Medical Should I turn down an acceptance?

[Goro]

Hello all,

So the cycle is coming to a close and I only ended up on 2 waitlists. I wasn't really informed on exactly when I would hear back from each school about my status, but I was blessed with a call today from one of the schools, the UCFCOM. Unfortunately, I had essentially made my mind up about just taking a gap year, and did not really want to go to the UCFCOM in the first place. Aaaaand here's the problem, everything I have read and what several friends have told me is that turning down a medical school acceptance is a sin that could result in being blackballed from future acceptances. I don't want to go to UCFCOM, but I also plan on re-applying!

Here is my reasoning. I have a 3.87 GPA and 521 MCAT, extensive clinic volunteering with the underserved (with leadership), extra-curricular leadership, 2+ years of research experience (and just joined another lab for the upcoming year), and speak 3 languages. Thus, I felt that going into this cycle I had a decent chance of going to a T50 or even T20 med school. That didn't happen, so I began making arrangements for a gap year, not thinking I would get off any waitlists. After meeting with an admissions officer from my university for nearly an hour, I identified specific areas in my application to work on for the next cycle, most of which had to do with how I explained my activities and personal statement, and not with my actual resume. I feel that I am qualified (not entitled, please don't get me wrong, I just feel I'm up for the rigor and would fit in better) for a top program, where I can achieve the most of my potential and grow as an individual. It simply doesn't sit well with me that I should be obligated to take an acceptance I don't want, considering I have the qualifications for a much better program, and the program I was accepted to is behind the airport of my swampy hometown of Orlando. Also, I know this shouldn't be a deciding factor, but I'd rather not live in Lake Nona for 4 years. I simply cannot see myself being happy there, even after spending my undergraduate years in Gainesville.

Please give me your thoughts. If I'm an entitled you-know-what, tell me. If I'm somewhat justified, let me know if I'm wrong about the blackballing thing, especially considering how much more competitive this year's application cycle was. I know that UF had a 21% increase in applications and 63% of their class was non-traditional! It seems to me that with this in mind no one should be forced to settle. If I can spend a year working on myself and focusing full-time on crafting the best application possible, will I be screwed from the outset by turning down this waitlist acceptance?

The single worst mistake and applicant to medical school can make is to turn down there only acceptance.
I'm going to be blunt, you're not God's gift to Medicine. Take the acceptance and run

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[GoSpursGo]

There are a few things to unpack here.

First, there is a reason even highly-qualified applicants apply to "safety" schools like yourself. There are more highly-qualified applicants than there are seats at "top" programs, so inevitably there will be applicants who don't get into the programs that they would think they would get based on their stats. In addition to your stats, it sounds like you have all the other boxes checked on your app, which honestly begs the question of why you only got two interviews. Unless you applied late or did not apply broadly to higher-tier programs, there is a gap between where you perceive yourself to be and where you actually are from a competitive standpoint.

With that in mind, the question you need to ask yourself is not "am I good enough to get into a better program," but rather, "what will be different about my application this year that will result in a different outcome?" It's great that you came up with a plan for your gap year. Unfortunately, none of that is going to be reflected in time for your re-app, and "projected" activities are meaningless. You said yourself that the changes really don't have to do with your resume but are more in the details of how they are explained--I'm sorry, no matter how you dress up your experiences by explaining them differently, I really don't think you should expect that re-wording your app is going to move the needle dramatically. That's a bad plan. Further, clearly you wound up on the WL at these schools... to put it delicately, you need to at least consider whether you have a problem with your interview, and this could continue to hinder you going forward.

Finally, the law of averages says that with your stats, you will probably eventually get in again *somewhere*. But whether that would be this coming year, or if that would take another year or two, nobody could say. And nobody could say whether you would ever wind up in a T50/T20 school or if you would still be at a similar level school. Every year you don't go to school is a year of attending salary that you're turning down for speculative benefit. And ultimately, med school is only 4 years. If you really want to leave Orlando, go somewhere else for residency and practice.

To me, the choice would be obvious. It isn't a sin to turn down an acceptance, but I do think it would be a mistake.

Final note, and something to keep in mind for residency apps: do not apply to "safety" programs if you would honestly rather re-apply entirely over attending them.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

@Goro I know I am worthless and no more deserving than any other applicant. I am not totally prepared to turn down the acceptance, I just believe that over the past year I have significantly improved my application and would benefit more from leveraging my improved application. Running with the acceptance and making the best of it is definitely a safe and humble option with which I still can succeed, but if I can realistically do better then why not? If doing better is really such a pipe dream, then my decision would be easy.

@GoSpursGo Thank you for the detailed response, you raised some good points, especially regarding turning down a sure thing for speculative benefit–that's something I am very occupied with. I would be much worse off with no acceptances next year than having somewhat not met my expectations going to UCFCOM. Additionally, I was admittedly underprepared for interviews, which is something I would not allow to happen this time around.

Although I take your advice seriously, there is more that I am considering. I mentioned that I was told that I just needed to rework my essays and such, but really I left some things out. The primary issue pointed out to me with my application was my lack of depth in my essays (explaining how I grew and why) and the lack of duration in my most significant experiences. Over the past year, I accrued an additional 200 hours in my clinic for the underserved and gained 2 advisory roles (I applied with only 40 and listed it as a most significant experience), accrued an additional 140 hours of research with an upcoming publication, and joined an additional research lab that I am set to begin next week. Thus, I feel like my application has improved in the areas in which it was lacking the first time around; although I recognize that this could still not be enough to get me where I would like to go.

TO ANYONE STILL READING! I have read elsewhere that declining a med school acceptance will screw you for next year's application cycle from ALL schools. Is this true?

Would take the acceptance. It's an MD school. It will get you to where you want to go.

 

[GoSpursGo]

But here is the thing about the bolded--YOU DON'T KNOW if you can realistically do better. There is a reason you were accepted at this school and did not get interviews at better schools. And more important, are you SURE that a T50 school in a year is better than UCF this year? What if it takes you 2 or even 3 years to get there? What if it's "only" a T75 school? You're risking a clear good thing for, again, speculative benefit.

Nothing you listed sounds like it would be transformative in your application. Frankly, a lot of your plan seems to boil down to "I'm going to do a better job of telling my story." I generally do not buy that the reason you didn't get interviews is because your essays "lack depth"--unless you are just awful at writing, your essays aren't going to get you screened out of anywhere. The experience is the experience, and dressing it up with nicer language isn't going to change it. Adding some hours to some meaningful activities is good, but it's a major leap to think that it will suddenly get you into T20 territory. Again, best of luck to you if you do it, but I think you are being very wishful in your thinking.

Turning down this acceptance is not going to screw you from ALL schools, but it will definitely burn the bridge with this school for no good reason.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I am honestly concerned with the location more than anything here. It's a letdown to have to spend 4 years in the swamp of my hometown, but if I get my MD I suppose it would be worth it. I understand that after getting the MD I can take my career where I please.

Exactly. I can promise you there are schools in worse locations.

 

[lord999]

But here is the thing about the bolded--YOU DON'T KNOW if you can realistically do better. There is a reason you were accepted at this school and did not get interviews at better schools. And more important, are you SURE that a T50 school in a year is better than UCF this year? What if it takes you 2 or even 3 years to get there? What if it's "only" a T75 school? You're risking a clear good thing for, again, speculative benefit.

Nothing you listed sounds like it would be transformative in your application. Frankly, a lot of your plan seems to boil down to "I'm going to do a better job of telling my story." I generally do not buy that the reason you didn't get interviews is because your essays "lack depth"--unless you are just awful at writing, your essays aren't going to get you screened out of anywhere. The experience is the experience, and dressing it up with nicer language isn't going to change it. Adding some hours to some meaningful activities is good, but it's a major leap to think that it will suddenly get you into T20 territory. Again, best of luck to you if you do it, but I think you are being very wishful in your thinking.

Turning down this acceptance is not going to screw you from ALL schools, but it will definitely burn the bridge with this school for no good reason.

Absolutely agree. And there's the problem question in next year's application whether you have accepted or matriculated at another medical school which short of "I could not enter for major personal or familial reasons" is quite a red flag.

 

[MusicDOc124]

The issue here is that whatever made your application better is diminished by a declined acceptance without good reason. Good reason as loosely defined by the same reasons people would typically defer - military service, illness in self or family, other extenuating circumstance. You will burn this bridge, which may not matter to you if you don't want to go there, but that circles back to the first sentence here - your improvements are diminished by this in the absence of what I mentioned, leaving you with no more of a possibility of getting in to another school. This is also your only acceptance, meaning even the other places you applied didn't bite. Declining this acceptance when you obviously wanted to go here enough to apply in the first place demonstrates poor judgment and/or lack of foresight if you didn't want to go there with your application and bring up more questions than answers.

Do you want to be a doctor? If yes, that is or answer for "should I go there?" too. If not, then feel free to risk the application, but one in the hand far beats 2 in the bush.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I feel like there is something else going on with your application if you got those scores and only got two interviews. Maybe you applied too top-heavy?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I definitely applied too top-heavy. Unfortunately, I did not find this site until later in the application season and used my WARS score for guidance. Here was my list, please let me know if this changes anything like if applying to other mid-tier schools could be a possibility.
UF
UCF
USF
Miami
Emory
Colorado
UCSF
UCSD
Harvard
Yale
Colombia
NYU
Michigan
Baylor
Ohio State
UIC
UChicago
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Case Western
Mt. Sinai
Cornell
Pitt
USC
WashU

You were extremely top-heavy. You could certainly apply more broadly, but again, if you're just applying to "mid-tier" schools, then what is the point of reapplying at all? A generic mid-tier school cannot possibly be worth a year of your life to reapply just because you're tired of Orlando.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Agree with the above. You kinda shot your shot at the top tiers this time around. I can't imagine there being some huge difference next year. If you are gonna apply to mid-tiers, I really don't think the extra year is worth it IMO. Ultimately, this is obviously your decision. Just gotta weigh the options.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Don't get buyers remorse now. You have an acceptance so take it! Don't be so arrogant that you will jeopardize your dreams. Things find a way of working out.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Thank you everyone for your responses! I’ve calmed my ego down and am beyond excited at the prospect of going to UCF after speaking to a few local docs and reading over their website. Definitely not turning it down unless there’s another option. Still waiting on USF, but I’m happy to have gotten in at all and am preparing a plan for next year to target a specialty or two.

Very good. Have a great career!