Reapplying after rejecting DO

[borther]

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Hi all, I know already this title is a huge red flag, but at this point, I cannot find similar advice from anyone else.

To preface, I am a Texas resident who applied in the 2024-2025 cycle, and my stats were a 4.0 GPA and a 515 MCAT score. At the time I was applying, I had 96 hrs of research, 214 hrs of medical experience (all volunteer), 50 hrs of non-medical volunteering, and >100 hrs of shadowing. I submitted my primary mid-July, and finished my secondaries around the end of August/beginning of September. I applied to TMDSAS, AMCAS, and AACOMAS. From the cycle, I got 4 IIs (3 DOs and 1 MD), and I only got 1 A (DO).

However, that 1 DO acceptance was from KansasCOM.

Initially, I was eager to go, but after reading more about the school online, I saw major red flags. Horrible administration changes, student dismissals, students having to repeat a year, low pass rates, and even a rumor about a student committing suicide. After talking with someone online about their experience with the school, it really made me question whether I should go there and my future afterward. The fact that the tuition was 60,000 for a school that wasn't even fully accredited...I decided to recline my acceptance. I truly regret not doing my due research and looking more deeply into the school before applying.

Right now, I am preparing to apply to this current 2026-2027 cycle, aiming for 2 gap years. I believe the 2 main reasons I did poorly in the past cycle were: 1) late submission date, 2) poor writing, and 3) lack of experience (both medical and non-medical).

I truly believe that my submission date was the primary reason I didn't get many interviews, as the 1 MD interview I received was from LongSOM, a school that doesn't have any secondaries.

I decided to take 2 gap years, as by the time I finally rejected the offer, it was summer. I naively thought that I would get off the waitlist for Long, but that offer never came. I did not feel prepared to apply for that cycle, so I aimed for 2 gap years. Of course, over the past year, I have bolstered my extracurriculars, doing preclinical research at MD Anderson and working part-time as an EMT (along with volunteering in my hometown).

Writing this post, I realize I should have asked about this years ago when it happened, but better to ask now than to live with regrets. Now, for the real question I wanted to ask for this post: in TMDSAS, there is a section for reapplicants who have had previous acceptances, and it asks for a short description of why they didn't attend. What are some things I should avoid talking about when writing my explanation for this? Should I just write truthfully, talking about the horrible things I read about KansasCOM that made me change my mind? I haven't seen any example answers to this prompt online, so I am really stuck on what a proper response would be. There's always the choice to not mention the acceptance at all, but I don't think I could really live with that in the back of my mind.

I understand that I really shot myself in the foot applying for a school I really shouldn't have, in hindsight. But now that it's time to apply for the cycle, am I just ****ed? Rereading all these threads saying that rejecting a school gets you blacklisted and marks you as a red flag makes me feel like I just have extremely low chances of acceptance now. I would appreciate advice from anyone who was in a similar situation to mine.

 

[Med Ed]

Right now, I am preparing to apply to this current 2026-2027 cycle, aiming for 2 gap years. I believe the 2 main reasons I did poorly in the past cycle were: 1) late submission date, 2) poor writing, and 3) lack of experience (both medical and non-medical).

I truly believe that my submission date was the primary reason I didn't get many interviews, as the 1 MD interview I received was from LongSOM, a school that doesn't have any secondaries.

No, it was your lack of experiences. You thought you would coast in on your metrics, but your low-service/low-research profile doesn't match well with any of the Texas schools. Don't get me wrong, you're writing may have been a major issue, as well. Same for your interview skills, considering that your 4.0/515 still didn't get you in at two DO schools.

Writing this post, I realize I should have asked about this years ago when it happened, but better to ask now than to live with regrets. Now, for the real question I wanted to ask for this post: in TMDSAS, there is a section for reapplicants who have had previous acceptances, and it asks for a short description of why they didn't attend. What are some things I should avoid talking about when writing my explanation for this? Should I just write truthfully, talking about the horrible things I read about KansasCOM that made me change my mind? I haven't seen any example answers to this prompt online, so I am really stuck on what a proper response would be. There's always the choice to not mention the acceptance at all, but I don't think I could really live with that in the back of my mind.

Indeed, you need to answer the question, but referencing a bunch of anonymous online hearsay probably isn't the best course. Keep the focus on yourself and not on KansasCOM. Correct me if I am wrong, but the 2024-2025 cycle was humbling for you, no? You rode in with high hopes and assembled three separate applications, which is a lot of work. When the dust settled you had one acceptance to a brand new school far from home with a crippling cost of attendance. At the end of the day it's easy to add schools with a few clicks of a mouse. It's much harder to stare down the barrel of matriculating and signing the promissory note for the massive amount of debt you will be taking on.

So you opted to make an honest appraisal of your poor cycle results and invest the time in making yourself a better candidate. And that's what you are doing, between research, EMT work, and more volunteering. At your age a couple of years will add greatly to your maturity level, as well. It's not unreasonable to want to stay in your home state and attend a significantly cheaper and more established school.

 

[Goro]

You made the right choice.

Now do as the wise Med Ed says, improve your application and then you should be fine for the Texas MD schools.

Especially, engage in service to others less fortunate than yourself.

 

[borther]

Thank you all for the replies, it’s relieving to hear that my decision was not the worst.

Indeed, you need to answer the question, but referencing a bunch of anonymous online hearsay probably isn't the best course. Keep the focus on yourself and not on KansasCOM. Correct me if I am wrong, but the 2024-2025 cycle was humbling for you, no? You rode in with high hopes and assembled three separate applications, which is a lot of work. When the dust settled you had one acceptance to a brand new school far from home with a crippling cost of attendance. At the end of the day it's easy to add schools with a few clicks of a mouse. It's much harder to stare down the barrel of matriculating and signing the promissory note for the massive amount of debt you will be taking on.

So you opted to make an honest appraisal of your poor cycle results and invest the time in making yourself a better candidate. And that's what you are doing, between research, EMT work, and more volunteering. At your age a couple of years will add greatly to your maturity level, as well. It's not unreasonable to want to stay in your home state and attend a significantly cheaper and more established school.

It’s as you said; I applied with high hopes and got humbled. So in your opinion it would’ve best if I reframe my answer to the question more as that I wanted to better myself as an applicant rather than focus on the faults of the school? What would be your advise writing a response that doesn’t sound arrogant?

 

[Med Ed]

It’s as you said; I applied with high hopes and got humbled. So in your opinion it would’ve best if I reframe my answer to the question more as that I wanted to better myself as an applicant rather than focus on the faults of the school? What would be your advise writing a response that doesn’t sound arrogant?

The only way to come off as arrogant is if you frame it like you didn't get what you deserve. In fact you got exactly what you deserved: a whole string of R's.

The essential message of your response is this: "The message conveyed by my first application cycle was clear: I was not actually ready to start medical school." With two gap years you can easily demonstrate how you have grown past your youthful naïveté.

I doubt that KansasCOM was super excited by your application, but they viewed you as someone who would likely pass Step 1 on the first try without a lot of uncertainty and hand-holding.

 

[Goro]

Thank you all for the replies, it’s relieving to hear that my decision was not the worst.

It’s as you said; I applied with high hopes and got humbled. So in your opinion it would’ve best if I reframe my answer to the question more as that I wanted to better myself as an applicant rather than focus on the faults of the school? What would be your advise writing a response that doesn’t sound arrogant?

You need to keep in mind that medical schools do not communicate with each other as to who has been accepted elsewhere.

There are some secondary prompts that may ask have you been accepted somewhere else ( my school is one that does not.)

In that case simply tell the truth about your reservations of KS com.

 

[Dexterslab42]

I applied to AMCAS and TMDSAS schools with a prior acceptance and am happy to share my experience.

The idea of a blacklist for applicants with prior acceptances is mythical. I too was scared by these rumors, but the truth is there just aren't many applicants who turn down an acceptance, so there isn't much good information out there. It was experts like those on the SDN forums and other adcom members I spoke with that helped me feel less stressed about this and hopefully I can do that for you too.

As you mentioned, you will have to report this to TMDSAS schools, and I wholeheartedly agree with the way Med Ed has advised you to talk about your prior acceptance.

For AMCAS, you won't have to report your prior acceptance and very few schools ask about them in secondaries (the only school I applied to that did was Einstein).

In terms of how my cycle turned out, I got interviews at 2/6 TMDSAS schools I applied to and was WLed at both (though I guess I could still get off the WL.) Keep in mind I was an OOS applicant and they can only take 10% of their class from OOS. I had a good bit of success with AMCAS schools and actually got in to both of the schools that accepted me before.

Wishing you the best this cycle!