Best Acceptance List You've Ever Seen

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mmmcdowe said:
I remember one guy the year after I applied who came close. Something like 19 acceptances out of 20, mostly top schools.
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lol once you get up to 19 acceptances, you're clearly doing it for that ego boost. When you know you can only attend 1 school it's pretty inefficient to rack up 19 acceptances unless you're deriving some sort of self-worth out of the whole process. And frankly, it's kinda tough to not let this process dictate how you feel about yourself, so I don't really blame the guy.
 
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caffeinemia said:
I'm so confused by this thread. Is it like a nerd-hero worship cult session or something?
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You know what, I really think this stuff doesn't matter as much as people make it out to. Having seen a lot of applications through the years and having gone through my own process, I've learned that the old aphorism is really true: just stay in your own lane. Don't worry about what other people are doing, how many acceptances they got, why they got them, etc. There are a lot of great, talented people out there and if you're constantly trying to figure out your own success in relation to theirs, you'll be stuck on this hamster wheel forever.

I think, especially on SDN, there is this temptation to inflate the importance or value of people with crazy stats or who have been very successful in their applications. Real talk though, no one cares. Once you're here, whether you only got into one school and it was off the waitlist or you applied to the top 20 and got 25 acceptances, you start medical school in the same place as everyone else. No one knows, and frankly no one cares what you did before.

I'm not saying to go out and poo poo on people. Certainly pat them on the back for their hard work, go buy them a beer, whatever. But let's not make more of this than what it is. These threads seem like they mostly serve to inflate some heads than anything else.
 
Narmerguy said:
You know what, I really think this stuff doesn't matter as much as people make it out to. Having seen a lot of applications through the years and having gone through my own process, I've learned that the old aphorism is really true: just stay in your own lane. Don't worry about what other people are doing, how many acceptances they got, why they got them, etc. There are a lot of great, talented people out there and if you're constantly trying to figure out your own success in relation to theirs, you'll be stuck on this hamster wheel forever.

I think, especially on SDN, there is this temptation to inflate the importance or value of people with crazy stats or who have been very successful in their applications. Real talk though, no one cares. Once you're here, whether you only got into one school and it was off the waitlist or you applied to the top 20 and got 25 acceptances, you start medical school in the same place as everyone else. No one knows, and frankly no one cares what you did before.

I'm not saying to go out and poo poo on people. Certainly pat them on the back for their hard work, go buy them a beer, whatever. But let's not make more of this than what it is. These threads seem like they mostly serve to inflate some heads than anything else.
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True story. Listen to this man, as always.
 
jeghaber said:
Hahah, I just had weirdly better luck with the West coat vs East coast despite having no ties to CA. There were several other users who had far more consistently successful applications my year.
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Honestly, I didn't look at your MD apps profile until a moment ago. Prior to that, I only knew that you got into one amazing school (in California!!) and that's really all that matters. So it's unfair to say that others had more success than you.

Anyway, I hope deferral land is treating you well!
 
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Narmerguy said:
You know what, I really think this stuff doesn't matter as much as people make it out to. Having seen a lot of applications through the years and having gone through my own process, I've learned that the old aphorism is really true: just stay in your own lane. Don't worry about what other people are doing, how many acceptances they got, why they got them, etc. There are a lot of great, talented people out there and if you're constantly trying to figure out your own success in relation to theirs, you'll be stuck on this hamster wheel forever.

I think, especially on SDN, there is this temptation to inflate the importance or value of people with crazy stats or who have been very successful in their applications. Real talk though, no one cares. Once you're here, whether you only got into one school and it was off the waitlist or you applied to the top 20 and got 25 acceptances, you start medical school in the same place as everyone else. No one knows, and frankly no one cares what you did before.

I'm not saying to go out and poo poo on people. Certainly pat them on the back for their hard work, go buy them a beer, whatever. But let's not make more of this than what it is. These threads seem like they mostly serve to inflate some heads than anything else.
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^spot on! I got one interview (top school by far), one acceptance. I would not give this up for any other school, even a top 20 school.

I am happy for those who got into a bunch of school. I am nowhere near your level. But I am content with my own accomplishment!
 
VitaminVater said:
A lot of it is applying smartly aka BROADLY. No matter how much of an all-star applicant you are, it's crazy to only apply Top 10.
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Upvote. This is so true. You never know how things will turn out. I know somebody with a 41 MCAT and probably 3.9+ GPA (I'm guessing, but he breezed through all the classes we had together) who applied to literally only the top 10, and then only got an interview invite from one school. I don't know if he ended up getting in and I'm a little scared to ask. I thought he was one of the smartest people I know, but I guess if that were true, he would've applied to more than the top 10.
 
mimelim said:
I don't tell people this because my field is so small. We only have 40-50 residents per year in the entire country. Any identifying information pretty much gives away exactly who I am. Where I ended up going was heavily influenced by what my girlfriend (now wife of 6 years) was doing with school/education.
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Classic situation. Do you mind if I asked if y'all engaged prior to picking your medical school? Do you think you made the right decision or was there another medical school that you would have preferred to go to if she wasn't in the picture?
I only ask because I am coming upon the same situation this year.

Thanks.
 
sat0ri said:
Why's that??
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Because there are no real advantages to MD/PhD for virtually anyone. If you like and want to do research, you don't need a PhD. If it is the kind of research where a PhD is valuable (or sought after), you are likely going to be too busy doing that to practice clinical medicine, so you might as well just get the PhD. At the end of the day, unless you are a complete and total workaholic, you don't have enough hours in a week to do an MD job and a PhD job. There are very few jobs that straight up require both and only a handful that make you much more valuable. And then, when you consider that you will spend an extra 2-4 years getting that PhD portion and consider that you really shouldn't be comparing to new graduates, but really graduates that have 2-4 years of clinical experience when you look for a job, that edge disappears almost entirely. I've been around the research block a lot, basic science as well as clinical. For me and many others, it is prestige and not a whole lot else.

Thoroughbred_Med said:
Classic situation. Do you mind if I asked if y'all engaged prior to picking your medical school? Do you think you made the right decision or was there another medical school that you would have preferred to go to if she wasn't in the picture?
I only ask because I am coming upon the same situation this year.

Thanks.
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I got engaged the winter of my senior year in undergrad, married the summer after MS1. I would likely have gone to a different school that was closer to where my family was if my wife didn't exist. After going through medical school and 3 years of residency, one thing is very clear to me. Support is everything. Long hours, hard work, bad personalities, etc. You just have to be where you are going to have the best support. Whether they are significant others, family or simply a strong friend network. Where you go to medical school matters. The quality of education does vary. There is some influence of what school you go to in the residency match process. But, far bigger than either of those two things is how YOU will function in any medical school environment. Going to the best school and functioning sub-optimally is worse than going to a 'lesser' school and functioning at a high level.

Life is going to charge forward whether you like it or not. You will be in medical school and residency for the majority of your 20s (assuming you are a traditional applicant of course). Not everyone will agree with this. You will hear a lot of pre-meds and even many much more experienced individuals talk about pursuing your career above all else. I was pretty close to being in that camp myself at one point, but from where I sit now, you can't let your schooling get in the way of your life. And, most of the time, it will be to your benefit anyways.
 
mimelim said:
Because there are no real advantages to MD/PhD for virtually anyone. If you like and want to do research, you don't need a PhD. If it is the kind of research where a PhD is valuable (or sought after), you are likely going to be too busy doing that to practice clinical medicine, so you might as well just get the PhD. At the end of the day, unless you are a complete and total workaholic, you don't have enough hours in a week to do an MD job and a PhD job. There are very few jobs that straight up require both and only a handful that make you much more valuable. And then, when you consider that you will spend an extra 2-4 years getting that PhD portion and consider that you really shouldn't be comparing to new graduates, but really graduates that have 2-4 years of clinical experience when you look for a job, that edge disappears almost entirely. I've been around the research block a lot, basic science as well as clinical. For me and many others, it is prestige and not a whole lot else.
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Sure, I can see that. On the other hand, I have heard from PhD's, professors, and people in huge pharmaceuticals (that is to say, on the other side of the MD/PhD coin) who say that having a MD attached to your PhD is a huge advantage. For one, you can do clinical studies, and they seemed to hint at it being far easier to pull research money that way. I'm thinking too of if you're an MD but want to do basic research, like say drug design. I have shadowed a MD/PhD neurologist/neuroscientist who seemed pretty happy with the whole 80/20 lifestyle of having relatively simple out-patient clinical hours on Fridays, and protected research hours the remainder of the week. There are translation science PhD's that let you skip all the clinical stuff that'll likely not be useful, but I don't see them garnishing the same respect as a MD degree.
 
mimelim said:
And then, when you consider that you will spend an extra 2-4 years getting that PhD portion and consider that you really shouldn't be comparing to new graduates, but really graduates that have 2-4 years of clinical experience when you look for a job, that edge disappears almost entirely.
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unless you're able to finish your MD/PhD in 5 years like my PI! so crazy
 
mimelim said:
Because there are no real advantages to MD/PhD for virtually anyone. If you like and want to do research, you don't need a PhD. If it is the kind of research where a PhD is valuable (or sought after), you are likely going to be too busy doing that to practice clinical medicine, so you might as well just get the PhD. At the end of the day, unless you are a complete and total workaholic, you don't have enough hours in a week to do an MD job and a PhD job. There are very few jobs that straight up require both and only a handful that make you much more valuable. And then, when you consider that you will spend an extra 2-4 years getting that PhD portion and consider that you really shouldn't be comparing to new graduates, but really graduates that have 2-4 years of clinical experience when you look for a job, that edge disappears almost entirely. I've been around the research block a lot, basic science as well as clinical. For me and many others, it is prestige and not a whole lot else.
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This is a very interesting statement. I'm not sure if pursuing the MD-->Research residency/post-doc is the best pathway as far as basic science research is concerned if you know that basic science is what you want to do when one considers time, funding pathways, and debt but I could be wrong. However, I agree with the premise that the dual degree probably isn't for most but I'm interested in getting some outside opinions so I'm going to flag @gutonc @Neuronix and @Fencer since they have three highly different perspectives and are dual degree holders themselves. This is a topic that has been regularly discussed on the physician scientists forum and it might be helpful for posterity and answering @sat0ri 's question if some of that discussion is imported to PreAllo.
 
sat0ri said:
Sure, I can see that. On the other hand, I have heard from PhD's, professors, and people in huge pharmaceuticals (that is to say, on the other side of the MD/PhD coin) who say that having a MD attached to your PhD is a huge advantage. For one, you can do clinical studies, and they seemed to hint at it being far easier to pull research money that way. I'm thinking too of if you're an MD but want to do basic research, like say drug design. I have shadowed a MD/PhD neurologist/neuroscientist who seemed pretty happy with the whole 80/20 lifestyle of having relatively simple out-patient clinical hours on Fridays, and protected research hours the remainder of the week. There are translation science PhD's that let you skip all the clinical stuff that'll likely not be useful, but I don't see them garnishing the same respect as a MD degree.
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MD attached to PhD may help you out with a lot of things, but most, if not all of that can be done without the PhD. My perspectives of MD/PhD is primarily from growing up with my father, an MD who ran a lab with more MD/PhDs and students in the 90s than almost anyone and then and then was head of research for one of the big pharma companies. He categorically has always told me that the combined pathway doesn't really open any doors for his former students that wouldn't have been available to them if they had done a straight MD program and pursued research throughout their training. Yes, there are parts of medicine that having a strong basic science background will be a big plus. But, that is not what most people want to do with it and certainly not what they end up doing with it.
 
Lucca said:
I'm going to flag @gutonc @Neuronix and @Fencer since they have three highly different perspectives and are dual degree holders themselves.
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Why MD/PhD is very tangential to the initial topic of this thread. The advantages and disadvantages of MD/PhD training, as well as how to conduct research with an MD, has been discussed ad nauseum in the Physician Scientists forum. So I am not going to comment here. If a student interested in applying to MD vs. MD/PhD wants to discuss the topic, I encourage them to read the existing threads on the topic and then PM me with specific questions or post a new thread in the Physician Scientists forum.
 
One of my friends I TA'd biochemistry with here at UCSD was accepted to UCSF, USC, Darthmouth, BU, NYU, Tulane, and a few other places (I forgot where). She just interviewed at UCSD SOM. Idk how many she applied to but she destroyed this cycle.
 
I had a bad list of schools I attended (and I mean the most out-of-whack list you'll see on MDApps) yet I got into 2 schools. Was I sad to get WL at some schools? Sure. But I'm telling you guys, once you get that first acceptance (maybe it'll just be one that cycle) nothing else matters, app-wise. You'll see classmates get into every school they applied to and have to decide which school that offers a full ride to attend. Others will only get on the WL and have to reapply in a year. Just be happy with where you get in, because an education at a US MD school anywhere is an amazing education.
 
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giraffesuptop said:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=24705

^this guy's acceptance list is basically the US news and world report's top 10 med schools list, plus a few more
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Wow. I just read everything that @TheKDizzle wrote on his MDapps page. He is truly an amazing human being! Or at least, he was an outstanding medical school applicant.

After reading thru the rest of this thread, I initially felt bad for not being nearly as awesome as everyone who was tagged in this thread. But then I remembered that I have one acceptance - and it ONLY takes one acceptance to become a doctor. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that premeds get too caught up with rankings and sh** like that. Why should that matter? My goal is to become the absolute best clinician I can possibly be. I don't need a "fancy" or "top 10/20" med school to achieve that.
 
Ace Khalifa said:
Wow. I just read everything that @TheKDizzle wrote on his MDapps page. He is truly an amazing human being! Or at least, he was an outstanding medical school applicant.

After reading thru the rest of this thread, I initially felt bad for not being nearly as awesome as everyone who was tagged in this thread. But then I remembered that I have one acceptance - and it ONLY takes one acceptance to become a doctor. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that premeds get too caught up with rankings and sh** like that. Why should that matter? My goal is to become the absolute best clinician I can possibly be. I don't need a "fancy" or "top 10/20" med school to achieve that.
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True that! Thousands of people would love to have a single acceptance right now anywhere. I'm glad just to have any acceptances at all. I still exceeded my expectations before this cycle by light-years and I'm incredibly grateful for it. Try not to lose sight of the big picture everyone.
 
Ace Khalifa said:
Wow. I just read everything that @TheKDizzle wrote on his MDapps page. He is truly an amazing human being! Or at least, he was an outstanding medical school applicant.

After reading thru the rest of this thread, I initially felt bad for not being nearly as awesome as everyone who was tagged in this thread. But then I remembered that I have one acceptance - and it ONLY takes one acceptance to become a doctor. If there's one thing I learned this year, it's that premeds get too caught up with rankings and sh** like that. Why should that matter? My goal is to become the absolute best clinician I can possibly be. I don't need a "fancy" or "top 10/20" med school to achieve that.
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Getting into med school in and of itself is impressive period. Also, there are rock stars at every med school.
I just decided to shoutout some of the California acceptees. You know me-lol.
 
The best acceptance list I've ever seen actually only had a few schools on it. And they were mainly schools that don't regularly come up in the SDN discussions of Most Prestigious Name Schools. But it was the best acceptance list to me - because it was mine 🙂 Anyway, lots of congrats to all the hard work represented in this thread! And congrats to all who've gotten accepted here in the great ol' USA, regardless of school name! 🙂
 
Lucca said:
Wow, and he came from a public university (albeit an awesome one). What a hero. I was fully expecting to click, see " HYPS 3.9+, 38+" roll my eyes and get on with my life.
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u mad bro?

Why are elite public school students worthy of your respect while elite private school students are not?
 
wowsers said:
u mad bro?

Why are elite public school students worthy of your respect while elite private school students are not?
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Because I believe both of those groups of people to be virtually identical in terms of ability, intellect, and merit but one of those groups is highly advantaged in the kinds of things that take into account ability, intellect and merit.

It's not that I don't respect them - I respect anyone who enjoys what they do and strives to better themselves and others throughout their lives, I could care less what their resume or academic accomplishments or career prospects are like.

However I'm not impressed when RockStar Smith from Harvard gets into a bunch of very prestigious schools, goes to work on Wall St. Etc. And I'm not unimpressed when RockStar Smith is UNABLE or unwilling to do those things. When a public school student can acquire they same kinds of academic accolades as a pedigreed student, however, that's impressive.

I'm not mad and big name public schools like Berkely and UVA are just as pedigreed in the public and private sectors as Dartmouth or Cornell or the rest but public school students are not particularly well represented in the stratosphere of academe.
 
Lucca said:
When a public school student can acquire they same kinds of academic accolades as a pedigreed student, however, that's impressive.

I'm not mad and big name public schools like Berkeley and UVA are just as pedigreed in the public and private sectors as Dartmouth or Cornell or the rest but public school students are not particularly well represented in the stratosphere of academe.
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You understand that UNC Chapel Hill (KDizzle's alma mater, the point of contention here) is pedigreed, right? If you don't, now you do.

If you DO and still believe the bolded, this is the translation of what you said: "Elite public schools are just as pedigreed as the Ivy League, but I'm only impressed when public school students do great things. This is because I don't just like elite private schools."

Your argument does not apply in this particular situation.
 
wowsers said:
You understand that UNC Chapel Hill (KDizzle's alma mater, the point of contention here) is pedigreed, right? If you don't, now you do.

If you DO and still believe the bolded, this is the translation of what you said: "Elite public schools are just as pedigreed as the Ivy League, but I'm only impressed when public school students do great things. This is because I don't just like elite private schools."

Your argument does not apply in this particular situation.
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Notice I said in the public and private sectors and not in academia.
 
Narmerguy said:
You know what, I really think this stuff doesn't matter as much as people make it out to. Having seen a lot of applications through the years and having gone through my own process, I've learned that the old aphorism is really true: just stay in your own lane. Don't worry about what other people are doing, how many acceptances they got, why they got them, etc. There are a lot of great, talented people out there and if you're constantly trying to figure out your own success in relation to theirs, you'll be stuck on this hamster wheel forever.
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👍 Love it! :claps:



I don't care how many acceptances anyone else has. All I'm concerned about this year is completing my own application by the first week of AMCAS opening and--more importantly--determining how many schools I can afford to apply to.
 
Spinach Dip said:
I don't care how many acceptances anyone else has. All I'm concerned about this year is completing my own application by the first week of AMCAS opening and--more importantly--determining how many schools I can afford to apply to.
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Still can't believe you need to reapply, man. We all benefited so much from your studying tips. **** luck.
 
wowsers said:
Still can't believe you need to reapply, man. We all benefited so much from your studying tips. **** luck.
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😍

Yeah. Unfortunately, money is needed to apply, and finances have been unpredictable recently.
 
wowsers said:
You are wrong
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Check out the current students list at top 10 MD programs, check out the Truman, Marshall and Rhodes Scholars alumni list, look at the MSTP classes among the top 20 schools. Non HYSP (rly its HYSM for Md at least) students are small compared to the relative number of elite students they accept. The MD classes there are seriously like 30-50% from 4 schools. MSTP is even worse at this. The only notable exceptions I can think of are the Hertz and Goldwater competitions. This is for a variety of reasons.

I think you are really confusing my statement with "Man, screw those private school kids." Many of those private school kids are my good friends but if you think someone from public school, even UMich or Berkely is just as likely to get every acceptance, scholarship, whatever academic accomplishment under the sun compared to a HYS student then you are wrong and that is plain and simple. This has a lot to do with the structure, faculty, history, and resources of the school and very little with the student. Does this make the student any less impressive? No. But the public school grad had to work harder to get to the same place. The people who really struggled in HS to get into HYS are few compared to the majority who were just privately educated since Pre-K. Believing that both of these types of students, elite public and elite private, are virtually identical I am then not very moved when someone from Harvard does really well and then gets into a bunch of top programs. Why not? Because all I can get from their app is "well, I guess I should've just been accepted to Harvard and have been a perfect student for my entire life to be able to achieve what they have". That doesn't mean I think they are bad, entitled people or that they don't deserve my respect. It just means they are people who got lucky at the age of 1 or 18 or both and as a consequence have a better shot in the academic world at everything through no fault of their own.
 
I have a friend with three top 10 acceptances and 4 or 5 acceptances in total. I'm taking a gap year so I'm pretty much living vicariously through her right now.
 
JPSmyth said:
I recently got the book "Medical School Essays that Made a Difference" by the Princeton Review as a gift, since my family knew that I would be applying to medical school this year. They basically give you the information about students, their #s and ECs, and their essays word for word. There are a lot of students in there that got into more than half of the schools that they applied to. How does this happen? On SDN it seems that even if you have a 3.9/35+ and a stellar application, you won't get more than a few (<3) acceptances? Some people are applying to 10 top schools and getting acceptances to 8 of them, I thought that this was unheard of before I read this book.

So, what is the best list of acceptances you guys have ever seen someone hold?
And have any of you guys personally ever held more than 2-3 acceptances?
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I have the same exact book and I was surprised, it actually gave me a little more hope
 
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