I am in a bit of a tricky situation so am looking for insight into how an admittedly risky application strategy could affect me down the road. My current plan is to apply to only two schools this coming June. To make matters worse, those two schools are Stanford and UCSF. If I don’t get in, I will wait 2 additional years before I can apply to med school again, this time more broadly. My alternative is to not apply to UCSF or Stanford at all, wait a few years until we’re moving out of the Bay Area, and apply broadly in my first application cycle (to avoid the stigma of being a re-applicant). If I can have the chance to apply to Stanford and UCSF this coming cycle without hurting my chances at future cycles, I’d like to take it.
As a bit of background on why I’m facing this dilemma, my fiancé has a joint postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford and a UC. He started the 4 year fellowship this past September after finishing his PhD, so we moved to CA from the east coast. I don’t want him to give up his dream job (and even if I did, quitting the fellowship would put his immigration status and his future career at risk). We’ve discussed living apart the first few years of our marriage so he could stay at Stanford and I could go to med school elsewhere, but we’ve decided it’s not a good option. Outside of the fact that he is a major part of my support system and I want to live with him, living apart after our August wedding could cause immigration officials to question the legitimacy of our marriage, again putting his immigration status at risk. We’re not willing to take that chance, so for the next few years I will need to stay in the Bay Area. If I am lucky enough to get into med school here, he has career options to extend his stay in the Bay Area. If not, we will leave the area when his fellowship is done so I can apply to med school elsewhere.
Ideally, I will apply this summer to Stanford and UCSF, both in commuting distance of our current location. I also have considered Touro California, but it’s not the best fit for a number of reasons, and I also worry about being less competitive for residency as a DO. If Touro was my only option to become a doctor, I would definitely take it, but I do have the option to apply broadly to additional med schools in a few years.
I know applying to only two schools is a bad application strategy. While I’d love to attend UCSF or Stanford, given the competitiveness I am certainly not counting on an acceptance from either. Given that, my main question is how much will being a re-applicant hurt me in future cycles? In a future cycle (a few years down the road if this doesn’t work out), I would be applying broadly to a completely different set of schools. In other words, I would be a re-applicant generally, but not a re-applicant to any particular school. I worry about the stigma that could come with being a high stat re-applicant, and I am wondering if this downside overshadows the potential opportunity to start med school earlier, at one of my dream schools no less, if this risky application strategy pays off.
Outside of my ill-advised school list, I think I am a strong non-traditional applicant who will bring a unique perspective to my med school class.
(Edited to remove personally identifying information.)
As a bit of background on why I’m facing this dilemma, my fiancé has a joint postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford and a UC. He started the 4 year fellowship this past September after finishing his PhD, so we moved to CA from the east coast. I don’t want him to give up his dream job (and even if I did, quitting the fellowship would put his immigration status and his future career at risk). We’ve discussed living apart the first few years of our marriage so he could stay at Stanford and I could go to med school elsewhere, but we’ve decided it’s not a good option. Outside of the fact that he is a major part of my support system and I want to live with him, living apart after our August wedding could cause immigration officials to question the legitimacy of our marriage, again putting his immigration status at risk. We’re not willing to take that chance, so for the next few years I will need to stay in the Bay Area. If I am lucky enough to get into med school here, he has career options to extend his stay in the Bay Area. If not, we will leave the area when his fellowship is done so I can apply to med school elsewhere.
Ideally, I will apply this summer to Stanford and UCSF, both in commuting distance of our current location. I also have considered Touro California, but it’s not the best fit for a number of reasons, and I also worry about being less competitive for residency as a DO. If Touro was my only option to become a doctor, I would definitely take it, but I do have the option to apply broadly to additional med schools in a few years.
I know applying to only two schools is a bad application strategy. While I’d love to attend UCSF or Stanford, given the competitiveness I am certainly not counting on an acceptance from either. Given that, my main question is how much will being a re-applicant hurt me in future cycles? In a future cycle (a few years down the road if this doesn’t work out), I would be applying broadly to a completely different set of schools. In other words, I would be a re-applicant generally, but not a re-applicant to any particular school. I worry about the stigma that could come with being a high stat re-applicant, and I am wondering if this downside overshadows the potential opportunity to start med school earlier, at one of my dream schools no less, if this risky application strategy pays off.
Outside of my ill-advised school list, I think I am a strong non-traditional applicant who will bring a unique perspective to my med school class.
(Edited to remove personally identifying information.)
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