How many rejections would it take...

[Maeby Funke]

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for you to go with your backup plan? What is your backup plan? Or would you resort to a Caribbean med school before changing career paths?

 

[CaliGirl14]

What back up plan? medical school or medical school.

 

[Cypher321]

Death or glory...so to say.

But seriously the engineering degree is there in case I knock up a girl before I get to medical school and even then I doubt it'd get to that.

 

[lisi326]

I often wondered that myself as I slowly went insane last year - what will I do if I don't get accepted this cycle? I mean, I'll be a perfectly employable occupational therapist in a few months, but I doubt I could do it full time for any more than a year without killing my soul. I'm still not sure whether I would have reapplied or just started a PhD in Rehab Science and seen where that took me.

 

[StudyShy]

Probably like 5 interview seasons. By then I'd get it that I'm not going anywhere.

 

[orthomyxo]

Probably like 5 interview seasons. By then I'd get it that I'm not going anywhere.

It'll be 2 seasons for me. Then it's PhD or bust, if my stats are good enough.

 

[StudyShy]

It'll be 2 seasons for me. Then it's PhD or bust, if my stats are good enough.

I'm goingto to pursue other things in the mean time while I apply so the time wouldn't be completely wasted. Hopefully, I will not have to resort to wait too long for an MD/DO acceptance. My "gap" year will consist of a second masters most likely.

My husband fully knows that I'm going to want to go to school for the rest of my life. I'm on my >200th credit hour, and I'll probably be like that one Indian dude who is close to 100 working on his PhD.

 

[munchymanRX]

Don't give in that easily. Do what you need to do to retool your application, be diligent about following up with the bureaucracy, and you'll get in.

I don't know a single person who's stuck with it who hasn't gotten in eventually.


That being said, schools do have a limit on how many times you can apply there. For most of the UCs, its 3 times before you're no longer eligible, and your most recent round of MCAT scores will probably be out of date before that point anyhow.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

It'll be 2 seasons for me. Then it's PhD or bust, if my stats are good enough.

Ha I've seen so many people do this before they even apply the first time. They get their MCAT scores back, realize they sucked it up and their GPA isn't awesome and suddenly "decide" they'd rather go to grad school (usually biology). I mean you can go get a decent score on the GRE and get in somewhere, definitely not a top grad school but its pretty easy to get into mediocre grad schools. Some of the biology graduate students here are just sad...I had more research experience as a junior than they had starting grad school.

 

[circulus vitios]

Two application cycles then I try my chances at Army/Air Force OCS, serve my contract and pay off my undergrad loans, and either try again for medical school (unlikely) or go back to school for engineering.

 

[searun]

One of my best friends got into med school on his third try. He did well in a Cali med school, and now he is doing a residency in radiology. No, I would never go to the Carribean - I would rather go to law school. But I am graduating next month, so no worries.

 

[searun]

I often wondered that myself as I slowly went insane last year - what will I do if I don't get accepted this cycle? I mean, I'll be a perfectly employable occupational therapist in a few months, but I doubt I could do it full time for any more than a year without killing my soul. I'm still not sure whether I would have reapplied or just started a PhD in Rehab Science and seen where that took me.

Ph.D's are pretty much a dead end street for about 60 percent of the people that get them.

 

[lisi326]

Ph.D's are pretty much a dead end street for about 60 percent of the people that get them.

Eh, I would have definitely been able to teach/research with a RS/OT PhD - all OT schools want more faculty with doctorates.

Either way, I've already been accepted, so it's all good. I thought this was a hypothetical situation thread

 

[chuck84]

It took me 4 application cycles before getting in. No regrets. I got some publications in the meantime and was finally accepted to md/phd

 

[Thirty]

Ph.D's are pretty much a dead end street for about 60 percent of the people that get them.

True fact: My dad got his Ph.D at a very prestigious school in Germany. Works mostly with programming nowadays... He even had a hard time getting a job because he was overqualified for many positions.

 

[CurrySpice]

If I get rejected this cycle, I am planning on applying to the Peace Corps at the same time as schools next round. Then when I will apply for a 3rd time when I return from the Peace corps.

...then I will start looking for alternatives!

 

[kexy]

If I don't get in this cycle (my first) I'm not reapplying. I am putting everything I have into this MCAT sitting and this cycle; if I don't get in now I won't get in later. Also, if I have to be pre med for any longer I might go insane.

 

[Frazier]

2 year's worth of rejections would be my limit.

The only thing that could bite me is the MCAT (haven't taken it yet).
If I can't get a decent enough MCAT score to matriculate anywhere (MD or DO) after 2 years, then to dentistry I go. 😀

Hope I don't jinx myself!

 

[hiyaman]

3-4 failed cycles.

 

[Helen Wheels]

I was accepted in my second app cycle. I think I would have given up after three tries if it hadn't worked out. I would not have gone Carib but would have tried for a PhD in a medical related field.

 

[cyclone92]

Let's just say, a thousandmillion

 

[eablackwell]

I planned on devoting 3 years to applying if I had to do so. After that I don't think I could justify the cost (in my mind).

 

[avion321]

No back up plan. After falling short my first round, retook the mcat. Did not improve as much as I would have liked. Reapplied (late). Got into two MPH programs. Reapplied a third time, with the intent of starting on the MPH last fall. Got a very early interview, before the MPH classes started. Got in from that interview, withdrew from the MPH and start med school this summer.
I wanted bad enough and I knew nothing was going to stop me.

 

[SouthParkMD]

^ Inspirational.

Quitting? After going through everything that ive been through for wanting to be a doctor? No way. Either i'll be a doctor or die a glorious death in the Arena. Glory to Rome yo. (sorry just had a Spartacus marathon).

 

[sc4s2cg]

Quitting's not an option for me. I already invested 3 years in a nursing major before realizing what a doctor does is more suited for me. If I don't make it in the first, second, or even third time, I'm fixing everything and reapplying.

 

[HAV000]

It might be important to keep in mind one's chances just for the sake of being realistic, like how one's application stacks up to the rest. I've read somewhere online that statistically about or little less than half who apply in any given year get accepted somewhere. Does anyone know the percentages for 1st or 2nd-time reapplicants?

 

[HAV000]

Quitting's not an option for me. I already invested 3 years in a nursing major before realizing what a doctor does is more suited for me. If I don't make it in the first, second, or even third time, I'm fixing everything and reapplying.

I like that firm commitment 👍 Best of luck

 

[eli20]

after 2 years, then to dentistry I go.

I'm starting to wonder if this may not have been a better Plan A

 

[alwaysaangel]

I was applying once when I did it. If all 21 schools had rejected me I would have taken their word for it that an MD wasn't in my future and done something else. No way I could justify the time or cost of applying more than once. Life's too short and medicine is too long of a path as it is.

I would have continued working where I was (fire prevention specialist) and probably gotten put through actual training by my boss to stick around for a while. If that really killed my soul I would have gone to be a PA or something.

Although, in hindsight I really think I should have been a personal assistant. I'm bossy and good at planning - I think it would have suited me well But the hours are probably as bad as medicine.

 

[ShelLeonRajHowa]

I was applying once when I did it. If all 21 schools had rejected me I would have taken their word for it that an MD wasn't in my future and done something else. No way I could justify the time or cost of applying more than once. Life's too short and medicine is too long of a path as it is.

I would have continued working where I was (fire prevention specialist) and probably gotten put through actual training by my boss to stick around for a while. If that really killed my soul I would have gone to be a PA or something.
Although, in hindsight I really think I should have been a personal assistant. I'm bossy and good at planning - I think it would have suited me well But the hours are probably as bad as medicine.

What happened to you during these 4 years? Reading your MDapps, you seemed to be so ecstatic to go into medicine. Now it appears you and many others on here who have gone through med school seem to regret it entirely. If that's the case, how can anyone be sure this is the right path for them even when they're as motivated as you used to be?

 

[alwaysaangel]

What happened to you during these 4 years? Reading your MDapps, you seemed to be so ecstatic to go into medicine. Now it appears you and many others on here who have gone through med school seem to regret it entirely. If that's the case, how can anyone be sure this is the right path for them even when they're as motivated as you used to be?

Well even back then I wouldn't have applied twice - and I said so at interviews. So that hasn't changed.

As far as my perspective on medicine. I think its just one of those things where the idea is better than the reality. And no matter how much clinical experience and shadowing you have, its hard to understand how medicine truly is.

I love my job and can't wait to start residency. But med school changes your life, it affects your personality, affects your perspective on the world and strains your relationships. I just realized that I am not really career driven enough to have 'needed' medicine. I could have been just as happy doing a lot of other things that wouldn't have completely consumed my life like medicine does.

As far as how to know its the right path for you - theres no way to know the answer that question. But in general, when I talk to friends I tell them unless you really think you absolutely COULD NOT LIVE without an MD...consider other options. Autonomy is great, but the cost is high (both financially and abstractly). So if you're someone who cares more about having a family and is looking for a secure, decent paying job - I would say an MD path isn't necessarily the way to go. There are plenty of other science related jobs where you get to help people where the cost is less.

 

[apumic]

Well even back then I wouldn't have applied twice - and I said so at interviews. So that hasn't changed.

As far as my perspective on medicine. I think its just one of those things where the idea is better than the reality. And no matter how much clinical experience and shadowing you have, its hard to understand how medicine truly is.

I love my job and can't wait to start residency. But med school changes your life, it affects your personality, affects your perspective on the world and strains your relationships. I just realized that I am not really career driven enough to have 'needed' medicine. I could have been just as happy doing a lot of other things that wouldn't have completely consumed my life like medicine does.

As far as how to know its the right path for you - theres no way to know the answer that question. But in general, when I talk to friends I tell them unless you really think you absolutely COULD NOT LIVE without an MD...consider other options. Autonomy is great, but the cost is high (both financially and abstractly). So if you're someone who cares more about having a family and is looking for a secure, decent paying job - I would say an MD path isn't necessarily the way to go. There are plenty of other science related jobs where you get to help people where the cost is less.

I get that feeling that an awful lot of pre-meds overestimate or misunderstand the autonomy physicians have. In reality, you're part of a multidisciplinary team in most fields. Unless you're in a cash-only private practice out in some rural area with few enforced medical regulations, your "autonomy" is pretty severely restricted. At my hospital not too long ago one of our medical directors got the boot for disagreeing with his CNAs' and techs' decisions on who to admit to the floor!!! (It started with his unit managers trying to overrule him but eventually it got so bad that CNAs and Techs were making admit decisions on behalf of Nursing and the charge nurses were letting them make these decisions. When this medical director went to the hospital administration, they sided with Nursing instead of Medicine! Notably, this is a very well-liked and respected medical director/physician and happens to be the one who turned his unit into a profitable and successful program for the hospital.)

 

[dbeast]

If I get rejected this cycle, I am planning on applying to the Peace Corps at the same time as schools next round. Then when I will apply for a 3rd time when I return from the Peace corps.

...then I will start looking for alternatives!

Epic avatar is epic.

Enjoy your infraction buddy!

 

[apumic]

It might be important to keep in mind one's chances just for the sake of being realistic, like how one's application stacks up to the rest. I've read somewhere online that statistically about or little less than half who apply in any given year get accepted somewhere. Does anyone know the percentages for 1st or 2nd-time reapplicants?

Not sure... But basically, it falls every time you reapply. (I.e., perhaps, 40% of first time applicants get in this year, 25% of 1st time reapplicants, 10% of 2nd time and <1% of 3rd or higher time). Essentially, if you are reapplying, you are hoping you get noticed a second or third time through. Your chances basically have to be lower and there's a pretty bad stigma against reapplicants at some places from what I've heard.