done with this

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General note: Please guys, let's not try and make light of the situations other people are in. Yes, he's angry, but it doesn't give anyone the right to be completely insensitive. Some of the posts here are downright inappropriate. Please keep it civil.
On the other end, OP I know you're angry but try not to let the comments get to you. Please keep it civil and don't respond in anger.
It sucks applying once and not getting any response. I've been there. In fact, you did better than I did last year. You got one interview.



Agree. Do something interesting that you are interested in, keep up with your clinical stuff and volunteering and you will get in. Now, if you are really re-evaluating whether medicine is right for you, that's another story. I just hope when you're a little less emotional you'll think it through and do what's best for you.



It's a tough process man. I've been there, but if you decide medicine is something you want to do, then I hope you re-apply. I think you'll have a solid shot next year.



I disagree with your first and last sentence. It's hard to tell exactly why someone is rejected from medical school, and you can guess at the likely culprits all you want, but that air of authority you seem to speak with is unqualified. There are a ton of people with a similar app to his that got in. I'm anecdotal of that. (2nd time applying no interviews last year). In fact, about half of people with a 3.2 -3.39 and a 36-38 MCAT get in. About 70% of people with a 3.4 - 3.59 and a 37 MCAT get in. The proof is attached (most updated data from the AAMC).

Thanks for your support, Vihsadas. Wish I could learn your level of patience. I don't know how you didn't go crazy last year with your MCAT and no interview. Please tell me you were reasonably upset, especially with the number of posters on SDN who are adept at pretending to know more than they really know.http://forums.studentdoctor.net/member.php?u=171905http://forums.studentdoctor.net/member.php?u=171905
 
🙁 I will say this, though, Food. Some schools are responsive to updates and others are not. I think USF is one of those schools that is generally not (they do NOT want updates after you've interviewed and they said that for sure). So I have no idea about pre-interview, but I get the feeling you get a limited number of "second looks" after your initial approaisal.

Given that you ARE here at UF and that you are very close to the admission's office, it might be in your best interest to see if you can talk with the dean or something to show your interest. I'm sorry you're angry but really, "smart" will help you a lot more than "angry".

If you haven't wasted a lot of $$ on applications (which, with one on-campus interview, I'm guessing you could only have wasted so much) then consider reapplying. It's not the end of the world to reapply.
 
🙁 I will say this, though, Food. Some schools are responsive to updates and others are not. I think USF is one of those schools that is generally not (they do NOT want updates after you've interviewed and they said that for sure). So I have no idea about pre-interview, but I get the feeling you get a limited number of "second looks" after your initial approaisal.

Given that you ARE here at UF and that you are very close to the admission's office, it might be in your best interest to see if you can talk with the dean or something to show your interest. I'm sorry you're angry but really, "smart" will help you a lot more than "angry".

If you haven't wasted a lot of $$ on applications (which, with one on-campus interview, I'm guessing you could only have wasted so much) then consider reapplying. It's not the end of the world to reapply.

well it should be the end of the world.😡

sigh, i don't want to reapply. I can't think of another PS.
 
wait til job apps man, those are more ridic. i have a friend who applied to a consulting firm, interviewed a couple times, didn't get the job, called them, and they told him they just pick random candidates in the end.

but yea, i feel you. it can be a bit upsetting b/c of the money and the sacrifices made (which is more apparent if you have tons of non-premed friends). however, there must be a reason why you applied. i'm sure your lucky will change sooner or later. i wish you good luck and hope that you feel better soon (which, you will)
 
👍

Dude you came on here to rant. You've done so. Now suck it up and get on with your life. If you let this be the end of medicine for you then so be it, that's your choice no one is going to hold your hand the rest of your life. Step back awhile and review your life and then make this decision. No decision should be made in anger.
 
The worst thing is the rejection letters. The line where they say "we assure you we considered your file thoroughly". I know for a FACT they did not. I have spent countless hours on the phone with the offices at nearly every school I applied to. The one thing I heard from all of them was that they were not currently looking at my file and had probably cast it aside into "interview pool 2" after their initial review.

[...]

I never felt I was owed an interview. I did my best to get in touch with those schools and find out where I was weak. I did everything to address it. And, unsurprisingly they didn't care. I didn't expect anything different, but it was certainly disappointing.

so you expect them to review your file at every adcom meeting?

also, i'm sure every school could see right through your hail mary attempt at cramming in more ECs once you realized that what you've already done won't cut it.

look, i don't need you to tell me my GPA did me in. Why do you think I retook from a 33R? most people thought I was ******ed. I knew my GPA was too bad for a 33R to do me any justice. So I worked my ass off towards a 38. Unfortunately a lot of the med schools think that I was just a good test taker, and didn't put much effort into it, when I don't think I've ever worked as hard in my life.

i think that effort would've been much better spent doing well in science classes to boost your GPA and doing meaningful activities ...but i guess hindsight is 20/20
 
What a jerk.

I know, I know...impulse posting...I'll suppress it next time. I see every situation with a bit of humor...sometimes that comes out as insensitive.


Really? If you were in your shoes, i'd doubt u'll need anger management right?

I am in my shoes 😀

my anger management consists of making holes in the walls in my room. it is slightly less expensive than getting therapy. I've thought about it though.

Maybe that's all the therapy you need then

General note: Please guys, let's not try and make light of the situations other people are in. Yes, he's angry, but it doesn't give anyone the right to be completely insensitive. Some of the posts here are downright inappropriate.

I don't think the OP (btw. I still don't know what OP stands for...) was expecting all happy responses when he typed his initial post? Or were you? In any case, I apologize for my initial post.
 
i've received the last of my rejections, and still waiting on news from the only school that interviewed me. If it doesn't happen, I'm done with this. This system is broken. I don't care how late I applied, I was no later than half of the people accepted to my state schools. I didn't expect anything from OOS schools, but wtf happened to my state schools? I hate all Florida schools now, except for UF who interviewed me. Especially F--- USF. I don't think I've ever hated a school so much. Complete waste of time doing a bunch of random activities and sending them numerous letters of update/interest.

So if you're looking to apply to USF next cycle, reconsider. They're perfectly willing to accept sub-par applicants from their feeder program, and will prefer them over you, no matter how much interest you show them, or how qualified you are.

Oh, and I have no problem accepting responsibility for how ****ty this cycle was. 99% of the blame is with me. But 1% of this was COMPLETE BS.

Haha UF is the only Florida school who didn't interview me (and UCF, but hey..) Probably because I didn't go there for undergrad. As a matter of fact I went to a no-name po-dunk school. Every institution has its biases, you just got past UF's. This process makes no sense, I agree w/ you. But again, removing FSU was not smart as they love UF grads. Sucks but hang in there, a friend of mine got off UF's hold list in August two years ago and def thought he wasn't going to medical school that year until the last minute...
 
well it should be the end of the world.😡

sigh, i don't want to reapply. I can't think of another PS.

🙁 Well...I guess I don't know what to say. I could understand why you'd be angry. But angry is really a waste of time. Writing about some intriguing ECs, formulating a compelling PS, raising your GPA are NOT wastes of time. Maybe your PS wasn't your problem. Maybe it was in your secondaries. I don't know.

I came into this cycle with a 3.7 and a 36 MCAT and I realized that there was a *chance* I would have to reapply based on my school selection. My mom was pretty much banking on me not getting in. So...yeah.

Keep a cool head. I'm 24 and I've waited a long time for this. Given that you're 21, I REALLY don't think reapplying would kill you.
 
so what would you do if not med school? what do pre-med science majors do if they decide med school isnt for them in general? must be tough
 
What would I do if I didn't get in?

good question.

I'd go get a job at the DMV (I got this idea from family guy, btw) and make sure that when the Adcom members bring in their kids to get their permits and licenses, that they get the worst experience they imagined.

"I was just in that line, and I just filled out this form, what's the problem?"

"Sir, you need to fill out the yellow 10A form over there, and stand in this other line here."

"This is so complicated"

"So was your ****ing god-awful application process for your stupid ****ing medical school."
 
yer gonna get yerself banned, laddy! 😱

Actually...I have no idea what kinds of posts people get banned for.
 
I've got similar numerics (37, 3.5, ~200 hrs clinical experience) and out of six schools, I got four acceptances and I withdrew from the other two.

So, I'm guessing it may have been something to do with your PS or you school selection. Personally, I applied to my state school only those schools whose LizzyM score I far surpassed and who accepted a reasonably high percentage of OOS students.

I also applied to one DO school and received an acceptance /very/ early in the cycle (September). Which kind of makes me wonder, why didn't you apply DO?
 
so you expect them to review your file at every adcom meeting?

also, i'm sure every school could see right through your hail mary attempt at cramming in more ECs once you realized that what you've already done won't cut it.



i think that effort would've been much better spent doing well in science classes to boost your GPA and doing meaningful activities ...but i guess hindsight is 20/20

Alright, you know what? I'm going to give you a detailed synopsis of my undergrad years since you like filling in gaps.

Here we go:

1st year - 3.14 overall GPA. Cs in Organic 1+2, Bio 1, and lab.

2nd year - 3.8 overall GPA. As in physics 2, bio 2, inorganic, physical chem 1, diff eq, etc

3rd year - 3.5 overall GPA. I dipped here. My mom had major surgery this year, and our family was ****ed up. I was heavily distracted. But I never liked making excuses and never mentioned it on the PS (which was probably a bad idea), and had no other way of mentioning it.

4th year - 3.65 first semster (I took grad level organic chem classes, thinking it would impress med schools, but apparently they have no appreciation for people willing to take ****ing hard classes)

I took my first MCAT at the end of 2nd year. I retook at the end of 3rd year. You are telling me that I wasted time the 2nd retake?

It's exactly people like you who should NOT be giving advice on SDN. In hindsight, I think I made the best possible decision. I couldn't have raised my GPA any higher than I had done already. And if I could have, it would have been only marginally higher. Do you know what the law of diminishing returns is? Then you know why retaking the MCAT was actually a better choice.
 
Also, JMO but you seriously needed to look at that school selection. You didn't complete secondaries at a number of places where you had a REALLY good shot.

EVMS
VCU
UToledo
FSU
RFU
Temple
Creighton

Are you serious, dude? You would probably be sitting on an acceptance right now.
 
I've got similar numerics (37, 3.5, ~200 hrs clinical experience) and out of six schools, I got four acceptances and I withdrew from the other two.

So, I'm guessing it may have been something to do with your PS or you school selection. Personally, I applied to my state school only those schools whose LizzyM score I far surpassed and who accepted a reasonably high percentage of OOS students.

I also applied to one DO school and received an acceptance /very/ early in the cycle (September). Which kind of makes me wonder, why didn't you apply DO?

To put it succinctly, I didn't think I had to. I agree that it was a bad decision in hindsight.
 
Also, JMO but you seriously needed to look at that school selection. You didn't complete secondaries at a number of places where you had a REALLY good shot.

EVMS
VCU
UToledo
FSU
RFU
Temple
Creighton

Are you serious, dude? You would probably be sitting on an acceptance right now.

Yeah, I realize it. I realized it back in November. By that time it was too late.
 
So, now that you've given up on medicine, what's next?

to repeat my above post:

What would I do if I didn't get in?

good question.

I'd go get a job at the DMV (I got this idea from family guy, btw) and make sure that when the Adcom members bring in their kids to get their permits and licenses, that they get the worst experience they imagined.

"I was just in that line, and I just filled out this form, what's the problem?"

"Sir, you need to fill out the yellow 10A form over there, and stand in this other line here."

"This is so complicated"

"So was your ****ing god-awful application process for your stupid ****ing medical school."
 
As others have said, you're 20 years old, you have a decent GPA and an awesome MCAT. Apply early next year and, assuming you have decent/good interviewing skills, you WILL get some acceptances. Not many people can pull off a 38 on the MCATs and they know it.
 
I appreciate it. But I'm not sure I want to do it anymore. I had false hopes about a lot of things, about how applications are, and even how medical school will be. I've realized I was wrong about it. I don't care for it anymore. So good bye to medicine for me.

since ur 21 and not going into medical school...what are your future plans? computer science? engineer? starcraft 3 software designer?
 
since ur 21 and not going into medical school...what are your future plans? computer science? engineer? starcraft 3 software designer?

probably professional degenerate
 
since ur 21 and not going into medical school...what are your future plans? computer science? engineer? starcraft 3 software designer?

Wait, let me do the honors.

to repeat my above post:

What would I do if I didn't get in?

good question.

I'd go get a job at the DMV (I got this idea from family guy, btw) and make sure that when the Adcom members bring in their kids to get their permits and licenses, that they get the worst experience they imagined.

"I was just in that line, and I just filled out this form, what's the problem?"

"Sir, you need to fill out the yellow 10A form over there, and stand in this other line here."

"This is so complicated"

"So was your ****ing god-awful application process for your stupid ****ing medical school."

Dang it, you got there first
 
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Removed b/c I don't care about this anymore.
 
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OP:
Are you just ranting or are you serious about everything? Ok, 2 tries and no luck so you're really done? With your 38 MCAT?
So you're just gonna let it go like that? Yes its a messed up process, but still.
I have to ask you, did you really want to do medicine in the first place? If the obvious answer is Yes, then you wldn't just give up on being a physician after 2 crazy tries.
And yes, I know how intense it can be. I am a reaapplicant too.
 
OP:
Are you just ranting or are you serious about everything? Ok, 2 tries and no luck so you're really done? With your 38 MCAT?
So you're just gonna let it go like that? Yes its a messed up process, but still.
I have to ask you, did you really want to do medicine in the first place? If the obvious answer is Yes, then you wldn't just give up on being a physician after 2 crazy tries.
And yes, I know how intense it can be. I am a reaapplicant too.

i think it's his 1st time applying, and he's thinking of quitting.
 
I know, I know...impulse posting...I'll suppress it next time. I see every situation with a bit of humor...sometimes that comes out as insensitive.

I am in my shoes 😀

Maybe that's all the therapy you need then

I don't think the OP (btw. I still don't know what OP stands for...) was expecting all happy responses when he typed his initial post? Or were you? In any case, I apologize for my initial post.

🙂 OP stands for Original Poster.
Apology taken
And yes, you are in your shoes 😀 My bad, I had a typo moment.
And yea I do see humor in every situation too...most times I have to surpress it just for sensitivity issues. I chuckle inside tho..
 
OP:
Are you just ranting or are you serious about everything? Ok, 2 tries and no luck so you're really done? With your 38 MCAT?
So you're just gonna let it go like that? Yes its a messed up process, but still.
I have to ask you, did you really want to do medicine in the first place? If the obvious answer is Yes, then you wldn't just give up on being a physician after 2 crazy tries.
And yes, I know how intense it can be. I am a reaapplicant too.

...I think it's only one try.
 
oh, and your 3.65 senior year didn't count in AMCAS ......also if you had a low gpa why did you jump the gun and apply after junior year rather than rocking senior year then applying with a better GPA up front. it seems like an application is reviewed most seriously up front right when it is submitted so you always want to put your best foot forward....you however were completely banking on adcoms messing themselves when they saw your MCAT score that you decided to rush through an application this cycle when you should've waited until you finished another year of undergrad rather than trying to improve your app during the application process which obviously counts for much less.
 
i think it's his 1st time applying, and he's thinking of quitting.

...I think it's only one try.

What? Are you serious?? Just his first try? Lol I take it back, I didnt rant this much last cycle when I didnt get in.
OP: My advice. Take it or leave it.
Suck it up, and if you really want it, then reapply. At least u'll be smarter (at applying) and (hopefully) more mature then, which wld maybe increase your odds.
Many of us here on sdn had to go thru 2+ tries. Its totally doable. Unless you're ready to throw in the towel. Then good luck workin with the DMV.
 
FSU is weird in that you kinda have to play their game of rural medicine/primary care focus.

I agree. The ironic thing is that if you take a look at their match list, it is full of people going into the specialty fields, hardly any FM. It seems they are not doing so great a job attracting candidates to fulfill their mission statement. (http://med.fsu.edu/admission/match.asp)

Food, you still have a shot at UF. If I remember correctly, they take ~60% of their class from off the waitlist. They interview until April so if you're currently on "hold" you may still have a chance pre-waitlist. Have you sent a LOI/update to UF, specifically to Dr. Gessner. He definitely appreciates it when applicants show interest.
 
shucks.... and i was planning on making a career out of it 🙁

This is what the OP can do instead of being a doctor!
 
🙂 OP stands for Original Poster.

Hahaha, oh man...and here I want to be become a doctor and things like this I can't figure out.

A couple days ago I was defeated by a shower where the hot and cold labeling had been switched (possibly on purpose). It took me a good 10 minutes to get the temperature right. I only figured it out in retrospect.

Anyhoos...that totally did not contribute anything to this thread.
 
General note: Please guys, let's not try and make light of the situations other people are in. Yes, he's angry, but it doesn't give anyone the right to be completely insensitive. Some of the posts here are downright inappropriate. Please keep it civil.

Youve got a lot of patience for OP senior mod.

I'd also like to know OP, how'd that one interview you had go?

I really think that rogerwilco has it right. no one is entitled to any interviews in this process. think about all the folks that dont get any love from their alma maters...like me. I didn't call anyone any names though because of it. I didn't expect an interview.

if you're ready to give up medicine bc of you lack of success in one cycle, it really may not be for you.
 
OP did you even apply to any DO schools?
 
Just wanted to say:

dear Flip, you haven't applied to med school yet. Please refrain from making patronizing, condescending statements about something you haven't done yet and you only have a cursory, outsider's perspective on.
 
on the upside, starcraft 2 is coming out.
 
Just wanted to say:

dear Flip, you haven't applied to med school yet. Please refrain from making patronizing, condescending statements about something you haven't done yet and you only have a cursory, outsider's perspective on.

Point out anything I said that was incorrect, or mind your own ****ing business.
 
True...I'm getting tired of hearing everyone in the process say, "Oh, it's okay, you'll make lots of money anyway." I want to go into academic medicine, but with all these assumptions that everyone seems to make about doctors and that I'm planning to go into some high-paying specialty and private practice, I'm probably going to be way too deep in debt to consider an academic career.

No joke. If you add up all of the fees for medical school application (AMCAS, Secondaries), for taking all three USMLE Step Exams, for ERAS (residency application), for licensing, DEA numbers, state controlled substance license, for membership dues to my specialty board without which I cannot take the board certification exam which itself will cost close to $2000...if you add up these and every other little mandatory fee here and there, every request for which is prefaced by, "Oh, it's only 500 bucks. It's just a drop in the bucket compared to your student loans," or, "Oh, you'll make a lot of money later on so it doesn't matter," I think I have spent upwards of $20,000 in the last eight years.
 
Point out anything I said that was incorrect, or mind your own ****ing business.

I don't think it is the content of your posts she's referring to, as much as it is the way you phrase things. Not that I have a problem at all with the way you post though...
 
****ety **** ****, **** **** **** ****er *******

that's right, I went there.
 
my anger management consists of making holes in the walls in my room. it is slightly less expensive than getting therapy. I've thought about it though.

Shame on any school who doesn't realize that a model citizen such as yourself isn't entitled to a spot at their school. You deserve it. You're entitled to it. How could they be so thick? How could they be so short sighted? Shame on them.
 
Sorry to hear this. You should've applied to DO schools. It seems that these days, great stats and good ECs aren't enough to guarantee acceptance anywhere. I think an applicant must posses a certain intangible "sparkle" that catches the eye of the adcoms in order to be considered for admission. Neither you nor I had this "sparkle" come through in our apps this year. 🙁
 
I think everyone needs to back off the OP a little bit. Yes, he made some mistakes this cycle that probably contributed to his not getting any acceptances, but everyone is taking his words extremely out of context. In all likelihood, once he calms down from his rant, he will apply the next cycle (hopefully having learned from his prior mistakes) and join the class of 2010.

Everyone's been more than generous with the insults and sarcasm and I think that's not helping matters (aside from stroking some inflated egos).
 
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