deciding not to go to med school after being accepted...

[medder]

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If I accepted a medical school's offer of admission via a tuition deposit, but then decided that I didn't want to go to medical school, would I be able to just cut and run? Or is there some binding contract that will force me to pay the whole first year's tuition..

I'm a little iffy on going to medschool, and I may choose pharmacy over medschool.. but pharmacy admission decisions don't get in until well after med school acceptance deadlines. At this point I want to give myself both options, but come springtime, I might accept a medschool offer and wait to see if I get into pharmacy school.

 

[chandelantern]

If I accepted a medical school's offer of admission via a tuition deposit, but then decided that I didn't want to go to medical school, would I be able to just cut and run? Or is there some binding contract that will force me to pay the whole first year's tuition..

I'm a little iffy on going to medschool, and I may choose pharmacy over medschool.. but pharmacy admission decisions don't get in until well after med school acceptance deadlines. At this point I want to give myself both options, but come springtime, I might accept a medschool offer and wait to see if I get into pharmacy school.

There seems to be a lot of "mights" and "ifs" in your question. If you decide to withdraw an acceptance and you have not yet matriculated (started classes) you will only lose your deposit. If you withdraw your acceptance before May 15, you should get your deposit back too. However, I would STRONLY suggest you start figuring out now before you spend thousands of dollars applying to med school if it is what you want. If it is just a "back up" to pharm school (which is crazy...isn't pharm school easier to get into than med school?) I would not apply this cycle. That way you can put all your energy into the applications you really want and if you don't get it, explore more options next year.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

There seems to be a lot of "mights" and "ifs" in your question. If you decide to withdraw an acceptance and you have not yet matriculated (started classes) you will only lose your deposit. If you withdraw your acceptance before May 15, you should get your deposit back too. However, I would STRONLY suggest you start figuring out now before you spend thousands of dollars applying to med school if it is what you want. If it is just a "back up" to pharm school (which is crazy...isn't pharm school easier to get into than med school?) I would not apply this cycle. That way you can put all your energy into the applications you really want and if you don't get it, explore more options next year.

I was going to say the same thing, but with one question: "Is this just a hypothetical question for the upcoming application cycle?" If it is, don't waste your time and energy on med school as a backup - devote yourself entirely to pharm school, and you should get in.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

how sure are you about getting into medical school? what do your stats look like?

 

[medder]

I have solid stats.. 3.98 GPA in biomedical engineering, 32Q MCAT, research, clinical experience, yada yada... and i always assumed I'd go to med school... but long overdue research into what life will be like for the next 8 years has suddenly left me hanging after I completed my AMCAS. I'm sure I'll get into med school, but now i'm doubting if that's what I really want. So, I'll go ahead and finish applying now, and then I'll decide later. That's my reasoning.

I want to know that I can accept a school's offer and then bail a few months later if I find out I got into pharmacy school (assuming I decide to go the PharmD route instead of medicine).

 

[Hassler]

I have solid stats.. 3.98 GPA in biomedical engineering, 32Q MCAT, research, clinical experience, yada yada... and i always assumed I'd go to med school... but long overdue research into what life will be like for the next 8 years has suddenly left me hanging after I completed my AMCAS. I'm sure I'll get into med school, but now i'm doubting if that's what I really want. So, I'll go ahead and finish applying now, and then I'll decide later. That's my reasoning.

I want to know that I can accept a school's offer and then bail a few months later if I find out I got into pharmacy school (assuming I decide to go the PharmD route instead of medicine).

Why are you still applying to med school if you don't want to? It would be a waste of money and effort. Your stats are good enough to get to PharmD schools.

 

[Hard24Get]

Why are you still applying to med school if you don't want to? It would be a waste of money and effort. Your stats are good enough to get to PharmD schools.

I think what we are witnessing here is the birth of one of those people who, upon finding out you are premed or in med school, hastily assert that they were accepted to med school, too, but decided not to go....

 

[doctorFred]

or, it could just be one of the thousands of premeds out there that never really looked into medicine in the first place.

 

[ShyRem]

I tried posting last night, but the database optimization ate my reply. 😡

You can apply (and it will cost you dearly), put in a deposit, and even up to the day before classes start you can withdraw. You'll lost your deposit at an allo school if you withdraw after May 15 (at an osteo school you'll likely lose it no matter when you withdraw, and they're hefty deposits at that). Schools will pull folks from the waitlist until the first day of class, so don't worry about having your seat filled. As long as you don't withdraw on or after the first day of class you won't have any obligation of paying the year's tuition. If, however, you withdraw on the first day of class (or heaven forbid a week into classes), you will forfeit at least the semester's tuition that you have most likely borrowed. This leads to further issues of potentially being unable to borrow funds for pharm school since you've pretty much maxed out your loans for the year.