Accepted but want to withdraw/reapply for a "better" medical school?

[blanket5]

Hi all!

All in all, I am wondering,
1. What do medical schools think if you withdraw from a school, and reapply the next cycle? Would other medical schools be able to find out if you didnt matriculate but simply got accepted?
2. How bad is it to be a reapplicant? I dont want to miss out on this opportunity but I know I could pursue research in derm at "better" institutions with my application.
It would be great to have an opinion or some insight from someone who has been through this or had a friend who went through this, maybe not just "speculation" but all opinions are welcome!

DISCLAIMER; please no negativity, i am grateful to have been accepted to one medical school but it can be a little disheartening when everyone tells you you deserve to go to a top 10 but barely get into one school. i hope i dont come off entitled, thats definitely not what i am, i just want to know if i have a shot to get into another school

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[DubbiDoctor]

First pat yourself on the back for getting into an MD program - more than half that apply get in nowhere. Go to SLU, do well, conduct research, and pursue the residency of your dreams. If you withdraw your acceptance and reapply, med schools will question your dedication to medicine, and you may not get in anywhere.

 

[ciestar]

Hi all!
So I am a Asian applicant with a 3.9 and a 519 MCAT and I applied this cycle to around 60 schools. I cast a wide net after seeing a few of my other friends application cycles.
For reference, I have had extensive research (no publications) , alot of leadership activities, my own nonprofit organization, done all the standard clinical work, volunteering shadowing, lots of hours on that stuff and i definitely had a solid story to back up my passion for medicine.

I have shown alot of passion throughout my journey and really wanted to get into a school that had opportunities for research and matching that will allow me to pursue dermatology, something that i have been extremely passionate about for a while.

I was accepted to SLU this cycle which is a good school that does allow me to pursue dermatology if i desire, however, one of my biggest cons is that it is out of state, which i am willing to go out of California if it is a institution that i feel will really further my career (a "top tier") but I really would like to stay close to home for many personal reasons.I interviewed at a top 10 university early in the cycle and got waitlisted so I know I have what it takes.
I didn't really anticipate this type of cycle because I really really put my everything into my apps. So no, there are no "red flags" on my application just to clear that up.
All in all, I am wondering,
1. What do medical schools think if you withdraw from a school, and reapply the next cycle? Would other medical schools be able to find out if you didnt matriculate but simply got accepted?
2. How bad is it to be a reapplicant? I dont want to miss out on this opportunity but I know I could pursue research in derm at "better" institutions with my application.
It would be great to have an opinion or some insight from someone who has been through this or had a friend who went through this, maybe not just "speculation" but all opinions are welcome!

DISCLAIMER; please no negativity, i am grateful to have been accepted to one medical school but it can be a little disheartening when everyone tells you you deserve to go to a top 10 but barely get into one school. i hope i dont come off entitled, thats definitely not what i am, i just want to know if i have a shot to get into another school

1. Med schools do not look at this kindly. You’ll likely be blacklisted everywhere. Yes, they will know you’ve been accepted before and you better have a damn good reason to do this, which your’s really isn’t.

2. It isn’t good to be a reapplicant. It is even worse to be one if you didn’t make significant improvements to your app from the previous cycle.

In the end, be glad you got in at all.

 

[MareNostrummm]

Maybe applying to 60 schools negatively impacted the quality of your secondary essays?

 

[SeitenKishi]

OP, I have a 3.9+/520+, applied to ~25 schools, and got one acceptance from a mid-tier program.
Sometimes life happens. But in the end, I believe the quality of your medical education is determined more by what you put in, as opposed to the school you attend. Do well in medical school and you can land a "T10" residency.

I agree with the above posters. I recommend you settle down with SLU. If you want to attend a T10, you can wait to get off your waitlist in May.

As an aside, if you're set on dermatology, you can consider MD/PhD or research fellowships during medical school for the extra boost in your competitiveness.

 

[stickgirl390]

Absolutely take the acceptance. It will look very bad on your reapplication that you had an acceptance and chose not to take it. Do you want to be a doctor or not? Adcoms will strongly question your judgement.

 

[mistafab]

Go to SLU. You seem to think you got the shaft somehow by getting accepted to an MD school.

To quote Kendrick Lamar, “%#$&# be humble, #&$#$ sit down.”

 

[willow84]

I think many secondaries (maybe even the AMCAS primary?) ask you to disclose previous applications and/or acceptances. Like everyone else has said, you better have a really good reason (yours is not) to pull your SLU acceptance and reapply.

 

[SangriaSalsa]

I vote go to SLU, you can still do research and as long as you score well you can totally still do derm

 

[ndafife]

I am willing to go out of California if it is a institution that i feel will really further my career (a "top tier")

I also want winter to end, but it's going to snow this weekend.

We all want things, and the fact of the matter is you did not get into any California schools or top tier ones. Reapplying with basically the same application isn't going to change that other than making it more difficult for you to get into any school

 

[lordolah]

Mistakes I made as a reapplicant:
-Allowing a 3.9+ gpa and 518 MCAT to give me a false sense of competitiveness
-Tying my self worth to my acceptances
-Forgetting to truly celebrate my accomplishments

Conclusion: Congrats on your acceptance! Go to SLU and work hard. Make those dreams come true!

 

[Lucca]

If you reapply then I would put all of my money on you being rejected everywhere.

 

[Dr. Brightside]

Agree with what others have said. I got a 4.0/526 and was told I could get in anywhere (including from the adcom at a top 10 I work with). Here I am dying to get a single acceptance even from a low-tier. Not trying to be negative, but sometimes you've gotta take what you can get. Good luck to you!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

If you got accepted to Yale/Hopkins/UPenn would you be saying the same thing?

Honestly answer the question.

 

[MedicalDoge]

SLU, or any US MD for that matter, will not close ANY doors for you. I understand that you think that a high GPA and MCAT makes you "deserve" to get into a top 10, but apparently it didn't. Not trying to be rude, but there must have been something wrong/missing in your application if you have those stats and applied to 60 schools with 1 acceptance.. be grateful and kill it!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

Get you freaking head out of your A-S-S and take the motherfreakin acceptance

Swag level so high that I can’t even...

 

[TxFiretoMed]

Serious question for you 'competitive GPA/MCAT' applicants that got only one acceptance, or none at all:

What do you think is the weakest part of your application? Do you think your interview went objectively well? What's the weak part?

Or, another way of looking at it.. What are you going to improve for the next go around?

 

[IdkwhatIshouldput]

I hope you don't become a re-applicant, its not worth the money you will spend on apps, dr's salary, and most likely rejections everywhere. It's just not worth it.

 

[bananafish94]

Serious question for you 'competitive GPA/MCAT' applicants that got only one acceptance,

That's the norm. Anyone who gets one acceptance should thank their lucky stars.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Just wanted to reiterate the unanimous verdict here, OP definitely GOOOOO TOOOO SLUUUU.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[Goro]

Hi all!
So I am a Asian applicant with a 3.9 and a 519 MCAT and I applied this cycle to around 60 schools. I cast a wide net after seeing a few of my other friends application cycles.
For reference, I have had extensive research (no publications) , alot of leadership activities, my own nonprofit organization, done all the standard clinical work, volunteering shadowing, lots of hours on that stuff and i definitely had a solid story to back up my passion for medicine.

I have shown alot of passion throughout my journey and really wanted to get into a school that had opportunities for research and matching that will allow me to pursue dermatology, something that i have been extremely passionate about for a while.

I was accepted to SLU this cycle which is a good school that does allow me to pursue dermatology if i desire, however, one of my biggest cons is that it is out of state, which i am willing to go out of California if it is a institution that i feel will really further my career (a "top tier") but I really would like to stay close to home for many personal reasons.I interviewed at a top 10 university early in the cycle and got waitlisted so I know I have what it takes.
I didn't really anticipate this type of cycle because I really really put my everything into my apps. So no, there are no "red flags" on my application just to clear that up.
All in all, I am wondering,
1. What do medical schools think if you withdraw from a school, and reapply the next cycle? Would other medical schools be able to find out if you didnt matriculate but simply got accepted?
2. How bad is it to be a reapplicant? I dont want to miss out on this opportunity but I know I could pursue research in derm at "better" institutions with my application.
It would be great to have an opinion or some insight from someone who has been through this or had a friend who went through this, maybe not just "speculation" but all opinions are welcome!

DISCLAIMER; please no negativity, i am grateful to have been accepted to one medical school but it can be a little disheartening when everyone tells you you deserve to go to a top 10 but barely get into one school. i hope i dont come off entitled, thats definitely not what i am, i just want to know if i have a shot to get into another school

I strongly suggest that you give up your seat because you really do not want to be a doctor.

I would rather see your seat go to someone who wants to be a doctor.

To give up a seat in order to apply again is committing medical career suicide.

 

[willow84]

But I know I could pursue research in derm at "better" institutions with my application.

Just re-reading and a bit flabbergasted at this part... you cannot pursue research at a "better" institution because you are not accepted at one. Sounds like this was a much-needed, humbling cycle for you. Hope you learn something from it.

 

[lingmed]

I think sometimes these kinds of threads can take on a weird hyperbolic vibe of negative dogma that isn't super helpful to the OP...

One thing boards like SDN and the med school application process more broadly can encourage is an anchoring/focusing effect especially with regards to something like where you end up in school. You invest so much mental and emotional energy in this process that you become irrationally convinced of all sorts of implications that an event related to it will or could have on your life when in reality the result of any given cycle, such as your admission to only SLU, is an incredibly small, nearly trivial event in the world, and even dare I say not quite the earth-shattering one that some respondents on this thread are building it up to be in your own life specifically.

I'm neither a dermatologist nor a derm researcher. But I have had a career. And I can assure you that if you want to do derm research with the best people in the world, the way you will distinguish yourself, overwhelmingly, is by the quality of your thinking and work in the field. If you have a passion for it, go dedicate yourself to the work (even right now instead of being on this crazy board!), and ignore all the rest.

So when people throw allusions to figurative violence at you, I think another way of rephrasing that which is a bit more constructive is: you've just been through an absurd process of selection, the admissions cycle, which is a necessary but painful process that poses a huge initial obstacle (with absolutely no guarantees) to your stated goal of doing derm research--and you've made it through the hoops with an acceptance which allows you to start on the next step. If derm research is your passion, forget about the haters, forget about US news, forget about all of that garbage, and go do good work at SLU. That is going to have a MUCH larger impact on the success of your career than any of this nonsense.

I would like to add as a caveat that much, much, much stranger things have happened in the universe than someone choosing not to go to a medical school because of its rank or concerns about research potential and then later getting into a school that's a better fit. If you really want to do that, I would encourage you to think about it this way strategically: as others have said, this is risky, and probably puts you at a disadvantage in the reapplication process. I would encourage you to contact someone at say one of the institutions that you think has better researchers, express excitement about their research, explore opportunities to work together with them, etc. Perhaps you could spend a couple of years pursuing research with someone at a school that offers exactly what you want, and then reapply to that school with a strong LOR from that person. Perhaps some of these researchers will discourage you from attempting this, and encourage you to distinguish yourself at SLU with the goal of contributing to research at their institutions later in your career. I genuinely think it will depend, and that's OK. There are lots of ways to live lives and lots of paths to find yourself being an MD. Your capacity to figure it out for yourself is and should be much greater than bulletin board dogma. If you want to throw away your acceptance for a big abyss of an unknown future, it's OK--people have done wackier/riskier **** and come out the other side.

 

[siliso]

USMD school is USMD school. You can do and be whatever you want in medicine out of SLU. You gave it your all and you got the result you got. Take the bird in the hand.

 

[candbgirl]

...

DISCLAIMER; please no negativity, i am grateful to have been accepted to one medical school but it can be a little disheartening when everyone tells you you deserve to go to a top 10 but barely get into one school. i hope i dont come off entitled, thats definitely not what i am, i just want to know if i have a shot to get into another school

If the entitlement you displayed in this thread was present in your application it’s not surprising you didn’t have the cycle you planned on having. You don’t deserve anything. Thousands of equally deserving students work hard and dont get accepted anyplace. Why are you special? Why did you apply to SLU if you think so poorly of the school and why on earth did you spend the time and money going to the interview? Consider yourself lucky that you got an acceptance. But if you have doubts withdraw and let someone who wants that seat get it. And you can find another career. Maybe try a PhD since you want research anyway.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

This is why millennials can’t have nice things.

Paging @SLUAdcom to give this dude’s acceptance to someone else.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

I think sometimes these kinds of threads can take on a weird hyperbolic vibe of negative dogma that isn't super helpful to the OP...

One thing boards like SDN and the med school application process more broadly can encourage is an anchoring/focusing effect especially with regards to something like where you end up in school. You invest so much mental and emotional energy in this process that you become irrationally convinced of all sorts of implications that an event related to it will or could have on your life when in reality the result of any given cycle, such as your admission to only SLU, is an incredibly small, nearly trivial event in the world, and even dare I say not quite the earth-shattering one that some respondents on this thread are building it up to be in your own life specifically.

I'm neither a dermatologist nor a derm researcher. But I have had a career. And I can assure you that if you want to do derm research with the best people in the world, the way you will distinguish yourself, overwhelmingly, is by the quality of your thinking and work in the field. If you have a passion for it, go dedicate yourself to the work (even right now instead of being on this crazy board!), and ignore all the rest.

So when people throw allusions to figurative violence at you, I think another way of rephrasing that which is a bit more constructive is: you've just been through an absurd process of selection, the admissions cycle, which is a necessary but painful process that poses a huge initial obstacle (with absolutely no guarantees) to your stated goal of doing derm research--and you've made it through the hoops with an acceptance which allows you to start on the next step. If derm research is your passion, forget about the haters, forget about US news, forget about all of that garbage, and go do good work at SLU. That is going to have a MUCH larger impact on the success of your career than any of this nonsense.

I would like to add as a caveat that much, much, much stranger things have happened in the universe than someone choosing not to go to a medical school because of its rank or concerns about research potential and then later getting into a school that's a better fit. If you really want to do that, I would encourage you to think about it this way strategically: as others have said, this is risky, and probably puts you at a disadvantage in the reapplication process. I would encourage you to contact someone at say one of the institutions that you think has better researchers, express excitement about their research, explore opportunities to work together with them, etc. Perhaps you could spend a couple of years pursuing research with someone at a school that offers exactly what you want, and then reapply to that school with a strong LOR from that person. Perhaps some of these researchers will discourage you from attempting this, and encourage you to distinguish yourself at SLU with the goal of contributing to research at their institutions later in your career. I genuinely think it will depend, and that's OK. There are lots of ways to live lives and lots of paths to find yourself being an MD. Your capacity to figure it out for yourself is and should be much greater than bulletin board dogma. If you want to throw away your acceptance for a big abyss of an unknown future, it's OK--people have done wackier/riskier **** and come out the other side.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I'm sorry OP feels he/she "deserves" better than SLU but there is no choice here if he/she wishes to become an MD. There is literally a check box that asks if you've been accepted before. It is not a good box to check. With a career you can turn down a job and not have every other employer know about it.

 

[lingmed]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I'm sorry OP feels he/she "deserves" better than SLU but there is no choice here if he/she wishes to become an MD. There is literally a check box that asks if you've been accepted before. It is not a good box to check. With a career you can turn down a job and not have every other employer know about it.

Happy to disagree with you here--the world is filled with perspectives. As a matter of fact, however, what the OP said was that they were disheartened because others had said they deserved to get into a top ten school. I think fear of failure and disappointing others are super common things in pre-meds; I see it and feel it all the time being older and having experienced things that are actually scary and earth-shattering and life-changing in my own life and others'—things like deaths and illnesses and achievements that constitute a substantive contribution to human good (which an acceptance in and of itself does not).

I would encourage the OP to take those doubts/concerns/feelings to a therapist or counselor because the thread is pretty toxic and not equipped to constructively contribute to the decision.

 

[878956]

Medical schools will not know you have been accepted ONLY if you matriculated. Refer back to your application if you believe this is not the case.

 

[Gastrapathy]

The OP is right that going to a top tier school makes it easier to match to highly competitive residencies. The mistake is believing that this is the likely outcome of turning down an acceptance and taking another spin at the wheel.

You applied to 60 schools and got into one. You’re smart so do the math and be sure to factor in the damage that declining an acceptance will do to your app.

Also, since, as you say, you’ve checked all the boxes, there isn’t anything you can meaningfully change about your app.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Medical schools will not know you have been accepted ONLY if you matriculated. Refer back to your application if you believe this is not the case.

I think you have to disclose that when reapplying.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[Oso]

1. If you interviewed at a school but didn’t get in .. then no, you did not “have what it takes”

2. No one “deserves” to get into a top 10, or anywhere else for that matter

3. “No negativity” — you want rainbows and sunshine or the cold hard truth? This is reality, dawg, join us.


I’m calling it now — OP comes back in 2022 with unhappy match results and desire for transferring to “better” program

 

[878956]

I think you have to disclose that when reapplying.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

Some schools will ask you for that information yes but most don’t. Out of the 30 schools I applied to, I saw that question 4-5 times.

They ask if you matriculated. If the OP doesn’t matriculate then his application will not be “flagged” by the AMCAS.

Anywoo, if I were the OP I take SLU and run. So you really want to go through all of this all over again with no certainty that you will get an acceptances.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

They ask if you matriculated. If the OP doesn’t matriculate then his application will not be “flagged” by the AMCAS.

Medschools will still know that OP received an acceptance and didn't take it.

 

[878956]

Medschools will still know that OP received an acceptance and didn't take it.

View attachment 231923

I see but that appears to be for the previous year. I would need clarity on whether a school is able to see if you were accepted the previous cycle. Plus what would prompt a school to check that information?

For example: you got acceptance in March 2018 but reapplied. Would a school in January 2019 have access to that information? Seems to be a bit of gray area regarding this.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

I see but that appears to be for the previous year. I would need clarity on whether a school is able to see if you were accepted the previous cycle. Plus what would prompt a school to check that information?

That requires the POV of Adcoms. Paging @gyngyn @Catalystik @LizzyM

 

[878956]

That requires the POV of Adcoms. Paging @gyngyn @Catalystik @LizzyM

Agreed.

 

[LOLERs]

I’m sorry but if you think you’re too good to go to a school then you shouldn’t. This is seriously one of the most ridiculous and absurd things I’ve read. There are some people who would do ANYTHING to be in your spot and instead you’re questioning whether it’s worth doing. I don’t understand how you can claim you’re not entitled when you’re asking this question

 

[cresume]

It sucks, especially since being an asian from california already stacked the deck against you, but you should take what you've got since everyone already said that AMCAS reports acceptances and no med school would take you then.

 

[DokterMom]

Quite simply, 60:1 are NOT good odds.

Take your 1 and knock it out of the park.

You have demonstrated that you can perform well academically. Crush STEP 1 and do the necessary research to prepare for your dream career.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Also “lots of research” with no publications isn’t necessarily a positive. It suggests that you weren’t really valued/liked by your PIs since they didn’t throw you a bone and put your name on something for all that work.

 

[bluemamba7]

deserve to go to a top 10

This is the part that really gets me fuming

 

[878956]

That is incorrect. All acceptances are known to all medical schools at the release of the April 1st National Acceptance report. These acceptances are linked to your AMCAS ID which is the basis that all schools use their admissions software. Since AMCAS will track deferrals from cycle to cycle (if you defer you must put AMCAS in the for the cycle you will actually matriculate), the software undoubtedly tracks acceptances as well. In others a flag will pop up on the new application showing previous acceptance.[/QUOTE

Thanks for the clarity.

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

I'll be willing to bet that OP reluctantly goes to SLU, brags about his MCAT score, and ends up having no friends.

 

[Bob's Gift]

I vote go to SLU, you can still do research and as long as you score well you can totally still do derm

Ditto this.

 

[SuaveCardigans]

1. If you interviewed at a school but didn’t get in .. then no, you did not “have what it takes”

2. No one “deserves” to get into a top 10, or anywhere else for that matter

3. “No negativity” — you want rainbows and sunshine or the cold hard truth? This is reality, dawg, join us.


I’m calling it now — OP comes back in 2022 with unhappy match results and desire for transferring to “better” program

And in 10 years, a very miserable internist

 

[cresume]

well OP seems pretty miserable now so whats the difference?

additional 300K debt?

 

[curbsideconsult]

but it can be a little disheartening when everyone tells you you deserve to go to a top 10 but barely get into one school. i hope i dont come off entitled, thats definitely not what i am, i just want to know if i have a shot to get into another school

The people around you pumped you up full of encouragements and compliments and unfortunately that did make you entitled, the definition of which is "believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment." Yes, I did look that up to make sure we all had the same idea in mind. Your entitlement is implied by your asking if you can get into a "better" school. Most SDNers would never even think to think that because they know how hard it is to get into med school. I hope you've learned a valuable lesson through the med school app process and by the answers you've received to your questions on this thread. If you think you're disappointed in this, wait until med school when you'll undoubtedly face failures despite everyone telling you you're so smart.

I would encourage the OP to take those doubts/concerns/feelings to a therapist or counselor because the thread is pretty toxic and not equipped to constructively contribute to the decision.

Toxic? Maaaaaaaybe (but no). I post stupid crap all the time and get called out for it. Is it toxic? Heck no. I'm glad I'm being called out on it because it's a way for me to learn and grow. If I didn't want any "toxic" SDN in my life, I wouldn't be here. Most of the replies to OP's post are a reality check and are quite constructive. They're telling OP to wake up and look around and be grateful for what he has. They're answering his questions directly and giving him extremely sound advice. And the advice is consistent amongst different posters. There are people who would give their left pinky finger to get into a US MD and he has an acceptance. To take this further, there are people in the world literally dying to try to get any education at all. And OP's complaining about not getting into a "better" med school??? I am not usually one to compare traumas, but I'll make an exception for this one.

 

[ndafife]

I'll be willing to bet that OP reluctantly goes to SLU, brags about his MCAT score, and ends up having no friends.

Then posts one of the many "Anyone else not feel connected to their class" threads

 

[CCresearcher]

Just want to reiterate what everyone else has said, OP you should absolutely take your acceptance and run! I understand that it's tempting to feel as though you could do better, but as you yourself said, you gave it your best shot this cycle with no red flags, and these were the results. Next cycle, you'd have basically the same application but with the additional red flag of being a re-applicant and one who turned down an acceptance. I'm not sure how much the blacklisting thing is true (while I do think schools question your commitment and judgement if you turn down a spot, I think SDN tends to exaggerate things like this), but either way your application is in worse shape this cycle.

I want to add two things, though. One is to keep in mind that this is a ridiculously competitive process, and that many things can affect your application that are outside of your control. You are obviously smart and capable, and I can see why you thought you should aim high, but the reality is that there are far more qualified applicants than spots, even/especially at the top schools . You can't help being part of an overrepresented group or in the very lovely but unlucky state that is CA, or the random stuff that occurs when humans have to make decisions. You might feel as though you deserved better, or that you should have gotten a higher spot, but just to get accepted at all is a huge accomplishment, and there are others with similar stats and ECs who get nothing. Second, though, you should keep in mind that most waitlist movement hasn't started yet, and you may yet get off a waitlist. But either way you get to be a doctor, and you need to focus on making the best of whatever situation you end up in. Make yourself excited about your school, and kick butt when you get there!