Medical School Delays Mailing Rejection Notices to Applicants

Some rejected Medical School applicants were notified of the admissions office's decision several days later than successful applicants, the dean of admissions said yesterday.

Dr. F. Sargent Cheevers '32 said that letters of rejection were mailed a week to ten days after letters of acceptance, although most letters were dated February 13.

"I hope the gap will be smaller next year," he added.

Explaining the rationale for this procedure, Cheevers said, "We send notices of admission to those we want early in the game, so that we can get as many good candidates as we can for Harvard."

Some rejected applicants yesterday expressed displeasure at the delay in notification.

"I was just so pissed off because they could have told me earlier," said a rejected Quincy House resident, whose letter was dated January 30. "The thing that bothered me was that they made up their minds in January, and they waited three weeks to tell me."

"I think that everybody should have heard from the admissions office on the same day," one rejected Leverett House senior said yesterday.

Tania Friedman, administrative assistant to the dean of admissions, said yesterday that the delay was due to the system used by the Medical School admissions office.

According to Friedman, each letter of acceptance or rejection is checked by hand after decisions are reached. All notifications of acceptance must be sent out by February 13, she said, while no deadlines for notices of rejection are set.