Reapplying but to different schools

[mcdonaldssprite]

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I applied to medical school 2 years ago and am planning to reapply for the 2022 cycle. The schools I am applying to in the new cycle are mostly schools I did not apply to in the first round. Should I avoid schools I applied to already? Will they judge my application more harshly than the others?

 

[deleted1102547]

I applied to medical school 2 years ago and am planning to reapply for the 2022 cycle. The schools I am applying to in the new cycle are mostly schools I did not apply to in the first round. Should I avoid schools I applied to already? Will they judge my application more harshly than the others?

Most schools do consider your status as a reapplicant and it is generally a bit harder to get in as a reapplicant. Some schools will specifically ask you how you've improved your application since the first time you applied. The idea behind it is that they want to know why they should consider you for the upcoming class if you weren't competitive enough for previous classes. At some schools, that could mean that reapplicants are held to a higher standard than first-time applicants. That being said, being a reapplicant shouldn't really hurt your chances if you've worked to improve the shortfalls in your application. Since you're doing two gap years, that should be a lot of time to improve your application and competitiveness.

Since you obviously applied to schools you were interested in the first time, I would not recommend avoiding those schools just because you applied to them before. If you are still interested in those schools, you should still apply. Just make sure that the primary reason you didn't get accepted was that all of those schools were too competitive. As an extreme example, if you applied with a 3.3/505 and selected only top-tier schools, you wouldn't get accepted. As long as you are competitive for the schools you applied to before, there is no reason to not apply to them again. You can gauge your competitiveness by comparing your GPA/MCAT on MSAR, LizzyM, WedgeDawg WARS, and a few other factors.

 

[mcdonaldssprite]

Will the schools I have not applied to already know that I am a reapplicant?

Also the last time I applied I had no idea what I was doing and my motivations for pursuing medicine have completely changed--thus so has my school choice. I want to know whether these new schools will know I am a reapplicant and be more stringent on my application.

 

[deleted1102547]

Will the schools I have not applied to already know that I am a reapplicant?

Also the last time I applied I had no idea what I was doing and my motivations for pursuing medicine have completely changed--thus so has my school choice. I want to know whether these new schools will know I am a reapplicant and be more stringent on my application.

AMCAS, TMDSAS, and AACOMAS don't even classify you as a reapplicant at schools that you never sent an application to. For example, let's say you applied to School A and School B in 2019. If you applied to Schools A, B, and C in 2021, you would be a reapplicant at Schools A and B but not at School C. A very small number of schools may ask where else you have previously applied (like in TMDSAS), so they would know that you were a reapplicant, but most schools would not unless you had previously applied there.

The new schools will not know you're a reapplicant (unless you disclose it in your TMDSAS primary or within their secondary applications). Most will not be more stringent with your application since most will not even know you are a reapplicant.

 

[mcdonaldssprite]

Thank you!!

 

[LindaAccepted]

I applied to medical school 2 years ago and am planning to reapply for the 2022 cycle. The schools I am applying to in the new cycle are mostly schools I did not apply to in the first round. Should I avoid schools I applied to already? Will they judge my application more harshly than the others?

A significant portion of medical school students were accepted as reapplicants. As long as they address weaknesses in their application -- be they applying to the wrong programs or less than stellar qualifications -- schools don't "hold it against them" that they are reapplicants. Some actually like to see the commitment and the additional year of experience.

If you feel you are a competitive candidate for a school and have improved your qualifications, don't let reapplicant status stop you from applying.

 

[chzsux]

I applied to medical school 2 years ago and am planning to reapply for the 2022 cycle. The schools I am applying to in the new cycle are mostly schools I did not apply to in the first round. Should I avoid schools I applied to already? Will they judge my application more harshly than the others?

Feel like most of the advice and info about reapplicants is pretty good so I'll just chime in with a bit of anecdotal advice.

I applied last year, didn't get in. This year, I'm applying again after really grinding out clinical hours (which was my main weakness) and although I have been rejected pre-II from a school that I interviewed with last year, I also had an early September interview this cycle from a school that rejected me pre-II last cycle. So in the end, you can't really worry too much about these things. Just try your best to improve.

 

[mcdonaldssprite]

Feel like most of the advice and info about reapplicants is pretty good so I'll just chime in with a bit of anecdotal advice.

I applied last year, didn't get in. This year, I'm applying again after really grinding out clinical hours (which was my main weakness) and although I have been rejected pre-II from a school that I interviewed with last year, I also had an early September interview this cycle from a school that rejected me pre-II last cycle. So in the end, you can't really worry too much about these things. Just try your best to improve.

Wow, super inciteful, thank you! Best of luck this round!!