Aberdeen Decision: Unsuccesful WAITINGLIST

**Usercric** · 13-04-2011, 04:27 AM

I have applied to Aberdeen University for A100 Medicine and after my interview, my decision on UCAS says that it is:

Unsuccesful
WAITINGLIST

Does anyone have any idea on what this means?
(They also said that they will give a written feedback on my application in April)

**Kensei** · 13-04-2011, 03:37 PM

Hey usercric,

This means that you were not accepted in the 1st run; however, you still have a chance of getting in.

People who got their conditionals (C) and unconditionals (UC) have some time to meet their condition and to respond to the offer. For example, the school may have sent out 300 offers (both C and UC) but some of these people will not meet the condition. Others will meet all the requirements but will choose a different medschool over Aberdeen. This means that 300 offers may give them only 150 students (hypothetically). In this scenario, the remaining 30 places on the course must be filled and the waiting list is used for this purpose.

Students on waiting list are considered in order (so the list may be 100 students long, but they'll go to #1 first, if he doesn't want the place they'll move on to #2 and so on until they filled the missing places on the course). There is no way to estimate your chances of getting in without more info but the chance of success is largely dependent on your position on the list.

The wait may be quite long so be prepared. There are also no guarantees so you shouldn't view this as a full offer.

If you have other options available, you should consider them now. If you have to make a choice soon, it must be weighed against the pros and cons of waiting and possibly missing out on other academic/travel/personal opportunities.

**Usercric** · 13-04-2011, 04:46 PM

Thank-you so much for your reply, Kensei, it really helped.

Around when do they notify candidates, though, whether he/she can be offered a place in their univeristy for medicine?

If it's after June that would mean that I would have already had to decide whether I wanted to accept an offer from another university or wait for Aberdeen right? Also, the university will not indicate my position on the waitinglist so that I can make the decision?

**Kensei** · 13-04-2011, 05:17 PM

u're welcome

Unfortunately these questions are much more difficult to answer and I doubt I'm the right person to ask. As far as I know, the waiting list folk can receive their offers at any point between June and August. I understand this would mean either accepting or rejecting your other UCAS offers - it's a tough choice but only you can make it.

You can call the admissions people and ask about the situation. I heard stories of applicants being told exactly how long the waiting list is (but can't say for sure whether they've been told their own position)... you may also ask - based on previous admission cycles - what's the proportion of waiting list that typically receives an offer (again, there's no guarantee they'd be willing to share this information with you).

Sorry I can't provide you with more concrete (and optimistic) info.

Kensei