is there a right answer?

[futuredrswife]

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to the interview question: what are you going to do if you can never go to medical school? it seems like saying "i don't know, the only thing i want to do is be a doctor" doesn't sound well-thought out, but saying "i would probably [insert career choice here]" sounds like your heart isn't set on medicine.

sorry if there are other threads like this one.

 

[commy-superman]

Well, maybe if you were more elaborate when you say all I want to be is a doctor that would be fine, me thinks

 

[futuredrswife]

maybe - i'd heard somewhere that adcoms might not think applicants are being realistic if they don't have a back-up plan.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Or you sound arrogant if you assume you will get in. The "textbook" answer is to say that you would attempt to correct your deficiencies and re-apply. If re-application fails, indicate what you would do if you couldn't be a doctor. Saying that you have another interest you could follow (would it still be health-related?) isn't the same thing as saying you're lukewarm about medicine.

 

[calebho501]

You can present it like you have considered different careers, but your first choice is medicine, second choice is blah blah, third choice is blah blah.

And realistically, I think it's nice to think about other career choices as well. It's not so much as a backup plan, but more as a way to re-confirm your strong interest in medicine.

 

[sgilani]

adcoms wanna hear that you sleep, eat, breathe, excrete medicine (ok maybe the last one is pushing it). make it seem like this is the only thing you see yourself doing and you will do whatever it takes to get in ie. making your application better.

 

[DD214_DOC]

The question was, "What if you NEVER get in to medical school", not, "What if you fail to get in to medical school this cycle?".

I don't think answering, "I will correct my problems and reapply" is really answering the question. Saying that makes you appear to lack comprehension skills.

They want to know what your alternative career plans or other interests are to find a common theme.

I think you'll be fine if you answer something that is in line with what a physician is: altruistic and scientific. Law enforcement, military service, college professor, etc. are probably all acceptable answers. Maybe even PA.

I think they don't want to here something like, "Investment Banker, Corporate Executive" whatever, because it makes you look like you're only concerned with making lots of money.

Answering something completely unrelated to the paradigm of being a physician is bad.

It's a clever question.

 

[efex101]

You do need to be prepared to answer that question for more than likely it will come up. With 30,000 thousand people applying some will NOT get in this cycle and some will probably never get in (God forbid it us one of us SDN'ers!) so you do need to be realistic. Like some already stated it depends on the question the "never versus if you do not get in this cycle"....adcoms do want to know that a) you are realistic and b) if you plan for possible outcomes.

 

[souljah1]

If you could never go to medical school, then I was not mention reapplying after gaining more experience, stengthening my application, etc. I would think of a career that I would be passionate about, one that fell in line with what I value in life and what I aspire to be, and one that would bring me a sense of security so that I could happily raise a family. Thinking about that, I would probably go into Academics and/or Public Health. Both provide the means for lifelong learning, something that I highly value. I'd probably say something along those lines. Good luck.