why doesn't queens tell you the WL position?

[kaysersoze]

i've been thinking about this...and i really fail to see the wisdom behind it...has anyone tried calling them and gotten shot down when finding about their position...i planned on calling them but just wanted to know if my efforts are futile....i'm very depressed by this current situation and wish they would put me out of my misery if i have no chance

[Jakbeh Quik]

from my view, here's the straight, honest truth: because despite the standard party line of valuing and wanting to impress/attract applicants (not just queens that does this, but all med schools), at the end of the day, once interviews are done, they prioritize saving face/prestige over applicant feelings or anxiety

 

you've probably already heard that they had to go into their rejected list a couple years back, which, from the point of view of adcoms/the board/Lord Sauron, is a PR "embarrassment", taking applicant ranked #250 on the rejected list is a humiliation, even if that applicant may have a 3.9 and 35 MCAT (not talking about myself) but had a sub par interview. it implies "oh we couldn't hold the students we ranked as the best, we were forced to go into our rejected pool", which they think impacts their image negatively. so when dr. so and so is on the golf course with the heads of other med schools, he must hang his head in shame and be violated by the dr's who run schools with a 0.1 higher rating on the gourman report

 

solution? put everyone on waitlist, so pulling anyone from it can be passed off as "we still took students we deemed relatively top-tier", and don't tell anyone their rank, so waitlistees who get in can't go blabbing off "omg im soooo lucky! i was #355 and they still took me!"

 

they're not stupid, anyone with a brain on the adcoms KNOWS that telling waitlistees their rank will add years onto their life, as well as give them greater freedom in moving on and planning (hello? grad applications, good supervisors, job search, travel plans, etc etc) and *gasp* maybe actually improving their application for next cycle - but nope, the trade off of prestige is more valuable, so even tho 60-70/400 WListees will get good news, allowing the 340 who have no realistic chance to remain in academic purgatory with false hope is an acceptable cost

 

now im also in the WL situation, so does it suck? yep

 

is it unfair? yep, but then that's life

 

the first day or so after getting waitlisted at the places i applied to were pretty bad, you mull over how you did everything right, how in your heart you KNOW the enthusiasm and passion you'd bring to being a physician, and essentially 'what the hell else does one have to do to get in?'

 

but now its almost, for me at least, 'meh'; im not gonna bother giving them the satisfaction of moping and groveling for a spot, if it comes, itll come, if not, then if you knew ur intentions, thats too bad, cuz the Canadian public missed out on a great potential doctor; that what Plan B's are for

 

i realized that it was a massive dissapointment to end up on the waitlist because, lets face it, statistically, the odds are against me, if it is indeed 400 on the waitlist

 

yes its hard to realize ur fate just got decided by 3 strangers in the span of 30 minutes when you poured so much sweat and tears into years of effort, but when life gives u the finger, you can either bend over and sit on it (which i did for the first couple of days, but it wasn't too enjoyable), or you can stand up and walk again, because its not like theres another choice

 

and btw, good luck to my fellow WListee's

[daryn]

Despite the above (especially the beginning) being mainly speculative, truthfully I share the sentiments (especially towards the end).

[medwannabe08]

i have been told by an admissions assistant at an Ontario medical school that the reason waitlist positions are not released is because medical school don't want waitlisters to make "foolish" decisions.

 

For example, if you are already accepted to Y medical school but was waitlisted at X medical school at position #5, you might decide to decline Y medical school and wait for X medical school.

 

Anyways, that was the explanation she gave me - it sounded like a crummy reason and very paternalistic of the schools.

 

Then when I asked how come we aren't told our general position on the waitlist (i.e. top half, bottom half) etc, I was told it wouldn't make a difference and cause MORE anxiety.

 

Again, didn't quite following the reasoning. But yea, what are ya gonna do about it right?

[Guest begaster]

Jakbeh nailed it on the head.

 

Question, are they going to invite people as spots open up, or do they do mass-invites on May 30th?

[KMG007]

Jakbeh nailed it on the head.

 

Question, are they going to invite people as spots open up, or do they do mass-invites on May 30th?

 

In past, massive (but smaller then may 15th of course) on the 29th, 30th...nothing before.

[Jeremy_N]

they don't tell you your rank for a few reasons... think about if you knew you were ranked #1 on the Queen's WL, and you're friend got accepted to Queen's and Western, for example...As a good gesture your friend will likely accept Western so you can get the Queen's spot, if no one else declined this spot very close to the deadline

[A-Stark]

they don't tell you your rank for a few reasons... think about if you knew you were ranked #1 on the Queen's WL, and you're friend got accepted to Queen's and Western, for example...As a good gesture your friend will likely accept Western so you can get the Queen's spot, if no one else declined this spot very close to the deadline

 

This is a reason? What's wrong with this? (And if you were ranked #1 on the Queen's wait list, you'd be virtually guaranteed to get an offer since it's certain that at least one person in the first-round of offers goes somewhere else.)

 

Anyway, Dal seems to have no problem letting applicants know their position on the wait list. What's the problem in Ontario?

[KMG007]

 

Anyway, Dal seems to have no problem letting applicants know their position on the wait list. What's the problem in Ontario?

 

And even in Ontario, NOSM tells you too.. I agree, stupid...perhaps like many schools are taking on 'new' ways from McMaster like interview styles then perhaps this too will change in the future...as I feel it should...too bad for us though!

[The Law]

they don't tell you your rank for a few reasons... think about if you knew you were ranked #1 on the Queen's WL, and you're friend got accepted to Queen's and Western, for example...As a good gesture your friend will likely accept Western so you can get the Queen's spot, if no one else declined this spot very close to the deadline

 

So then why can't they tell you "top 15%, top 25%", etc.

Anyway, there's nothing we can do about the admissions policy - hang in there everyone, hopefully we get to hear some good news.