waitlisters called?

[Guest waiting]

any waitlistees besides sumi23 get a call yet?

[Guest kb]

I am still waiting for a call and keeping my fingers crossed. I tried calling Mac but they wouldn't tell me whether I'm in through the phone. They said that they have been calling since last week and will continue to call this week.

Good Luck everyone!

[Guest spidey]

still waiting, with my fingers crossed.... just wondering how people got calls last week, when they said that there would be no offers made until this week.

[Guest KellyD]

Hi all,

 

I was called this morning and offered a position off the waitlist. Because my first choice was a toss up between McMaster and McGill, and I accepted an offer from McGill more than a month ago, I declined this morning's offer. It was a heart-wrenching thing to do, as I would really liked to considered my options more carefully. But as an OOP, I never really thought I had a chance at Mac, and so jumped when I got the word from McGill. Since I have, for the last month, been preparing myself mentally for med at McGill, and I live in Montreal anyway, I decided to stick with my initial decision. That means that one more spot has opened up for all those of you waiting patiently for that phone call!! Good luck, everyone!

 

Kelly

[Guest bubbagump]

Nice of you to let us folks know you turned mac down. It gives some of us hope that they'll reach that critical extra spot down into the waitlist and come up with our name.

 

This waiting with our immediate future in the balance has to be the most painful process I've endured. Of course there are bigger things in life, but the lack of any sign of where we stand is killing me. Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where we knew our rank on the WL, the number of spots currently filled, and the position of the most recent WL offer? Is that so much to ask? OK, I'm done whining.

 

BTW, you can count me as one of the hopefully waiting, but not yet called.

[Guest sydney]

Hey Bubba...I hear you!!

 

You said it perfectly...I feel exactly the same way...there are definately worse things in life, but I have to admit that the wait is really dragging me down!! Normally I'm a really positive person always trying to see the good side of things, and say that "everything happens for reason..."...but this is testing me!!

 

I did say in an earlier post, that perhaps for us die-hard Mac "waitlisters" not knowing our ranking could be to our benefit...you see, Kelly just proved that theory to have some credibility?.....she was likely in the top 10 or 20... I wonder if she had known that she had a great chance of getting in, would she have opted to wait for Mac?? (they must be calling at a tremedously slow pace....really how long does it take to call 30-40 people????...oh, maybe we're all #45-90!!)

 

Anyways, just trying to pass the time, have already gone for a run and walked the dog...good luck to everyone, post if you hear any news!!

 

Take care!

[Guest docR]

Hey guys!

 

Just for the record, the wait is killing me too. Actually, I called MAC today hoping that they might be able to give me some info but no such luck. If anything the woman said that for the time being offers to the wait list people have now been made. However, as more people decline a spot at MAC other people would be called but the bulk of it is now over and future offers will depend on if and when government funding goes through...hopefully soon. Anyway, keep the faith and hang in there...I know I can't help but hope that things will still work out for us all....and there definitely still is that possibility.

 

Take care.

 

docR

[Guest sydney]

Hey Rash...Jessica here...email me personally, I would love to chat!

 

jessica_marion@yahoo.com

 

Thanks!

[Guest spidey]

I hear you guys!

 

I sure hope that those ten extra spots open up really soon. I can’t believe that of all the people talking about being on the waitlist in this forum, that only one has gotten a call. Either everyone who got an offer accepted right away, or we’re all at the bottom of the WL. What kinds of odds are those?? I keep hoping I’ll have a message on my phone, but nothing yet. Lets all hope that there are more people out there like KellyD, rejecting their offer so that we may get a chance to be called.

 

I don’t know what kind of situations you guys are in, but I soon have to make a decision whether to pursue a PhD or just finish up my Masters. It’s a hard decision to make, because research is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. At this point it would be really great to know something concrete in terms of where the waitlist stands, and as you have all mentioned, it would be even better if we knew our positions on it. They seem to be telling everyone different things. I heard at first that they weren’t even making offers until this week, yet last week people had calls. Then someone else said that they would be making calls all week, and now we hear that they have already made all the offers. I tell you, this waiting and wondering things really gets to you after a while. I guess we’ll have to all just keep our fingers crossed.

 

Good luck to all those left standing!

[Guest Angela]

Hey All!

 

I've been checking here everyday to see if any of you have made it. All the things you have mentioned have also crossed my mind. I've been thinking about this waiting list thing so much that I dreamt that Mac finally softened up and decided to give us our rankings. NOt only that but we were also able to find out where they were on the list (calling people). Wouldn't that be nice if it were true!

 

Hopefully, at least one of us will hear some good news this week. That way, we'll know that they're still calling people throughout this week. <sigh>

 

Good luck everyone! Try not to think about it too much! (I know it's hard. That's why I decided to work seven days this week)

 

Angela

[Guest sydney]

To be honest guys, I really can't take what the admit office really says...Angela, you got it...everyone hears something different!! I think they just say what ever comes to their minds when the phone rings!!

 

Anyways, misery loves company which is why I guess we all keep coming back here!! I'm going to keep checking my messages regardless!!

 

Good luck guys!!

[Guest kb]

Hi

I totally agree with the waiting. I'm out of town and tried calling Mac for my status again. They still wouldn't tell me even though I could possibly have missed their call.

I'm also surprised that not many more people have been called this week. Perhaps not everyone knows about the forum. Hope someone hears from them today so that we know they are calling people....

Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Guest dubliner]

hey all;

 

Hope the waiting is going ok! It seems like they would have quickly blown through the intial round of waitlist offers on Friday/early Monday (i.e. those offers that were given out because of the applicants who were _accepted_ to Mac, but had _already_ decided to go elsewhere). That number would probably be fairly small (15? 20? anybody's guess...). However, anybody accepted at another med school can provisionally accept that school's offer, and none of those acceptances become firm until July 3rd - so probably on July 4th, another flurry of a few waitlist offers will happen.

 

After that, it will simply be a matter of the few still on the waitlist AFTER the 3rd that decide NOT to go to Mac (this is going to be really really few people), because those on the waitlist that are going into med school would have already accepted somewhere else by the 3rd...if you see what I mean...so if we haven't received a call by the 4th or thereabouts, I'd put the waiting cap on until late August!

 

Best of luck to everybody.

 

Cheers

dc

[Guest dubliner]

by the way, I was informed by the admissions department that not giving out waitlist #'s was "a policy decision by the head of the adcom". I inquired as to what that particular policy was, stating a few of my reasons that I'd mentioned earlier (eg. wouldn't they want those who actually want to go to Mac to wait on the waitlist, then Mac gets people that they've ranked higher, rather than having most of them accept offers elsewhere?), but got completely stonewalled all the way up. I mentioned that they gave out #'s last year, that other schools give "top-half", "bottom-half" designations, etc., but no dice. Ah well.

 

I still don't see the justification for it. Making an informed decision seems like the only responsible and ethical thing to allow us to do.

 

patience...!

enjoy the weather - should MAYBE feel like summer this week...

dc

[Guest MDWannabe]

Hi all,

 

I've been enjoying the back-and-forth in here. Misery loves company! I was just wondering...how do we know that the wait list was really 89 people? Clearly, the AdCom didn't give out that info. They don't seem to be talking about anything these days...

[Guest bubbagump]

89 sounds suspicious. One person produced that number, and everyone has quoted it. It sounds like a reasonable number, but it could be anything between 50 and 150 for all we know.

 

But I'm pretty surprised to hear so few people respond about getting called off the waitlist. I hoped for/expected 30-40 declines from the original pack, and that doesn't seem likely with so few people getting called.

 

Anyone know something we don't?

[Guest sydney]

Hey guys....I heard the number 89 back on June 3rd from someone who apparently had heard directly...so, I don't know how much credibility that statement really has. I agree, it does seem like a reasonable number, but still a bit too high for my liking, 50-70 sounds a bit better...after getting all the registration information, student card forms, renters guide, etc... (which truly makes you think you are in!!!...), I will be SO dissapointed!

 

I was also thinking that 30-40 people would decline as well, but maybe Mac is the place to be this year for whatever reason?? Also, many people may have accepted provisionally, hoping to be somewhere else...for instance, Alberta hasn't even sent out their decisions...(not that there are likely many overlapping candidates, but maybe 2 or 3??) It seems like a few folk from the West were successful this year...so who really knows?? And there will likely be more spots added as soon as the government physically coughs up the cash...maybe Mondays budget will be implemented even sooner, to perhaps include admits THIS year??

 

I have been very unsuccessful at trying to get information from fellow colleagues who have ties with the medical program, really only the committee (a handful of people) and secretaries/admin I'm sure have the "list"...

 

So, here's to more banter...I keep wondering what great things I could have been doing with all the time I am spending on this damn site!! Take care guys!!

[Guest MDWannabe]

Having dealt with a number of admissions offices over the past, I must say that Mac's stands out as the most decent and friendly - even if they are stonewalling us a bit on the ranking issue. Let's remember that the higher-ups on the committee made this controversial decision not to post relative wait list rankings, and now the people on the front line have to deal with our numerous questions and/or rantings.

 

I certainly share in the frustration you all express in potentially having to wait until August to have any idea of whether we have a chance to get in or not. It is like being rejected anew as each day passes by. In any case, the AdCom clearly is not going to change it's decision this year (a decision which, mind you, seems to be echoed by the other schools out there). My sense is that the no-ranking decision hinged on the past AdCom experience of taking in many calls per day from anyone on the wait list who was anywhere close to being offered a position. If this is the case, I think an earlier suggestion that rankings and status be posted on the web would make all of us happier and at the same time address the AdCom's burden.

 

In the meantime, maybe we can take a little time to take in the character building element of this waiting game. If we don't use it for this purpose, many of us will have wasted away 3 months of our lives with nothing to show for it.

[Guest gucio93]

Perhaps with all the anxiety and frustration inherent in this time period Angela did not realize that her post may upset other readers. I do believe that her intention was only to "lighten the mood," and although in light of recent events the theme of her comment was not the most appropriate, there is no need for such sarcasm and outrage from other posters directed at her person. Let's please take it for what it was (perhaps writing before thinking) and not make it into what it was not (a personal stance on political issues). Be nice everyone!

[Guest Ian Wong]

Hi all,

 

I took a look at the whole thread, which seemed to go off sideways a little while back. I decided to delete the messages as all the replies that were coming in didn't seem to be going in the right direction for this forum. I agree that this wasn't a case of a posted message designed to spread hate or negativism, but rather an inadvertent comment that was a bit inappropriate given the circumstances abroad.

 

Hopefully, we can bring this thread back on track. Any Mac waitlisters who get notified, please let us all know!

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest Sumi23]

Hi guys,

Just to let you know, I declined my Mac offer today after provisionally accepting it earlier this week. So one more spot available and I hope to hear that one of you guys got it. I will be attending Queen's next fall. Good luck to you all.

Sumi23

[Guest kb]

Thank you Sumi23 for letting us know...a little more hope is always great. Good Luck at Queens!