all at once rather than do two bunches. the school itself is very wonderful and i can attest to the integrity of those involved in the admissions process. so please don't use this one thing as a way to smear UofA... i hope they will start sending these out, and if we push them enough they probably eventually will.

 

I'm not "smearing" U of A at all here. I didn't apply this application cycle so I have no particular interest in how U of A runs their program. It simply doesn't affect me one way or another. However, when I come across a post from an applicant that mentions that they have heard nothing back from U of A regarding interviews or admissions this late in the process I consider this very surprising unless there is some very compelling reason. Although I understand the possible reasons why the U of A is doing this, it doesn't necessarily make it either reasonable or justified.

 

hey devari,

 

I agree with you that there probably could be some adjustments made to the whole rejection letter thing.

 

Is it unprofessional? Not even close. You'll learn quickly that not everything regarding the practical aspect of medicine is fair. I'm not saying those things should be changed but being "unprofessional" is a pretty serious thing to accuse someone of in a medical practice.

 

That depends on how you define "unprofessional". It doesn't have to be a major breach of ethics or competency, it just needs to be something that fails to meet reasonable standards. In this case, the decision by medical admissions to keep the entire applicant pool waiting doesn't reflect well on the school unless this is done out of absolute necessity. And I really don't see how anyone could make the argument that the U of A needs to keep a list of over 1200 applicants waiting to fill around 150 spots. None of the other Canadian schools that I've heard of seem to feel that this is either necessary or a good practice.

 

Hopefully you'll also learn that it's unprofessional and ineffective to complain, and act childish about something involving your medical career instead of taking a proactive approach.

 

First, I'm not complaining at all. As I mentioned above, I have no particular interest in the U of A medical program one way or another. Second, I'm simply pointing out that their policy is completely unnecessary and reflects poorly on their admissions process because it inconveniences their entire applicant pool for no justifiable reason. I have no investment or stake in the issue either way, so my comments are going to be far less biased than someone who is either a U of A applicant or medical student.

[BrendanJ]

sweet dude.

[Devari]

sweet dude.

 

Your reply didn't make much sense until I realized that the U of A is filming "Dude, Where's My Rejection Letter". It's currently in post-production, with a scheduled release date of May 15, 2008. I've heard that some of the largest scenes they filmed actually involved over 1200 extras.

[MoSquared]

 

Hopefully you'll also learn that it's unprofessional and ineffective to complain, and act childish about something involving your medical career instead of taking a proactive approach.

 

If you don't like it, do something about it and have it changed. In case you didn't know the faculty here bends over backwards to respond to feedback and treat applicants well.

 

 

 

sweet dude.

 

 

That was real professional Brendan, seems like Devari was trying to give some feedback on the process. Sure he could have gone about it in a different way, but you are being just as "unprofessional" as he is. I'm pretty sure this forum is used to find out what other students are feeling/thinking about medical school, and it seems that many of us share Devari's opinion and we may decide to do something "proactive" about it. For now, it seems that the only people that are being hostile on this thread are the ones already at UofA ....UA Meds '11, scary:eek:

[Jochi1543]

Your reply didn't make much sense until I realized that the U of A is filming "Dude, Where's My Rejection Letter". It's currently in post-production, with a scheduled release date of May 15, 2008. I've heard that some of the largest scenes they filmed actually involved over 1200 extras.

 

ROFLMAO.

 

Devari for President 2008!