How many premeds do you think fail forever to get into a med school?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
monkeyMD said:
Never ever get into a med school?
Click to expand...

Probably 40-50%. Reapplicants tend to do poorly. If you don't get in the first time around, your chances of getting in the 2nd aren't particularly good either. 60% don't get in the first time around, so I'd guess maybe 50%-60% will eventually be admitted.
 
Don't forget that most "pre-meds" don't even end up applying to medical school.
 
It depends on whom you consider a premed. Let's take it, for the sake of argument, as those who take the MCAT, finish their prereqs, and apply. (I don't think we should count the freshman who enthusiastically declare themselves a premed and drop out after taking one into-level science class.)

A friend of mine has applied to med school twice. He graduated with a 3.3 GPA and a 26 MCAT. When he applied the first time, he didn't apply broadly enough. The second time around, halfway through a master's program with a near-perfect post-grad GPA, he got a couple of interviews, but ended up waitlisted. He took a while off to recover, and now has completed his master's with a very high GPA, has retaken the MCAT and gotten a 30, and is applying to DO schools. I haven't talked to him in a while, but my guess is he has got a good shot.
 
monkeyMD said:
Never ever get into a med school?
Click to expand...

apumic said:
60% don't get in the first time around
Click to expand...

There's the darling statistic. Last I'd looked -- a couple of entry class years ago, I think it was -- first-time acceptance was ~45% for US allopathic schools.

OP: to answer your question, many don't, and progressively so as you get closer to about when you'd start. Some can't do it academically, some decide they don't want to, others find a bigger passion in life. Especially true if you're considering all of the rainbow crew, the wildly idealistic freshman who are sure they're meant to be doctors and enjoy all the benefits therein.
 
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
 
Geneticist said:
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
Click to expand...

My guess is that he was telling you that you have a 93 percent chance of not going to medical school.🙂
 
Geneticist said:
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
Click to expand...
He was subtly telling you that he knows you'll most likely fail at becoming a physician. He was making fun of you.
 
Premeds that apply ever? Or premeds that apply and then try again (and again?) There should be a difference between people who apply once and give up and people who reapply until their application makes the cut after a try or two (or more.)
 
ILikeDrugs said:
He was subtly telling you that he knows you'll most likely fail at becoming a physician. He was making fun of you.
Click to expand...

lmao...

Nah, but advisers are horrible...
I remembered a friend of mine, talked to adviser saying he wanted to get into medicine, he wasn't always the brightest student and he had a lot of time to get things going, and the adviser looked at him and laughed...and that's it.
 
Geneticist said:
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
Click to expand...

He was predicting the future and giving you the answer to this thread's question.
 
torshi said:
lmao...

Nah, but advisers are horrible...
I remembered a friend of mine, talked to adviser saying he wanted to get into medicine, he was the always the brightest student and he had a lot of time to get things going, and the adviser looked at him and laughed...and that's it.
Click to expand...

Agree ... I wonder how many of the 93% later become advisers(advisors?) ?
 
Last edited:
g8orlife said:
Agree ... I wonder how many of the 93% later become adviser's(advisor's?) ?
Click to expand...
lol yea so they can purposely make others fail just like they did.. or more like discourage you and make it sound impossible.
 
ILikeDrugs said:
He was subtly telling you that he knows you'll most likely fail at becoming a physician. He was making fun of you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was being sarcastic in my previous post. He actually said, "93% of pre-meds never go to medical school..." with a smile on his face. He's kind of a dick and not helpful at all.
 
i know for a fact the pre-med advisor at my school is a professor because he couldn't get into med school. rumor has it he blames organic. haha
 
Plenty of lucky souls avoid getting into med school 😉
 
You have to define what constitutes a true pre-med student.

If you mean any student that declares them self pre-med in college, I'd venture to say 95+% never get in.

If you mean people who take the MCAT, finance AMCAS, go on interviews.. probably around half never get in (pure guess).
 
CougarMD said:
Wow.....that guy sure spent a lot of time blogging...
Click to expand...

He's got three of them. One from trying to get into med school, one from going to I think Ross, then one about failing out of Ross and trying again. Hey gotta give the guy credit for not giving up.
 
82k people took the MCAT in 2010, of those only about 42k apply, and of those only about 16k get in. So less than 20% of MCAT takers go on to become an MD and only about 1/2 even apply.. Statistically reapplicants are probably not very successful. I don't know anything about DO stats.
If you are serious enough to take the MCAT, I'd call you a premed. So about 80% fail. I'm sure you'll be in the top 20% though.:meanie:
 
Last edited:
IlDestriero said:
82k people took the MCAT in 2010, of those only about 42k apply, and of those only about 16k get in. So less than 20% of MCAT takers go on to become an MD and only about 1/2 even apply.. Statistically reapplicants are probably not very successful. I don't know anything about DO stats.
If you are serious enough to take the MCAT, I'd call you a premed. So about 80% fail.
Click to expand...

The statistics are so scary.. hah
 
IHOPness said:
He's got three of them. One from trying to get into med school, one from going to I think Ross, then one about failing out of Ross and trying again. Hey gotta give the guy credit for not giving up.
Click to expand...

At some point, perseverance becomes idiocy. This guy passed that point quite awhile ago. Common sense dictates that it is crucial to know when to cut your losses and move on. In all likelihood, he should have cut his losses after graduating college w/ an unacceptable GPA and MCAT for DO schools and went into something different. Instead, he is now 100s of thousands of dollars in the hole w/ nothing to show for it but embarrassment.
 
I think as long as you're not dumb and know what the adcoms want to see on an application, you can get into med school. The problem is that most pre-meds don't know what the adcoms want. They don't know how to play the game of med school admissions...and so they don't get accepted. Many think that "If I major in Biology, get a good GPA and killer MCAT score, do some volunteering and shadowing, and become an officer of this pre-med club, I'll get in."
 
Last edited:
muhali3 said:
I think as long as you're not dumb and know what adcoms want to see on an application, you can get into med school. The problem is that most pre-meds don't know what the adcoms want. They don't know how to play the game of med school admissions...and so they don't get accepted. Many think that "If I major in Biology, get a good GPA and killer MCAT score, do some volunteering and shadowing, and become an officer of this pre-med club, I'll get in."
Click to expand...


WAIT! That's not what they want to see?!?

Crap crap crap crap... FML!!!





J/k!
 
muhali3 said:
Nope, they want research too. Then you'll get in...:meanie:
Click to expand...

Oh...good. I'm in then. I checked that one off my cookie-cutter checklist too, although I'm a little uncertain. I presented my paper nationally and all as 1st author but it hasn't been published yet. Do you think they'll mind that it's only in preparation for submission?! I'm getting really nervous...OMG... I have another paper that's medical research, though. I'll be like 3rd author but we're gonna publish it sometime during my interviews probably. Do you think that's okay? I mean...this is so tough. I just don't know if I've marked off all the checklist points. OMG. OMG.....


:laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
torshi said:
lmao...

Nah, but advisers are horrible...
I remembered a friend of mine, talked to adviser saying he wanted to get into medicine, he wasn't always the brightest student and he had a lot of time to get things going, and the adviser looked at him and laughed...and that's it.
Click to expand...
Did he really do that? That's sick...
 
Geneticist said:
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
Click to expand...

I had a similar conversation with my advisor. It was awkward after that
 
If a person has the desire and cash flow they can go to med school. If you have a low GPA you could spend an extra year or two pulling it up to decent levels or doing an SMP. If you score low on the MCAT you could retake until the score is at a good level. If you don't get in you could apply even broader then before, if you can afford it. It is all about patience, desire and cash flow. Anybody with these things can get into med school.
The stats are the way they are because people give up and do something else.
 
I can think of about 10 close friends that were "premed" with me in college (graduated in 2007 or earlier)... Only 2 of them (includes me 🙂 ) have gained acceptances... The rest of them have taken up teaching, working in random other fields, and just plain hanging out. Most of them applied at least once, but none of them are going to apply ever again... It's kind of sad, but I think they are all ok with their decision... Not getting in isn't the end of the world... For most people... But then again, they probably weren't totally into it to begin with.
 
Last edited:
Most of the premeds I knew in college, I hoped never would get into medical school. They were narrow minded, gunning and with little imagination.
 
Geneticist said:
My adviser told me that 93% of students coming into college wanting to go to medical school never go. I'm still not sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish my telling me that...
Click to expand...

that statistic sounds like bs. where did he get that statistic? not everyone wants to go to medical school.
 
common man said:
that statistic sounds like bs. where did he get that statistic? not everyone wants to go to medical school.
Click to expand...
Maybe he meant that 93% of the students who stated a desire of entering medical school upon matriculation, didn't apply or get into medical school 4 years later. On these grounds, the statistic does seem reasonable as every other person in my bio 1 class was a 'premed.'
 
common man said:
that statistic sounds like bs. where did he get that statistic? not everyone wants to go to medical school.
Click to expand...

Is it so hard to figure out where he'd get the statistic from? Plenty of universities have pre-med advisors for pre-med students. If for every 100 students who request a pre-med advisor, only 7 end up getting in to med school, they've got the statistic for their school right there.
 
link2swim06 said:
Not to be mean, but it seems that time could have been spent better elsewhere...i.e. studying.

People dont fail out of med school for lack of intelligence, they fail out due to lack of consistent work ethic.
Click to expand...

Haha. I chose to be more subtle, but...yeah 😉
 
link2swim06 said:
Not to be mean, but it seems that time could have been spent better elsewhere...i.e. studying.

People dont fail out of med school for lack of intelligence, they fail out due to lack of consistent work ethic.
Click to expand...
"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight!"
~Ronnie Coleman 8x Mr. Olympia

Obviously it isn't literally true that we all want to be bodybuilders, but the spirit of his words is certainly applicable.
 
V5RED said:
"Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weight!"
~Ronnie Coleman 8x Mr. Olympia

Obviously it isn't literally true that we all want to be bodybuilders, but the spirit of his words is certainly applicable.
Click to expand...
Perfect.

and reps for life for quoting ronnie.

YEAHHHHHH BUDDDDAYYYYYYY
 
This semester, it appears that everyone is going premed at my school. Suckers. All I can do is sit back and watch.
 
PreMedder said:
Perfect.

and reps for life for quoting ronnie.

YEAHHHHHH BUDDDDAYYYYYYY
Click to expand...
😀 sweet...I love reps!!

I actually tend to learn at my fastest rate if I study during a workout, so bodybuilding is definitely a plus for me academically(and of course at home when big things must be moved)

My unscientific hypothesis is that the high I get from the endorphins released during exercise stimulates my memory functions.
 
Ending ones pursuit of medicine is not necessarily a failure. Many students find that their interests or priorities change and they find other careers that are just as, or even more fulfilling than medicine.
 
torshi said:
lmao...

Nah, but advisers are horrible...
I remembered a friend of mine, talked to adviser saying he wanted to get into medicine, he wasn't always the brightest student and he had a lot of time to get things going, and the adviser looked at him and laughed...and that's it.
Click to expand...

Advisers are the worse people for encouragement if you EVER made a mistake in LIFE!
 
Krw0132 said:
Advisers are the worse people for encouragement if you EVER made a mistake in LIFE!
Click to expand...

Truth be told, though, they're not there to encourage you (contrary to popular belief). They're really there as a part of the weeding process, although a good advisor will identify and support premed students that appear to strong enough to make it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
How many A's does a school need to give to fill their class?
Replies
3
Views
887
Goro
Goro
A
Do you need to join (competitive) pre-med clubs to get into a top medical school?
Replies
9
Views
2K
eigen
eigen
FutureDOCTORR123456789
how many hours in research should I get
Replies
1
Views
314
CheeesyBoi
CheeesyBoi
V
How many volunteering hours do I need to apply to "service-heavy" schools and have a shot?
Replies
5
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
S
Is it possible to get into a med school with a pattern of academic failure?
Replies
13
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
Top