2016-2017 University of Alabama Application Thread

[Ak07]

First-tier Alternate list. First time applicant. LizzyM 69.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ak07]

Just got an email saying I was placed on the first tier of the Alternate List. Even though it's not a part of first round of acceptances, I'm really happy with the status of my application as of now.

Does anyone know if there will be an ordered list later on?

Typically, schools don't do that.

 

[Ak07]

So as an incoming MS1 here how viable is it to commute 30 minutes (assuming no traffic; I'll work around it with early gym time or staying late if need be) to campus as opposed to getting an apartment much closer? I'd like to save money by living with my parents but idk if we're expected to be on campus on short notice at any point? Thanks!

Don't assume no traffic in Birminham, ever. If you are commuting in the morning, there will always be traffic (unless early gym time means like before 7 AM). If you are commuting in the evenings, for some reason, maybe less likely to encounter traffic (you will need to stay until after 6 PM). If you do both of those things, you will be fine with the commute.

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Does anybody have an Idea of how likely someone is to get in as a first tier alternate?

 

[ZachEMT]

Based on previous years, when should we expect alternate list movement?

 

[BigBoss]

Does anybody have an Idea of how likely someone is to get in as a first tier alternate?

Based on previous threads, 1st tier almost always gets in, 2nd tier has a 50/50 chance, and 3rd tier almost never gets in.

 

[BigBoss]

Based on previous years, when should we expect alternate list movement?

April 30th

 

[waitlistUAB]

hey

I think it is hard to predict, even for the most recent cycles, because theyve been so inconsistent. for example, last year (2015-2016 cycle) there were no tiers

There are threads just like these for the previous cycles so you may be able to formulate some opinions based on those; they show tiers, dates accepted, etc:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...of-alabama-application-thread.1135559/page-14
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...of-alabama-application-thread.1074062/page-11
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.895330/page-14
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.823459/page-13
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2010-2011-university-of-alabama-thread.728313/page-20
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.625770/page-27


Some things I've gathered from reading through these threads (till the end of them) were:

- Last year there were no tiers
- During the 2014-2015 cycle, only waitlisted students from the upper tier were accepted, for some it took till July; however, this cycle, the tiers were only released in June
- During the 2013-2014 cycle, some students from the middle tier were accepted, but no specifics
- During the 2012-2013 cycle, some students from the middle tier were accepted, but no specifics
- During the 2011-2012 cycle, upper and middle tier students were accepted: specifically 49/118 waitlisted students
- During the the 2010-2011 cycle, upper and middle tier were accepted, specifically 69/132 waitlisted students
- During the 2009-2010 cycle, some were accepted from the third tier

All of this info I got from these thread links above

 

[BigBoss]

hey

I think it is hard to predict, even for the most recent cycles, because theyve been so inconsistent. for example, last year (2015-2016 cycle) there were no tiers

There are threads just like these for the previous cycles so you may be able to formulate some opinions based on those; they show tiers, dates accepted, etc:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...of-alabama-application-thread.1135559/page-14
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...of-alabama-application-thread.1074062/page-11
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.895330/page-14
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.823459/page-13
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2010-2011-university-of-alabama-thread.728313/page-20
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-of-alabama-application-thread.625770/page-27


Some things I've gathered from reading through these threads (till the end of them) were:

- Last year there were no tiers
- During the 2014-2015 cycle, only waitlisted students from the upper tier were accepted, for some it took till July; however, this cycle, the tiers were only released in June
- During the 2013-2014 cycle, some students from the middle tier were accepted, but no specifics
- During the 2012-2013 cycle, some students from the middle tier were accepted, but no specifics
- During the 2011-2012 cycle, upper and middle tier students were accepted: specifically 49/118 waitlisted students
- During the the 2010-2011 cycle, upper and middle tier were accepted, specifically 69/132 waitlisted students
- During the 2009-2010 cycle, some were accepted from the third tier

All of this info I got from these thread links above

But you're not including people that don't use SDN


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[waitlistUAB]

But you're not including people that don't use SDN


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're right, but I think the threads are enough to make those points

- From last year's thread, if the students on SDN did not receive a tier, then neither did non-SDNers
- From the 2014-2015 thread, if students on the upper tier were accepted as late as July 15th, you could safely assume that most of middle and all of the lower tier were not accepted before the late July orientation at the school
- For the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 threads, SDNers reported information direct from UAB including the size of the waitlists and how many were accepted in total.

For 2011-2012, 49 students were accepted off the waitlist. This includes SDNers and everyone else. So, if you divide 118/3 = 39 approx. So approx, each tier is 39. Therefore 49-39 would be the number of students accepted from the middle tier (assuming each tier is the same size). And if you want a percentage, 10/39
For the 2010-2011 thread, you could do a similar calculation. The odds were better for the second tier this year

For 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 it is more difficult to predict without specifics

But I do think that being a 1st tier is a lock

 

[waitlistUAB]

what do you guys/gals think about the waitlist being made so early. any significance?

 

[ZachEMT]

Accepted from first tier alternate list! Got the email this morning.

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Accepted from first tier alternate list! Got the email this morning.

Congrats!

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Accepted from first tier alternate list! Got the email this morning.

Would you mind sharing your stats?

 

[waitlistUAB]

[not trying to stress anyone out]

Just curious. The alternate list this year was released a full month earlier than it was last year (April 15th). My logic is that this could indicate better odds for those on the alternate list because people that would usually be accepted in March were instead waitlisted.

I was wondering though, if this would affect the size of the waitlist. Like maybe it is 200 instead of the usual 100-130 (meaning each tier is larger, etc), because otherwise it seems like they're taking the risk of not filling their class by creating the waitlist so early?

could be bad logic. this uncertainty is stressful af

 

[Mr.Lahey]

[not trying to stress anyone out]

Just curious. The alternate list this year was released a full month earlier than it was last year (April 15th). My logic is that this could indicate better odds for those on the alternate list because people that would usually be accepted in March were instead waitlisted.

I was wondering though, if this would affect the size of the waitlist. Like maybe it is 200 instead of the usual 100-130 (meaning each tier is larger, etc), because otherwise it seems like they're taking the risk of not filling their class by creating the waitlist so early?

could be bad logic. this uncertainty is stressful af

Thats certainly a possibility. They may have made a larger waitlist this year and not overfilled their class. I think it's interesting that someone has already been accepted off of the first tier. TBH I don't think there is a way to be sure of an explanation for this other than to call them. There could be any number of reasons which is pretty stressful.

 

[wannabeMD17]

Thats certainly a possibility. They may have made a larger waitlist this year and not overfilled their class. I think it's interesting that someone has already been accepted off of the first tier. TBH I don't think there is a way to be sure of an explanation for this other than to call them. There could be any number of reasons which is pretty stressful.

Fellow first tier alternate here.. From my understanding, I thought they just accepted enough to fill the class and are pulling from the waitlist one at a time as people reject their acceptances. That way the class always stays the same size and they don't have to worry about having to many or too few. They did say the person accepted from the waitlist receives the campus placement of the person whose spot they're taking that declined their offer. So I guess that's what made me think they only accepted enough to fill the class (around 186 the last few years) and acceptances after that will just be a clean swap.

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Fellow first tier alternate here.. From my understanding, I thought they just accepted enough to fill the class and are pulling from the waitlist one at a time as people reject their acceptances. That way the class always stays the same size and they don't have to worry about having to many or too few. They did say the person accepted from the waitlist receives the campus placement of the person whose spot they're taking that declined their offer. So I guess that's what made me think they only accepted enough to fill the class (around 186 the last few years) and acceptances after that will just be a clean swap.

Hopefull thats the case and they stick to about 100 alternates on the list

 

[waitlistUAB]

From searching around the past sdn threads (and wasting my time haha) I've learned that

- 2008-2009 waitlist size was 102; couldn't find the day the waitlist was released
- 2009-2010 waitlist size was 98; waitlist & tiers released April 6th
- 2010-2011: 132 waitlisted students; waitlist & tiers released April 5th
- 2011-2012: 118 waitlisted students; waitlist & tiers released March 23rd
- 2012-2013: waitlist & tiers released April 12th
- 2013-2014: waitlist & tiers released April 28th
- 2014-2015: waitlist released April 30th; tiers released June 8th
- 2015-2016: waitlist released April 15th; tiers never released

_________________________________________________________________

- The two most recent cycles have gone differently than in the past
- I've seen the number 100 for waitlist size on either the 2014-2015 or 2015-2016 uab threads, but the information did not seem formal. Other than that, I couldn't find any information about the waitlist sizes from 2012-2016.
- comparing 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, an earlier waitlist release did not lead to an increase in the waitlist size

 

[WSwic]

Just to give a little insight to the different release date and potential size of the waitlist, there has been a shift in the way that admissions is going about things this year due to the former individual in charge of the admissions process retiring after last cycle. They were replaced by a small group of individuals who have tweaked the process which I am assuming included the waitlist release date.


Can't wait to meet my future classmates.
Good luck!

 

[waitlistUAB]

anybody heard of movement (outside of SDN) since march 22nd (when @ZachEMT got accepted)?

 

[ZachEMT]

Sorry it has taken so long. I am IS, 38 y/o paramedic, 3.93 gpa from JSU, 2nd year applicant, made a 503 on the MCAT (took it before I had biochem, I could do better on it now).

 

[B-hammer]

Sorry it has taken so long. I am IS, 38 y/o paramedic, 3.93 gpa from JSU, 2nd year applicant, made a 503 on the MCAT (took it before I had biochem, I could do better on it now).

What did you improve on your applicants since the first cycle. I've got slightly higher mcat score and similar GPA. Iwas wondering if I should retaking the MCAT at this point or work on my EC (which are somewhat weak but are being worked on).
Thanks and congratulations.

 

[PDE_5]

Not the person you replied to but had to go through the reapplication process as well. In May, if you request it, they'll send you some feedback. In my case, they wanted me to focus on extracurriculars and it may be the same in your case. However I'd also recommend taking a class post-bac if possible. Preferably from their list of "recommended courses" that they'll include in your feedback while also making sure that you spend the gap year doing something productive. Volunteering, shadowing and a job. at the end of the day you should be able to account for about 40hours a week of your time when writing secondaries/the update letter in January and in the interview. Hope this helps a little.

To go along with knight2579's advice, I am on the opposite end of the acceptance line. I was an IS re-applicant this past cycle who received feed back last year that included increasing medical experiences and taking classes. I can account for 60+ hours of volunteer and work per week (both medical and nonmedical). I've done three posters this past year and might have a publication come out of one of those. I did everything that they suggested except take a class. I assumed my Master's degree (3.83) would make up for for my Bachelors (3.11). I was told my MCAT was fine (507).

TLDR; if they suggest a class or two, take it even if you think you don't need to.

 

[B-hammer]

Not the person you replied to but had to go through the reapplication process as well. In May, if you request it, they'll send you some feedback. In my case, they wanted me to focus on extracurriculars and it may be the same in your case. However I'd also recommend taking a class post-bac if possible. Preferably from their list of "recommended courses" that they'll include in your feedback while also making sure that you spend the gap year doing something productive. Volunteering, shadowing and a job. at the end of the day you should be able to account for about 40hours a week of your time when writing secondaries/the update letter in January and in the interview. Hope this helps a little.

Thanks for the comment. I got feedback already from UASoM. I'm much maxed out in some areas of my app. So since the feedback I've spent all available to improve the weak areas in EC (shadowing, volunteering), but between that and work full time I don't have the time I need to study to retake the MCAT. My MCAT is a 505 . Given my situation, I'm worried that I might do worst on the test than last time. I feel like I'm between a rock and hard place.

 

[waitlistUAB]

any news?

 

[gidroj]

I had a friend who was accepted off the waitlist this past Monday, and I was also accepted off the first tier waitlist this afternoon. I'm so excited and I wish you all the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[waitlistUAB]

I had a friend who was accepted off the waitlist this past Monday, and I was also accepted off the first tier waitlist this afternoon. I'm so excited and I wish you all the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats! and thx

 

[wannabeMD17]

any news?

Hopefully as April 30th approaches, more and more people will get taken off the waitlist. Fingers crossed that more of us can post good news in here soon. Just waiting anxiously is so hard.

 

[BigBoss]

I had a friend who was accepted off the waitlist this past Monday, and I was also accepted off the first tier waitlist this afternoon. I'm so excited and I wish you all the best!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stats?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B-hammer]

I had a friend who was accepted off the waitlist this past Monday, and I was also accepted off the first tier waitlist this afternoon. I'm so excited and I wish you all the best!




Tapatalk

Did you happen to also get accepted to USA

 

[ZachEMT]

What did you improve on your applicants since the first cycle. I've got slightly higher mcat score and similar GPA. Iwas wondering if I should retaking the MCAT at this point or work on my EC (which are somewhat weak but are being worked on).
Thanks and congratulations.

So since last year I addressed all the issues that feedback said I should. Finished my undergrad, took classes to complete paramedic school (I was an EMT for the duration of undergrad), volunteered to be the "nurse" for my kids high school band, went to Honduras and Mexico for medical mission trips, worked on an ACLS 911 ambulance to get comfortable working with trauma/cardiac patients, did volunteer work for my church, tried to not go crazy doing all that plus spend time with the wife and kids.
My recommendation: if you feel well rested, you aren't doing enough.

 

[B-hammer]

Sounds like you supercharged your Volunteering EC. Pretty impressive, especially with a family. I doubt I can match that.
I'm doing my best to stay busy right now between studying to retake MCAT, volunteering doing direct care for elderly, shadowing, and working retail. I do plan to add more volunteering later after the MCAT.

Thanks for the reply and congratulations on getting into UASOM!

 

[Ak07]

Anyone know if they usually end up ramping up admittance off the Alternate List leading up to the 30th? Or does it usually trickle out and then a mass release of acceptances on the 30th?

 

[waitlistUAB]

Anyone heard of any acceptances this week?

I recently learned that if you have an iPhone:

1) Open Up the Facebook App
2) Search for "UASOM Class of 2021"
3) Click on "View Group Info"
4) Click on "Members"

You should be able to see some combination of members and underneath their names, how recently they were added. In theory, you could use this to predict how often/many acceptances are handed out and on what days.

Might not be meaningful lol

 

[cat_daddy11]

Does anyone know if any second tier alternates have been accepted yet?
Or how many SDN users are on this thread that are first tier, but yet to be accepted?

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Does anyone know if any second tier alternates have been accepted yet?
Or how many SDN users are on this thread that are first tier, but yet to be accepted?

Im a First-tier and have not been accepted yet

 

[wannabeMD17]

Does anyone know if any second tier alternates have been accepted yet?
Or how many SDN users are on this thread that are first tier, but yet to be accepted?

Also first tier and haven't been accepted

 

[Ak07]

Does anyone know if any second tier alternates have been accepted yet?
Or how many SDN users are on this thread that are first tier, but yet to be accepted?

I only know of about 8 or so first tiers that have been accepted so far. No second tiers.

 

[BigBoss]

Apparently, the AAMC is supposed to release the new MSAR this week, which means we'll know how many people got off the wait list last year, as well as new MCAT medians and ranges.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Did anybody else get the email asking if we are still interested in being admitted?

 

[TheStruggleBus]

Did anybody else get the email asking if we are still interested in being admitted?

I had a friend get it. It only went out to First tier applicants. I'm guessing they think they might only have room for First Tier applicants after the 30th. Or, they may just think their First tier applicants might already be going to other schools and wish to restructure the waitlist. I'm really not sure the whole point of doing this. Either way, I think it's pretty weird they sent the questionnaire out using surveymonkey as the way to respond.

 

[wannabeMD17]

Did anybody else get the email asking if we are still interested in being admitted?

Yes I got the email as well. I also thought it was strange that they used surveymonkey.. and I did not get a confirmation email so that worried me. But maybe that will save some time with only sending out offers to those of us still interested. I am really hoping for some good news in the next few days!

 

[wannabeMD17]

Has anyone heard of any movement?? Getting anxious now that the 30th has passed..

 

[Mr.Lahey]

Has anyone heard of any movement?? Getting anxious now that the 30th has passed..

I wouldn't get too anxious yet. They probably are just now finding out who will give up their acceptances and will have to meet to pick alternates. I'm thinking we'll hear something by this Friday (Just my guess).

 

[Ak07]

I wouldn't get too anxious yet. They probably are just now finding out who will give up their acceptances and will have to meet to pick alternates. I'm thinking we'll hear something by this Friday (Just my guess).

They don't need to "meet to pick alternates." The alternate list has been constructed and ordered for a long time now.

 

[BigBoss]

They don't need to "meet to pick alternates." The alternate list has been constructed and ordered for a long time now.

Then what was the point of the survey they sent out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wannabeMD17]

Then what was the point of the survey they sent out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the survey was just to "clean up" the first tier by taking the people who don't want to be considered anymore off of it. That way they don't waste time sending an acceptance to somebody off the waitlist that isn't going to take it.

 

[Mr.Lahey]

just got accepted off 1st tier

 

[BigBoss]

just got accepted off 1st tier

Congrats! Did you contact them at all prior to acceptance?