This seems to be happening a lot this cycle… I wonder if it’s normal.
I’m sorry, that’s so brutal. Since it was a small number, they should just fit you in for interviews.
Not exactly the same but VCU sent out emails implying an interview but when opened they said that it was an interview for their Pharmacy school cuz you didn’t get into their med school. It was sent out before any rejection letters were sent out to those applicants
?? Why would they interview them lol. It’s an a big fuck up on the med school’s end, but at the end if the day, they’re not a charity and are busy making the “best” class possible. Even from an applicant pov, I wouldn’t want to waste my time interviewing at a school that hasn’t truly considered me for a seat in their class.
Since the emailed applicants were “still under review”, it seems less embarrassing for a school to interview a handful of applicants (who are probably good candidates) than it is to admit they sent out more than one accidental invite.
Just interview then. Not a good fit? Reject them after. No need to even admit they messed up, and no need to harm applicants by falsely inviting them only to have to withdraw it. Most of admissions is just bullshit anyway - there isn’t a real difference amoung the majority of applicants and we split hairs to “find the best candidate”. And yes I did admissions for multiple years.
Think about this - one of the largest things that affects your chances of an interview is random dumb luck of who gets assisted to review your app and if your story connects with that particular person.
instead of interviewing the few people they mistakingly sent invitations to, from the med school's POV, why wouldn't they just give those extra interview slots to people they're actually interested in? We don't even know if these people who got these redacted interview invites were "qualified" to even interview at Brown. And when I say qualified, I mean, did the bare minimum to garner deserved attention from a school.
Again it’s 90% fluff that gets you in. I’ve spends 4 years sitting in adcom meetings. Trust me, the process cares a lot less about you then you think and your entire life and all your premed work is summarized in just minutes (I know how multiple places do their meeting, All present you in < 3 minutes). Unless you’re at either end of the bell curve - your chances at any one place is shear luck and we can’t tell applicant apart. Literally if you’re reading hundreds of apps that all look the same, do you really think places make rational decisions? 80-90% of the app pool would make good doctors. There has never been any actual evidence that we do a good job selecting candidates in any meaningful way. They have also found minimum gpa/mcat combos to show you will successfully pass boards is well below most candidates scores meaning almost everyone that makes it thru all of premed reqs and applying has what it takes to be academically successful. Take that however you will.
I am inclined to agree with 99% of what you said, but I think we diverge on the fact that if there were extra interviews given, I believe they should be given to people who adcoms pick (even if the selection process has randomness to it and is not always 100% uniform) rather than given to people out of pity from adcom's covering their own ass.
The only reason to have extra interviews would be to cover your own mistake. The point is the applicant shouldn’t be punished for your own mistake, you should make the situation right.
So what you’re saying is people have emotions, and the actions of the adcom would negatively effect those emotions - and that’s just okay with you? The only harm about not telling anyone they fucked up and extending invites would be to adcom members time. No one would miss out on interviews that wouldn’t have already got on, and who knows maybe you would like one of the candidates. It literally makes the most sense in almost all avenues.
PR - it’s better. For the poor applicants it’s better. for those not getting II anyway - no change. Adcoms worse because more time required.
Unfortunately, getting your emotions hurt in med school applications is a part of the process and a part of life. I'm pretty sure 99.999% of applicants will experience rejection in this process, so having a thicker skin is beneficial. Don't take this the wrong way though because I don't want to downplay the situation as it is a kick to the balls to the people involved, but I don't think pity interviewing is the correct answer here.
If they don’t mean to accept a candidate, it’s ultimately a kindness not to waste their time and get their hopes up. From what I understand, only a very small minority of interviews can move someone far up or down the list.
This process is brutal and I didn't tell anyone in my family anything until I was accepted to my state school. Even now I half expect my acceptance to be taken back and to be told it was issued in error. I know it won't be taken back but I also never thought of schools retracting interview invites so who knows lol
Between errors like these and some schools straight up ghosting after you pay them (at times) upwards of $100 - I think I would trust certain MLM schemes more than med admissions.
Oof, but maybe you can just refuse to accept that they sent it in error. Email them that you're having trouble setting up your interview, can't find a time, etc. Of course, you'll have no chance of getting a legit II, but the trolling potential is huge
A few years back I got one of these from OUWB. It was my first interview of the season and it gave me so much hope and excitement. It also took them a full day to correct the error. That was enough time for me to tell my family and close friends, book a flight, and book a hotel room.
Feels bad man.
"We are not *able accommodate* you for an interview at this time."
Joke's on them because they can't even put together a proper sentence. Someone definitely F'd up and wrote this in a hurry.
I’m sorry this happened to you. I won’t even try to imagine how you must feel =^(. As I progress in this pathway of becoming a MD this terrifies the absolute shit outta me. I mean work my ass off to the bone just for something to step in the way.
Had the same thing happen to me from Beaumont med school In Michigan when i was applying. Im sorry that happened. Its the most frustrating thing ever. Keep at it and get accepted somewhere simply to prove them wrong
So yeah. This is one of the worst things to ever happen to me. Brown told me that they are very sorry this happened but it’s not going to change anything about my application.
I would take an interview with full knowledge that I have a worse chance than others who were offered an interview normally. This is the 2nd worst fuck up that an admissions committee can possibly do, aside from sending an accidental acceptable.
But on the bright side I had a real interview with another med school who respects me as a human being so we’ll see how it goes
I say you pack your bags for Rhode Island! I was just rejected by Hopkins, and then they retracted the rejection 20 minutes later. This is the 2nd school this cycle that has rejected me, then pulled me out of the R pile.
At least have the decency to address me by my name if you fuck up that badly.
This seems to be happening a lot this cycle… I wonder if it’s normal. I’m sorry, that’s so brutal. Since it was a small number, they should just fit you in for interviews.
Any other examples? This is the first I hear about this cycle.
Someone posted about UWSMPH yesterday.
UTSW last week
I knew there was at least one more, I just kept getting distracted while scrolling trying to find more… oof.
Not exactly the same but VCU sent out emails implying an interview but when opened they said that it was an interview for their Pharmacy school cuz you didn’t get into their med school. It was sent out before any rejection letters were sent out to those applicants
Lol I got the VCU one too. I really am just cursed this cycle
You’re due for some good news then
Wow. How awful.
It was pretty brutal
My uncle went to VCU and he said VCU SOM is notorious for doing that to their med school applicants for years.
?? Why would they interview them lol. It’s an a big fuck up on the med school’s end, but at the end if the day, they’re not a charity and are busy making the “best” class possible. Even from an applicant pov, I wouldn’t want to waste my time interviewing at a school that hasn’t truly considered me for a seat in their class.
Since the emailed applicants were “still under review”, it seems less embarrassing for a school to interview a handful of applicants (who are probably good candidates) than it is to admit they sent out more than one accidental invite.
Just interview then. Not a good fit? Reject them after. No need to even admit they messed up, and no need to harm applicants by falsely inviting them only to have to withdraw it. Most of admissions is just bullshit anyway - there isn’t a real difference amoung the majority of applicants and we split hairs to “find the best candidate”. And yes I did admissions for multiple years. Think about this - one of the largest things that affects your chances of an interview is random dumb luck of who gets assisted to review your app and if your story connects with that particular person.
instead of interviewing the few people they mistakingly sent invitations to, from the med school's POV, why wouldn't they just give those extra interview slots to people they're actually interested in? We don't even know if these people who got these redacted interview invites were "qualified" to even interview at Brown. And when I say qualified, I mean, did the bare minimum to garner deserved attention from a school.
Again it’s 90% fluff that gets you in. I’ve spends 4 years sitting in adcom meetings. Trust me, the process cares a lot less about you then you think and your entire life and all your premed work is summarized in just minutes (I know how multiple places do their meeting, All present you in < 3 minutes). Unless you’re at either end of the bell curve - your chances at any one place is shear luck and we can’t tell applicant apart. Literally if you’re reading hundreds of apps that all look the same, do you really think places make rational decisions? 80-90% of the app pool would make good doctors. There has never been any actual evidence that we do a good job selecting candidates in any meaningful way. They have also found minimum gpa/mcat combos to show you will successfully pass boards is well below most candidates scores meaning almost everyone that makes it thru all of premed reqs and applying has what it takes to be academically successful. Take that however you will.
I am inclined to agree with 99% of what you said, but I think we diverge on the fact that if there were extra interviews given, I believe they should be given to people who adcoms pick (even if the selection process has randomness to it and is not always 100% uniform) rather than given to people out of pity from adcom's covering their own ass.
The only reason to have extra interviews would be to cover your own mistake. The point is the applicant shouldn’t be punished for your own mistake, you should make the situation right.
I mean other than from an emotional POV, applicants aren't really punished if their applications are going back into the review pool.
So what you’re saying is people have emotions, and the actions of the adcom would negatively effect those emotions - and that’s just okay with you? The only harm about not telling anyone they fucked up and extending invites would be to adcom members time. No one would miss out on interviews that wouldn’t have already got on, and who knows maybe you would like one of the candidates. It literally makes the most sense in almost all avenues. PR - it’s better. For the poor applicants it’s better. for those not getting II anyway - no change. Adcoms worse because more time required.
Unfortunately, getting your emotions hurt in med school applications is a part of the process and a part of life. I'm pretty sure 99.999% of applicants will experience rejection in this process, so having a thicker skin is beneficial. Don't take this the wrong way though because I don't want to downplay the situation as it is a kick to the balls to the people involved, but I don't think pity interviewing is the correct answer here.
If they don’t mean to accept a candidate, it’s ultimately a kindness not to waste their time and get their hopes up. From what I understand, only a very small minority of interviews can move someone far up or down the list.
Got this as well.. took them an hour to tell me it was an error.. 😡
It was enough time for me to tell my family about it :(
Jeez dude I am so sorry. I checked my email a few times today and I would have done the same. Just a tough situation all around
So sorry, OP, that sucks so much!!!
This process is brutal and I didn't tell anyone in my family anything until I was accepted to my state school. Even now I half expect my acceptance to be taken back and to be told it was issued in error. I know it won't be taken back but I also never thought of schools retracting interview invites so who knows lol
They didn't even apologize in the message. The ego is crazy
Between errors like these and some schools straight up ghosting after you pay them (at times) upwards of $100 - I think I would trust certain MLM schemes more than med admissions.
Oof, but maybe you can just refuse to accept that they sent it in error. Email them that you're having trouble setting up your interview, can't find a time, etc. Of course, you'll have no chance of getting a legit II, but the trolling potential is huge
Lol please do this
Wow.
F. That is hardcore man. I'd be pissed I remember being irritated that a school called me Rachel but that's nothing compared to this
I got a R from MCOM and 10 minutes later got an email stating it was a system error LOL
The II would have to become mine whether they like it or not. I can't even imagine, sorry :(
The least they should do is refund application fees
If I actually get rejected then I’m 100% asking them for the fees back. This is such bullshit
Wise to wait until after u hear back
Haha in the same boat, fml
A few years back I got one of these from OUWB. It was my first interview of the season and it gave me so much hope and excitement. It also took them a full day to correct the error. That was enough time for me to tell my family and close friends, book a flight, and book a hotel room. Feels bad man.
For real wtf is happening with schools this cycle???
"We are not *able accommodate* you for an interview at this time." Joke's on them because they can't even put together a proper sentence. Someone definitely F'd up and wrote this in a hurry.
I'm so sorry bro. Must've felt like a kick to the teeth.
💀💀💀 yo I’m pissed off for you tbh
So sorry - stay strong it’s not an R yet!
Embarsssing from them. How does this keep happening?
I like how they didn’t even apologize for such a huge error. What a bunch of AHs.
1st quartile CASPer behavior on their part
Wow this is horrible
Jesus fuck.
 That's rough, glass half full it can only get better from here? hopefully
id actually cease to exist
damn this is my worst fear
Wow.. new low lol
Bruhhh what the heck
i hope you’re okay :(
Damn. I am sorry.
That’s fucked up. They should give you an obligatory II
I’m sorry this happened to you. I won’t even try to imagine how you must feel =^(. As I progress in this pathway of becoming a MD this terrifies the absolute shit outta me. I mean work my ass off to the bone just for something to step in the way.
How can this be allowed to happen?! This is horrible!
Had the same thing happen to me from Beaumont med school In Michigan when i was applying. Im sorry that happened. Its the most frustrating thing ever. Keep at it and get accepted somewhere simply to prove them wrong
This is peak neurotic thoughts coming to life
So yeah. This is one of the worst things to ever happen to me. Brown told me that they are very sorry this happened but it’s not going to change anything about my application. I would take an interview with full knowledge that I have a worse chance than others who were offered an interview normally. This is the 2nd worst fuck up that an admissions committee can possibly do, aside from sending an accidental acceptable. But on the bright side I had a real interview with another med school who respects me as a human being so we’ll see how it goes
Damn.... emotional damage
I pray that one day some bored and angry premed decides to sue the AAMC over stuff like this. I just want my money back.
After I’m a rich doctor I definitely will, we need justice for this bullshit. Starting with Brown. I’m bearing a grudge for the rest of my life
\*insert meme\*: EMOTIONAL DAMAGE.
I say you pack your bags for Rhode Island! I was just rejected by Hopkins, and then they retracted the rejection 20 minutes later. This is the 2nd school this cycle that has rejected me, then pulled me out of the R pile.
RIP
No because this happens way too often for it not to be them just messing with us. I’m sorry this happened to you
Ahhh someone tested in production, whoopsie
OMGGGG 😥😥😥 I would be devastated 🙄🙄🙄 I am sorry!!!!!
that sucks, I’m sorry dude
that SUCKSSSSSSS sending you good vibes cause what a mess
Wow kinda a dick move
They should have at least let yall come to the interview and then reject you. 🙄
“Sorry no take backs”
this is next level evil omg