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- Oct 28, 2015
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Greetings,
As some of you may know, I first came to this forum nearly two years ago (wow!) absolutely despondent over the fact that I hadn't received any interviews by late October. It was frankly a pretty awful time for me, and the fact that two of my good pre-med friends got acceptances on October 15th while I had exactly nothing except rejections did not help much. So, suffice it to say that emotions run pretty high for everybody involved with the always joyous medical school application process at this point of the year. Some people will be getting amongst the best news of their life, some will be utterly disappointed, and some will be left still with the deafening silence. I've experienced all three!
For those who get accepted:
Congratulations! Enjoy your well-earned success; it's a uniquely awesome experience. Try not to forget it.
For those who get waitlisted:
It blows. You can't sugarcoat it. It feels horrible, especially because it's much more personal now that they've met you, talked to you, and you're not just a number and some essays. I got waitlisted over and over and over again and each time still felt like a punch to the gut. However, there is good news. The waitlist is actually a waitlist, and they do move. Not at every school every year, but in general they do. It's not like when you were applying to college. I survived the waitlist game, and many others did too. One of my best friends recently got accepted to medical school in late June after attending an interview and getting waitlisted in March. The game is long.
For those who still haven't heard anything:
It's awful. I know. Especially if you feel like you've done everything right, and you're worried about whether or not you've accidentally done something wrong or if you have some sort of "red flag." But I can tell you from my own experience, as well as the experiences I've had vicariously through many friends and acquaintances who went through the same thing that if you've put together a solid application and applied intelligently, the overwhelmingly likely scenario is that you're a perfectly good applicant and they just haven't gotten to you yet. The solution to this is to just keep doing exactly what you've been doing. Keep getting good grades if you're still in school, keep plugging along with your job or research or volunteering, and keep moving forward. Much easier said than done, I know. Overall, don't panic. There's still a lot of time. A lot of time. I don't expect you necessarily to believe this, because people said the same thing to me when I was in this position, but it is true. I've seen so many people get their first interviews in the winter or spring and go on to become wonderful, successful medical students. Also, keep all of your non-pre-med friends close. They are incredibly valuable.
Good luck to you all, and to all a good night.
As some of you may know, I first came to this forum nearly two years ago (wow!) absolutely despondent over the fact that I hadn't received any interviews by late October. It was frankly a pretty awful time for me, and the fact that two of my good pre-med friends got acceptances on October 15th while I had exactly nothing except rejections did not help much. So, suffice it to say that emotions run pretty high for everybody involved with the always joyous medical school application process at this point of the year. Some people will be getting amongst the best news of their life, some will be utterly disappointed, and some will be left still with the deafening silence. I've experienced all three!
For those who get accepted:
Congratulations! Enjoy your well-earned success; it's a uniquely awesome experience. Try not to forget it.
For those who get waitlisted:
It blows. You can't sugarcoat it. It feels horrible, especially because it's much more personal now that they've met you, talked to you, and you're not just a number and some essays. I got waitlisted over and over and over again and each time still felt like a punch to the gut. However, there is good news. The waitlist is actually a waitlist, and they do move. Not at every school every year, but in general they do. It's not like when you were applying to college. I survived the waitlist game, and many others did too. One of my best friends recently got accepted to medical school in late June after attending an interview and getting waitlisted in March. The game is long.
For those who still haven't heard anything:
It's awful. I know. Especially if you feel like you've done everything right, and you're worried about whether or not you've accidentally done something wrong or if you have some sort of "red flag." But I can tell you from my own experience, as well as the experiences I've had vicariously through many friends and acquaintances who went through the same thing that if you've put together a solid application and applied intelligently, the overwhelmingly likely scenario is that you're a perfectly good applicant and they just haven't gotten to you yet. The solution to this is to just keep doing exactly what you've been doing. Keep getting good grades if you're still in school, keep plugging along with your job or research or volunteering, and keep moving forward. Much easier said than done, I know. Overall, don't panic. There's still a lot of time. A lot of time. I don't expect you necessarily to believe this, because people said the same thing to me when I was in this position, but it is true. I've seen so many people get their first interviews in the winter or spring and go on to become wonderful, successful medical students. Also, keep all of your non-pre-med friends close. They are incredibly valuable.
Good luck to you all, and to all a good night.
)
