Really late interview date question!

[pancakes]

Hello, I'm not sure where to ask this question, so here it goes.

 

Last year, I was debating between medical school and PA school. I decided to apply to 4 PA schools to see what would happen, but because I was missing some pre-reqs (due to being on a pre-med route) I figured my chances were slim. I applied in late September as well, so I was really just taking a chance. I filled supplementals for all of the schools, but was denied by 3 because of pre-reqs, and then to my surprise, one school offered me an interview mid-May. Of course I said yes. A week before the interview, they emailed me and said their seats were filled but there'd be a good chance I would make it onto the waiting list. I politely declined the interview.

 

When you're offered a really late interview date and the seats are filled, what are the chances that you'd actually get into the program assuming that you were a viable candidate? Because I assume that at that point in the game, people have already made their decisions about their schools and won't drop out unless there's an emergency or something. Thank you!

[GreatChecko]

It depends on the school, but most schools call candidates off their wait list. How far changes every year. I would guess that 5-10 students off the wait list is probably a good normal range, but I don't have any real data to back this up with.

 

I think you'd be surprised the reasons. A competitive candidate is usually attractive to many programs. Also, students get put on the wait list for their number one school, place a deposit on a seat at another school, just to get called from their number one a few months later. The class isn't set until it starts and in some cases a few days in! 

[UGoLong]

So true. Students get picked from the waiting list all of the time. The better the student, the more likely he is to be picked early by more than one of his schools. After everything dies down, schools often have to go down their list to fill their spots.

 

I personally would not miss an opportunity to interview. You get some practice and you learn about another program.  And who knows? They might like you.

 

Good luck.

[Veronica]

I don't think you can truly ever know your chances. Your odds are dependent on so many factors not only unknown to you (How many on the list? How is it ranked? Where are you on the list? etc.), but unknown to the school as well (How many accepted or wait listed with pending admissions offers at other programs?). You also can't always assume the person on the list ahead of you did the right thing in informing the admissions committee that they've accepted a seat elsewhere and are no longer considering the particular program you are waiting on. Even if you know your rank on the list, you may be higher up than your realize.

 

What I do know, if you don't accept an interview your chances are 0. Accepting an interview and being put on a wait list will always have odds greater than that. You also don't want to burn your bridges if you plan to apply to the same program the following year.

 

I am very serious about becoming a PA, and I would accept graciously every opportunity to interview even if I knew my chances of acceptance were one in a million. Even if the chances are slim, the practice is still a good learning opportunity.