Pre-applying Excitement/Anxiety?!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

DoctorLacrosse

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
1,921
Reaction score
2,166
So I've been keeping up with all the awesome school specific threads and have found myself becoming truly envious of all these awesome applicants getting awesome offers. Realized I'm beginning to get super duper neurotic like most people on SDN and can't wait to have my application ready to apply already!! Problem is I have a-whole-nother cycle to go before I even apply.

Anyone else feel this crazy anxiety and excitement to just be done with undergrad already and apply for Med school?! The not knowing what my future does and doesn't hold is starting to drive me crazy haha, and I'm trying to just focus on one day at a time, but it isn't easy! Feel free to share your thoughts, or what you do to stay in the now and not worry about the future. 😀
 
It goes by quickly, even too quickly. I remember being excited about my friends applying, and soon they were accepted, and then I was applying, and now I am accepted and getting ready to matriculate this summer.

Its good to keep your eyes on the goal, and daydreaming doesnt hurt. But try (and i cant stress this enough) to live your day to day life without thinking too much about the future. You dont want to end up in medical school wishing you had lived more during undergrad.

Good luck!
 
It goes by quickly, even too quickly. I remember being excited about my friends applying, and soon they were accepted, and then I was applying, and now I am accepted and getting ready to matriculate this summer.

Its good to keep your eyes on the goal, and daydreaming doesnt hurt. But try (and i cant stress this enough) to live your day to day life without thinking too much about the future. You dont want to end up in medical school wishing you had lived more during undergrad.

Good luck!

+1

Especially the bolded part.
 
Haha I definitely understand all of your points of view, just sucks especially for me due to screwing up my first couple of years so I have a fifth year ahead of me to continue righting my wrongs, so to speak. Knowing I could already be applying had I been mature in the beginning is the worst part.

Gonna do my best to ace my classes and enjoy life now. Just can't help but pray for it to all work out in the end :scared:
 
Don't focus on things that could be or you'll squander what's in front of you. Do well in your classes and enjoy college as much as you can. Baby steps.
 
dude chill out, you're going to be burned out if you're already anxious lol.

This cycle felt horribly long and the never ending anxiety kept me up at night sometimes. Getting into medical school pretty much consumed me last year and it was not fun.

You haven't even applied yet there is absolutely nothing to be anxious about. Get drunk and don't think about it til at least May.

The funny thing is now that I've been accepted, Im no longer anxious but Im incredibly bored.
 
dude chill out, you're going to be burned out if you're already anxious lol.

This cycle felt horribly long and the never ending anxiety kept me up at night sometimes. Getting into medical school pretty much consumed me last year and it was not fun.

You haven't even applied yet there is absolutely nothing to be anxious about. Get drunk and don't think about it til at least May.

The funny thing is now that I've been accepted, Im no longer anxious but Im incredibly bored.

haha you guys are all clearly right, just hard not to think about it at times. Just hope to one day be in the position you guys are all in. Must feel lovely 👍
 
There are goods and bads. I was pretty excited to apply as well but it quickly wears off with all the waiting and biting your nails. Still though, traveling around to interviews and seeing new places are fun and that's one part that I loved about this process. Everything else...not so much. 😀 Hang in there, you'll get your turn soon. 🙂
 
There are goods and bads. I was pretty excited to apply as well but it quickly wears off with all the waiting and biting your nails. Still though, traveling around to interviews and seeing new places are fun and that's one part that I loved about this process. Everything else...not so much. 😀 Hang in there, you'll get your turn soon. 🙂

It just cannot be overstated how UTTERLY PAINFUL all the waiting was. It seems like you lose more and more control over your application as the cycle moves on. You know when the AMCAS is going to open so you can fill it out, you know when you can submit it, you kind of know when its going to be verified, you can guess when the secondaries are going to come... and then it all goes to crap. Sitting there checking my email multiple times an hour for days...weeks... months... now that was truly painful. All while waiting for interview invites that may come any second, or may never come. Oh gawd...:scared: the painful memories...
 
It just cannot be overstated how UTTERLY PAINFUL all the waiting was. It seems like you lose more and more control over your application as the cycle moves on. You know when the AMCAS is going to open so you can fill it out, you know when you can submit it, you kind of know when its going to be verified, you can guess when the secondaries are going to come... and then it all goes to crap. Sitting there checking my email multiple times an hour for days...weeks... months... now that was truly painful. All while waiting for interview invites that may come any second, or may never come. Oh gawd...:scared: the painful memories...

Haha well it sounds horrendous, until you reach the promise land of course. How was it filling out secondaries and stuff? I need to apply to a LOT of schools to give myself the best chances, but I'd imagine secondaries being brutal for say, 30 schools. Also thinking of the cost and how I'm gonna pay it is just scary.
 
Haha well it sounds horrendous, until you reach the promise land of course. How was it filling out secondaries and stuff? I need to apply to a LOT of schools to give myself the best chances, but I'd imagine secondaries being brutal for say, 30 schools. Also thinking of the cost and how I'm gonna pay it is just scary.

It's not that bad. It's just like doing homework for a humanities course. You can actually get through them all within a couple days (like I did) but it is tedious.
 
It's not that bad. It's just like doing homework for a humanities course. You can actually get through them all within a couple days (like I did) but it is tedious.

Wow awesome to know, as that's exactly what I'd prefer to do. Do people typically take out loans to pay for all of them? Hard to imagine most people have 5 grand lying around. I'm not too familiar with primary costs for 30 schools, let alone secondaries. Guess ill cross that bridge when I get there
 
Wow awesome to know, as that's exactly what I'd prefer to do. Do people typically take out loans to pay for all of them? Hard to imagine most people have 5 grand lying around. I'm not too familiar with primary costs for 30 schools, let alone secondaries. Guess ill cross that bridge when I get there

Most people use parents or credit cards. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a bank to give you a loan for application expenses.
 
Most people use parents or credit cards. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a bank to give you a loan for application expenses.

Don't get me wrong I'm not poor by any means, but no way my parents could afford my application fees, and I'd feel terrible even asking. Looks like I'll be taking out some credit cards soon haha
 
Don't get me wrong I'm not poor by any means, but no way my parents could afford my application fees, and I'd feel terrible even asking. Looks like I'll be taking out some credit cards soon haha

If you qualify for FAP, you can apply to fourteen for free. Look into that even if you don't think yo qualify.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using SDN Mobile
 
Yeah, like others have said, it's one of the most awkward and painful experiences to be waiting and waiting. Enjoy some of the things that are in your control, like enjoying undergrad and doing well in classes.
 
I'm admittedly a little nervous about the prospect of signing up for thousands of dollars of credit card debt with no forseable income to pay it back with for a few years...nearly a decade in fact. Do people ever just use some of their med school loans to pay off credit cards?
 
It just cannot be overstated how UTTERLY PAINFUL all the waiting was. It seems like you lose more and more control over your application as the cycle moves on. You know when the AMCAS is going to open so you can fill it out, you know when you can submit it, you kind of know when its going to be verified, you can guess when the secondaries are going to come... and then it all goes to crap. Sitting there checking my email multiple times an hour for days...weeks... months... now that was truly painful. All while waiting for interview invites that may come any second, or may never come. Oh gawd...:scared: the painful memories...


So much this.

If applying to med school has taught me anything, its how to be patient. I'm a reapplicant and stressed out way to much the first time around applying, and took the second time much more nonchalantly. Why are you following school threads when you're not even applying until summer of 2014? Its good to be informed about the process, hence SDN, but I'd say that's overkill. Slow down and enjoy undergrad OP.

First its waiting for MCAT scores to come back, then waiting for LORs, then its waiting to apply, then its on application completion emails, then interview invites (that may or may not come), then interview days, then post-interview decisions, then you wait to maybe get off a waitlist, and then you wait for med school to start. If you spend all of this time anxiously waiting, you wont enjoy your life and all free time you have before med school until its too late and your free time disappears because of med school (or so I hear).
 
I'm admittedly a little nervous about the prospect of signing up for thousands of dollars of credit card debt with no forseable income to pay it back with for a few years...nearly a decade in fact. Do people ever just use some of their med school loans to pay off credit cards?

YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS IT'S AGAINST THE LAW.

🙄😎🙄😎
 
So I've been keeping up with all the awesome school specific threads and have found myself becoming truly envious of all these awesome applicants getting awesome offers. Realized I'm beginning to get super duper neurotic like most people on SDN and can't wait to have my application ready to apply already!! Problem is I have a-whole-nother cycle to go before I even apply.

Anyone else feel this crazy anxiety and excitement to just be done with undergrad already and apply for Med school?! The not knowing what my future does and doesn't hold is starting to drive me crazy haha, and I'm trying to just focus on one day at a time, but it isn't easy! Feel free to share your thoughts, or what you do to stay in the now and not worry about the future. 😀

I know what you're feeling, dude. I don't apply until next year and i even had a dream last night that i got multiple interview invites in the mail at once last night....
 
Pre-applying anxiety --> Getting app together anxiety --> getting verified anxiety --> receiving secondaries anxiety--> getting secondaries finished anxiety --> getting interview invites anxiety --> preparing for interviews anxiety --> waiting for decisions anxiety --> waiting for waitlist movement anxiety --> hoping for scholarship anxiety --> selecting only one school anxiety --> waiting for med school to start anxiety --> you're finally in medical school!!! --> medical school anxiety
 
Pre-applying anxiety --> Getting app together anxiety --> getting verified anxiety --> receiving secondaries anxiety--> getting secondaries finished anxiety --> getting interview invites anxiety --> preparing for interviews anxiety --> waiting for decisions anxiety --> waiting for waitlist movement anxiety --> hoping for scholarship anxiety --> selecting only one school anxiety --> waiting for med school to start anxiety --> you're finally in medical school!!! --> medical school anxiety

So. Much. of. This.
 
Pre-applying anxiety --> Getting app together anxiety --> getting verified anxiety --> receiving secondaries anxiety--> getting secondaries finished anxiety --> getting interview invites anxiety --> preparing for interviews anxiety --> waiting for decisions anxiety --> waiting for waitlist movement anxiety --> hoping for scholarship anxiety --> selecting only one school anxiety --> waiting for med school to start anxiety --> you're finally in medical school!!! --> medical school anxiety

Pretty much endless anxiety. On the plus side, though, all of that anxiety makes victories that much more enjoyable (and, unfortunately, losses that much more heartbreaking).
 
I know what you're feeling, dude. I don't apply until next year and i even had a dream last night that i got multiple interview invites in the mail at once last night....

haha I been there man. it's definitely not easy. waiting through another whole cycle before even applying is going to be brutal...

Hearing the rest of your perspectives is interesting for sure. it's always cool hearing from people who've lived it. I guess our true anxiety won't end until residency ends, and maybe not even after that haha. at least you'll have an idea of your future at that point though, drifting through the unknown is no fun at all.
 
Pretty much endless anxiety. On the plus side, though, all of that anxiety makes victories that much more enjoyable (and, unfortunately, losses that much more heartbreaking).

your quote at the end there is pretty deep and definitely rings true. most people only ever mention the former part, takes a realist to mention the latter.
 
Top