Looking back......

[ZekeMD]

Throughout this whole process I've been thinking that it would be great when I finally know where I'll be going to school. I'm very happy to be attending Rochester next year, but strangely I'm missing the excitement and nervousness associated with checking my email and snail mail neurotically every day. There's no more drama! I dont know what everyone else thinks, but looking back on this whole ordeal I think it was very exciting. Yeah there's times when you get bummed out *cough*rejected from Pitt *cough cough* but overall I think it's fun....well except for the huge financial strain. My credit card companies are starting to like me a lot seeing that I've been paying finance charges up the a$$ Anyhow, I'd like to hear some other peoples opinions looking back on the whole process. Granted, its not over yet, but it is winding down for most people.

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[39094]

Yeah, it kinda gets to feel like a real let down, especially if you're still in school. Flying out for interviews and missing class actually gets to be fun after a while. Now that I'm accepted, I find that I have a lot more things to worry about....like where I'm going to live and how my significant other is going to deal with all of this.

Oh, and you can make up for the neurotic email checking by neurotically reloading the SDN forums page.....if being neurotic is your thing

 

[Mr Reddly]

Originally posted by ZekeMD
Anyhow, I'd like to hear some other peoples opinions looking back on the whole process. Granted, its not over yet, but it is winding down for most people.

I'll let you know in another 3-5 months. stupid waitlists.

 

[Brickhouse]

I wish I'd had more interviews, cuz I too really enjoyed leaving work and getting to see new cities.

My biggest regret is overlooking my one acceptance due to excitement over an interview at a top 10 school that I got the day after my acceptance, who in turn rejected me. I feel like I missed out on the good feelings that come with success because I got caught up in a game of status. That was really dumb.

Now I am so grateful, I have started sleeping with my acceptance letter.

kidding....please...I'm kidding.

 

[crazy250]

it's been a long, grueling process that should be done only once in a lifetime. i don't know how reapplicants bear this year after year.

 

[Mr Reddly]

Originally posted by crazy250
it's been a long, grueling process that should be done only once in a lifetime. i don't know how replicates bear this year after year.

As someone who has (year after year after year), it becomes easier. Also, right about now is when you have to stop dwelling on the rejections and start worrying about the AAMC application/essay. That helps take your mind off of the previous cycle and onto the next.

 

[leavesam]

Originally posted by Brickhouse


My biggest regret is overlooking my one acceptance due to excitement over an interview at a top 10 school that I got the day after my acceptance, who in turn rejected me. I feel like I missed out on the good feelings that come with success because I got caught up in a game of status. That was really dumb.

I know what you mean. That's how I felt when I got rejected/waitlisted at the schools more "prestigious/well known" then the school that accepted me.

 

[Adapt]

Well I liked flying all over the place to interview. I saw some places that I'll probably never go to again in my life. This includes Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Arizona, and probably Washington DC.

You can't beat the sightseeing and stuff. I saw the liberty bell and the place where the constitution was signed in Philly.

One thing I did hate was all the flying on airplanes. I just got sick of it.

 

[exmike]

Looking back I'm relieved and suprised at what I've accomplished. Going in to this I wasn't sure I'd even get into an allopathic medical school, but now I have several excellent options to choose from. I certainly learned a lot about persistence and humility.

I look back fondly on the whole process of interviewing traveling. I went places I probably would have never otherwise have gone to, and met many interesting people along the way. I many ways I MISS interviewing. Meeting new people from all walks of life from all over the country each with a different story was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole process. I was tempted to go on some interviews at schools I wasn't considering just for the experience.

Certainly my retrospective thoughts on this process would be vastly different if it had not been successful. I count my blessings every day that I've been given the opportunity to become a physician.

 

[Mr Reddly]

...on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say? you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Yes my life, its better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance




---------------
But to be honest, I don't know that I would do it again. And I don't mean just this one app cycle. I mean the 3 cycles of waitlists/rejections, the stress of grades/MCAT during 4 years of school while others in my classes really couldn't care less, the deciding to not goto grad school because I *might* get in *this year*, etc..

 

[jlee9531]

hey man...

flying jetblue was the only time i actually got to watch espn...

i cherished all my flights...

what i loved most was meeting the med students at each of the schools...not that many but still...it was awesome. i thought that it would have been an honor to have people like that as my classmates...

and i know that i will be fortunate to have some of you as my classmates this upcoming fall.

rock on.

 

[Elizabeth1028]

This has been the most demoralizing thing I have ever done in my life. I've wanted this so badly for so long and I've never felt so completely discouraged before (and I'm usually an optimist). I won't miss applying one bit.

I'll admit, I really enjoyed travelling to interviews and I met a lot of very cool people, but that wasn't enough to counteract the distress that ensued.

 

[CalBeE]

Originally posted by Elizabeth1028
This has been the most demoralizing thing I have ever done in my life. I've wanted this so badly for so long and I've never felt so completely discouraged before (and I'm usually an optimist). I won't miss applying one bit.

I'll admit, I really enjoyed travelling to interviews and I met a lot of very cool people, but that wasn't enough to counteract the distress that ensued.

I have similar feelings. Med School App can be a process that stripped you of your confidence. Just when you slowly recover from it, you're faced with residency application, another confidence-reducing process. Oh joy

 

[Celestron2000]

Originally posted by exmike
I look back fondly on the whole process of interviewing traveling. I went places I probably would have never otherwise have gone to, and met many interesting people along the way. I many ways I MISS interviewing. Meeting new people from all walks of life from all over the country each with a different story was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole process. I was tempted to go on some interviews at schools I wasn't considering just for the experience.

Sounds like you're gonna love being a doctor, that's one of the best things about it.

 

[haldane3]

Sigh, I feel like I can breathe again...

 

[Chrisobean]

it truly does feel weird to be not-stressed... i almost miss it... *tear*

 

[DrBodacious]

I can't think of a single thing I miss about not having an acceptance, which was my situation just two weeks ago today. Since then I've gotten one more acceptance, so that was very uplifting as well. I agree that I wish I got to interview at all the schools I applied to, I got interview offers from 50% of the schools I applied to though, which isn't so bad considering that I was pretty late in the game. But miss the stress of not knowing what I'll be doing next year?! No way, find drama elsewhere people. If you need application stress to make your life interesting, you deserve to be added to the lameass thread.

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Elizabeth1028
This has been the most demoralizing thing I have ever done in my life. I've wanted this so badly for so long and I've never felt so completely discouraged before (and I'm usually an optimist). I won't miss applying one bit.

oddly, this has only helped my confidence...

coming into the application process i was hoping to slip through the cracks of any school...not even thinking about a california schools seriously since friends from before who applied with higher numbers didnt even make cali and had a hard time getting acceptances at other places out of state.

i wondered if i would become like my other friends who applied and did not get in and just lost faith and turned to something else they just did to get an income...

but with the help of some of the uplifting people here on sdn to actually see that my applicantion wasnt entirely crap...i have gained confidence that schools would see something in me and accept me...obviously not for my grades, but because maybe they think i can be a good doc. for that im thankful.

with renewed spirit i eagerly await the start of med school and all the experiences that come with it.

but in the meantime...ill just enjoy the extra time i have .

 

[lisa13579]

I do know what you mean, there was such a rush of activity starting last fall and it has definitely died down. I keep going through this "lull" by realizing how excited I am to actually start med school, meet new and interesting classmates, start actually learning about medicine, etc.

 

[No Egrets]

As someone who still doesn't know, trust me, you're better off.

 

[TheRussian]

I was fortunate/unfortunate (you decide) to have over 10 interviews. It was kind of fun planning all the trips and I liked the challenge of finding the cheapest way possible to get there. This often ment spending the night with a student and that was pretty fun most of the time.
I was going along fine until at my 9th school during the financial aid presentation, it just hit me that this is the 9th time that I have to hear about how I'm going to be in debt up to my eyeballs and the fatigue from all the traveling just set in. I spend the rest of the day in a zombie like state.
Retrospectively this could explain why I was so swiftly rejected from 2 out of the last 3 schools I interviewed at.

 

[thewebthsp]

since the summer of 2002, it's been one long process, punctuated by lots of friends, and a couple of girlfriends, graduating college, taking the MCAT, going on interviews, working during my year off, and learning new things...a lot more than getting into med school punctuated years 20-22 in this young lad's life

I suppose it is coming to an end (being a premed), and what can I say, let's hope the next 4 years are amazing!