What happens if I miss a medical school interview invite? (SPAM folder)

[tinyhandsbob]

So I'm interested in finding out what happens if I were to miss an interview invite that went into my spam folder. My spam folder permanently auto deletes after 30 days and I have not regularly checked it throughout the two application cycles I applied. So technically I have no way of finding out if I was sent an invite that landed in spam prior to 30 days ago. This got me a bit worried after I found an important job offer from an .edu address in my spam folder recently.

Does anyone know how schools proceed if an applicant does not reply to an email interview invite? Would they follow up with hard copy mail or phone call or another email? Do interview invites come from the admissions office email that secondary application invites came from? (never had one of those go to spam). Assuming an applicant missed an invite that went to spam, would the school leave that applicant in their applicant pool and just sent them a boilerplate rejection when the cycle ends or would they immediately sent a rejection letter specifying it was due to not responding to the interview invite? I'm looking for a way of finding out whether I may have missed an invite which does not involve me contacting the admissions office at 30 schools and asking them (which is a bit desperate and odd) Any helpful info on missed interview invites is appreciated. Thanks!

(and yes I have fixed the issue now using a filter,but the thought of having potentially missed invites which I'll never know about is bugging me).

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[mitzapizza]

I don't know if this helps your situation, but I use gmail and every interview invite I've received (3 in total) did not go to spam. Also, your portals would update if you got an interview invite, so if you checked those at least semi-regularly, you would have found out about any missed interview invites. But overall, I think this is something that you shouldn't dwell on. There isn't much you can do about it.

 

[Goro]

So I'm interested in finding out what happens if I were to miss an interview invite that went into my spam folder. My spam folder permanently auto deletes after 30 days and I have not regularly checked it throughout the two application cycles I applied. So technically I have no way of finding out if I was sent an invite that landed in spam prior to 30 days ago. This got me a bit worried after I found an important job offer from an .edu address in my spam folder recently.

Does anyone know how schools proceed if an applicant does not reply to an email interview invite? Would they follow up with hard copy mail or phone call or another email? Do interview invites come from the admissions office email that secondary application invites came from? (never had one of those go to spam). Assuming an applicant missed an invite that went to spam, would the school leave that applicant in their applicant pool and just sent them a boilerplate rejection when the cycle ends or would they immediately sent a rejection letter specifying it was due to not responding to the interview invite? I'm looking for a way of finding out whether I may have missed an invite which does not involve me contacting the admissions office at 30 schools and asking them (which is a bit desperate and odd) Any helpful info on missed interview invites is appreciated. Thanks!

(and yes I have fixed the issue now using a filter,but the thought of having potentially missed invites which I'll never know about is bugging me).

I recall more than one SDNer lamenting that they blew an II by not checking their spam folder. The med schools were not sympathetic. You would scratch off that med school from your list.

It's one's responsibility to check on things like these.

It's a seller's market for med schools. They have 5000-1000+ applicants. They can afford to write people off.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

I'm looking for a way of finding out whether I may have missed an invite which does not involve me contacting the admissions office at 30 schools and asking them

Most secondary pages have a 'view communication history" tab with everything they've sent you

 

[mwsapphire]

Wait, how often does this happen? Im randomly freaked out.

 

[Cornfed101]

Wait, how often does this happen? Im randomly freaked out.

It totally depends on your junk mail rules. IMO it is a good idea to make sure any email ending in EDU goes to your normal inbox. It is easier to send stuff to junk if needed than the other way around.

 

[ciestar]

Wait, how often does this happen? Im randomly freaked out.

I had no problems for med school apps.
But... one of my residency IVs got sent to spam. They were out of spots by the time I found it.

 

[Jeremy Bearimy]

Just check the portal now. With the exception of the schools that use the AAMC portal, you should be able to tell if any interview invite was sent.

 

[mwsapphire]

I had no problems for med school apps.
But... one of my residency IVs got sent to spam. They were out of spots by the time I found it.

Thank god it's normally an issue. I was super vigilant with checking my inbox and portals that show that info, but didn't even think of this.

Just check the portal now. With the exception of the schools that use the AAMC portal, you should be able to tell if any interview invite was sent.

For the schools that use the wonky portals, would calling them to ask about status be appropriate.

 

[LizzyM]

You had one job....

Game over.

 

[mwsapphire]

Just to double check, if the portal says your app status is "under review" the that means no II/rejection, right?

 

[tinyhandsbob]

Just to double check, if the portal says your app status is "under review" the that means no II/rejection, right?

That's my question too....or they could leave it as under review until end of cycle and send you generic rejection. I also got a few early rejection letters so maybe some of those were missed interviews. No way to know really unless school has a good portal or you call.

 

[Cornfed101]

Just to double check, if the portal says your app status is "under review" the that means no II/rejection, right?

That's my question too....or they could leave it as under review until end of cycle and send you generic rejection. I also got a few early rejection letters so maybe some of those were missed interviews. No way to know really unless school has a good portal or you call.

Usually, little nuancy things like this are addressed in the school-specific thread. If it hasn't been then you can ask the school directly.

 

[mwsapphire]

Usually, little nuancy things like this are addressed in the school-specific thread. If it hasn't been then you can ask the school directly.

I'll call where Im nervous. its a little early for me to have heard back anyway but u never know

 

[differentiating]

I highly recommend (for both med school & residency apps) using gmail and setting up filters - either using “interview” as a filter word or listing out everywhere you applied - because you can tell gmail to never send those emails to spam, thereby eliminating this worry. You can also get notified whenever a qualifying email hits your inbox, though that’s less urgent for med school apps.

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

I just checked my spam folder once daily on my Gmail and didn't have any issues. I got a few secondaries to my spam, but never any interview invitations. I don't know a single applicant who didn't check their email multiple times daily for most of the cycle. It was not a lot of extra effort to scroll down and click on the spam folder.

 

[datboi_58]

If it helps calm your nerves, I’ve had several IIs at this point and the only thing that has went to my spam folder is a rejection email from Cincinnati

 

[deleted1001426]

i guess its too late for all of you but if anyone who is applying in future cycles reads this, I highly recommend making a new email address solely for applications and just completely turning off spam filters on that one

 

[mwsapphire]

i guess its too late for all of you but if anyone who is applying in future cycles reads this, I highly recommend making a new email address solely for applications and just completely turning off spam filters on that one

I made a new email- but didn't think to turn off spam filters. I have called a few schools ( the ones that picked up said I am under review) and the ones with actual portals that I had been checking anyway schow that nothing has been sent. Most likely this doesnt normally happen.

 

[ThetisAntithesis]

I also created a whole new email address. I didn't do the spam/filters stuff though.
That way I didn't have to look through my regular email spam and trash which is a few hundred emails each.
Nothing ever went to spam though and I assume bc it was a new email

 

[mwsapphire]

Yeah, OP, there must be a difference between an ordinary rejection and rejection bc you didn't reply to the II.
I got off work early today so I called most schools on my list and they said my app is under review. I did my best to make my call sound chill but I likely came across as a bit nuerotic, but still polite. They assured me I'm complete/under review, nothing else. Thank God.

 

[deleted1001426]

Yeah, OP, there must be a difference between an ordinary rejection and rejection bc you didn't reply to the II.
I got off work early today so I called most schools on my list and they said my app is under review. I did my best to make my call sound chill but I likely came across as a bit nuerotic, but still polite. They assured me I'm complete/under review, nothing else. Thank God.

I guess this is too late but you didnt have to call. In my experience II notifications show up in the "communication status" tab on most application portals. In the future if you get nervous about missing one again try checking there first.

 

[mwsapphire]

I guess this is too late but you didnt have to call. In my experience II notifications show up in the "communication status" tab on most application portals. In the future if you get nervous about missing one again try checking there first

Noo that was for the schools that don't have proper portals! Most DO schools on my list didn't and some MD don't. NYMC, for example, only has a secondary app page and no proper portal!

 

[deleted1001426]

Noo that was for the schools that don't have proper portals! Most DO schools on my list didn't and some MD don't. NYMC, for example, only has a secondary app page and no proper portal!

ah, that's annoying. imo every school should have portals like vanderbilt and rutgers

 

[mwsapphire]

Also, OP, nothing wrong with phone-ing a school to check on the status of your application. And, Goro, do you know anything of a " missed interview" email being different than a normal R?
Does anyone know how to remove spam filters in Yahoo email?
Also, what about the days of snail mail? Surely multiple letters/ follow up letters were more common then, as snail mail is falliable.

 

[tinyhandsbob]

Yeah, OP, there must be a difference between an ordinary rejection and rejection bc you didn't reply to the II.
I got off work early today so I called most schools on my list and they said my app is under review. I did my best to make my call sound chill but I likely came across as a bit nuerotic, but still polite. They assured me I'm complete/under review, nothing else. Thank God.

Glad to hear you didn't miss anything! The only thing with calling is if you missed the invite and interview, how likely is it that they ll reschedule you because you called? I can already see II from last 30 days in spam. Anything earlier than that and the interview would already have passed. How far in advance of interview date do schools send II approximately?

 

[mwsapphire]

Glad to hear you didn't miss anything! The only thing with calling is if you missed the invite and interview, how likely is it that they ll reschedule you because you called? I can already see II from last 30 days in spam. Anything earlier than that and the interview would already have passed. How far in advance of interview date do schools send II approximately?

I have no idea. I only used this to verify that there was nothing. I'm not sure! Maybe explain your situation? It doesn't hurt to try. I mean, I did make a separate app email, but it's really just luck that none of them went to spam..

 

[ChymeofPassion]

This is so neurotic lol the odds of missing an interview invite in the spam folder is so low. Imagine calling schools "Hi, so I'm worried my interview here may have been sent to my spam folder and deleted after 30 days, did you send one?". If it sounds crazy, it's not worth worrying about. And they wouldnt reschedule you, most likely.

 

[mwsapphire]

In the days of snail mail, people also missed letters, missed interviews, and missed out

But, wouldnt it have been more understandable then? And wouldnt multiple letters make more sense because post can get lost even more easily that email?

 

[mwsapphire]

believe it or not we actually had very good mail service in this country (at one of the lowest costs around the world). And with the mass of email today, you could easily lose track of incoming, especially with span filters.

as to your comment as “more understandable” then, schools wouldnt and couldnt take responsibility for lost mail. If you were lucky you might get a followup letter or a phone call. But, as shocking at it may sound, many college students didnt have phones.

True, but maybe just sending out two emails by default instead of one could mitigate things w/o fully taking responsibility for missed mail

 

[mwsapphire]

believe it or not we actually had very good mail service in this country (at one of the lowest costs around the world). And with the mass of email today, you could easily lose track of incoming, especially with span filters.

as to your comment as “more understandable” then, schools wouldnt and couldnt take responsibility for lost mail. If you were lucky you might get a followup letter or a phone call. But, as shocking at it may sound, many college students didnt have phones.

True, but maybe just sending out two emails by default instead of one could mitigate things w/o fully taking responsibility for missed mail

 

[Goro]

And, Goro, do you know anything of a " missed interview" email being different than a normal R?

Haven't a clue. I can't imagine med schools would be sympathetic to anyone for not doing their due diligence. And at my school, we also at least tell interviewees to double check their spam folders for results of interviews.