aright, here goes..

[freshandclean]

hello everyone,

i have some questions and and concerns i was hoping to ask people. i guess, first, my background...

i am a senior at a "competitive" school. ive done three years of research with two pubs, and have done numberous service projects, tons of shadowing, health experience, etc. most notably among my ec's are playing varsity football at my school for 4 years (div 1-aa). it was an amazing experience that I would never ever trade, but 30+ hours a week on football undoubtedly made my gpa suffer. so i am sitting on a 3.3ish gpa (chemE), and a 31 mcat. this application cycle i was lucky enough to get into two schools. yes i should be happy, but what i realized only during the interview season, was that i REALLY want to go to a school with a bit more of a research focus.


Now i know it may seem crazy, or even stupid to some you guys that i would even consider reapplyign with a few acceptances, but i am wondering if i could take the august mcat, do one of those one-year programs and reapply for 2007..?

one thing that is kinda driving me crazy is that i know i could get a better mcat score. when i took it in april 05, i only studied for about 4 weeks, while taking 18 credits, and spring football practice 20+ hours a week. so i guess, im asking, if i was guarenteed a 36+ on the test in august (which is obviously ridiculous to expect such a high score, but just for arguments sake say i was guarenteed that), would it be worth it to reapply to other schools? thanks so much for your input everyone!!!

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[lilnoelle]

This has been discussed quite a bit. I believe med schools will know that you were accepted and then declined in order to apply another year. This will look bad. I'm not sure if people have been successful at this or not, but the resounding opinion (at least according to SDNers and the Adcomm that frequent SDN) is that this is a very bad idea.

 

[Hassler]

hello everyone,

i have some questions and and concerns i was hoping to ask people. i guess, first, my background...

i am a senior at a "competitive" school. ive done three years of research with two pubs, and have done numberous service projects, tons of shadowing, health experience, etc. most notably among my ec's are playing varsity football at my school for 4 years (div 1-aa). it was an amazing experience that I would never ever trade, but 30+ hours a week on football undoubtedly made my gpa suffer. so i am sitting on a 3.3ish gpa (chemE), and a 31 mcat. this application cycle i was lucky enough to get into two schools. yes i should be happy, but what i realized only during the interview season, was that i REALLY want to go to a school with a bit more of a research focus.


Now i know it may seem crazy, or even stupid to some you guys that i would even consider reapplyign with a few acceptances, but i am wondering if i could take the august mcat, do one of those one-year programs and reapply for 2007..?

one thing that is kinda driving me crazy is that i know i could get a better mcat score. when i took it in april 05, i only studied for about 4 weeks, while taking 18 credits, and spring football practice 20+ hours a week. so i guess, im asking, if i was guarenteed a 36+ on the test in august (which is obviously ridiculous to expect such a high score, but just for arguments sake say i was guarenteed that), would it be worth it to reapply to other schools? thanks so much for your input everyone!!!

So, what exactly are those schools you're accepted to? There are no guarantees that you will get more acceptances the next time around. Plus, you would have to study and apply all over again. I would not want to do that.

 

[Reimat]

From what I've heard, turning down acceptances to reapply next year is not viewed favorably. However, if you were going to reapply MD/PhD then maybe that would be more acceptable? With a slightly higher MCAT you would be a good candidate with you research background.

Otherwise, it doesn't seem to make much sense to reapply for a straight MD degree. An MD from any school doesn't really train you to do research, and thus going to a more research oriented school may give you more opportunities to do research, but it certainly wont be hugely significant.

Maybe you could elaborate on your reasoning for why you want a more research intensive school?

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

hello everyone,

i have some questions and and concerns i was hoping to ask people. i guess, first, my background...

i am a senior at a "competitive" school. ive done three years of research with two pubs, and have done numberous service projects, tons of shadowing, health experience, etc. most notably among my ec's are playing varsity football at my school for 4 years (div 1-aa). it was an amazing experience that I would never ever trade, but 30+ hours a week on football undoubtedly made my gpa suffer. so i am sitting on a 3.3ish gpa (chemE), and a 31 mcat. this application cycle i was lucky enough to get into two schools. yes i should be happy, but what i realized only during the interview season, was that i REALLY want to go to a school with a bit more of a research focus.


Now i know it may seem crazy, or even stupid to some you guys that i would even consider reapplyign with a few acceptances, but i am wondering if i could take the august mcat, do one of those one-year programs and reapply for 2007..?

one thing that is kinda driving me crazy is that i know i could get a better mcat score. when i took it in april 05, i only studied for about 4 weeks, while taking 18 credits, and spring football practice 20+ hours a week. so i guess, im asking, if i was guarenteed a 36+ on the test in august (which is obviously ridiculous to expect such a high score, but just for arguments sake say i was guarenteed that), would it be worth it to reapply to other schools? thanks so much for your input everyone!!!

no, no, no, and no (just my opinion) you must really want to do research if you're even considering such a thing! Have you explored the potential of the research at the schools you did get into? are they close by places that could offer extramural opporunities? Maybe you could explore transfering if you are really unhappy (althought i guess thats dicey too)? If you have applied to, and have been accepted to MD programs, correct me if I am wrong, but I think that means you first and foremost want to be a physician... so such the suggestion of reapplying due to research opps seems astinine to me.

 

[OctoDoc]

...would it be worth it to reapply to other schools?

In a word, no. In many words, 1. it is hard enough to get into medical school. You have two acceptances. 2. It has been shown statistically that marked improvement in MCAT score is unlikely given repeated taking. That is not to say that your score won't improve, but it is unlikely to improve by 5+ points. 3. There is no reason why you cannot do research at the schools to which you are accepted. It may not be a US&WNR ranked school for research, but that list is not the end-all, be-all of research opportunity. Find out about the research opportunities at the two schools to which you have been accepted. If you are adamant about research, and neither school does it for you, consider reapplying. Just realize that you are dumping a sure thing for another turn at the wheel.

 

[roo425]

hello everyone,

i have some questions and and concerns i was hoping to ask people. i guess, first, my background...

i am a senior at a "competitive" school. ive done three years of research with two pubs, and have done numberous service projects, tons of shadowing, health experience, etc. most notably among my ec's are playing varsity football at my school for 4 years (div 1-aa). it was an amazing experience that I would never ever trade, but 30+ hours a week on football undoubtedly made my gpa suffer. so i am sitting on a 3.3ish gpa (chemE), and a 31 mcat. this application cycle i was lucky enough to get into two schools. yes i should be happy, but what i realized only during the interview season, was that i REALLY want to go to a school with a bit more of a research focus.


Now i know it may seem crazy, or even stupid to some you guys that i would even consider reapplyign with a few acceptances, but i am wondering if i could take the august mcat, do one of those one-year programs and reapply for 2007..?

one thing that is kinda driving me crazy is that i know i could get a better mcat score. when i took it in april 05, i only studied for about 4 weeks, while taking 18 credits, and spring football practice 20+ hours a week. so i guess, im asking, if i was guarenteed a 36+ on the test in august (which is obviously ridiculous to expect such a high score, but just for arguments sake say i was guarenteed that), would it be worth it to reapply to other schools? thanks so much for your input everyone!!!

I feel for you. I am in the similar situation -- with an acceptance and considering defer and reapply. But now I more lean towards to going to the school that I have got accepted because the school will provide me the education that I need to be a doctor. I have desire to go to a better ranked, more close to family school. But it's only 4 years and I really appreciate to the school that accepted me. They appreciate my effort, hard work and passion which other schools were not able to express as much.

It is true that many schools don't want to see their accepted students to take a year off and reapply to another school. And it's kind of irresponsible, IMO. I don't know which school you got into but I'm sure most of schools have fair research experience. If you're into research and go to a less research oriented school, you might get a better chance to get a better position due to less competition. If you have a specific interest in research and only a couple of schools offer those kind of opportunity, it's a different story.

If you can give up this acceptance and start all over again, maybe you should go for it. But if you think about just trying again since your last performance doesn't seem the best for you, maybe you should just go to the one that you have. Some times in life, people judge you by your not-so-good performance. That's the reality. Also you never know, you might be the top student at the school you get accepted, which will bring better options by the time you finish med school.

It's your life and you make decision. I believe you're wise enough to make the best decision for you. Good luck no matter which path you choose.

 

[freshandclean]

I feel for you. I am in the similar situation -- with an acceptance and considering defer and reapply. But now I more lean towards to going to the school that I have got accepted because the school will provide me the education that I need to be a doctor. I have desire to go to a better ranked, more close to family school. But it's only 4 years and I really appreciate to the school that accepted me. They appreciate my effort, hard work and passion which other schools were not able to express as much.

It is true that many schools don't want to see their accepted students to take a year off and reapply to another school. And it's kind of irresponsible, IMO. I don't know which school you got into but I'm sure most of schools have fair research experience. If you're into research and go to a less research oriented school, you might get a better chance to get a better position due to less competition. If you have a specific interest in research and only a couple of schools offer those kind of opportunity, it's a different story.

If you can give up this acceptance and start all over again, maybe you should go for it. But if you think about just trying again since your last performance doesn't seem the best for you, maybe you should just go to the one that you have. Some times in life, people judge you by your not-so-good performance. That's the reality. Also you never know, you might be the top student at the school you get accepted, which will bring better options by the time you finish med school.

It's your life and you make decision. I believe you're wise enough to make the best decision for you. Good luck no matter which path you choose.

First of all, I want to thank you all very much for your advice, opinions and well-wishes. I guess next i should clarify a few of the things that were unclear in the original post.

1. the two schools i have been accepted to: the first one, at my interview i talked about research and asked about oppurtunities there, and the guy actually laughed at me. (im not joking) he even said "you dont want to come here to do research, there isnt any time to do it." the second school has such a small research focus that they dont even have an md-phd program at all.
now in my head, i canthelp but to contrast it with two md programs that i interviewed at and got rejected from: cleveland clinic and case western. both have required research thesis projects, which means since the curriculum has research built-in, students are not "penalized" with thier free-time to do research.

2. the reason i say that i feel pretty sure i can get a 36+ is that in april 05 my last two practice tests (kaplan) were 37 and then 38. the night before the mcat i found out that a friend of mine was in a very bad car accident, and had slipped into a coma (hes fine now!!) needless to say, the next morning i wasnt exaclty in "test mode"

3. some of you say that if i am thinking about md/phd next year this makes more sense. i agree thats true, and i have not ruled that out. however, i do think it is far to say that research can play a huge part in your future career even in a regular md program. i know 2 mds personally that split time 60/40 and 75/25 with clinical practice and research.

4. i guess finally, is that the program i am interested in my "off-year" is a one-year masters of engineering in biomed eng. as a chemE ive really started to get interested in BME, and actually find the idea of a year of classes and a project in bme pretty exciting..

so, i dont know if this changes any ones opinion of my idea for next year, but any more input would be greatly appreciated. thank you all, and God Bless

 

[freshandclean]

also,

do schools really know when you have been accepted and reapply. how do they find that out?!

 

[freshandclean]

i forgot to mention this, i guess its kind of minor.. but my two publications were only just accepted in april (haha, actually one was accepted the week before easter, and one was accepted this tuesday) so i guess thats one minor addition to my application that schools never saw this cycle.

 

[bsteves4]

hi fresh, i just PMed you...
so yea, i feel like im in a really similar situation as you. like you, ive received a resounding set of "no's" from all of the people on sdn.. for some reason i feel like people on sdn in general are STRONGLY against reapps with acceptances. i dont know if it is part of the "SDN culture" or if it really has truth to it. i read one of your other posts, and i agree that many people seem to put far less importance on "happiness" or "fit" with a school... i try to take the advice of many, that med school is what you make of it, and it doesnt really matter in the end where you go,etc. etc. but then i know of at least 3 people personally that are not happy in med school. and if it ultimately doesnt matter where you go, why are some people so hell-bent on choosing between 3 equal caliber schools al the time. or why is it clear that some schools just have "happier" students while some schools in general have wierdos and less happy kids?

 

[runion]

An M.D./Ph.D program is not the only way to be a research-oriented physiciain. I have personally known several people who have gone to NIH or other stellar research centers for a two year research fellowship after graduation from medical school...ended up with several publications and very competitive residencies. Whether a two year fellowship in research will afford you the same depth of research expertise is another question. I have also known people who were convinced prior to medical school that they wanted to do research, dropped out of MD/PhD programs and ultimately went into private practice.

 

[freshandclean]

hi everyone,

i just met with my premed advisor this morning, she basically said the whole "reapplying after getting accepted makes you look terrible" thing is mostly bunk. she said in amcas wont denote that youve been accepted before, and only says that you are a reapplicant. only the schools that have accepted you before will see that you have been accepted before (obviosuly). and i assume if you turned them down the first time, you wont bother applying again anyway. the only time it can really come up is at an interview, in which case my premed advisor says if you have a reasonable answer (not i wanted to go to a higher ranked school) then youre all set.

she also said, even in the digital age, that it is VERY unlikely that schools will pull up old files for reapplicants. she even said straight up that the med school associated with our undergrad DOES NOT do this. thier reasoning is simple. They get about 5000 applicants a year. Apparently close to 750 or so are reapps. Checking each reapplicants file against thier old one adds nearly 1000 applications to sift through. With med school admissions expidited the way it is (numbers cutoffs, etc.), its doubtful they would take the extra effort to compare new and old apps. which is also why most schools ask if you are a reapp what you have done to improve..

anyway after meeting her, i believe i am now going to reapply (against the advice of 1000's of sdners ). however, i do greatly appreciate everyone's input, it really made me think hard about the decision, and not just throw the ideas around and do something that sounded good but maybe not a realistic choice. thanks again, and good luck to everyone!!

 

[Apparition]

hi everyone,

i just met with my premed advisor this morning, she basically said the whole "reapplying after getting accepted makes you look terrible" thing is mostly bunk. she said in amcas wont denote that youve been accepted before, and only says that you are a reapplicant. only the schools that have accepted you before will see that you have been accepted before (obviosuly).

I am pretty sure that AMCAS asks whether you have been accepted to medical school before, which discredits everything else that she told you.

 

[StrssdOut]

They ask if you've matriculated, not been accepted.

 

[whattodowithmys]

bump?

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

I really think you should re-apply, given that you think you can improve your MCAT score by that much! I think that whole schools looking at you re-applying is a bunch of crap and something that someone made up. Your telling me that schools are going to punish you for taking your time, setting your goals high, and evaluating where you will fit in best?? Come on, thats total bull.

You are obviously really smart if you can get a 3.3 as a varsity football player, and especially if you can get 37/38 on practice tests. This is why you should re-take the MCAT, because it's going to be your best friend in an interview....it's going to tell them that you are smart and only have a slightly sub-par gpa because you were very dedicated to other things.

Take that MCAT again and get that 36+ With that score and your EC's, you should be on your way to a great research school. Good luck!

 

[Law2Doc]

I am pretty sure that AMCAS asks whether you have been accepted to medical school before, which discredits everything else that she told you.

Certainly some secondaries ask this, if not AMCAS. There are actually multiple wrong things in that post. Bear in mind that the quality of advisors varies and some are not particularly "in the loop". Some schools, particularly the more technology and research oriented ones, actually will have everything computerized and will easilly be able to retrieve a reapplicants prior application. It's amazing what digital scanners and cheap memory chips allow these days.
Bottom line, is that if you are a reapplicant schools will know. If you have turned down a prior acceptance schools will know. And while there may be legitimate reasons to back out of an acceptance, I'm not so sure yours is. While you can claim you want to do research, it will be seen as a sham need to go to a more prestigious school (since by and large the better research schools are the more prestigious schools). No one is going to buy it. And it speaks volumes of you lack of committment to the profession that you would rather risk not going to med school at all than to go to a less prestigious one.
Good luck with that.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

Certainly some secondaries ask this, if not AMCAS. There are actually multiple wrong things in that post. Bear in mind that the quality of advisors varies and some are not particularly "in the loop". Some schools, particularly the more technology and research oriented ones, actually will have everything computerized and will easilly be able to retrieve a reapplicants prior application. It's amazing what digital scanners and cheap memory chips allow these days.
Bottom line, is that if you are a reapplicant schools will know. If you have turned down a prior acceptance schools will know. And while there may be legitimate reasons to back out of an acceptance, I'm not so sure yours is. While you can claim you want to do research, it will be seen as a sham need to go to a more prestigious school (since by and large the better research schools are the more prestigious schools). No one is going to buy it. And it speaks volumes of you lack of committment to the profession that you would rather risk not going to med school at all than to go to a less prestigious one.
Good luck with that.

See I don't agree with this. This applicant is obviously in a situation where he or she can apparently get into research oriented schools (assuming that you can get a 36+) I know schools will know if you re-applied, but are you telling me schools will look at a drastic increase in an MCAT score and say oh, who cares, he's a re-applicant?? I just don't buy that.

If you have your heart set on being a doctor and doing research, then don't spend 4 years of your life and $$$$$$ going to a school that "laughs" at research!!!! You can get in somewhere with a 3.3 varsity football player and a 36+ MCAT!

 

[Law2Doc]

See I don't agree with this. This applicant is obviously in a situation where he or she can apparently get into research oriented schools (assuming that you can get a 36+) I know schools will know if you re-applied, but are you telling me schools will look at a drastic increase in an MCAT score and say oh, who cares, he's a re-applicant?? I just don't buy that.

If you have your heart set on being a doctor and doing research, then don't spend 4 years of your life and $$$$$$ going to a school that "laughs" at research!!!! You can get in somewhere with a 3.3 varsity football player and a 36+ MCAT!

First, I don't buy the 36+ MCAT until it happens. A miniscule percentage of takers get that score, even from those who were doing that well on practice tests. Most people only climb a couple of points on retakes at most, regardless of the reason they were "off" on the initial take. I certainly wouldn't dump an allo acceptance on this gambit.
Second, having rejected a certain tier of med schools in hopes of getting a better one doesn't pass the smell test. EVERYBODY who tries this makes up some fuzzy excuse about there not being enough opportunity for research at the schools you turned down, so no adcom is going to buy this. The OP will come off as prestige shopping, which is going to mar his credentials. And the top schools have enough applicants to choose from that they usually just bypass those with the marred credentials. And yet the less research oriented schools now won't touch the applicant either because he has indicated a desire to go to a more research oriented school. It's thus a dangerous move.

 

[LJDHC05]

Freshnclean:

There will be plenty of opportunities to do research after medical school (research fellowships in residency, etc.). You're also ignoring the clinical research projects that you could have an opportunity to get onto if you find a decent preceptor. There are always summer research programs after first year and you could even take a year off between 2nd and 3rd year to work on a project if you so choose. There are lots of way to stay active in research even if you're at a small institution. I don't see any reason to defer, spend another $3k+ on apps and MCAT and interviews. Just my 2 cents

 

[45408]

If you have your heart set on being a doctor and doing research, then don't spend 4 years of your life and $$$$$$ going to a school that "laughs" at research!!!! You can get in somewhere with a 3.3 varsity football player and a 36+ MCAT!

SDN loves telling underdogs that they can just RAWK THE MCAT! and get into a supercompetitive school. Not so fast. About 3-5% of people rock the MCAT, and if your GPA is a 3.3, survey says you're not likely to get a 36. Possible, but not likely. Take a look at these tables - http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/tables.htm - most people don't do better on the MCAT the second time around, especially if they did pretty well the first time (a 31 is pretty good in the real world, just not on SDN). Not only that, a lot of people do worse the second time.

 

[Avalanche21]

Hmm...it would be nice if LizzyM could clarify whether or not schools can see if you've been accepted before

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

SDN loves telling underdogs that they can just RAWK THE MCAT! and get into a supercompetitive school. Not so fast. About 3-5% of people rock the MCAT, and if your GPA is a 3.3, survey says you're not likely to get a 36. Possible, but not likely. Take a look at these tables - http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/tables.htm - most people don't do better on the MCAT the second time around, especially if they did pretty well the first time (a 31 is pretty good in the real world, just not on SDN). Not only that, a lot of people do worse the second time.

First, like I said, IF you can get a 36+ on the MCAT, then re-apply. Second, regardless of what the "SURVEY" says, your GPA doesn't mean squak on how well you can do on the MCAT, i'm sorry. Did you not read that he was a varsity football player? Sometimes, people don't do well on tests and work in college because they haven't had time to prepare, NOT because they aren't smart enough or don't understand the material. I know PLENTY of people who have very sub-par gpa's and very high MCAT scores.

As far as "most people don't do better the second time" I am specifically giving this advice based on this person's story, which you may not have looked at. He specifically said he is very confident that his MCAT session did not reflect his true potential (didn't study, car accident...) So how does this have anything to do with statistics?

I'm just saying, I would have a very hard time believing that you won't get into a medical school the second time around IF you can improve your MCAT that much. Overall though, I agree that it is a risky move, because if you were overconfident and don't improve your MCAT, then your obviously in a much worse position.

The question comes down to how much you want to do research while being a doctor. If it is something you really personally want, then go for it and apply again. If you feel like you would be perfectly ok with going to a school who "laughs" when you ask about research, then of course stick with what you have. I just think it's stupid to make a choice that you might possibly regret.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm just saying, I would have a very hard time believing that you won't get into a medical school the second time around IF you can improve your MCAT that much. Overall though, I agree that it is a risky move, because if you were overconfident and don't improve your MCAT, then your obviously in a much worse position.

I think you may be underestimating the importance of the non-numerical things, and how they may be perceived. Schools often reject folks with high numbers if other areas of concern present themselves. Moreso the top schools who have higher credentials to choose amongst, and often reportedly give different scrutiny to reapplicants in the first place. Turning down an acceptance in order to reapply begs the question why, and desiring to attend a more research oriented school is not going to fly, particularly when (1) the OP chose to apply to those other schools that accepted the OP in the first place, (2) it will appear to an outsider that the OP just wants to go to a more prestigious place, assertions notwithstanding.
But all this is moot until the OP gets his monstrous MCAT score, so it may pay to table this debate.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

I think you may be underestimating the importance of the non-numerical things, and how they may be perceived. Schools often reject folks with high numbers if other areas of concern present themselves. Moreso the top schools who have higher credentials to choose amongst, and often reportedly give different scrutiny to reapplicants in the first place. Turning down an acceptance in order to reapply begs the question why, and desiring to attend a more research oriented school is not going to fly, particularly when (1) the OP chose to apply to those other schools that accepted the OP in the first place, (2) it will appear to an outsider that the OP just wants to go to a more prestigious place, assertions notwithstanding.
But all this is moot until the OP gets his monstrous MCAT score, so it may pay to table this debate.

I see what your saying about the prestigious thing now, because most research oriented schools are the better ones anyway. I just feel like in a perfect world, they would understand that (again, if we see a huge MCAT) hey, this kid has the smarts, is obviously dedicated to lots of things besides his gpa, and he shows that he is re-applying because he will be a benefit to medical research......but then again things aren't perfect.

 

[Andre04]

i just met with my premed advisor this morning, she basically said the whole "reapplying after getting accepted makes you look terrible" thing is mostly bunk. she said in amcas wont denote that youve been accepted before, and only says that you are a reapplicant. only the schools that have accepted you before will see that you have been accepted before (obviosuly). and i assume if you turned them down the first time, you wont bother applying again anyway. the only time it can really come up is at an interview, in which case my premed advisor says if you have a reasonable answer (not i wanted to go to a higher ranked school) then youre all set.

she also said, even in the digital age, that it is VERY unlikely that schools will pull up old files for reapplicants. she even said straight up that the med school associated with our undergrad DOES NOT do this.

That's one med school out of ... how many? Everyone's procedures are a little different, and it's very possible that other schools do check reapps against the old. I'd not bank everything on what that one school does.

I'd try to get some more opinions, as others have mentioned advisors aren't omniscient. Contact a few admissions offices and ask how they look at this sort of situation, and whether they're privy to it at all. Don't make such an important decision on the basis of one person's opinion (or, for that matter, internet strangers'!) which may or may not be based in fact.

Finally, I don't know what "reasonable answer" you could really give an adcom concerned about your reappying, other than wanting a higher-ranked school. "More research focus" seems like a clever euphemism, but let's get real: you were fine with the research while you were applying, while you were interviewing, and even after the interview. You could have withdrawn at any point. It's only now, when you realize that your preferred schools didn't come through, that you have this concern. How do you think that looks?

I have no opinion on whether you should reapply or not, just think you need more info before you decide. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Nexus777]

hi everyone,

i just met with my premed advisor this morning, she basically said the whole "reapplying after getting accepted makes you look terrible" thing is mostly bunk. she said in amcas wont denote that youve been accepted before, and only says that you are a reapplicant. only the schools that have accepted you before will see that you have been accepted before (obviosuly). and i assume if you turned them down the first time, you wont bother applying again anyway. the only time it can really come up is at an interview, in which case my premed advisor says if you have a reasonable answer (not i wanted to go to a higher ranked school) then youre all set.

she also said, even in the digital age, that it is VERY unlikely that schools will pull up old files for reapplicants. she even said straight up that the med school associated with our undergrad DOES NOT do this. thier reasoning is simple. They get about 5000 applicants a year. Apparently close to 750 or so are reapps. Checking each reapplicants file against thier old one adds nearly 1000 applications to sift through. With med school admissions expidited the way it is (numbers cutoffs, etc.), its doubtful they would take the extra effort to compare new and old apps. which is also why most schools ask if you are a reapp what you have done to improve..

anyway after meeting her, i believe i am now going to reapply (against the advice of 1000's of sdners ). however, i do greatly appreciate everyone's input, it really made me think hard about the decision, and not just throw the ideas around and do something that sounded good but maybe not a realistic choice. thanks again, and good luck to everyone!!

If you don't like the schools that you got into, then reapply. My premed advisor said the same thing before the process started - basically, that if I didn't get into a school that I liked, then I shouldn't go and instead do a one year masters, make myself more competitive, and then reapply. He said the biggest mistakes in your life are when you settle instead of fight for what you want.