The importance of patience this cycle

This has been an odd medical school admissions cycle to say the least. I realize that COVID-19 has made it so that the majority of medical school admissions offices are swamped between not being able to work in the office and having far more applications than usual, but I still expected to hear from the schools.

I applied to 32 DO programs, four US MD programs, and Ross University. To date, these are the schools that I have heard something from (i.e., have received a secondary invite or an outright decline):

AT Still SOMA (Admitted)

AT Still KCOM (Post-secondary rejection)

RVUCOM (Admitted)

West Virginia University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Post-secondary waitlist)

University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

Pikeville-KYCOM (Post-secondary rejection)

UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine

Oklahoma State University School of Osteopathic Medicine

Nova Southeastern School of Osteopathic Medicine

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – Bradenton

Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine – Virginia

Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine-Louisiana

Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (Pre-secondary rejection)

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (Pre-secondary rejection)

Ross University School of Medicine (Admitted)

Touro-Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine

Touro-California College of Osteopathic Medicine

Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine-Georgia

I’ve not heard anything else from any of the other schools. I don’t know if this means that they have not screened my primary application and I am sitting in a pile waiting to be screened. Or maybe this is what I see so many pre-meds calling the ‘silent rejection’ or ghosting. I always thought that one way or another, you would hear SOMETHING.

Why am I posting about this tonight? I think that this cycle requires PATIENCE on all of our part. I did not hear anything from RVUCOM, ATSU-SOMA, or Ross until late November (i.e., this was after submitting secondaries in August). Some of the schools that have sent me secondaries are saying that it is taking up to 12 weeks AFTER receiving the secondary to screen and decide on an interview. It may be tempting to chalk this cycle up to a failed cycle and start planning for the next one. That is prudent but also realize that you may still hear from a program or two and you may still find yourself headed to medical school in the fall 2021. Keep your head up, stay prayed up, and remain patient. Things can most definitely change…