med school decision process

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lkent

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Hello,
I am new to this forum and am seeking some information. I am a BSN, RN currently about to grad with MBA with minor in healthcare admin.

For my current and last project I would appreciate some feedback on the process some of you went through or are going through to get into med school. My research project concerns the choices a prospective med school student makes when attempting to get into med school, what kinds of things are most important to you.

In particular:

Have you applied more than once for a medical school? If yes, how many?
Have you only considered schools within the continential US?
Would you consider going outside the US?
Is it more important to you to wait to get into a big famous school, or just get into a medical school as soon as possible?

I would appreciate any information that anyone would care to share.

Thanks,
lkent

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This probably belongs in the pre-allopathic forum, but here goes:

1. I have only applied for one medical school application cycle (1997-1998).
2. I only considered schools within the continental US.
3. I would, under extreme circumstances, consider going to one of the top 3 Caribbean schools (e.g. if I was a re-re-applicant). Other countries have excellent medical schools as well, but they will be impossible to get into if you cannot obtain admission into a US med school.
4. If you want to do academic medicine or a competitive residency it behooves you to go to a top 25 school. Otherwise, you should stick with your state school. Ultimately, you can go to any residency from any school so the best advice is to go where you are happy.
 
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1. I applied twice.
2. US schools only. (Hawaii takes only HI residents, and don't know about alaska, but it's just too damn cold!)
3. Would not consider going outside the US. My impression is it's too hard to come back into the states for residency, and plus my dad was a foreign medical grad, I'd feel terrible if I was brought up here and couldn't go to med school here.
4. My feeling is you can't afford to throw away an acceptance to any medical school to reapply hoping to get into a top school. But within the same application year, if I got into a top school after being accepted to "plain-Jane" med school, I'd most likely go to the top school (in fact that's what happened) -- but only if I was sure I'd be more happy there.
 
In particular:

Have you applied more than once for a medical school? If yes, how many?
No, I applied this past cycle (2003-2004).

Have you only considered schools within the continential US?
Yes.

Would you consider going outside the US?
No because I am married and I know it would be very difficult for my husband's career. If I were single, I might have considered going to the UK.

Is it more important to you to wait to get into a big famous school, or just get into a medical school as soon as possible?
It's not very important for me to go to a famious school, although I would have been happy if I had gotten accepted to one. The most important thing for me is to go to a school where I'll be comfortable and get a good general medical education. Part of the reason for my lack of concern may be because as of now, I am more attracted to primary care specialties (FP or IM with a fellowship afterwards) whose residency programs are a bit less competitive than some other specialties.

I would appreciate any information that anyone would care to share.
My choice in school was determined by the best location for my husband's career. I feel very fortunate in my application experience because one of the schools where I was accepted is located in an area where my husband's company has offices. We're very lucky to have the choice and after going through this cycle, I really feel like the application process has a lot to do with luck. I don't think that the admissions committees are intentionally negligent but they do get inundated with thousands of applications and they cannot always give as much attention to each applicant as he/she deserves. I believe sometimes candidates who would fit well into a school get overlooked unfairly. The process was pretty frustrating for me because with each rejection, I wondered whether anyone bothered to read my essays or scrutinize other aspects of my application beyond glancing at my GPA and MCAT score. I enjoyed going on interviews immensely and was surprised that I was not asked any unexpected or ethical questions. In general, I think that the application process works but because there is an element of luck, applicants need to apply broadly and do everything in their power to maximize their chances (e.g. turning in the primary and secondary applications in a timely manner).
 
Thanks to all who have responded, you have been helpful.

I hope you all get into just the right school at just the right time!

Lk
 
Have you applied more than once for a medical school? If yes, how many?
No. I applied once, in the 2003-2004 cycle.

Have you only considered schools within the continential US?
Yes.

Would you consider going outside the US?
No.

Is it more important to you to wait to get into a big famous school, or just get into a medical school as soon as possible?
You would have to be crazy to throw away an acceptance to a decent medical school in order to apply again and try for a more prestigious school. That said, I applied to mostly top 10 schools. I had already spent three years at my state university for my undergraduate education, and I did not want to attend either of my state medical schools because I did not feel their missions were compatible with my goals. I was not willing to spend $200,000 or more for a school only slightly better than my state schools, so I limited my out of state applications to the most prestigious schools that appealed to me.
 
Um, no offense, but I don't think that SDN provides a valid or reprentative sample suitable for professional research(such as a final Master's project ;) ). My suggestion: Try finding a valid survey done by a university, a respected firm, a medical school, or the government and do a secondary analysis of the questions that pertain to your thesis. Good luck!
 
Have you applied more than once for a medical school? If yes, how many?
Yes, I applied twice.

Have you only considered schools within the continential US?
Would you consider going outside the US?
I only considered schools inside the state of IL both times, because my family and friends are my support system and I know that I could not succeed in the stressful environment of med school without their presence at least semi-available and close by. Also, I felt that if I did not get in this way,it would have meant to me that I was supposed to be doing something else (my backup plan was to continue working in the research lab I am at and go to school for a PA instead).

Is it more important to you to wait to get into a big famous school, or just get into a medical school as soon as possible?
I definitely feel that based on the rigors of the process itself, and the subjective nature of it, that any accredited med school is worth it. Also, the environment is more important than name - as long as you take advantage of what is offered whereever you end up, you can be competitive for residencies no matter what school you attend.

I would appreciate any information that anyone would care to share.
The decision to go to med school was one that I questioned after my first application cycle, but I wouldn't have changed the way that the process worked for me because I have learned a lot about my ability to get through difficult situations financially (very expensive to take MCAT, apply to AMCAS, submit supplementals, arrange interviews,etc.), mentally (it's hard not to view rejections as something negative against you personally rather than qualifications/readiness for med school), and emotionally (not everyone is supportive when they do not understand the competitiveness of the process).

Hope this helps you some :)
 
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