I'm stuck between taking an acceptance or trying again next year

[NonTradMed]

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Turning down an acceptance also raises questions as to your interest on becoming a physician for other schools, and questions your level of interest in any schools you are applying to (schools expect that if you applied, you are actually interested in attending -- applying to schools you would never attend is frowned upon). So your odds in subsequent years are worse, because you have eliminated several schools from the mix. And many schools give a higher degree of scrutiny to reapplicants (which you would be), requiring substantial improvements to their applications.

Some schools will say on their application that they expect something 'extra' for their reapplicant. Other schools will come out and say they scrutinize reapplicants.

The OP should be very careful about this. Ask yourself: how unhappy would you be at the current location of your acceptances? If it's absolute misery and you think you'll get an inferior education (compared to other schools that you were hoping to get into), then try again. However, this isn't a step you want to take lightly because I think med schools will not ignore your "I got two acceptances but I declined them b/c I hate the school" thing. There is a chance you could end up getting into a program that is lesser than the one you have, or not getting into your dream school....or not getting in at all (although your stats sound like you''ll probably get into at least an MD-only program). Good luck!

 

[braluk]

Thats a good point- that the OP will be a reapplicant and will most likely have to explain what he or she has been doing. At interviews, there is always a possibility that the interviewer may ask, so why do you think you didnt get accepted the first time if you're a reapplicant (the assumption always swings for reapplicants as not having been accepted previously). It may be a point of critique by the interviewer if he or she discovers you have been previously accepted, but who knows. OP- what do you plan on doing in your year in between if you decline these offers?

 

[crimsonkid85]

maybe i missed this...but where exactly did the OP get accepted to???

 

[GuzzyRon]

if the OP is applying MSTP, you won't get his spot unless you're also an MSTP applicant. MSTP reserves spots in each incoming MD class, which means that if he withdraws, someone on the MD/PhD waitlist gets in. just pointing that out...

So what exactly is your point? If he relinquished his spot, who said the adcoms will give it to me even if I wanted it? 🙄

 

[braluk]

I believe someone researched his schools and it was Baylor and another Texas school.

 

[GuzzyRon]

You know you're wrong for that! You just want old dude's seat !!! 👍

I guess I was wrong for not giving him the SAME advice that a gazillion people on this thread have already offered. Hmm...worse still, having an opinion different from everyone else automatically means I'm in the wrong 🙄 Whatever! And just so you may know, I have no use for his seat(s) as I already have 2 acceptances.

And thankfully, I'm not faced with the stupid dilemma of accepting either seat OR giving up both and reapplying next year. 😛

 

[Gut Shot]

if you're doing MD/PhD, do NOT under ANY circumstances go to a school that you don't feel passionate about. if you are going for straight up med school, sure, just suck it up and go to one of your two acceptances. however, a PhD program is completely different.

I would be surprised if the OP could not find a single acceptable lab in either of two institutions. While I don't disagree with any individual points you have made, perhaps they would better serve someone who is hunting for the right lab to join rather than the right school. Even at my med school, which isn't exactly synonymous with research, there is not shortage of productive, well funded labs.

For the record, I'm PhD -> MD, two different schools in two different states.

 

[sunnyjohn]

I guess I was wrong for not giving him the SAME advice that a gazillion people on this thread have already offered. Hmm...worse still, having an opinion different from everyone else automatically means I'm in the wrong 🙄 Whatever! And just so you may know, I have no use for his seat(s) as I already have 2 acceptances.

And thankfully, I'm not faced with the stupid dilemma of accepting either seat OR giving up both and reapplying next year. 😛

Did ya' not see the 👍 and the after my post?

They were added to indicate sarcasm. Yes, you have a right to your opinion. Congrats on your acceptances.

*Suuny out*

 

[Darksmurf]

Perhaps I missed something, but it appeared to me that you reapplied after not being accepted.

My post in that threat (which when I posted was only about reapplication) may be misleading. I quoted the thread because at the end some adcoms weigh in on reapplying after declining an acceptance, not to reference my post there.

For clarification, though, my post said, "I was interviewed at two places and after getting on those waitlists, I decided to reapply the next year (2006-7)." That's true. I was on waitlists and didn't think I would get in and so set in motion things that prevented me from taking an acceptance (off a waitlist) that came later.

I also said in that post that "At every interview I was asked if I had applied the year before and why I thought I did not get accepted." I was asked that at every interview and I told them why I thought I didn't get accepted at schools that rejected me. Every interviewer just assumed that I had not gotten accepted at all or else I wouldn't be reapplying, and I didn't think it necessary to mention that bit about declining (it's interesting to note the interviews obviously didn't have access to that information).

Anyway, the point is that schools (even if they have access at some level to last year's people) don't really screen for people who have prior acceptances because it rarely happens and is not worth their time. You can decline an acceptance and still get accepted at top 30 schools the next year; I know this because I did it (and it was before I knew about SDN and so I fortunately didn't have to deal with rantings of paranoid ****** premeds who would castrate themsevles just to get into med school).

But reapplication is always a danger, and it is possible that someone might dig up the record at some school you applied to and be bothered by it or ask you about it in an interview.

So if you want to decline, you're not dead in the water the next year, but you better believe you are a strong applicant and you better be prepared for rejection.

To the OP: Let us know what you end up doing.

 

[crumbelievable]

original poster: what kinda rocks are you smoking and where can i get some???

 

[CCLCMer]

So basically I applied really late in the game...as in late enough that I had to remove about 1/2 to 2/3 of the schools I intended to apply for from my AMCAS because the date had passed. At the time I wasn't comfortable with the idea of waiting it out a year so I submitted to who I could. Well now I have been accepted to 2 pretty good schools, but I'm torn because I always pictured myself going out of state...and of course the two schools are right here at home. I can't really tell if I would prefer another school where I wasn't even able to get in the running for. So do I decline my offers, sacrifice my chances at the 2 good schools, work a great job that I already have lined up as well and take my chances on where I think I would want to go? And if I try again next year, can admissions committees see that I was accepted before? ahh what a mess...

Please, don't be a fool. Take one of those acceptances and don't ever look back. You can go out of state for your rotations and your residency.

 

[premed2007]

Take the acceptance between the best of the two schools. I know some people say location, location, location, but this isnt one of those times IMHO.

 

[Mr. Tee]

lol, it's funny reading all of these comments by MD applicants saying "accept the offers, are you a fool?!?!?" while the situation is very different for MD/PhD hopefuls.

 

[Critical Mass]

if you're doing MD/PhD, do NOT under ANY circumstances go to a school that you don't feel passionate about. if you are going for straight up med school, sure, just suck it up and go to one of your two acceptances. however, a PhD program is completely different.

Agree big time. mudphud affects my advice greatly on this thread.

If it really is Baylor MSTP that you are considering turning down, I cannot offer you salvation on SDN. You're on your own...

I will offer a word of caution, however, if you take a year off to work and somehow don't get back into an MSTP slot. Changing your state of residence during an application cycle can make things messy for state schools.

 

[premed2007]

lol, it's funny reading all of these comments by MD applicants saying "accept the offers, are you a fool?!?!?" while the situation is very different for MD/PhD hopefuls.

how so? Does location have to play a bigger role due to the longer period of time spent in the program? Just curious.

 

[Mr. Tee]

how so? Does location have to play a bigger role due to the longer period of time spent in the program? Just curious.

This is not 4 years of your life, more like 7-8 years. And 7-8 years is a long time to be at a place you won't be happy at (which is NOT HEALTHY; even 4 years is pushing it). But the real significant reason is that you should go to a place where you're very interested in the research -- you should find a project you are very passionate about for your PhD. Otherwise, you have a good chance that you will feel apathetic, won't finish the PhD on time, and extend that 7-8 years to even longer, etc.

 

[premed2007]

This is not 4 years of your life, more like 7-8 years. And 7-8 years is a long time to be at a place you won't be happy at (which is NOT HEALTHY; even 4 years is pushing it). But the real significant reason is that you should go to a place where you're very interested in the research -- you should find a project you are very passionate about for your PhD. Otherwise, you have a good chance that you will feel apathetic, won't finish the PhD on time, and extend that 7-8 years to even longer, etc.

ok yeah I see your point. I thought about the extra time spent in order to achieve the PhD in addition to the MD but how much do you think reapplying after your declined acceptances would hurt you when you apply again for the MD/PhD spot? That would be my major concern when declining.

 

[QofQuimica]

This is not 4 years of your life, more like 7-8 years. And 7-8 years is a long time to be at a place you won't be happy at (which is NOT HEALTHY; even 4 years is pushing it). But the real significant reason is that you should go to a place where you're very interested in the research -- you should find a project you are very passionate about for your PhD. Otherwise, you have a good chance that you will feel apathetic, won't finish the PhD on time, and extend that 7-8 years to even longer, etc.

This is an adolescent way of looking at things. You can't sit around waiting for happiness to come and hit you over the head because you think it won't find you if you're in the wrong geographical location. That's not how these things work. Happiness comes from inside, not outside. If you are happy, it's because you make the best of the opportunities you have, and you are working purposefully toward a worthwhile goal. There is no university anywhere in this country with an MD/PhD program where the OP will not be able to find at least ONE suitable PI to do his graduate work with, and probably he'll find several he likes. I agree with all the posts telling the OP not to miss the forest because of all those d*** trees blocking his view. And I'm speaking as someone who spent eight years in grad school on and off before I went to med school.