soontobedr222
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To whoever needs to hear this:
Don't ever lose hope. You are seen, you are heard, you are appreciated and you need to remind yourself of that. Your struggle to get to med school will pay off in the end. Keep on with the grind. Speak your truth and don't ever give up. You're not done yet.
Let me give you a little overview of why this is so important and how it affected me.
I spent nearly a decade of my life in a field that I didn't really enjoy. It was high stress, low mental reward. I earned great money and yet, I felt like my life's work was meaningless. But through all of those years, I got snippets of life that led me to medicine, so I changed my career. Having a degree in a social science, I needed to get all of my pre-reqs done for med school. I worked tirelessly, going to school after my FT job every night and every weekend. It was rough. My social life was nonexistent, but this was early, I still had some sanity in tact. I pushed through and after about a year and a half, I just decided to do school full time. Fifty hours of sciences was going to be a long road ahead if I didn't quit my FT job. But I needed money, so I had to do PT gigs here and there.
Three years later, I was able to scrape up all of the pre-reqs and apply to med school. I spent about 4 months studying for the MCAT while being a teacher's assistant. My test scores had improved since I started, but they were no where close to what I wanted (those glorious 518s etc.). But I tried because I had to and I wanted to apply this cycle. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so I needed to get that gear rolling. You guys, I got a stinking 500. This was much lower than I had ever gotten on a practice test and I started to SWEAT because I felt I would never get eyes on my application. In retrospect, I knew exactly what I did wrong and why I probably didn't perform well (and they are not excuses), but I couldn't retake the MCAT and time was running out. For reference too, I had a 3.8 overall GPA (in undergrad in social science) and a 3.9 in my sciences. I worked hard, I know I'm not an idiot student, but I doubted myself heavily when I took that test.
But friends, I got interviews. I got a chance to show admissions committees who I was. Three to be exact. They all went better than I expected (in regards to the staff and students being incredibly kind and encouraging). But imagine the disappointment when I was waitlisted for. all. three.
January rolls around and I am anxious. No more interviews? No acceptances? Then, month after month after month goes by. You read all of these forums from SDN about hearing back by a certain time period and if you don't, you're out. I agonized. I hated myself. I felt so much despair, as I'm sure you might have too if you were in a similar boat.
But one day, I just let it go. I stopped agonizing. I ceased my depressing behavior. I stopped comparing myself to others. Instead, I took care of myself and tried to be the person I was before this entire, soul-draining process -- happy. I trusted that the universe would work its ways and that whatever I had experienced was exactly what I needed to experience. As hokey as that sounds, I just needed to take a step back and gather myself.
AND the moment I did that, I received a call. I did it. I was going to med school and become the physician I have always wanted to be.
The relief. The shock. The roller coaster of emotions. Can I do this? Is this a joke? Is this really happening? It was. It is.
So friends, I know some of you guys are going to reply with your hateful comments, but this is a brief thread to let you know that YOU CAN DO THIS. You can get into medical school. The struggle is probably going to be one of the most difficult things you ever experience in life, but don't let it eat you up. I had an abysmal MCAT score and I had a varied application with volunteering here and there doing things that weren't even medical related (but activities I did because I wanted to). Just trust that people will see you for who you are if you are true to yourself. Do your interview well. And if it doesn't work out, try again. You're not done. You will get in soon enough. The trials that you face today are exactly the trials you needed to face to help you become a better person and a better doctor.
For me, I learned why I tested so poorly and how to improve for boards/tests for school. I learned how to face complete and utter adversity. I learned to grow and care for myself and the people around me. And most importantly, I learned never to give up. So you shouldn't either.
Don't ever lose hope. You are seen, you are heard, you are appreciated and you need to remind yourself of that. Your struggle to get to med school will pay off in the end. Keep on with the grind. Speak your truth and don't ever give up. You're not done yet.
Let me give you a little overview of why this is so important and how it affected me.
I spent nearly a decade of my life in a field that I didn't really enjoy. It was high stress, low mental reward. I earned great money and yet, I felt like my life's work was meaningless. But through all of those years, I got snippets of life that led me to medicine, so I changed my career. Having a degree in a social science, I needed to get all of my pre-reqs done for med school. I worked tirelessly, going to school after my FT job every night and every weekend. It was rough. My social life was nonexistent, but this was early, I still had some sanity in tact. I pushed through and after about a year and a half, I just decided to do school full time. Fifty hours of sciences was going to be a long road ahead if I didn't quit my FT job. But I needed money, so I had to do PT gigs here and there.
Three years later, I was able to scrape up all of the pre-reqs and apply to med school. I spent about 4 months studying for the MCAT while being a teacher's assistant. My test scores had improved since I started, but they were no where close to what I wanted (those glorious 518s etc.). But I tried because I had to and I wanted to apply this cycle. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, so I needed to get that gear rolling. You guys, I got a stinking 500. This was much lower than I had ever gotten on a practice test and I started to SWEAT because I felt I would never get eyes on my application. In retrospect, I knew exactly what I did wrong and why I probably didn't perform well (and they are not excuses), but I couldn't retake the MCAT and time was running out. For reference too, I had a 3.8 overall GPA (in undergrad in social science) and a 3.9 in my sciences. I worked hard, I know I'm not an idiot student, but I doubted myself heavily when I took that test.
But friends, I got interviews. I got a chance to show admissions committees who I was. Three to be exact. They all went better than I expected (in regards to the staff and students being incredibly kind and encouraging). But imagine the disappointment when I was waitlisted for. all. three.
January rolls around and I am anxious. No more interviews? No acceptances? Then, month after month after month goes by. You read all of these forums from SDN about hearing back by a certain time period and if you don't, you're out. I agonized. I hated myself. I felt so much despair, as I'm sure you might have too if you were in a similar boat.
But one day, I just let it go. I stopped agonizing. I ceased my depressing behavior. I stopped comparing myself to others. Instead, I took care of myself and tried to be the person I was before this entire, soul-draining process -- happy. I trusted that the universe would work its ways and that whatever I had experienced was exactly what I needed to experience. As hokey as that sounds, I just needed to take a step back and gather myself.
AND the moment I did that, I received a call. I did it. I was going to med school and become the physician I have always wanted to be.
The relief. The shock. The roller coaster of emotions. Can I do this? Is this a joke? Is this really happening? It was. It is.
So friends, I know some of you guys are going to reply with your hateful comments, but this is a brief thread to let you know that YOU CAN DO THIS. You can get into medical school. The struggle is probably going to be one of the most difficult things you ever experience in life, but don't let it eat you up. I had an abysmal MCAT score and I had a varied application with volunteering here and there doing things that weren't even medical related (but activities I did because I wanted to). Just trust that people will see you for who you are if you are true to yourself. Do your interview well. And if it doesn't work out, try again. You're not done. You will get in soon enough. The trials that you face today are exactly the trials you needed to face to help you become a better person and a better doctor.
For me, I learned why I tested so poorly and how to improve for boards/tests for school. I learned how to face complete and utter adversity. I learned to grow and care for myself and the people around me. And most importantly, I learned never to give up. So you shouldn't either.
