How bad do you have to mess up to not get an acceptance from 6 II's?

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MDPedigree

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As the title suggests, how bad? All of my II's are at schools where my stats are at or above the school's medians. If I fail to gain acceptance at any of these, will I be the greatest fail of all time?
 
CloverBale said:
OMG 8 II????? LizzyM 69?? HOW DID YOU DO IT
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I have 6 so far with the same LM. and silence from 20 schools. I had only 2 II all of last cycle. For me, the biggest improvement was really working hard on crafting my essays. I worked on them all alone and did not have anyone proof read them or anything. I really found reasons why I would be a good fit for X school, and made sure it was not generic and it was completely unique. For schools where I really found good reasons, I got interviews. For schools where I really could not find a great reason to be at that school except to just add another school to my list, I got rejected. I could actually predict very accurately where I was going to get II's and where I was going to gets R's (n~10) just based on how convincing I thought I was with my essays. That for me really has made all the difference. And for reference, I don't have much unique about me.. I think I'm a pretty generic med school applicant.
 
MDPedigree said:
I have 6 so far with the same LM. and silence from 20 schools. I had only 2 II all of last cycle. For me, the biggest improvement was really working hard on crafting my essays. I worked on them all alone and did not have anyone proof read them or anything. I really found reasons why I would be a good fit for X school, and made sure it was not generic and it was completely unique. For schools where I really found good reasons, I got interviews. For schools where I really could not find a great reason to be at that school except to just add another school to my list, I got rejected. I could actually predict very accurately where I was going to get II's and where I was going to gets R's (n~10) just based on how convincing I thought I was with my essays. That for me really has made all the difference. And for reference, I don't have much unique about me.. I think I'm a pretty generic med school applicant.
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As someone with decent scores but awful/generic essays and almost no II's this cycle, this is something I'm taking to heart as I prepare for reapplication.
 
umop apis dn said:
As someone with decent scores but awful/generic essays and almost no II's this cycle, this is something I'm taking to heart as I prepare for reapplication.
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yup, np bud. Schools are getting thousands of applications from people with all very similar stats. The only way they can really distinguish these people is with their essays and EC's and how they all tie in together. Many many people don't take secondaries as seriously as they should, and so a decently written secondary will definitely get a lot of attention. I, like you, did not know and its not either of our faults really. Just gotta live and learn; life goes on.
 
Well, if you're an average interviewee, assuming that you have an average chance of getting in post-interview and a ~25% post-interview acceptance rate, that would be (3/4)^6 = 729/4096.
 
I got 10 or 11 and ended up getting waitlisted and not in for like 8 of them and rejected at the others else.

I dont necessarily think you have to be all that bad to end up like me. You really need to nail the interview.
 
willow84 said:
This is a really good point. My husband surprised me with divorce papers right before the secondaries poured in, and I just acted like a robot and sent them out because I was in such a frazzled mental state. The two schools where I put in the most work and was clearly aligned with their mission/values, I got interviews. Sitting in silence from the rest. If I had to reapply next cycle I would absolutely give way, way more attention to my secondaries.
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I wish the best for you. Also I'm glad you no longer have to be married to such a man, enjoy your singleness and not having to deal with marriage!! <3
 
MDPedigree said:
I have 6 so far with the same LM. and silence from 20 schools. I had only 2 II all of last cycle. For me, the biggest improvement was really working hard on crafting my essays. I worked on them all alone and did not have anyone proof read them or anything. I really found reasons why I would be a good fit for X school, and made sure it was not generic and it was completely unique. For schools where I really found good reasons, I got interviews. For schools where I really could not find a great reason to be at that school except to just add another school to my list, I got rejected. I could actually predict very accurately where I was going to get II's and where I was going to gets R's (n~10) just based on how convincing I thought I was with my essays. That for me really has made all the difference. And for reference, I don't have much unique about me.. I think I'm a pretty generic med school applicant.
Click to expand...
I see a consulting business in your future...
 
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