Being on a med school’s waitlist offers the prospect of an acceptance but it can also be agony waiting for that acceptance to come through. For those who are already accepted at another school the waiting is not nearly as intense—they at least know they are going to medical school. But for those who have yet to be accepted it can be a time of understandable stress as they wait to hear, fingers crossed. For guidelines and tips on med school waiting lists check out another blog post. For the uninitiated here’s how the med school waitlist process generally works, although policies vary from school to school.
- Schools fill their classes by March 1st, accepting at least the number of applicants to fill the class—this is required by the AAMC traffic rules.
- Medical schools create waitlists throughout the application cycle, with a firm waitlist in place by the spring.
- Some waitlists are ranked while others are not. Most schools don’t reveal whether their list is ranked and if they are they rarely, if ever, reveal an applicant’s ranking.
- Some schools group those on a the waitlist into groups: high priority, medium priority, and so forth.
- April 30th is the date by which all applicants who have been accepted at multiple schools must make a decision about which one school they will attend; they must withdraw offers at all other schools. This deadline was changed in 2014; previously the deadline was May 15th.
- Leading up to April 30th spaces become available at various medical schools as applicants decline offers. There is a lot of shuffling in med schools’ rosters as the deadline approaches.
- After April 30th schools know exactly where they stand in regard to filling their class. If they have vacancies they go to the waitlist.
- After April 30th schools do not have to give applicants much time to make a decision (prior to this date schools must give applicants two weeks to decide whether to enroll).
- Most movement from waitlists occurs from mid-May to mid-June. Occasionally spots open up after this time but the openings become much less frequent.
- For advice about being accepted to medical school from a waitlist please read my other blog post referenced above.
Please feel free to contact me to discuss your particular situation or to ask questions. I can be reached by email at liza@thompsonadvising.com.
–Liza Thompson, Expert Medical School Admissions Consultant