The waitlist is a place of dread for many, but I want you to know it’s an okay place to be sometimes as it more often than not leads to that acceptance you want. I’ll talk you through what a waitlist is, how they work generally, and odds of you getting off of it.
Need the Anki decks for MCAT? Check out these download links: Miledown, Aidan, JackSparrow, Mr. Pankow
Worried about a school rescinding an acceptance after you just got it? Check out how this works here.
Medical school waitlists are a standard part of the application process for M.D., D.O., M.D./Ph.D., and all other programs. It’s essentially a “we like you enough to be part of our class, but we just have too many good applicants right now”. They think you can make it and succeed, but maybe someone else beat you out in the admissions committee meeting. Or, if it’s a school like Harvard, everyone is stellar, and you may just have to wait. Not sure what an MD program is? Check it out here.
What’s a medical school waitlist?
The waitlist is exactly what I described above. When you apply to a school, you then are either rejected or are given an interview. If the interview goes badly, you may get rejected. If the interview goes well, you either get accepted right away, or you’ll have to be on a waitlist.
Some schools will have a large waitlist and others have a small one. When I was going through this process, I always checked the school’s website or the AAMC’s MSAR website for this info. Some schools only have 100-250 ish people on the waitlist. Some have more. Others have much less. It really is school dependent.
Additionally, it varies by school how many come off of this waitlist! Some schools who are less desirable or who happen to accept a ton of high end applicants, may have high turnover. This means they accepted a ton of students who ended up going elsewhere and now the school has to work down their waitlist. This varies year to year and school by school. I found my best way of finding out how many people came off the waitlist was by checking SDN (Student doctor network) where they list all of the medical schools each year. Students who have applied will post on whether they came off of it. Sometimes, administrators of the actual medical schools will go in and give updates on the waitlist status.
Do people come off the medical school wait list?
Yes, people come off of it all the time. It’s never a guarantee, but it happens every year. I had an instance where I came off the waitlist for a school. I also had an instance where I did not, so it’s school dependent.
How are students placed on the medical school wait list?
Also, I’d like to mention that every school does this differently. I know that some schools, such as University of Central Florida School of Medicine used to separate students out by quartiles on their waitlist. So, if you were placed on their waitlist, they also let you know your quartile of position. If you are Q1, you had a great chance of coming off of it. If you were Q2, lesser chance but it was possible, Historically, Q3 and Q4 had little chance. It was nice, though because it was more transparent to the students.
I’ve read where some will give you updates on it or give you a more precise measurement, but most schools don’t do this.
Are MD/PHD programs harder to come off the waitlist for?
The answer is yes. For these programs, there are usually so few spots (1-9 ish) that they can afford to be choosy. Also, they basically cover your tuition, room and board, and pay you a $30,000-40,000 stipend. It’s around 1 million dollars invested per student, so they can be pretty picky. I think also the applicant pool is much less for these than for MD and DO programs, so the waitlists tend to be smaller. The movement, though can vary year to year and should be kept up with on SDN.
Not sure what an MD/PHD program is? Check out the difference between MD/PHD and MD here.
How do I increase my chances of getting off of the waitlist?
Well, there’s a couple of things you can do. Honestly, you can’t guarantee that these things can work. However, I’ve heard from admissions people and online where they’ve commented, that these can help give you an edge over the 100’s of similar applicants.
You can write a letter of intent to the school, a letter of interest, and update letters as time goes on. I explain what each one is for and the purpose of each in other writeups I’ve linked. You essentially say hey, I WILL attend if you accept me with the letter of intent. Letters of interest say hey I want to go here and this is why. Update letters are essentially here is what I’ve done since the application and you hope this helps give you an edge and shows you didn’t just stop after your application.