MD SMP Problem with DO School?

[Meowster007]

So to ask my question in a way it makes sense....

I have heard by a moderator on SDN that if you were accepted to a DO school (example) and declined the acceptance, you would then be blacklisted by all other DO schools.

My question is- Would DO schools look down upon an applicant that was accepted to their DO school but instead declined the offer to go on to a MD SMP?

I ask this because if the applicant wanted to specialize, they would have a better shot with an MD vs. a DO degree.

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[Goro]

So to ask my question in a way it makes sense....

I have heard by a moderator on SDN that if you were accepted to a DO school (example) and declined the acceptance, you would then be blacklisted by all other DO schools.
This is not necessarily true. This is no central reporting system on accepts, but many schools do ask on secondaries: "Have you been accepted to other schools" So yes, you can lie, but do you really want that sword hanging over your head???

My question is- Would DO schools look down upon an applicant that was accepted to their DO school but instead declined the offer to go on to a MD SMP?
Yup. Why would someone decline an accept and then reapply to the same school later on? This makes no sense. Did you mean to write "would MD schools look down..."

I ask this because if the applicant wanted to specialize, they would have a better shot with an MD vs. a DO degree.

Please clarify

 

[de Ribas]

So to ask my question in a way it makes sense....

I have heard by a moderator on SDN that if you were accepted to a DO school (example) and declined the acceptance, you would then be blacklisted by all other DO schools.

My question is- Would DO schools look down upon an applicant that was accepted to their DO school but instead declined the offer to go on to a MD SMP?

I ask this because if the applicant wanted to specialize, they would have a better shot with an MD vs. a DO degree.

Why do you care if DO schools will look down if you will go to MD school after SMP?

 

[Isoval]

1) Yes. Declining an acceptance to an AACOMAS school will absolutely make it more difficult for you to gain an AACOMAS acceptance in the future. Not to say it will be impossible, but it’s certainly shooting yourself in both feet and then breaking a knee. Unless you’re a superstar applicant, this is probably a stupid idea.
2) Declining an acceptance for almost any reason will look the same. “I turned you down for an MD SMP” isn’t going to help your case when reapplying to DO schools.

If you weren’t prepared to be content with a DO acceptance, you should not have applied to DO schools. End of discussion.

 

[Meowster007]

Thank you for all that replied and was just wondering because if a student wanted to specialize, they would have the best chance as an MD vs. DO.

 

[924782]

This is my life right now. Accepted to 5 DO schools. Learned about much more about the differences at the interviews. I don't see how you could be blacklisted at all DO schools unless you applied to all DO schools, was accepted and then said no to all DO schools. I've seen many of these schools have trouble communicating in house. I don't see how or why they would be communicating with each other about who turned them down and why. This makes med school apps sound like Drama Club. Maybe its true. But if a school doesn't understand that we all have our own motivations and dreams, then I would suggest you don't apply to that school any way.

for the person that said "if you aren't prepared to accept a DO acceptance, don't apply." I vehemently disagree. If you interview at a school and walk away with mixed feelings, and then get an acceptance and get more afraid than you were before. That's a red flag. If you think you've got more fight in you, its very convincing to make the claim that you aren't ready for med school. Walk away work on yourself, and then reapply. That's what I would want my doctor to do if they had a dream they were chasing.


That being said, I probably won't be reapplying to the schools I withdrew my acceptances from. Blacklisted there for sure.

 

[Isoval]

This is my life right now. Accepted to 5 DO schools. Learned about much more about the differences at the interviews. I don't see how you could be blacklisted at all DO schools unless you applied to all DO schools, was accepted and then said no to all DO schools. I've seen many of these schools have trouble communicating in house. I don't see how or why they would be communicating with each other about who turned them down and why. This makes med school apps sound like Drama Club. Maybe its true. But if a school doesn't understand that we all have our own motivations and dreams, then I would suggest you don't apply to that school any way.

for the person that said "if you aren't prepared to accept a DO acceptance, don't apply." I vehemently disagree. If you interview at a school and walk away with mixed feelings, and then get an acceptance and get more afraid than you were before. That's a red flag. If you think you've got more fight in you, its very convincing to make the claim that you aren't ready for med school. Walk away work on yourself, and then reapply. That's what I would want my doctor to do if they had a dream they were chasing.


That being said, I probably won't be reapplying to the schools I withdrew my acceptances from. Blacklisted there for sure.

That’s because they don’t. AACOMAS (and AMCAS on the MD side) will explicitly tell the schools two pieces of information: 1) you are a reapplicant and 2) you have been accepted by x school(s) previously. It’s not a he said/she said kind of thing.

That’s not to say turning down an acceptance is an automatic blacklist. If your stats are strong enough and you’re a desirable enough applicant, schools will still break their necks running after you even with this black mark on your profile. That’s true for both MD and DO schools.

Of course, I would very rarely recommend that someone turn down an acceptance. There are times when I would, but they are few and far between. Many people believe they’re this level of applicant. Almost none of them ever are.

 

[924782]

There’s definitely some self awareness needed for future physicians. Someone with a 3.2 turning down DO schools to shoot for a Stanford level may want to reconsider. But if you want to take a year off and work on your life, I would do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself. The application process is so insane that penalizing someone for not getting everything perfect the first time isn’t my idea of how good doctors are made.

 

[Isoval]

There’s definitely some self awareness needed for future physicians. Someone with a 3.2 turning down DO schools to shoot for a Stanford level may want to reconsider. But if you want to take a year off and work on your life, I would do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself. The application process is so insane that penalizing someone for not getting everything perfect the first time isn’t my idea of how good doctors are made.

This is why so many people take gap years.

What you’ve just mentioned shows poor decision-making abilities. With four to eight thousand applicants at each medical school for 1-200 spots, it’s very easy to throw away an otherwise solid application when there is a question about the decision-making abilities of its owner.

Why wasn’t there a gap year to begin with?
Why did you apply knowing your volunteer experience wasn’t competitive?
Why did you apply to school x when you were going to later reject them anyways?

Whichever way you look at it: to be in that position, you screwed up somewhere. And that mistake deserves a black mark in your file, just like every other mistake an applicant can make.

It is primarily for this reason that schools (outside of those you were actually accepted at) “blacklist” you. Obviously, if you were accepted there, they don’t want to waste an interview spot on someone who has already been given the golden ticket and then ripped it up.

 

[924782]

I get your point. But I differ on the value judgments. I’d rather have a black mark (If that’s the repercussions of turning down an acceptance) than to sink 1-4 years into a school and hate it, or feel like I settled.

 

[924782]

If you did everything perfectly and only got into DO schools, I think you should go! But if you can identify a mistake, you collaborate with reasonable people and they agree, fix it and reapply.

 

[Isoval]

If you did everything perfectly and only got into DO schools, I think you should go! But if you can identify a mistake, you collaborate with reasonable people and they agree, fix it and reapply.

I do usually agree with this, actually.

One of the reasons I would recommend turning down an acceptance is that you were looked at positively by schools this cycle and were rejected for a known reason that you can be guaranteed to fix in the next year or two.

GPA and MCAT do not fall into this category. There is no guarantee - EVER - that you can or will improve on these, and you might be destroying your only chance by giving up an acceptance.

However, if you contact multiple schools that, let’s say...gave you a pre-interview hold...and they ALL tell you that you were not selected because your volunteer hours were very low but that they liked the rest of your application, this would be one of those rare scenarios.

 

[924782]

I do usually agree with this, actually.

One of the reasons I would recommend turning down an acceptance is that you were looked at positively by schools this cycle and were rejected for a known reason that you can be guaranteed to fix in the next year or two.

GPA and MCAT do not fall into this category. There is no guarantee - EVER - that you can or will improve on these, and you might be destroying your only chance by giving up an acceptance.

However, if you contact multiple schools that, let’s say...gave you a pre-interview hold...and they ALL tell you that you were not selected because your volunteer hours were very low but that they liked the rest of your application, this would be one of those rare scenarios.

Agreed.

 

[924782]

So... OP! If your gpa is lower maybe DO school is the way! They get great residencies too! And In ten years, I predict there will be essentially no difference between prestige or anything like that. (Maybe I’m wrong?!)

But if you need to get an experience, or a great LOR or finish that paper and get published, or maybe even just submit your application on June 1, then maybe the SMP is the way to go?!

 

[Meowster007]

So... OP! If your gpa is lower maybe DO school is the way! They get great residencies too! And In ten years, I predict there will be essentially no difference between prestige or anything like that. (Maybe I’m wrong?!)

But if you need to get an experience, or a great LOR or finish that paper and get published, or maybe even just submit your application on June 1, then maybe the SMP is the way to go?!

Thank you so much and everyone who replied to these post! Thank you for debating/ discussing!