Does U of A reject post-interview?

[Jochi1543]

I don't recall whether U of A will send out any post-interview rejections on May 15th, or if they only send out acceptances and waitlists...does anyone know?

[avenir001]

ya, plz enlighten us.

 

Word.

[juicyprunes]

unfortunately, U of A doesn't sent out any rejection notices.

[Jochi1543]

unfortunately, U of A doesn't sent out any rejection notices.

 

*GROAN*

 

I'm terrified at the thought of a summer of unranked waitlists.

[lostintime]

Why does medicine treat people like this? I was reading the U of T dental thread and they all know their waitlist #. How come medical schools don't do this? *puzzled*

[KennethToronto]

Why does medicine treat people like this? I was reading the U of T dental thread and they all know their waitlist #. How come medical schools don't do this? *puzzled*

 

I was told recently by an admissions officer at a particular school the reason applicant's rank/quartile etc on a waitlist are not divulged is because it may cause people to make 'foolish' decisions.

 

The particular example given concerned conditional acceptances for OMSAS (where an applicant might make a dumb decision with an offer with one school based on waitlist information for a preferred school). I felt it was slightly paternalistic since revealing the information probably helps applicants plan better for their future.

[Saberial]

unfortunately, U of A doesn't sent out any rejection notices.

 

Is this new this year? I know people that were rejected post-interview last year and the year before that.

 

Also, during the interview weekend, the dean mentioned that if your on the waitlist you have a good chance of getting in...

[Jochi1543]

I was told recently by an admissions officer at a particular school the reason applicant's rank/quartile etc on a waitlist are not divulged is because it may cause people to make 'foolish' decisions.

 

How nice of them to be looking out for us so generously lest us senseless children do something naughty to ourselves.

[Jochi1543]

Is this new this year? I know people that were rejected post-interview last year and the year before that.

 

Also, during the interview weekend, the dean mentioned that if your on the waitlist you have a good chance of getting in...

 

That does ring a bell, although maybe I'm hallucinating (just ate a whole bag of chocolate chips).

[futuredoc]

I think the reason they have the waitlists is because in the past they sent out rejections but then exhausted their waitlists. I would assume U of A experiences alot of waitlist movement because many IP apply to U of C (not to mention Ontario) and decline offers. OOP moves because many applicants choose a place closer to home. In essence, U of A is a "back-up" school (notice I used quotations- I personally love U of A and want to study there more than anywhere else).

[Jochi1543]

I think the reason they have the waitlists is because in the past they sent out rejections but then exhausted their waitlists. I would assume U of A experiences alot of waitlist movement because many IP apply to U of C (not to mention Ontario) and decline offers. OOP moves because many applicants choose a place closer to home. In essence, U of A is a "back-up" school (notice I used quotations- I personally love U of A and want to study there more than anywhere else).

 

I'm surprised that U of A experiences a brain drain to U of C and not vice versa - this is not the first time I've heard things that create that impression. Outside of the fact that U of C is a 3-yr school, what do you think causes that? Of course, some IPs are from Calgary, and may opt to stay home to save on rent/moving costs/be closer to family members, but then the same holds true for IPs from Edmonton, so that can be neglected as a factor.

[tallguy408]

Screw you and your flames, Icebox. LOL

 

There definitely is not a brain drain to Calgary, but a brain swap would be quite accurate. It fluxes year to year, but we trade a lot of students back and forth with UofC.

 

As for the waitlist, and why med schools don't tell you your spot, and "foolish decisions" and so on, consider the following. You and a friend are both applying to med school. You rank #1 on 2 waiting lists (eg. UofA and UofC), while your friend ranks #2 on only one school (eg. UofA). One can concieve that you might take the spot at UofC, for no other reason than to help out your friend if you knew your numbers on the list. Foolish? Yes! Unfair to other applicants who do not have the benefit of friends on the list? Yes! This is why you are not told. It is so that your motivations for accepting off a waiting list are your own. It is also so that no one applicant has any percieved advantage over another.

 

I know the waiting sucks, and it makes future planning suck, but lock it up. We all had to go through this. I am not saying the process is perfect. I think we could do a lot to expedite the process and let you guys know if you are accepted months sooner. But this has already been talked to death on other threads.

 

Sorry for the wait guys, do the best you can to distract yourselves. All the best!

 

Word.

 

PS - That's my line avenir, don't you forget it.

[lostintime]

Fine, no specific #'s. But a quartile would be nice. I think most people are mature enough to make their own life decisions. If they can't...well then sucks to be them, and they should have to deal with the consequences. But don't punish everyone for it.

[tallguy408]

That would probably be fair. Good point. You should bring it up with the admissions office.

 

Word.

[futuredoc]

I wouldn't necessarily think this is true - the reason being is that UofA's waitlist tends to move very little in comparison to Calgary's (wasn't it less than 20 last year?). UofA tends to have more of a reputation of accepting applicants that look "academic" on paper while UofC has the reputation of accepting "well-rounded" applicants. I don't see how this can be, since *most* people that get accepted to one tend to be accepted to both. But either way, it probably prompts more people to apply to UofC as a result.

 

It also seems that most people that attend UofA did an undergrad here as well - must be the feeling of home (though the city of Calgary > Edmonton... go Flames).

 

Actually, the number of students who declined admission last year was 57, and the average number of applicants that declined over five years was 62, or just under half the entering class size. U of C also has a shorter MD length, so it is more attractive in that way.

[Jochi1543]

Fine, no specific #'s. But a quartile would be nice. I think most people are mature enough to make their own life decisions. If they can't...well then sucks to be them, and they should have to deal with the consequences. But don't punish everyone for it.

 

Yeah, for real. They are expecting us to make life-and-death decisions for strangers, but apparently we are incapable of making a decision about the course of our own lives.

[Jochi1543]

Actually, the number of students who declined admission last year was 57, and the average number of applicants that declined over five years was 62, or just under half the entering class size. U of C also has a shorter MD length, so it is more attractive in that way.

 

Is that IP or OOP or both? It sounds like their OOP waitlist moves pretty much entirely, I've got the impression that the year often ends with some OOP spots unfilled and going to IP waitlisters. I wonder how much the IP waitlist moves.

[Jochi1543]

One more question I was gonna ask that I might as well ask here instead of making a new thread: does U of A consider current year grades for waitlisters? I know we have to have everything in by June 15th or something, so I wonder if current year grades influence the waitlist position. Plus they still have our non-pre-req fall semester grades right now that they didn't look at during pre-interview selection.

[BrendanJ]

Jochi: I'm fairly sure it's only a minimum gpa you have to maintain for the last term, but doesn't affect ranking unless you're part of the 2/3 year pool or the last semester includes prereq courses.

 

I would say absolute positions on the wait list could actually even be a security issue or the risk of some sort of coercion for the applicants high on the list if somehow others found out (that's probably a stretch I know but there's a lot of high strung people/families involved here!!)

 

 

I also totally agree with you guys on the quartiles, and I think that it's a problem in many med schools' admissions processes. I can't imagine how much it would suck to be in limbo for a summer, especially if you live far away and the decision will determine where you'll end up living at the drop of a hat!

[futuredoc]

Is that IP or OOP or both? It sounds like their OOP waitlist moves pretty much entirely, I've got the impression that the year often ends with some OOP spots unfilled and going to IP waitlisters. I wonder how much the IP waitlist moves.

 

Yes 57 is both and yes sometimes (sometimes!) the OOP list is exhausted. Rather rare though.