Declining an acceptance to reapply

[kaskad3]

I've heard that once you are accepted to medical school, it would be stupid to decline the acceptance and reapply since medical schools would know you have been accepted in the past (and thus, reject you upon reapplication).

How is it possible that they know you've been accepted? Is there some sort of record kept? I would think that medical schools were kept unaware of your past acceptances unless you disclosed it to them. I'm asking because I met someone who was accepted last cycle, but she declined her acceptance (she was accepted to a school that wasn't her top choice) so she could reapply, hoping she would gain admission to her top choice after another cycle. Would medical schools care? If so, how would they know?

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[VectreSpectre]

Not sure if they can see it, but it's a pretty weird thing to do. Why would you apply to a med school you had no intention of going to?

 

[Chrome19]

I know someone who applied, got accepted, decided against medical school. She then re-applied 5 years later and got accepted. She's in medical school now.

During my interviews this cycle, I met a student who was accepted at a particular medical school, but decided not to attend medical school that year (2010 I think). However the school that accepted him sent him a rejection this time. They were probably pissed

So yeah it happens. Whether medical schools know whether you've been offered a spot in the past, that I do not know. Although I would generally advise against it. Strangely, a very respected MD/research faculty told me to reapply if I didn't get into the school I wanted. I told him he was nuts. Med school = Med school.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I don't know if medical schools know which school you were accepted to during a previous cycle, but they will know if you're a reapplicant to their school. I think it's stupid to reapply because you didn't get into your top choice. You should have only applied to schools you'd be willing to attend. Going through another cycle is not only expensive in itself, but when you take into account a full year of attending pay you'll miss out on because of that year as well, it doesn't add up to a smart decision. Take the acceptance, go learn to be a doctor.

 

[Chrome19]

I don't know if medical schools know which school you were accepted to during a previous cycle, but they will know if you're a reapplicant to their school. I think it's stupid to reapply because you didn't get into your top choice. You should have only applied to schools you'd be willing to attend. Going through another cycle is not only expensive in itself, but when you take into account a full year of attending pay you'll miss out on because of that year as well, it doesn't add up to a smart decision. Take the acceptance, go learn to be a doctor.

Word son.

 

[NickNaylor]

I know someone who applied, got accepted, decided against medical school. She then re-applied 5 years later and got accepted. She's in medical school now.

During my interviews this cycle, I met a student who was accepted at a particular medical school, but decided not to attend medical school that year (2010 I think). However the school that accepted him sent him a rejection this time. They were probably pissed

So yeah it happens. Whether medical schools know whether you've been offered a spot in the past, that I do not know. Although I would generally advise against it. Strangely, a very respected MD/research faculty told me to reapply if I didn't get into the school I wanted. I told him he was nuts. Med school = Med school.

Why would he even apply to the same school that he turned down the year prior? Is your friend dumb?

 

[wilberforce72]

why would he even apply to the same school that he turned down the year prior? Is your friend dumb?

this

 

[235788]

I know someone who applied, got accepted, decided against medical school. She then re-applied 5 years later and got accepted. She's in medical school now.

During my interviews this cycle, I met a student who was accepted at a particular medical school, but decided not to attend medical school that year (2010 I think). However the school that accepted him sent him a rejection this time. They were probably pissed

So yeah it happens. Whether medical schools know whether you've been offered a spot in the past, that I do not know. Although I would generally advise against it. Strangely, a very respected MD/research faculty told me to reapply if I didn't get into the school I wanted. I told him he was nuts. Med school = Med school.

5 years is much different than 1 year though...

 

[kpcrew]

Why would he even apply to the same school that he turned down the year prior? Is your friend dumb?

maybe he had a situation in his life that didn't allow for him to attend medical school and he couldn't obtain a deferral.

 

[SunsFun]

Why would he even apply to the same school that he turned down the year prior? Is your friend dumb?

Turning down an acceptance just because you didn't get your top choice is stupid. But, what if certain circumstances appeared that for one reason or another make it impossible for her to go to this particular school or to go to med school altogether this cycle?

 

[Hemorrage]

People are so ungrateful. Acceptances themselves are hard as hell to come by, why on earth would you decline? Seriously stay out of the application process indefinitely. There's plenty of people in the wait list whom are way more passionate for the school you think your too good for.

 

[SunsFun]

People are so ungrateful. Acceptances themselves are hard as hell to come by, why on earth would you decline? Seriously stay out of the application process indefinitely. There's plenty of people in the wait list whom are way more passionate for the school you think your too good for.

I cannot completely disagree with it but I don't think we should look at med schools as some sort of deities granting people wishes. In reality med schools are businesses that get paid by students to provide services. The students benefit schools by paying them, doing the best they can do, helping other alumni, etc... Just because the demand for medical education is much higher than supply doesn't mean that school is doing student a favor accepting him or her.

 

[V5RED]

Turning down an acceptance just because you didn't get your top choice is stupid. But, what if certain circumstances appeared that for one reason or another make it impossible for her to go to this particular school or to go to med school altogether this cycle?

You can contact the school and ask them to defer your entry for a year if something major happens that prevents you from attending that year.

 

[DocMan22]

People are so ungrateful. Acceptances themselves are hard as hell to come by, why on earth would you decline? Seriously stay out of the application process indefinitely. There's plenty of people in the wait list whom are way more passionate for the school you think your too good for.

+1

Go ahead and decline that spot. You'll be real pissed when you realize by end of your residency no one cares what school you went to, only how good of a doc you've become. If you don't think your a strong enough person to overcome any perceived "weaknesses" the school that accepted you has then good luck reapplying.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I cannot completely disagree with it but I don't think we should look at med schools as some sort of deities granting people wishes. In reality med schools are businesses that get paid by students to provide services. The students benefit schools by paying them, doing the best they can do, helping other alumni, etc... Just because the demand for medical education is much higher than supply doesn't mean that school is doing student a favor accepting him or her.

I think it's important to keep in mind that attending medical school/learning to how practice medicine is a privilege, not a right.

 

[Chrome19]

Why would he even apply to the same school that he turned down the year prior? Is your friend dumb?

If you thought laterally about this you would realize there are situations where this is justified.

 

[235788]

If you thought laterally about this you would realize there are situations where this is justified.

...like?

 

[Chrome19]

...like?

Death in the family with far reaching implications, lack of money, very bad health, went into a coma, etc.

 

[Whatyousay]

Death in the family with far reaching implications, lack of money, very bad health, went into a coma, etc.

Once you're in, schools will generally bend over backwards to accommodate you and make sure you graduate (most US schools have retention rates of >95%). If your friend declined that acceptance without consulting the school about all their options first, that's on them (although I'm not really sure what you would do if you were in a coma).

As for lack of money.... that's what loans are for. I'm not exactly sure how spending additional money on applications / travel expenses will rectify that situation.

 

[RedSox10]

To answer the original question since I actually called AMCAS last year before applying to med schools.

Medical schools will know if you were accepted into medical school and declined ONLY if you apply to the same school twice. When you apply to a school, they make a file about you. Come May 1st (I forget the exact date) each school that you applied to will have access to where you have been accepted (not rejected, waitlitsted, or merely applied). If you then apply to that same school again, they can look you up in their database and see this acceptance data from the previous year. Thus, if you apply to Harvard during year 1, get rejected but get into another school, turn it down, and apply to Harvard again the following year, provided they kept your file, they will see that you turned down an acceptance the previous year. This will look REALLY bad.

So...technically, if the second time around you applied to a whole new slew of schools, they would have no way of knowing whether or not you declined any acceptances.

 

[235788]

Death in the family with far reaching implications, lack of money, very bad health, went into a coma, etc.

then you defer for a year.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

This makes me sad. I swear the only thing that would keep me from taking an acceptance would be if the apocalypse occurred.

 

[SunsFun]

You can contact the school and ask them to defer your entry for a year if something major happens that prevents you from attending that year.

What if you cannot attend that school or leave the state at all. Your family member gets sick and needs you to take care of them; someone you have issues with goes to that school; etc... There can be legitimate reasons that may potentially arise that can prevent you from going there. Besides as far as I understand its not like you put a school in a terrible position by declining your acceptance. They will just get someone as good from waitlist to take your place.

 

[SnowyRox]

then you defer for a year.

It's not exactly easy to defer from many schools. In fact, it's almost impossible at some. There are definitely circumstances that will require turning down an acceptance, and I don't think there's anything wrong if you have a solid reason behind it.

 

[SunsFun]

I think it's important to keep in mind that attending medical school/learning to how practice medicine is a privilege, not a right.

Sorry but this sounds kind of elitist. How is learning medicine any more of a privilege than learning to be a police officer, or a post officer, or a bus driver? Unless you think learning altogether is a privilege in which case I do not disagree. However, without students willing to learn and going 200-300k in debt and wasting years of their lives sleeping with books there would be no med schools. Med schools benefit from students just as much as students benefit from the schools. It is a two-way relationship, a contract. It is not about one party granting some sort of privilege to another.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

Sorry but this sounds kind of elitist. How is learning medicine any more of a privilege than learning to be a police officer, or a post officer, or a bus driver? Unless you think learning altogether is a privilege in which case I do not disagree. However, without students willing to learn and going 200-300k in debt and wasting years of their lives sleeping with books there would be no med schools. Med schools benefit from students just as much as students benefit from the schools. It is a two-way relationship, a contract. It is not about one party granting some sort of privilege to another.

Elitist? I'd say it's the exact opposite. A postal worker or bus driver is not being granted access to the most personal aspects of people's lives and power to affect how long and well they live. There's no doubt you have to sacrifice in medicine, but you're getting to do something special that few people are able to. Don't think that's your right.

 

[SunsFun]

Elitist? I'd say it's the exact opposite. A postal worker or bus driver is not being granted access to the most personal aspects of people's lives and power to affect how long and well they live. There's no doubt you have to sacrifice in medicine, but you're getting to do something special that few people are able to. Don't think that's your right.

I am not saying it is a right, but I don't think you can readily dismiss the importance of other professions just because some doctors deal with life and death issues. Soldiers deal with those issues too, social workers maybe even more, judges, firefighters, I can go on and on. Even in the field of medicine how what doctors should know is any more privileged than what nurses or PA's should know? Doctors are special in their own way just like any other profession.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I am not saying it is a right, but I don't think you can readily dismiss the importance of other professions just because some doctors deal with life and death issues. Soldiers deal with those issues too, social workers maybe even more, judges, firefighters, I can go on and on. Even in the field of medicine how what doctors should know is any more privileged than what nurses or PA's should know? Doctors are special in their own way just like any other profession.

I'm fairly certain I didn't dismiss the importance of other professions. My original comment was simply that it's a privilege to be able to affect people's lives through medicine. I don't know why you find that controversial. In any case, do you even want to become a doctor? It's hard to tell with your love of all professions.

 

[SunsFun]

I'm fairly certain I didn't dismiss the importance of other professions. My original comment was simply that it's a privilege to be able to affect people's lives through medicine. I don't know why you find that controversial. In any case, do you even want to become a doctor? It's hard to tell with your love of all professions.

Exactly, and my point was that it is as much of privilege to affect people through medicine as it is through any other field. I don't find your view controversial I just don't like when people believe that they are rare and special flowers because of their chosen profession. It invites snarkiness and elitism. I know this isn't exactly what you're saying but putting medicine and admission to a medical school on a whole new level versus everything else feels this way to me.

And yes, I do want to be a doctor, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate the importance of other professions and give them as much respect as fellow doctors.

 

[kaskad3]

To answer the original question since I actually called AMCAS last year before applying to med schools.

Medical schools will know if you were accepted into medical school and declined ONLY if you apply to the same school twice. When you apply to a school, they make a file about you. Come May 1st (I forget the exact date) each school that you applied to will have access to where you have been accepted (not rejected, waitlitsted, or merely applied). If you then apply to that same school again, they can look you up in their database and see this acceptance data from the previous year. Thus, if you apply to Harvard during year 1, get rejected but get into another school, turn it down, and apply to Harvard again the following year, provided they kept your file, they will see that you turned down an acceptance the previous year. This will look REALLY bad.

So...technically, if the second time around you applied to a whole new slew of schools, they would have no way of knowing whether or not you declined any acceptances.

Thank you for answering my original question!!

 

[Shmemifly]

I think it would be a risk, but not the blasphemy that SDN believes, if for good reason. I expect the school you were admitted to would be a bust. But beyond that it will depend on whether your school of choice:

a) keeps the file
b) checks the file
c) dismisses you without asking what your reasoning was.

As someone who applied concurrently with a partner I think that there are a number of serious, legitimate reasons one might do this. Life is not only about getting into medical school -- there might be spouse/partner regional issues, family or personal health problems, pregnancy, etc. And the final, more debatable part: don't do it for elitism, but if you genuinely feel after visiting like you would hate a school and be miserable, it might be worth the risk to you. Just to be safe, fill your second cycle list with a decent proportion of schools you did not apply to the first time.

 

[NickNaylor]

Death in the family with far reaching implications, lack of money, very bad health, went into a coma, etc.

All of these things would almost certainly be reasons for a deferral. I can't imagine a school refusing to grant a deferral in those circumstances once you've committed to the school and have expressed your intent to matriculate.

 

[DocMan22]

From AMCAS Instructions:

--------------
Previous Application to a Medical School
If you have a processed AMCAS application from a previous application year, you are considered a re-applicant to those medical schools, regardless of whether a secondary application was completed.

If you add a school to which you have previously applied (either through AMCAS, another application service, or directly to the school), you must indicate this in your application when you designate the school in your current application.

Failure to acknowledge previous application activity will result in an investigation.
-----------------

If the AAMC finds discrepancies between your application and the truth during an investigation they forward that information on to all the schools you applied to. Schools may choose to take any disciplinary action they wish, from not accepting you as an applicant to dismissal as a student, or nothing at all. There are stories (of questionable reliability) floating around the forums of 4th years getting kicked out for lies on their application.


Page 61
http://www.aamc.org/students/download/131750/data/2012amcasinstructionmanual.pdf

 

[Mazdave]

There was a similar thread a while back and the advice given by someone (I think LizzyM, but someone of that caliber) was that you should look at whatever factors are making you want to not go to the school where you were accepted, whether it's personal issues, a problem with the school itself, or whatever, and weigh those against the possibility of never going to medical school. No one can say for sure that you'll never get another acceptance, but whatever reasons you have for wanting to turn one down need to be worth the risk that you never do.

 

[gmoneytalks]

To answer the original question since I actually called AMCAS last year before applying to med schools.

Medical schools will know if you were accepted into medical school and declined ONLY if you apply to the same school twice. When you apply to a school, they make a file about you. Come May 1st (I forget the exact date) each school that you applied to will have access to where you have been accepted (not rejected, waitlitsted, or merely applied). If you then apply to that same school again, they can look you up in their database and see this acceptance data from the previous year. Thus, if you apply to Harvard during year 1, get rejected but get into another school, turn it down, and apply to Harvard again the following year, provided they kept your file, they will see that you turned down an acceptance the previous year. This will look REALLY bad.

So...technically, if the second time around you applied to a whole new slew of schools, they would have no way of knowing whether or not you declined any acceptances.

Is this true for Texas schools too? Say if you got into a Texas school but were rejected by all AMCAS schools? Would AMCAS schools know about your Texas acceptance?

 

[phltz]

Exactly, and my point was that it is as much of privilege to affect people through medicine as it is through any other field. I don't find your view controversial I just don't like when people believe that they are rare and special flowers because of their chosen profession. It invites snarkiness and elitism. I know this isn't exactly what you're saying but putting medicine and admission to a medical school on a whole new level versus everything else feels this way to me.

And yes, I do want to be a doctor, but that doesn't mean I cannot appreciate the importance of other professions and give them as much respect as fellow doctors.

Medicine is an unusual (although certainly not unique) field in that there are a great many qualified people who want to be doctors, but who don't make it into medical school. Being smart, having good grades, good people skills, empathy, some medical experience and a firm desire to enter medicine is not necessarily enough to gain acceptance to a medical school. A minority of students with particularly strong applications may be able to reasonably expect several acceptances and their pick of a program to attend. For a large portion of the applicant pool, however, there's a substantial element of luck to getting even one acceptance. I don't know that I'd have used the word "privilege", exactly, but I agree with the sentiment that one should count one's blessings if one is accepted to a medical school, as opposed to considering it a right that can be counted upon.

This isn't to comment on the moral qualities of being a doctor or medical student as compared to other service professionals. It's purely an observation on the vagaries of the application process. If you want to be, say, a social worker, and you have a reasonable application, you will almost certainly be able to gain acceptance to a school of social work. As such, you wouldn't necessarily be risking an absurd own-goal if you turned down an acceptance one year, with the intent of applying again the next year. The same can not be said of medical school, not because doctors are better, or more elite, or anything like that, but simply because the med school application process is more of a crapshoot.

 

[SignOftheTiger]

People are so ungrateful. Acceptances themselves are hard as hell to come by, why on earth would you decline? Seriously stay out of the application process indefinitely. There's plenty of people in the wait list whom are way more passionate for the school you think your too good for.

I think it's wrong of you to generalize all who turn down a medical school acceptance as ungrateful. As plenty of people have already said, there are several possible extenuating circumstances that can merit this choice. In addition, i'm sure many people apply to medical schools they thought they would attend if accepted, but after the interview, getting to actually interact with faculty, staff, students, the environment, they realize it's not a place for them. I personally applied my first time, got accepted to one school in the middle of nowhere (which I hadn't known before, bad on my part) and when I got there for my interview, the environment just made me miserable. I sucked it up for my interview and did well, but I could not see myself being happy there for 4 years of my life.

Happiness is more important than "just getting in" to me. It was far from home, in an environment I could not stand. This wasn't some crazy extenuating circumstance, but it's what matters to me. This choice affects MY life and I need to feel like I made the right decision. Medical school is a huge commitment. This is why doing your research about schools is very important. I learned the hard way, but I applied again, made sure every one of them, at least on paper, is where I'd go if accepted. I got in to a school I love and it was definitely worth turning down that first acceptance.