Depressed and out of answers

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D&O in NYC

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I'm very depressed and I don't know what to do. I applied late last year-which is why I think I didn't get in but I did get waitlisted at 2-so I reapplied on the earlier side to a greater number of schools-20 so far. I got interviews at three, and two have already rejected me. Am I interviewing badly? I've tried to contact these schools to set up an appointment to talk with them about my application, although nobody has returned my calls yet. I am two interviews comming up in January-one at a school that rejected me after interviewing me last year so I don't feel too positive about it. I didn't talk about my reapplication in any of my interviews yet so maybe that hurt? Could it be that not addressing my reapplication status means that the time between when I graduated from college and now is not as well explained for as it could be? I graduated in May of 2003, took a year to work and apply to Med School, got laid off in May, and am now working part-time and applying again.
 
I feel your pain, and I'm sorry to hear you are feeling down. I am a reapplicant. I applied late last year, as well (in Novemeber). Got rejected. This time I applied early, and to more schools, and have been accepted at a handful of schools. The key to being a reapplicant is making sure that you improve your application. Adcoms like to see reapplicants, it shows that you are determined and passionate about medicine, and will not be dissuaded from your goal. However, they aren't impressed if all you do is reapply, without trying to improve your app by gaining more meaningful experiences, or address the aspects of your application that kept you from an acceptance the first time (such as poor MCAT, low GPA, poor interviewing skills). I didn't find out until May last year that I was rejected, and I made the mistake of not doing much to improve my app in the meantime (aside from volunteering at a rural health care clinic). So, in the one month before I could apply again, I did a CNA class, lined up some more volunteering experiences, gained some research experience, and got a job working with mentally ill and physically handicapped adults. I also worked on my interview skills-I just thought about being honest, eagar, humble but at the same time tried to show them why I was a unique applicant, I also researched ethics questions, and the school websites. Then, in my interviews, I had lots of experiences to draw on to answer their questions, as well as not having the feeling like we didn't have enough to talk about.

Since you have a few interviews scheduled, I'm assuming your grades are sufficient. Perhaps you need to focus on your interviewing skills? How did you feel you did? Do some research on interviewing well, as well as medical ethics questions. Think about how you can make your experiences stand out in the interview.

Last but not least, try and cheer up and think positive. You will be fine, if you worry yourself sick, you won't come across as the person you really are in the interview, and it will not help. Use this time proactively, this process is as much a test of your character as anything else. Good luck! 👍 :luck:
 
D&O in NYC said:
I didn't talk about my reapplication in any of my interviews yet so maybe that hurt?

I don't think this is it. In general, it's a bad idea to talk about the fact that you're a reapplicant unless you are specifically asked. I don't know very much about you so unfortunately I'm not able to give you much feedback. Perhaps if you told me a bit more about yourself, like your background, where you interviewed, types of questions you were asked .. then maybe I could help you out more 🙂

Good Luck!
 
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