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Painstaking Decision to be made - Need help!!
- Thread starter Chiron3x
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If you wouldn't go why stay on the waitlist? Take your acceptance and don't look back.
Also don't take your interview day experience too seriously. You'll likely never deal with admisions or your interviewers ever again.
Also don't take your interview day experience too seriously. You'll likely never deal with admisions or your interviewers ever again.
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You seem to be aware of the positives/negatives of each decision. However, what happens if you don't get accepted ED? Then you've thrown out an acceptance and are behind in the regular application cycle. From the information you've provided, I'd re-apply to a whole list of schools again. I know it's a ton of work and it can be a financial burden, but I feel you may be limiting yourself if you don't.
That's my two cents. Good luck!
EDIT: Also, it seems to me you're fishing for reasons to not attend the school which gave you an acceptance. Do keep in mind that medical school acceptances are rare and shouldn't be taken for granted. At the end of the day, if you don't want to go there, don't go. But an MD is an MD. Congrats on that acceptance 🙂
If you had any wits about you, you could probably deduce the schools I'm talking about from my post history. I guess it's normal to be named a troll whenever starting a new thread in the general forum 🙄
I wasn't on a waitlist. It was a very long awaited post interview response. I think a part of me wanted to find out if I'd get in. Now that I actually did, there seems to be more in the equation.
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I secretly, for the lulz, hope you don't take the acceptance and then fail utterly, miserably, and completely at life.
..kidding aside, your choice is indeed obvious.
..kidding aside, your choice is indeed obvious.
You seem to be aware of the positives/negatives of each decision. However, what happens if you don't get accepted ED? Then you've thrown out an acceptance and are behind in the regular application cycle. From the information you've provided, I'd re-apply to a whole list of schools again. I know it's a ton of work and it can be a financial burden, but I feel you may be limiting yourself if you don't.
That's my two cents. Good luck!
EDIT: Also, it seems to me you're fishing for reasons to not attend the school which gave you an acceptance. Do keep in mind that medical school acceptances are rare and shouldn't be taken for granted. At the end of the day, if you don't want to go there, don't go. But an MD is an MD. Congrats on that acceptance 🙂
Thanks for the constructive response! I applied ED because I was encouraged to do so by the admissions director. I was also told to e-mail my application in pdf before submitting it so that it could be reviewed. I was told what my weaknesses were from my last cycle with that school, and I feel my experiences over the past year adequately address the weaknesses. In short, I was aware of the risks associated with applying ED, but I wouldn't have done it if I weren't sure that I had a marginally good shot at the school. Heck, I've been to the admissions office over 3 times, and most of them know my name/face.
D
deleted202457
take the acceptance and be closer to your goal of being a dr 🙂 and if you want more research opportunities i'm sure you can find them
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Because medical instruction is so standardized there isn't a big difference between medical schools, either in terms of culture or cirriculum. Also you will lose WAY more than 48K if you lose a year of physician income because you waited out a year. And that's assuming you get in, can you imagine how you would feel if you went through multiple application cycles without getting another acceptance after you passed up this opportunity? I mean, you wouldn't be the first person who was rejected from a school that told him to apply ED. Go to the school that accepted you.
Also, on the off chance that you decide that you really want more research opportunities, you can always take a year off to do research somewhere else in between preclinicals and clinicals.
Also, on the off chance that you decide that you really want more research opportunities, you can always take a year off to do research somewhere else in between preclinicals and clinicals.
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Glad to help! Do keep in mind that nothing in medical school admissions is a guarantee. I guess it now comes down to your willingness to put your application on the line for a school you're pretty sure you'll get into versus a guaranteed spot. Which leads to starting medical school in the fall of 2010 versus the fall of 2011. Do you want that extra year off for a most-likely acceptance? Or do you want to hit the ground running and dive right in? Financial incentives and research opportunities aside--is a 'most likely' acceptance a good enough reason to throw away a guaranteed spot? Only you can make that decision in the end. Best of luck!
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Plus, things like this often work out in unexpected ways. For instance, when I was first applying, I thought that the college I ended up going to, sucked. Some soul-searching (plus being rejected to all of my top choices) led me to choose it. After having graduating, I can confidently say that I don't think many schools in the country would have given me a better education (for what I needed), and that I'm really glad I was rejected to all of my supposed "top choices."
And, in the end, suffering builds character 🙂 So even if you take your acceptance but end up "losing" because you don't like your school, it's really a win, lose-win situation! (Sorry, trying to make the situation light-hearted.)
Also, if research is important to you, you can always take a year off with the Sarnoff Foundation or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, among others.
Thanks so much guys! The responses have been great so far. I've already welcomed the year off, and actually looked forward to the vacations I could take or unique experiences I could gather before actually diving into this 4+ year hardcore commitment. While I am soo greatful that I have this decision to make, I wish it wasn't this hard! It all comes down to whether I follow my brain or my heart. I wonder which of the two actually makes the best decision?
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Have you considerd accepting and then asking the school for a one year deferment? You know you get to go to medical school, and you can do some truley amazing adventure (travel the world, study in a Shaolin temple, cure cancer) guilt free. On the other hand if you go through another application cycle and ED doesn't work out your grand adventure will be limited by another round of secondaries and intviews.
Also, honestly the commitment isn't that hard core. Residency is hard core, medical school is only hard core in small spurts followed by easy classes, light rotations, and vacations. You're not 4 years from freedom, you less than one year from a long summer off. That's not that long to wait.
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Please please please, for the love of all things humane, take the acceptance.
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.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. unbelievable.......
I'm surprised at how this is even a question. So many applicants would do anything to have an acceptance to a US medical school, MD nonetheless. I would take the acceptance in a heartbeat, unless you want to take the risky gamble and throw it all away.
Relax.. I'm leaning towards taking the acceptance and applying for deferral. I'm going sleep on it and see how I feel tomorrow morning.
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Yeah you do that Johnson... try not to take any funny looking pills with your cereal in the morning.
Dude, lightning has struck. Take this acceptance as a sign from whatever deity that you believe in that this is the right course for you. Take the acceptance, and worse comes to worst, I'm sure there are ways to transfer from one med school to another. Hypothetical scenario, if I were in your position and it was a choice between MUSC and a private school on the other side of the country, I'd go to the other side of the country. How much do you want to be a doctor? The door is open, for the love of all things good and holy on this earth, walk through the F***ing door!
Actually.. I don't mind if you don't take that acceptance.. because as someone sitting on their waitlist with no acceptances.. I will gladly take it and run with it.. so please give me your acceptance.. I promise I will greatly appreciate the opportunity to become a doctor and not wonder "what if what if"..
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There is a lot to be said for gut instinct on how you feel about a school. It's probable that if you got into the first choice school, you would probably enjoy it and the environs more.
However, the chances that you get in on reapp are even smaller than the first go around unless you either do something awesome to get clinical (or maybe research) experience or get a much higher score on the MCAT. As someone else up here said, if you didn't want to go there after the interview and visit, you should not have accepted the wait list slot. The right move here is to take the acceptance.
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Hey.
HEY.
TAKE THE ACCEPTANCE.
Fo' real.
Kay?
Glad we had this talk.
HEY.
TAKE THE ACCEPTANCE.
Fo' real.
Kay?
Glad we had this talk.
2
235009
of course i've gotta wonder how much of this conundrum is based purely on pride...as you said it's easy to figure out what schools you are talking about from your post history and i was totally not surprised. it just seems to me that you feel like you can "do better" than that school.
just remember that your state school screwed you over this app cycle they can just as easily do it next app cycle. i'm sure you thought you had a great chance of getting in having applied ED and been asked to send your app before it was verified. also your year off won't be a "vacation" ...it'll be stressful and crappy as you reapply and work in a low-paying job that requires long hours.
take the acceptance
just remember that your state school screwed you over this app cycle they can just as easily do it next app cycle. i'm sure you thought you had a great chance of getting in having applied ED and been asked to send your app before it was verified. also your year off won't be a "vacation" ...it'll be stressful and crappy as you reapply and work in a low-paying job that requires long hours.
take the acceptance
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This is a very difficult position for you.
I would call the state school first thing in the morning and talk to them. You neverrrr know what could happen, and you have nothing to lose.
One poster mentioned asking for deferment... I was under the impression that one of the conditions of acceptances [at some schools?] is that you cannot defer off the waitlist.
Do consider... will passing on this opportunity mean that you not only have to apply as a re-applicant but also declare that you have previously been extended and then turned down an acceptance? How does that work? That could be a BIG risk to take.
I would call the state school first thing in the morning and talk to them. You neverrrr know what could happen, and you have nothing to lose.
One poster mentioned asking for deferment... I was under the impression that one of the conditions of acceptances [at some schools?] is that you cannot defer off the waitlist.
Do consider... will passing on this opportunity mean that you not only have to apply as a re-applicant but also declare that you have previously been extended and then turned down an acceptance? How does that work? That could be a BIG risk to take.
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As pretty much everyone else has said, take the acceptance. You have to realize that if your state school decides to reject you and you expand your application, you will have to update it to say that you have rejected an acceptance to a school previously, and this will basically kill any chance you have in the re-app cycle.
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i would take the acceptance. i don't know the exact details of early decision, but no school is perfect and first impressions can be extremely deceptive.
there is no such thing as a bad medical school, and of the schools you talked about in your previous posts, they seem pretty equal to me. an MD is better than no MD.
there is no such thing as a bad medical school, and of the schools you talked about in your previous posts, they seem pretty equal to me. an MD is better than no MD.
How confident are you that you'll get into your state school?
If you're very confident (which is what it sounds like from your posts), then I believe you'll likely get in.
Then the real question becomes, do you want attend med school in fall?
or
Would you rather wait another year, and go to your state school which is 14k/year (not an insignificant amount) cheaper?
If I were you, I'd throw how you feel about the schools out the window and just judge the decision objectively. Impressions aren't everything.
If you have any doubts about getting in next cycle, take the acceptance.
If you're very confident (which is what it sounds like from your posts), then I believe you'll likely get in.
Then the real question becomes, do you want attend med school in fall?
or
Would you rather wait another year, and go to your state school which is 14k/year (not an insignificant amount) cheaper?
If I were you, I'd throw how you feel about the schools out the window and just judge the decision objectively. Impressions aren't everything.
If you have any doubts about getting in next cycle, take the acceptance.
If there's anything I learned from the application cycle, it's that there are no certainties. I realized that I was being irrational yesterday, and woke up this morning with a clear mind. After receiving overwhelming support on here, and in my real life I decided to accept the offer!! 🙂 I want to sincerely thank you guys for giving me an objective student's perspective on this. I may have seemed like an idiot with my posts, but I hope you guys were able to understand where I was coming from. Imagine having your year all planned out and organized when suddenly a 2 minute phone call turns your world upside down. I was really unprepared for this, and in responded the only way I could: anxiety. I would be lying if I said the Chiron3x who applied last June would have accepted that I made this such a hard decision. With that being said, it's all over and I'm going to med school! 🙂
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Whew. That was a close one.
Take the acceptance!
There was a school thread a while back (KU maybe??)... I cannot remember, but someone was waitlisted, strongly encouraged to apply ED, didn't receive an ED interview, and rejected through the regular cycle.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Edit: Just read your post -- good decision!
There was a school thread a while back (KU maybe??)... I cannot remember, but someone was waitlisted, strongly encouraged to apply ED, didn't receive an ED interview, and rejected through the regular cycle.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Edit: Just read your post -- good decision!
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Excellent choice! I was about to add my .02, but then finished reading the thread. I was also going to refer to do a search because I have seen in previous years applicants come onto this forum, talk about rejecting an acceptance offer because of some "EDP deal" they had with their state school and bam, they got rejected the second time applying. That has got to suck, now you coulda been going onto MS3 but instead your there wasting more $, applying again maybe retaking the mcat, stuck volunteering..horrible lol Smart choice. And besides, if you think about it again, its still a business... if they wanted you that badly they wouldnt have rejected you in the first place, EDP my as$. Its one thing if they offered you a guaranteed acceptance for the Fall 2011 incoming class... then it comes down to do you want to take a year off or not, but not the way they were trying to play you. But who cares, you made the right choice, good luck!
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Congrats and good luck!
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