I’ve been accepted to LECOM-B and my deposit money is due on the 17th… however I’ve had one other interview (12/6) from PCOM-Atlanta, and I have one next week from VCOM… if Atlanta offers me a spot, I will take it… because my husband wants to move there… BUT… is it dumb to wait until the 11th hour and then overnight a letter with check to accept a slot?.. or is it more dumb to accept a slot, pay a nonrefundable $1500 deposit, and then eat it because you got into your preferred location of school?
I’ve gone through the pros and cons lists of which is better… and honestly, I haven’t been to VCOM yet and so I don’t know maybe they’ll be better than the other two…
serves me right for scheduling interviews so far apart… but who knows…
we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll know something by the 16th from Atlanta… although I think they JUST got approval to send out acceptances this week…
ugh…
any ideas?
Andrea
There’s no harm done in waiting till the 11th hour in your situation - especially when the cost of not waiting is eating LECOM-B’s absurd $1500 deposit. Just don’t let the bird in the hand go without a letter of acceptance from another source.
In my situation, I was in at both KCOM and DMU, and I committed to DMU prior to the deadline. If I get interviewed/admitted at OHSU, I’ll definately go there but that won’t be known till well after the DO seat deposit deadlines passed.
It is an unfortunate reality that many med schools use large & limited-time fees to hold spots; however, if you take a moment to view this from their perspective, they need to feel assured that their seats will all be filled with quality, tuition-paying students to remain fiscally solvent. Your med school education is a very resource intensive mutual obligation (you & them) and it is in everyoone’s best interest to have quality committments.
Place this into perspective: you have a slot, a guaranteed opportunity to become a physician. To secure your chance to occupy a seat on this ride, you must risk some $$. I think it would be extremely unwise to risk the “bird in hand” for one in the bush. There’s no harm in waiting until closer to the deadline, but I sure as hell would not push it to the point where I had to submit my fees as overnight or express mail. There are too many variables outside of your control that may delay the arrival of said deposit and then you are out on a limb. Med schools notoriously have no compassion for missed deadlines.
In the grand scheme of things, that $1500 may seem like a ton of cash right now to risk. But, believe me, once you get to paying med school tuition, even at a state school & ESPECIALLY if you go to a private school, that seemingly princely sum of $1500 will not even amount to a drop in the bucket.
I would avoid trying to evaluate the “then” within the context of “now”. Lots of things will change in your perspectives during your journey to become a physician.
If you are going to need to wait til the last possible minute to send in a deposit, CALL THE SCHOOL to tell them it is coming. In actual fact they are unlikely to delete your name from the list at 12:01am on the deadline day. If they know your deposit is on its way, it’s highly likely that they’ll make a note of that fact and watch for the check. Also when you call - make sure to confirm the actual address to which you should send that overnight package. (needs to be a street address, not a P.O. box for example)
Schools 100% understand that you need to wait til the last possible minute to cough up such a large sum and they will not hold it against you.
Mary
well, here it is the 11th hour… I haven’t sent my money yet… the absolute drop dead is tomorrow… to overnight the money… I am to call the school tomorrow and find out the address etc and maybe check to see if I could wire it… the date couldn’t be worse… I am to hear from another school on Friday if I got in (an inside source says they are saying yes)…
we’re still waiting however on the other 2verdicts and really hating that we have to send money in right now for the one school without really considering the other 2… I realize that it’s only money, but it’s a hateful sum to have to forfeit should we choose not to go there eventually… been doing lots of soul searching and having a lot of traumatic discussions and still can’t come up with anything… I’m not willing to lose my spot entirely… but I hate the idea of losing that money… especially to a school that if I get another offer might not be my first choice.
all hypothetical and potentially irrelevant… but these are the decisions that we make.
Andrea
Do you want to help people? Do you want to be a Doctor? How often have you spent money, knowing it was a waste? This is your future. Hindsight is 20/20, do what you have too, you will make the right choice.
Thanks!
I sent my deposit yesterday… today I received word that I’d been accepted to another school… I’m still waiting to hear from a 3rd… I feel very lucky… I honestly didn’t think that I would get in this year and I do feel very fortunate. Even though the money’s “gone” and I can’t get it back (unless i go to school there and it goes towards my tuition) I now have the “luxury” if you will, of investigating my options a little more thoroughly… I wish I would know what the 3rd verdict was so I could know if I needed to include it in my choices… but for now… it’s looking like Florida here I come.
Andrea
could you stop payment on the check? I ask this in all seriousness and hope someone with some experience can weigh in with whether this would be a really bad move. I am trying to think of what the repercussions could be… and having a hard time thinking of what could happen if you’re holding an acceptance to another school.
Yah, it may not be “fair” to have sent it in by the deadline and then “take it back,” but hey, they had a chance to give you an extension of just a few days and they did not choose to help you in that way, so why should they get to keep the money?
Really, I think stopping the check would be entirely appropriate under the circumstances. However, I can be an impulsive wise-ass so hopefully someone with a cooler head will weigh in here.
Mary
Mary,
i thought about this as well… I don’t think it would be good form… but if others have done this, please let me know…I am not at this point and time… seriously considering the other school that I’ve been accepted to… although in a lot of ways I think it would be a better program for me… it kind of sucks because even though I think it’s a better school I will probably choose not to go there because of my husband and kids (can’t find a job, etc)… but I don’t know… we will hopefully have time now to think about it and look at other options and carefully weigh both schools… 
Andrea