Originally posted by Super Rob
Tom, that quote from Office Space is appropriate!
After receiving my thirty-seventh straight waitlist offer (or so it seemed), I started thinking I was some sort of socially inept LOSER that oozed ineptitude out of every single pore of my body. And before I could schedule my appointment to see the social dermatologist, I actually had an interviewer TELL me that I didn't seem very spontaneous. Aside from the fact I was having a lousy day, sick, and running on two hours of sleep, all I could think was... "OH NO! I must SUCK!" Sure enough, I got the big double-yoo eLL from them, and then somone started that post on the forum about a disproportionate number of people with high stats having few social graces. Ashamed, I threw my pocket protector in the trash and unwound the tape off of my glasses.
My friends started trying to poke holes in my application... "Super, you really think a year of solid hospital experience means anything? Your research didn't even come CLOSE to curing any illnesses! You think that writing sample score may have come back to haunt you? Nobody in your family comes from money or has any sort of college affiliation; think that has something to do with it? Did you have a big zit on your nose in the passport photo you forwarded to the admissions offices?"
I became self-critical.
Before I could convince myself that I was no different from the cubby guy in Office Space with the "jump to conclusions mat" and "people skills," I started talking to other applicants who were in my position... and all of them had no problem with talking or with presenting themselves as great people. And few of them claimed to have had any red flags or areas of major deficiency on their applications.
The bottom line is this process just sucks. I know someone who is WLed accross the board and this person is a remarkable, remarkable candidate. Interviewed at extremely competitive schools as well as schools with less money and fewer senators' kids attending. Same results. Numbers high above average, awesome life experiences, top notch clinicalish research, and yup, personality to boot!
Does anybody know how common it is for someone to have a bundle of waitlist offers and to have a few of them turn into acceptances during late spring and summer?
