How bad is it to be a reapplicant?

Most students do not get into medical school the first time. Most applicants each year are re-applicants. You are obsessing over what you cannot control

The disagreement between the answers on this forum is huge and between large numbers of people. Can we get an official debate or discussion on this? Applying is a gigantic undertaking and people should not be influenced to not apply for wrong reasoning. So can we settle this once and for all? Thanks.

AshPreMed said:

The disagreement between the answers on this forum is huge and between large numbers of people. Can we get an official debate or discussion on this? Applying is a gigantic undertaking and people should not be influenced to not apply for wrong reasoning. So can we settle this once and for all? Thanks.

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The speculation of a bunch of non-adcom people will not go anywhere.

TheShaker said:

The speculation of a bunch of non-adcom people will not go anywhere.

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+1

cabinbuilder said:

Most students do not get into medical school the first time. Most applicants each year are re-applicants. You are obsessing over what you cannot control

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Out of the 43k applicants for the 2011-2012 cycle, 32k were first-timers. https://www.aamc.org/download/153708/data/charts1982to2012.pdf

johnnydrama said:

This is phenomenally wrong.

There are two populations over-represented on SDN: the neurotic over-achievers, and the delusional under-achievers.

Cabin builder is the latter.

Most get in on their first tries, and odds of success drop dramatically with each reapplication.

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I agree that reapplying definitely is a disadvantage. But I still believe if you spend time working on your application you can become a stronger applicant for your second try.
First time I applied with 3.35 gpa, 3.31 sgpa, 34S MCAT, and good ECs from a top 10 school but I was extremely naive and I know it showed in my PS and secondaries. Plus I applied late (verified september, finished secondaries october) and ended with 2 interviews very late in the season.

Since then i brought up my cGPA to a 3.38, sGPA to 3.47, 36S MCAT (last one expired), Got a 4.0 in BU's MAMS program (30 credits) added 150+ more hours shadowing, a year of additional volunteering in hospital and working in a clinic for the homeless and poor. I also submitted 6/5 the minute the application opened, verified later that day, and have sent out all the secondaries I have received within 24 hours. My PS, activity descriptions, and secondary essays were written much MUCH better and showed my passions/lessons learned very well. I also applied a lot more broadly than the first time.

I know that being a reapplicant definitely hurts, but even having to applying a second time, I feel like I have a much better shot at getting in to medical school, and I feel more grounded and mature preparing for my interviews.

Just my two cents...

And that doesn't mean you should just apply for the sake of "trying" however. Only apply when you feel you're a strong applicant rather than taking a risk. I learned that lesson the hard way.

giants25 said:

And that doesn't mean you should just apply for the sake of "trying" however. Only apply when you feel you're a strong applicant rather than taking a risk. I learned that lesson the hard way.

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+1
Same situation here. Learned the hard way.
The emotional and financial stress that comes with interview is not worth it just apply for the sake of "trying".

The medical school application process is long and arduous. It is not something done just to prove something.

Be the best candidate you can possibly be and give your best shot.

Hey, thanks for calling me a delusional under achiever. Wow, you have no idea my path to success.

My advice is my own, Not that I expect anyone to heed it, however, this forum is about opinions and it is up to the individual to decide which opinion suits their own situation. No one is the authority here, and I wouldn't presume, neither should anyone else.

Cabinbuilder gave me good advice.

2 medical students I spoke to in person told me it was GOOD to be a reapplicant (IN CANADA) because it shows seriousness and determination (which I think is very reasonable). As long as you don't waste time slacking off, but rather improve yourself as a person and future physician, I think you may be good in CANADA. But since someone up in the posts said he got 2 interviews (in the US?), it doesn't seem so bad. Hey poster who got 2 interviews, how many schools did you apply to?

Also, financial and emotional stress? What are you a bunch of desperate housewives? You wanna become physicians for God's sake. People who rescue others from death (and occasionally fail at it) every day. You need to be focused at that time!

Overall, its better to speak to the actual adcoms.

Please add more insight to this discussion, guys! I read in another thread many people being very polar towards not being a reapplicant. Could you (anti-reapplicants) please give your point of view on this? Thanks.

Honestly it depends on the person and the school. If your application is the same/worse because you didn't do anything during that extra year, expect it to hurt you. However, if you strengthened your application by increasing you GPA/MCAT and getting more experience it will show you are a stronger applicant.

Also, some schools won't like you apply to them more than twice (Einstein gives you two chances and that's it). However, some schools pride themselves in how many re-applicants they take because it shows determination and perseverance. It also shows that that you are committed to medicine and are probably therefore less likely to drop out.

I was a re-applicant. I made the mistake of applying late my 1st time around and it hurt me. However, I got in this cycle to my top choice (OHSU, my state school and a great one at that), and I couldn't be happier. At the time I was really upset I didn't get in my first time around but looking back I'm actually really happy I took a year to work and volunteer more and relax a little bit. Just keep trying and keep pushing and if you don't give up you will most likely end up in medical school regardless of it being your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc time applying. Good luck and I wish you the best!

AshPreMed said:

Cabinbuilder gave me good advice.

2 medical students I spoke to in person told me it was GOOD to be a reapplicant (IN CANADA) because it shows seriousness and determination (which I think is very reasonable). As long as you don't waste time slacking off, but rather improve yourself as a person and future physician, I think you may be good in CANADA. But since someone up in the posts said he got 2 interviews (in the US?), it doesn't seem so bad. Hey poster who got 2 interviews, how many schools did you apply to?

Also, financial and emotional stress? What are you a bunch of desperate housewives? You wanna become physicians for God's sake. People who rescue others from death (and occasionally fail at it) every day. You need to be focused at that time!

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Being a reapplicant is most definitely NOT a good thing. Your competing against close to 50K students. Why give adcoms a reason to doubt your application or raise any questions about why you didn't get in the first time?

And to the whole desperate housewives thing....wow is all I can say. Applying definitely is stressful. If your not ready and you apply, your throwing close to $4000 dollars down the drain at least, most likely more. And spending an entire year waiting for an interview or acceptance/rejection does take a huge emotional toll. Do you think as a physician you won't feel stressed when you "rescue others from death" ?

I applied to 25 schools, completed 19 secondaries (around september/october) and got 2 interviews at Drexel and UMDNJ very late in the season. But I also applied to probably 8-9 in the top 20 and didn't apply broadly enough.

Student A might have gotten in earlier. Student A shows determination and perseverence and is used to the application system. Student A should be a tough person to handle stress if he should be a doctor.

johnnydrama said:

Student A is sloppy and poorly prepared.

Better to delay your application than apply twice.

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+1

At this point no one is going to change AshPreMed's mind about it.

And if you wait a year instead of applying and being rejected, doesn't that also show determination and perseverance? That you knew the smart move was to wait and get all your ducks in a row before applying so you would be a strong candidate?

And trying something for the sake of "seeing" if you can do it is not a good quality for a doctor to have, so I have no clue where your getting that from. Would you rather have a doctor that impulsively does something to "try it" or one who thinks his strategy out completely before giving treatment?

johnnydrama said:

Look, the reapplicant question is a simple one.

Consider two equally mediocre students starting late on equally mediocre first attempts a applying.

Student A goes ahead with the application, gets rejected, gets his act together and improves his app before reapplying.

Student B decides not to apply, improves his app (with more time to do this without worrying about a doomed application cycle), and submits a new application.

Student B is in a far better situation for that next cycle than student A.

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giants25 said:

+1

At this point no one is going to change AshPreMed's mind about it.

And if you wait a year instead of applying and being rejected, doesn't that also show determination and perseverance? That you knew the smart move was to wait and get all your ducks in a row before applying so you would be a strong candidate?

And trying something for the sake of "seeing" if you can do it is not a good quality for a doctor to have, so I have no clue where your getting that from. Would you rather have a doctor that impulsively does something to "try it" or one who thinks his strategy out completely before giving treatment?

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You guys have great points and they certainly apply however to an extent. You cannot simply rule in favor of not applying because you feel you may not get accepted And then go further to say that student is undoubtedly ALL WISE because he made such a decision.

Ever heard of the underdog thread if infact we are talking about applicants who have average stats and not to far below average why would you want to be a great applicant for next year if you could be gearing up for 2nd year of med school.

Dr Ben carson is an Excellent doctor and he says time and time again that taking risk is what brought him his success. Not blind risk but calculated and decisive risk even in the face of a bad idea or outcome.

My problem with you guys comments is likely the fact that you do not define what a poor or likely to get rejected applicant is, if your reffering to a 2.8 mcat22 then by all means strengthen your app but that 3.0-3.5gpa mcat28-32 may have a shot its countless times every year. What you are advising is called selling yourself short if interpreted the wrong way and Pre-meds will likely interpret this the wrong way.

Being a reapplicant is by no means a death sentence if you proceed thoughtfully and realistically with the second application. I don't know why everyone on here thinks it is a death sentence to such an extreme. As long as you take time to SIGNIFICANTLY improve your application between attempts no one is going to throw out your application just because you have applied before. Every school accepts reapplicants every year. I was a reapplicant and my second application cycle went infinitely better than the first with a better MCAT, two extra classes, and two new experiences while applying to roughly the same number of schools and a similar spread of "reach" "target" and "safety".

If you feel like you're ready now and have a good shot based on your total app (GPA, ECs, recs, etc), then apply now. If you don't get the MCAT score you want withdraw and avoid being labeled a reapplicant next year since you definitely won't be verified in the next 10 days at the rate AAMC is going right now. You can always submit with one school only until that score comes out. If you feel like you will regret not knowing what could have happened this cycle then apply now, but if you feel that waiting is better for you and you will never regret it than don't.

Do what you feel is right for YOU. No one on here knows your app better than you do. And most importantly don't freak out until you actually know that score, you may have done great!

Well here's something concrete on the topic: I applied to Pitt last year and was rejected. This year, after redoing my amcas app from the ground up and clocking in some additional clinical hours, I've been offered an interview. However, wake forest last year had me in the interview pile, and this year I was rejected pre-secondary.

Conclusion: It depends on the adcom, much like everything else about this process.

-cj8

johnnydrama said:

Look, the reapplicant question is a simple one.

Consider two equally mediocre students starting late on equally mediocre first attempts a applying.

Student A goes ahead with the application, gets rejected, gets his act together and improves his app before reapplying.

Student B decides not to apply, improves his app (with more time to do this without worrying about a doomed application cycle), and submits a new application.

Student B is in a far better situation for that next cycle than student A.

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Okay, if your stats are clearly not competitive then I would delay submitting my application. But let's say that mediocre = borderline, then I strongly disagree and think that Student A is doing the right thing. It's not like Student A can't be doing something in the interim to boost his application and improve significantly the following year or even during the year if he ends up on the waitlist. Plus, Student A can figure out how competitive he really is-- Student A might get interviews, which would then show that Student A is close to be an accepted medical student. Student B has zero idea about his competitiveness.

I say this because I was Student A. I was a borderline applicant who take the MCAT late, and I ended up not getting in the first year with 2 interviews and 1 waitlist. But I made improvements during that year, realized some mistakes I could fix both in the submission and interview stages, and I got 5 acceptances in my 2nd cycle. There's no way I would've known these mistakes had I simply delayed submission of my application.

I don't know if I should've posted this in the "What are my chances" forum, but this thread has a lot to do with what I am thinking about now. I have a 3.95 gpa and decent ECs, but when I got my MCAT score it clearly was not what I wanted, a 26. I already submitted my primary, but it has yet to be verified. I did not want to rush and take the MCAT again in September, because clearly I was not ready last time and need more time to improve (taking anatomy and biochem this semester should help). I will most likely be taking the MCAT again in January. I was just wondering what would be the downside in just applying to my state school, and seeing if I might just get in? Is this a bad idea and I should just withdraw my application?

It really depends on the person. If you get rejected first time around you have two choices. You can improve yourself ie: get a masters in a rigorous discipline such as chemistry with good grades and if MCAT is poor retake. Or you can basically reapply with the same application that was rejected. The first path is far more likely to be successful since you are proving you are capable. The second; perhaps you should consider a career change.

pacersfan712 said:

I don't know if I should've posted this in the "What are my chances" forum, but this thread has a lot to do with what I am thinking about now. I have a 3.95 gpa and decent ECs, but when I got my MCAT score it clearly was not what I wanted, a 26. I already submitted my primary, but it has yet to be verified. I did not want to rush and take the MCAT again in September, because clearly I was not ready last time and need more time to improve (taking anatomy and biochem this semester should help). I will most likely be taking the MCAT again in January. I was just wondering what would be the downside in just applying to my state school, and seeing if I might just get in? Is this a bad idea and I should just withdraw my application?

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Looks like you either had a big problem in writing your exam or your school is an incredible GPA inflator (the problems with the premed world when trying to be fair). But based on how incredibly high your cGPA is compared to your 26 MCAT (3.95!), looks like you're good at tests and competent at school...and that its grade inflation...