Reapplying after rejecting acceptance

[TheMman]

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Long story short I got accepted at my in-province Canadian med school two years ago and rejected to pursue a computer science (CS) Masters degree at a prestigious Canadian school with prestigious scholarships (couldn't say no to all that). Now that I'm reaching the end of the program I want to go back to pursue my original goal, medicine.

Actually doing CS has given me a better perspective on medicine. While I immensely enjoy the technicality of my research, I feel it has no impact, and lacks emotional / social connections. Work similar to mine is used to computationally model blood flow, so maybe what I've studied might be useful in a medical research area.

Given that I'm not far from being able to get a solid CS job there isn't any financial incentive with the number of years of earning potential lost and the strong salaries in CS for graduates from my school. Medicine has become an addiction, one that I've been trying to fight, but has managed to win, even against a promising CS career.

MCAT is 99th percentile, GPA is 4.46 / 4.5. I have some rural background (work + living) too which helps with Canadian schools. Given that I've done something useful in the last couple years and I'm a strong applicant do you think I would have a chance? Or would rejecting an acceptance be a huge red flag?

 

[bedizen]

it's a red flag - they'll see that you turned the acceptance down

 

[Blanky]

(couldn't say no to all that).

LOL

 

[benjamin94559]

You're probably SOL for canadian schools but I dont think anyone would know you turned down an acceptance if you applied to US schools.

 

[TheMman]

Well, they said the selection committee won't know if you applied previously. The selection process is very mathematical, just a weighted score based on MCAT, GPA, interview score plus a bonus if you have aboriginal or rural attributes. There is no personal statement / essay to write. The interview is done in many small segments (MMI) with people that don't know you at all (ie. no knowledge on past acceptances). The decision is made on the algorithm I mentioned above. Of course I guess someone could override this, but it would be against their own policies. There is no unified admissions process / database across the whole country, so worse case scenario only one school is not an option.

Good advice on applying to the States, although I'd optimally want to practice in Canada, it could still be done with some additional exams.

Worse case scenario I become a computer scientist, make a decent income and not be a student / resident for the next decade. I'd be working to live, instead of living to work, but hey, that's what most people do. Maybe I could get involved with health sciences and write useful code for equipment such as MRI, CT, PET etc. but I'd be stuck in front of a computer the majority of everyday, a big downside for me.