Waitlist Thread 2012

[margiethemoo]

Dreamsneverdie, you obviously chose your username for a reason, and this is about the time you stick to it. Being on the waiting list sucks - there's a chance we'll get in, but an even larger chance we won't. And you know what? That's fine. Because there's always next year. Incredibly cliche, I know, but probably so for a reason. An extra year of life experience can only make us stronger applicants, and being at the stage we are right now is already pretty damn good. In the grand scheme of things what does it matter if we enter med school right now or 3 years down the road (because persistence will pay off, I believe in that). The important thing is that we will be practicing medicine as cynical middle-aged doctors, whether we were the class of 2015 or 2020.

 

As for me, obviously I am not ecstatic about being on the waitlist. And as you said, sorting out back-up plans, facing the possibility of unemployment (and going through the whole application process again) is not fun. But I know medicine is what I want to do, and getting a rejection this year isn't going to change that. Besides, it means I can put off living in Hamilton for at least another year!

 

++++++ yay for thinking positive!

[dreamsneverdie]

Ok guys - I've decided to be neurotic about this because I need something to do with my life right now. Based on the poll Tee88 put up, here is some speculation.

 

Until now 55 people have responded..so lets assume these 55 people are representative of the entire pool of interviewees.

 

55*10=550 (number of people interviewed)....so here are some numbers, which I know are confusing and mostly incorrect, but I got them by multiplying the % of each response with 550.

 

230 accepted and going

---70 accepted but withdrawing

160 waitlisted but would attend

---50 waitlisted and withdrawing from waitlist

40 rejected

 

These numbers tell us that there were 300 accepted, 210 on the waitlist and 40 rejected, which is obviously not accurate. But lets say for speculative purposes that indeed, mac does overaccept like crazy because they know people will drop a lot of seats and they adjust for that, and that they did indeed, accept 300 people. Well 70 of these people are dropping their offers. Which means of the accepted, roughly a quarter are turning down their offers.

Now in reality, I don't think the number of accepted people would be that crazy high. If they over-accept by 20%, they should have sent acceptances to 240 people. If a quarter of these 240 are rejecting their offers, this means there should be 180 people who are accepting. This then leaves some spots for us waitlistees.

 

Now for an analysis of the waitlist - again, probably not 210 people are on the waitlist - more like 150 at the most. But looking at what % of the waitlistees are removing themselves, again it's about a quarter. So if we assume there are 150 people on the waitlist and a quarter have removed themselves, 113 people remain on the waitlist, for not too many spots in the class. BUT that being said there is likely to be some movement at least and we can at least hope and pray that we are the ones who get picked.

 

Thoughts on this analysis? I have a pounding headache right now and have spent majority of the past day and today crying my eyes out so forgive me if this was complete trash. Does this make sense to anyone else or am I just hoping for trends?

[dreamsneverdie]

Dreamsneverdie, you obviously chose your username for a reason, and this is about the time you stick to it. Being on the waiting list sucks - there's a chance we'll get in, but an even larger chance we won't. And you know what? That's fine. Because there's always next year. Incredibly cliche, I know, but probably so for a reason. An extra year of life experience can only make us stronger applicants, and being at the stage we are right now is already pretty damn good. In the grand scheme of things what does it matter if we enter med school right now or 3 years down the road (because persistence will pay off, I believe in that). The important thing is that we will be practicing medicine as cynical middle-aged doctors, whether we were the class of 2015 or 2020.

 

As for me, obviously I am not ecstatic about being on the waitlist. And as you said, sorting out back-up plans, facing the possibility of unemployment (and going through the whole application process again) is not fun. But I know medicine is what I want to do, and getting a rejection this year isn't going to change that. Besides, it means I can put off living in Hamilton for at least another year!

 

The bolded part made me smile, lol, thank you for the encouraging words and I agree! It's really depressing to be in such a limbo and have the anticipation mixed with so much pessimism, but having said that, you're right, I too am going to keep trying until I make it, so it doesn't matter if it's this year or not! And I had some nice ideas for the next year if I didn't get in, so maybe I need to look at those in a better way and not think of it as a burden.

[vanillabear]

I was looking at the facebook group and there are like 50 people there already - that's a quarter of the class! Can a 2014er tell me how many of those people are 2014s or upper years and how many are new students? Just because if the class is filling up that fast, then that leaves little hope for waitlisters, which is very depressing.

 

 

One of the admins of the facebook group told me to mention that about 30 members of the Class of 2015 facebook group are 2014ers who joined to help us 2015ers out ... so don't start freaking out!

[Tee88]

One of the admins of the facebook group told me to mention that about 30 members of the Class of 2015 facebook group are 2014ers who joined to help us 2015ers out ... so don't start freaking out!

 

awe thank you vanillabear... that actually made me smile (I mean it is slightly less terrifying to find that out, which is a perk )

 

 

annnnnnnd just going back to the analysis.. A LOT more individuals got rejected and are not posting (which is totally understandable and I appreciate everyone who has posted it means a lot). But I know of 3 amazing individuals who are not on these boards who received rejections!... say we each know 3 people who got rejections that brings the count up a lot more!

[medapp1991]

Hey everyone,

 

So I was just going over Lupe's waitlist thread from last year and someone mentioned that the waitlist size was 145 people. Given that the class size hasn't changed really the waitlist should be of similar size. If you accommodate for all those who take themselves off the waitlist, that would probably leave close to 100 people. Based on the numbers Lupe gave us on his first post, it seems reasonable that the list could move by 40 spots at least, giving us a 40% chance of acceptance (at least).

 

Also, I think that McMaster would know approximately how long to make the waitlist such that not too many people are included on it who probably shouldn't be based on their rank.

 

Thoughts?

[dreamsneverdie]

Hey everyone,

 

So I was just going over Lupe's waitlist thread from last year and someone mentioned that the waitlist size was 145 people. Given that the class size hasn't changed really the waitlist should be of similar size. If you accommodate for all those who take themselves off the waitlist, that would probably leave close to 100 people. Based on the numbers Lupe gave us on his first post, it seems reasonable that the list could move by 40 spots at least, giving us a 40% chance of acceptance (at least).

 

Also, I think that McMaster would know approximately how long to make the waitlist such that not too many people are included on it who probably shouldn't be based on their rank.

Thoughts?

 

This is an interesting thought. I suppose they make it long enough so that the minimum number of people have to hear bad news in the end, but who really knows? Very few people who get in off the waitlist actually post here (if you're a lurker, please sign up and post!).

 

I suppose they make it long enough that if you are on the waitlist you have a chance at admission, but if they think it's just highly unlikely that the class will move enough to give you a remote chance of admission, then you end up being rejected, and everyone below you on the list also gets rejected. It's encouraging to think this way, that if I'm on the list they thought I have a reasonable shot at admission, but I guess we need to remember in the end that there are people every year on the waitlist who end up not getting good news. They make it large enough that they can comfortably fill their seats and so they don't have to go down to the rejected pile to fill the class, and due to this, every year some unlucky few get stuck on the waitlist and never get off it (hopefully not us!).

 

Edit: And I agree with the first part of your post! Sounds about right.

 

Also, I found this in a past waitlist thread and it made me lol, so thought I would share:

 

 

Interesting indeed. Now, if we take that 90, and divide it by pi, then multiply it by the root of the sum total mean of each digit of all Canadian physicians' social security numbers, you arrive at Obama's average bowling score.

 

Coincidence?

 

I think not.

[LupeFiasco]

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[Pigwidgeon]

I agree that its disappointing being on a waitlist, especially since we've all been waiting for Decision-Day May15th and in the end all it means is more waiting.

 

For the time being, I'm treating it as a rejection. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right? Getting all my grad school applications in order and trying to psych myself up for a Masters. Also studying to re-write my MCAT (dreamsneverdie is right, most of the dates are full, I'm lucky I registered really early just in case!)

 

And speaking of trends...waitlist exhausted in 2000 and 2006...2012 comes next! Wouldn't that be awesome

[polka]

And speaking of trends...waitlist exhausted in 2000 and 2006...2012 comes next! Wouldn't that be awesome

 

Haha great minds think alike! This is exactly what first popped into my mind. Unlikely, but would be so very very amazing.

[LupeFiasco]

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[beeMD]

(if you're a lurker, please sign up and post!).

 

Lurker checking in. Got wait listed but I'll post if I hear anything. Good luck everyone!

[w_robin]

Ahhh you guys are totally NOT listening to my advice lol!

 

Wait till after the deadline and a couple weeks after that. Then start studying for the MCAT and what not. I would advise you kids to start studying closer to June 10-12. At that point, there will be 2-3 waves of waitlist acceptances.

 

I'm probably going to get into doo-doo for doing this but I'm going to respectfully disagree with my esteemed colleague LupeFiasco here.

 

I think it's actually ok that people vent on this forum. There's nothing wrong with trying to share your feelings...

 

I also disagree on the MCAT point. I find, for me at least, that the best way to deal with defeat/disappointment is to push forward. A line from one of my favourite movies (Up In The Air - quite a fitting title here) is that humans aren't meant to stay still - keep moving forward. I badly butchered the quote here.

 

I would start studying now... I started my US Apps pre-May 15 so I could push forward in case of bad news...

 

I do however agree with LF's point that don't worry about MCAT seats. I got mine like two days before the late registration deadline.

[Leon]

So it really does look like every school is going to wait till after the 29th before moving the waitlist

[andy]

Long time lurker (and waitlistee) posting...

 

Perhaps there has been a little bit of movement that we just haven't seen yet? Since everyone was notified on Tuesday, even those who were super keen to get their responses in may only have replied to OMSAS on the Tuesday evening, which would mean that med schools would probably only receive the replies on Thursday morning (Deborah from Toronto has said that there is a one day lag), which would be the first day that waitlist offers could feasibly be sent out. However, considering that schools like Mac and Toronto over-accept (not sure about Queens), you probably won't see any movement until a bit later. I think that a fair number of people with multiple acceptances might have been mulling it over and accepting over the long weekend which would mean that the schools would likely have their decisions by Wednesday, which is probably when we could see the first bit of movement.

 

On another note, I did a quick count through all the forums to see if I could find people who weren't posting in our forum but were accepted at multiple schools, and came up with 18 accepted (at Mac and other schools), 5 accepted at other schools and waitlisted at mac, and another 19 who seemed to have had an interview at Mac but haven't said whether they have been accepted/waitlisted/rejected. Now that I look at it, it doesn't seem to be particularly helpful (except that there are more people accepted at multiple schools than have replied to the poll...which means that maybe we could have another 3 people decline their admissions offers?).

 

I'm just hoping that we all get good news soon!

[Leon]

I'm just reading last year's waitlist thread and I must say : There are some truly awesome people now in the class of 2014! My heartfelt congrats to everyone that made it off the waitlist last year, especially to Lupe. Everytime I saw someone get an offer on that list, it made me smile.

 

To this year's waitlistees: I think it's impossible to predict anything. Last year's calculations show that everything is up in the air and it's hard to guess at our chances so the best thing, IMO, is to treat this as a rejection and move on. That's what I'm doing myself. There's still that little seed of hope about next week and I really hope we all get called off the waitlist but there is just no guarantee.

 

I've already accepted a long-pending full time job offer for the summer and I'm going to be be TAing as well. I've decided not to rewrite the MCAT and I'm hoping to find another part time job to fill up the vacant time and earn enough $$$ for next year's applications! Best of luck to everyone and I hope to meet you guys at some point in my life, may it be this year or next or however many it takes. As our interview letter said, it's a huge accomplishment to have made it into the 550 interviewed of the 4200+ that applied. All of you are strong applicants : just strengthen yourselves more for next year!

 

Cheers

Leon

[Applemanv3]

I'm just reading last year's waitlist thread and I must say : There are some truly awesome people now in the class of 2014! My heartfelt congrats to everyone that made it off the waitlist last year, especially to Lupe. Everytime I saw someone get an offer on that list, it made me smile.

 

To this year's waitlistees: I think it's impossible to predict anything. Last year's calculations show that everything is up in the air and it's hard to guess at our chances so the best thing, IMO, is to treat this as a rejection and move on. That's what I'm doing myself. There's still that little seed of hope about next week and I really hope we all get called off the waitlist but there is just no guarantee.

 

I've already accepted a long-pending full time job offer for the summer and I'm going to be be TAing as well. I've decided not to rewrite the MCAT and I'm hoping to find another part time job to fill up the vacant time and earn enough $$$ for next year's applications! Best of luck to everyone and I hope to meet you guys at some point in my life, may it be this year or next or however many it takes. As our interview letter said, it's a huge accomplishment to have made it into the 550 interviewed of the 4200+ that applied. All of you are strong applicants : just strengthen yourselves more for next year!

 

Cheers

Leon

Man, I am praying as much as I can for you all! You guys do deserve a spot and I wish you all the very best. I'm sure the waitlist will move quite a bit given the number of multiple acceptances people seem to have gotten.

 

Hang in there Leon!!

[w_robin]

Man, I am praying as much as I can for you all! You guys do deserve a spot and I wish you all the very best. I'm sure the waitlist will move quite a bit given the number of multiple acceptances people seem to have gotten.

 

Hang in there Leon!!

 

Yeah me too! I think the waitlist will definitely come through for a LOT of you. I'll pray for those of you who have been with us all the way. I'll light a St. Michael's / St. Jude's candle for you guys! It's worked for me before

[Pigwidgeon]

I think it's impossible to predict anything. Last year's calculations show that everything is up in the air and it's hard to guess at our chances so the best thing, IMO, is to treat this as a rejection and move on. That's what I'm doing myself. There's still that little seed of hope about next week and I really hope we all get called off the waitlist but there is just no guarantee.

 

I'm trying to do the same thing. I've got a good student lab position this summer and am in the process of setting things up for a Masters next year and re-writing my MCAT (need to improve VR score). Trying to move on while surreptitiously checking this thread at least once a day (hanging on to a small thread of hope!)

 

I think you also make a really good point. Not only did we all make it into the top 550 from the 4200+ applicants, but we're now in the top 400 or so (depending on the size of the waitlist). That's a pretty huge accomplishment.

 

Finally no one really knows how long the waitlist is, or how much Mac overaccepts or how much waitlist movement to expect etc. It's all guesswork. At this point there's nothing we can do about this year so I agree that we should all be following Leon's example and preparing to make our applications even stronger for next year!

[Leon]

Thanks for the optimism everyone! I'm still clinging onto that little bit of hope, haha.

 

Things always take forever with me, so I'm not surprised that I'm waitlisted. Even with UT, I was in the last batch of rejections pre-interview -.-"

I rarely get anything I want easily so I hope this is just a recurrance of my typical life, haha

[Tee88]

Thanks for the optimism everyone! I'm still clinging onto that little bit of hope, haha.

 

Things always take forever with me, so I'm not surprised that I'm waitlisted. Even with UT, I was in the last batch of rejections pre-interview -.-"

I rarely get anything I want easily so I hope this is just a recurrance of my typical life, haha

 

Leon I am in the exact same boat as you, I just don't want to be locked into a Master's for 2 years... at the same time I've also been out of school for 2 years and could have done a Master's in that time (fml). So I'm at quite the standstill as well and feeling like no matter how much work I put towards something, I'm still a step behind.

[margiethemoo]

Leon I am in the exact same boat as you, I just don't want to be locked into a Master's for 2 years... at the same time I've also been out of school for 2 years and could have done a Master's in that time (fml). So I'm at quite the standstill as well and feeling like no matter how much work I put towards something, I'm still a step behind.

 

similar situation, I guess. I feel like maybe if I were younger or straight from undergrad I would feel better because I'd feel like I have more options. I'm kicking myself for not applying earlier, I.e. while I was in my undergrad.

 

I finished my Masters, and I'm not getting any younger. I'm thinking maybe I should have just done a second undergrad or tried to improve those marks..

 

I want to be hopeful and optimistic but it gets harder with every passing year, as I grow more cynical and everyone around me seems to be going somewhere except me.

 

sigh. maybe it's the end of the long weekend that's affecting my mood.

[anj88]

the more i creep the forum the more hope i get! although i'm nervous about jinxing anything.

 

maybe even some news late this week??

[marcel]

the more i creep the forum the more hope i get! although i'm nervous about jinxing anything.

 

maybe even some news late this week??

 

Are wait lists supposed to start moving before 29th??

[polka]

I want to be hopeful and optimistic but it gets harder with every passing year, as I grow more cynical and everyone around me seems to be going somewhere except me.

 

Yeah, I can totally understand there, especially when you're surrounded by high-achievers and super accomplished friends...

 

Still going to hang in there though. I've put too much into this to turn back now.