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Greetings!
So, it’s late November. And around these parts, this is right around the time where people start to get pretty despondent about not having received an interview invite yet. As you may know, I was in this exact position last year. I’ve gotten a decent amount of messages on SDN and even more in real life about how I handled this. So this is essentially an abridged summary of the advice I got throughout the process, and some things that I learned along the way.
1. Don’t panic.
Believe me, I know how you feel, and it's not pleasant. The looming uncertainty about your future may have you on edge, and the deafening silence from the medical schools certainly does not help. But the war is far from over. Interviews will still be sent out well into the spring.
That being said:
2. Identify the problem.
Remember that there are no absolutes in this process. You can’t say, “I have X GPA, Y, MCAT, and Z extracurriculars, therefore I have a good application.” It’s all relative and it’s all contextual. What might be gold at one school is zinc at another.
Start with the numbers. Are your stats just simply not competitive in general? Or are they not competitive within the context of your application? You might not think that somebody with a 3.9 GPA and a 90th percentile MCAT will have an issue, until you realize that they only applied to schools in the “Top 20.” (I know this person).
Think about your extracurriculars. Have you immersed yourself in experiences that demonstrate that you have proven to yourself that you want to be a doctor? Have you actually been around sick people for a significant amount of time? I know somebody with scores that any pre-med student would kill for, but all of his extracurriculars are related to engineering. He hasn’t had a whole lot of success. Of course, your problem could also be about context. Maybe you have seven publications but only applied to schools with a high priority on community service. Or maybe you only applied to research institutions but haven’t done a lick of research in your life.
Is it just about your application? Maybe you’ve done absolutely everything right, selected schools that are a perfect match for you, but your personal statement reads like a “Materials and Methods” section. I’ve met this person too.
Perhaps you’re at a total loss. Guess what? Lots of medical schools let you talk to an expert about why you weren’t accepted—use this resource to your advantage!
3. Make a plan to fix the problem.
If it’s just a matter of your essays being off or your school list being a bad match for your application, you’ve got yourself a pretty easy fix. If your GPA is too low, start looking into post-bacc programs or the like. If your MCAT is too low, start thinking about retaking it. If you are lacking in healthcare experience, there is a whole world wide open to you in a great many different fields. A college graduate can easily become a scribe, phlebotomist, EMT, CNA, etc. Do this! The best part? This solves that nagging feeling you have about the uncertainty of your future. Lining up a job post-graduation did wonders for me. A good friend of mine is currently doing a special masters program. There are very few things that are unfixable. Some just might take more time than others.
4. Keep doing the work!
Some of the most rewarding and wonderful things that I did in college were things that I did after I sent in my application, and I sent this stuff in to every school that would accept updates. Did it help me? I don’t know. But it certainly didn’t hurt. Plus, if that miracle interview invite does come in January, you’re going to want to talk about what you’ve been up to for the past few months. And if you have to reapply, you’re going to want to demonstrate to the schools that you have improved your application and never stopped “embracing the target,” as Joe Maddon would say. Even if it seems insignificant, every single little thing that you do to shift the odds ever-so-slightly in your favor will ultimately add up to something that matters.
5. Don’t despair.
Or do, for a little bit. Because this sucks. And despite the best efforts of your friends and family, it will continue to suck. But there is a lot of good that comes with the bad, even if you can’t recognize it until the whole thing is over, and this is not the time to sulk. Take it from someone who spent a whole lot of his senior year worrying and wallowing in the ugliness of this process: it’s not worth it. The medical schools aren’t going anywhere and neither are you. And this will make you a better medical student.
I wish all of you the very best of luck!
So, it’s late November. And around these parts, this is right around the time where people start to get pretty despondent about not having received an interview invite yet. As you may know, I was in this exact position last year. I’ve gotten a decent amount of messages on SDN and even more in real life about how I handled this. So this is essentially an abridged summary of the advice I got throughout the process, and some things that I learned along the way.
1. Don’t panic.
Believe me, I know how you feel, and it's not pleasant. The looming uncertainty about your future may have you on edge, and the deafening silence from the medical schools certainly does not help. But the war is far from over. Interviews will still be sent out well into the spring.
That being said:
2. Identify the problem.
Remember that there are no absolutes in this process. You can’t say, “I have X GPA, Y, MCAT, and Z extracurriculars, therefore I have a good application.” It’s all relative and it’s all contextual. What might be gold at one school is zinc at another.
Start with the numbers. Are your stats just simply not competitive in general? Or are they not competitive within the context of your application? You might not think that somebody with a 3.9 GPA and a 90th percentile MCAT will have an issue, until you realize that they only applied to schools in the “Top 20.” (I know this person).
Think about your extracurriculars. Have you immersed yourself in experiences that demonstrate that you have proven to yourself that you want to be a doctor? Have you actually been around sick people for a significant amount of time? I know somebody with scores that any pre-med student would kill for, but all of his extracurriculars are related to engineering. He hasn’t had a whole lot of success. Of course, your problem could also be about context. Maybe you have seven publications but only applied to schools with a high priority on community service. Or maybe you only applied to research institutions but haven’t done a lick of research in your life.
Is it just about your application? Maybe you’ve done absolutely everything right, selected schools that are a perfect match for you, but your personal statement reads like a “Materials and Methods” section. I’ve met this person too.
Perhaps you’re at a total loss. Guess what? Lots of medical schools let you talk to an expert about why you weren’t accepted—use this resource to your advantage!
3. Make a plan to fix the problem.
If it’s just a matter of your essays being off or your school list being a bad match for your application, you’ve got yourself a pretty easy fix. If your GPA is too low, start looking into post-bacc programs or the like. If your MCAT is too low, start thinking about retaking it. If you are lacking in healthcare experience, there is a whole world wide open to you in a great many different fields. A college graduate can easily become a scribe, phlebotomist, EMT, CNA, etc. Do this! The best part? This solves that nagging feeling you have about the uncertainty of your future. Lining up a job post-graduation did wonders for me. A good friend of mine is currently doing a special masters program. There are very few things that are unfixable. Some just might take more time than others.
4. Keep doing the work!
Some of the most rewarding and wonderful things that I did in college were things that I did after I sent in my application, and I sent this stuff in to every school that would accept updates. Did it help me? I don’t know. But it certainly didn’t hurt. Plus, if that miracle interview invite does come in January, you’re going to want to talk about what you’ve been up to for the past few months. And if you have to reapply, you’re going to want to demonstrate to the schools that you have improved your application and never stopped “embracing the target,” as Joe Maddon would say. Even if it seems insignificant, every single little thing that you do to shift the odds ever-so-slightly in your favor will ultimately add up to something that matters.
5. Don’t despair.
Or do, for a little bit. Because this sucks. And despite the best efforts of your friends and family, it will continue to suck. But there is a lot of good that comes with the bad, even if you can’t recognize it until the whole thing is over, and this is not the time to sulk. Take it from someone who spent a whole lot of his senior year worrying and wallowing in the ugliness of this process: it’s not worth it. The medical schools aren’t going anywhere and neither are you. And this will make you a better medical student.
I wish all of you the very best of luck!
