Acceptances, Deferrals and Withdrawals

Acceptances

With the exception of Early Decision, acceptances will be offered on or after October 15, per AMCAS traffic rules, until the class is full. Applicants selected for admission will be notified by the associate dean for admissions and the Office of Admissions via email. Applicants will be expected to either accept or reject this offer within two weeks or by the timeframe noted in their acceptance letter, whichever is shortest. Failure to respond to an acceptance offer within the time frame may result in revocation of the offer. 

Applicants are offered a provisional acceptance and are subject to a criminal background check (CBC). If the CBC reveals some prior contact with the criminal justice system, the applicant will be offered a full opportunity to respond. Provisional acceptances may (or may not) be withdrawn pending the school's review of that history and the applicant's response. The school has a process that governs these matters.

Per AMCAS traffic rules and the T.H. Chan School of Medicine guidelines:

• Applicants are strongly encouraged to hold no more than three acceptances after April 15^th.                                                                             
• All applicants who are holding multiple acceptances by 4/30* are expected to select one school to continue holding their place.
  • If UMass Chan Medical School is the applicant’s selected school, he/she is required to set their status to “Plan to Enroll” at UMass Chan Medical School.
  • Applicants that are confident in their decision and are committed to attending UMass Chan Medical School are encouraged to designate UMass Chan Medical School as the institution in which they ‘Commit to Enroll’.
• All accepted applicants must select ‘Commit to Enroll’ to UMass Chan Medical School on or before July 15.
  • Applicants who do not commit to enroll at UMass Chan Medical School by the deadline may have their acceptance rescinded.

“Plan to Enroll” does not prevent an applicant from being accepted or offered a waitlist position by another medical school. Selecting “Commit to Enroll”  for an institution results in AMCAS notifying all medical schools in which the applicant is holding an acceptance or waitlist offer. The expectation of committing to enroll is that the applicant will also follow up in writing with all other schools to withdraw their application from consideration and not entertain any future offers of acceptance or waitlist. UMass Chan Medical School admissions staff will contact applicants who are noncompliant with this requirement.  

Once all places in the class have been filled, the remaining applicants will be so notified. Thereafter, a list of alternates will be prepared. In the event that an enrolled student withdraws prior to matriculation, a replacement will be selected from the list of alternates. An applicant placed on the alternate list will be so informed and requested to indicate whether s/he wishes to remain on the wait list.

An applicant who initially accepts a place and later decides to withdraw is expected to inform the Office of Admissions promptly so that another candidate may be offered a position. Withdrawals after acceptances should be processed by the applicant within the PeopleSoft application system.

*April 30th or next business day if 4/30 is a weekend or holiday.

Deferral

The T.H. Chan School of Medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School discourages granting of deferrals except in cases of medical emergency or events of comparable significance. Requests for deferrals must be submitted directly to the associate dean for admissions and will be considered on an individual basis.

Withdrawals

Applicants are expected to notify the Office of Admissions of their decision to withdraw their application from consideration. Applicants can choose to withdraw their application at anytime; prior to a decision being made or after being accepted.

Withdrawals after acceptance should be processed by the applicant within the PeopleSoft application system.

Applicants who have not yet received a final decision can also submit their withdrawal via the PeopleSoft system's Application Action tile. Applicants can also email the Office of Admissions of their decision to withdraw their application, including their AMCAS ID at admissions@umassmed.edu.