Getting Over Fear of Shutout

[donnie_dlewis]

From time to time, some anxiety about the possibility of being completely shut out and rejected from every school I applied to trickles up. The admissions process can be completely random for a good number of applicants out there. I mean, even those applicant/matriculant MCAT charts on the MSAR shows that a few hundred people with greater than 95% percentile MCAT scores don't receive acceptances in a given year.

I still retain confidence about being accepted, but just to soothe myself from uncontrollably worrying about extreme scenarios, facing the fear head-on seems to help me alot. I visualize myself at the end of May next year opening the last rejection letter on top of the other ones I've already received by then from all my other schools. I try to envision myself reacting pretty calmly despite the situation and just accepting what's occurred without running and how's, if's, what's, why's, or any shoulda, woulda, coulda's -- just being calm, collected, and fine with it. Then I think to myself that I'll spend the following year improving my application and trying again the next cycle, telling myself that an extra year is miniscule compared to the rest of my life doing what I want!!

So how does anyone else out there cope with their shutout fears?

[Please ... thanks, but no posts offering tips on self-esteem or confidence. Like I said, I remain confident and positive. This is just how I deal with stray thoughts about extreme scenarios that pop up once in a while]

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[Shredder]

i have some fears, as there are only a select few schools i would be happy attending for my own reasons. theres actually a decent chance i wont get into any of them. ill pretty much definitely reapply if that happens, so to cope with it i think of what i will have lost: $3-5k and a year for the next cycle to come around. but who knows, the year could be valuable, and you can earn a few bucks. so to cope with shutout fears, i tell myself that aside from shame and impatience its not that big of a deal. in the big picture its hardly meaningful, especially considering some people enter med school many years after college for whatever reasons.

 

[Elastase]

Everyone gets anxious in this process. I remember rolling in my bed thinking about how I might not get in somewhere...but patience is key.

The only way you will feel more confident is to make sure you have back-up plans. I am very much for making sure that you are doing something that will make you a better applicant (and hopefully a better person, etc.) You should be doing stuff right now if you do not feel great about everything so far. More community service and clinical experience are probably the easiest to do. Maybe applying to a graduate program that does not require GRE to be taken (i.e. Columbia's nutriution masters). Maybe you could still apply to D.O. You want to make sure that you are doing something next year, and by having something to do, for sure you will feel great knowing that you are getting closer to your goals...Good luck!

 

[tacrum43]

I think Elastase has a very good point about having a backup plan. If you can come up with something substantial that would help your app a lot in case you need to reapply, it will help you feel a lot calmer mentally. If it takes another year, that shouldn't matter so much if medicine is what you really want to do.

 

[gary5]

If you haven't done a mock interview with your premed advisor, request one. Interview performance is important.

If you don't get in, attend a 1-year post-bacc program next year, and definitely reapply. I never several med students who were accepted the second time around.

 

[ballsbreaker]

I try to visualize the rejection letters and how to deal with receiving them. The first one was an e-mail and hurt a lot but after a week I realized that down is not out and that you just have to reevaluate yr app. and try to deal with weak points. I think mine are MCAT so I am going to do that again and lack of publications (applying MD/PhD)…not much I can do about that as stuff I am researching is gonna take some time. Anyway…I see myself breathing slowly and not even opening them. I’ll just stick them on my wall next to my calander and look at them from time to time…I’m not used to rejection and don’t know what to do so I am pretty much gonna bury my head in the sand and try to make myself seem to be a better applicant.

 

[Law2Doc]

From time to time, some anxiety about the possibility of being completely shut out and rejected from every school I applied to trickles up. The admissions process can be completely random for a good number of applicants out there. I mean, even those applicant/matriculant MCAT charts on the MSAR shows that a few hundred people with greater than 95% percentile MCAT scores don't receive acceptances in a given year.

I still retain confidence about being accepted, but just to soothe myself from uncontrollably worrying about extreme scenarios, facing the fear head-on seems to help me alot. I visualize myself at the end of May next year opening the last rejection letter on top of the other ones I've already received by then from all my other schools. I try to envision myself reacting pretty calmly despite the situation and just accepting what's occurred without running and how's, if's, what's, why's, or any shoulda, woulda, coulda's -- just being calm, collected, and fine with it. Then I think to myself that I'll spend the following year improving my application and trying again the next cycle, telling myself that an extra year is miniscule compared to the rest of my life doing what I want!!

So how does anyone else out there cope with their shutout fears?

[Please ... thanks, but no posts offering tips on self-esteem or confidence. Like I said, I remain confident and positive. This is just how I deal with stray thoughts about extreme scenarios that pop up once in a while]

The system is not random, it just seems that way because you cannot see what the adcoms see, are not totally in the loop as to what each are looking for, and in terms of some of the factors (ECs), there is some subjective evaluation. Thus it is impossible for people to totally compare themselves to others on solely objective factors and expect a good read as to how they will do in the adcom meetings. The MCAT is but one factor in med school selection, and so there is no question that any number of people with high MCAT scores and little else impressive won't get in. That certainly does not make the process random, just not transparent.

 

[QofQuimica]

I think Elastase has a very good point about having a backup plan. If you can come up with something substantial that would help your app a lot in case you need to reapply, it will help you feel a lot calmer mentally. If it takes another year, that shouldn't matter so much if medicine is what you really want to do.

I agree with this too. Part of it is that you need to keep things in the proper perspective. It may feel like it will be the end of the world if you don't get into med school on your first try, but it isn't. Plenty of us are re-applicants who get in on future tries. I hope that doesn't happen to you, but if it does, talk to some of your schools and see if you can get some advice about how to make your app stronger. Then follow that advice and try again in a year or two.

 

[newdude]

i don't have anything postive to tell you.

b/c i am living yours and my nightmire.
you just gotta wait for that acceptence and if it doesn't come then you are alone.

this happened to me with good grades and i have seen others on SDN in similar predictment.
if that happenes reapply to even more school adn hope for best, cause this thing is totally random.

 

[dilated]

i have some fears, as there are only a select few schools i would be happy attending for my own reasons. theres actually a decent chance i wont get into any of them. ill pretty much definitely reapply if that happens, so to cope with it i think of what i will have lost: $3-5k and a year for the next cycle to come around.

This is my fear. I'm afraid I'll only get in somewhere I don't want to go, leaving me with the choice of 4 years somewhere I really don't want to live or else reapplying (ugh).

 

[Flopotomist]

This is my fear. I'm afraid I'll only get in somewhere I don't want to go, leaving me with the choice of 4 years somewhere I really don't want to live or else reapplying (ugh).

I have heard several people with this situation, and I always want to ask, why the heck did you apply to places that you didn't want to go in the first place?

 

[veenut]

I have heard several people with this situation, and I always want to ask, why the heck did you apply to places that you didn't want to go in the first place?

it's possible that the person thought they would like the place when they applied, and upon visiting for the interview decided that it wasn't right for them...

 

[dilated]

it's possible that the person thought they would like the place when they applied, and upon visiting for the interview decided that it wasn't right for them...

Yes. There was also the case of "don't THINK I want to live there but it's the only state school so I'll keep an open mind until I see it first hand".