Surprised by the application experience: Why didn't you get in?

[Cirrus83]

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Seriously? You're writing about what's wrong with your application and you're still waiting to hear back from the 3 schools you interviewed with? I'm not exactly sure what you expected to happen but interviewing at 3 schools out of 7 is pretty damn good. You're batting .420...

Maybe you should repost this thread if all three of those schools reject you. Otherwise, chill, you're in a very very good place right now, much better than most, and my money is on you going to med school next year.

lol yeah seriously, until yesterday (Valentine's day) I had ONE interview out of 14 schools. And now that I got another interview invite, that's still only 2 out of 14.

Nobody who got 3 out of 7 schools to give them an interview should be whining.

 

[riceman04]

Did you really just say that?! 👎

Yeah she is pushing it!!!!

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

I also applied to osteopathic schools, and have 2 interviews pending, although that might not be your cup of tea. As far as allopathic schools are concerned, I have had but 1 interview, and am on the waitlist there.

A family friend of mine had the same situation, 32 MCAT, Top of his class, applied fairly early, nice guy/decent presonality, only applied to schools in CA(mostly So Cal) because he wanted to stay here for personal reasons, and he didn't get into any except the DO school(Western)

After making a tough decision, he decided to wait a year, applied again, and finally went to USC. Now he's doing his residency training in IM at USC, planning to one day becoming a cardiologist.

And recently he told me that he regretted waiting that extra year, because the USC IM program has like 5+ residents from Western per year, all bright and competent, and that extra 1 year of his life when he didn't do much and was plagued by anxiety and the trouble of applying again is actually worth $300,000+ because that's the avg salary he'll make once he starts practicing as a cardiologist and that's one less year of practice in his life before retirement. On top of that USC's tuition was $15000 more than Western per year. He told me that the initials after his name was not worth the time and that much money, and he should have just gone DO in the first place and would still match at the same place.

 

[healthnut]

I definitely agree with how you did it. I did fine on the MCAT in August but foolishly chose to throw my application in late. Even though it may be hard to work out what to do with your life for another year, believe me the time will pass fast and you are probably smart enough to find something meaningful to boost your app. I understand what you're going through because I feel like I trashed my first-time application. But I wish kaudung the best.

 

[QofQuimica]

Sweet Mother of God, do not do this. All of the schools you applied to are solid choices, and the opportunity cost of delaying entrance by a year is quite high. Now working with other residents from many institutions, it strikes me not how different our med school experiences were, but how similar. Learning medicine at school A is pretty much the same as at school B, and the USMLE is the same no matter where you are.

Take it from someone who spent 10 years screwing around with doctorate degrees: get in, go, get out and get on with it.

Sincerely,

Gut Shot, MD, PhD

Agree. OP, is your goal to be a medical student at a specific school, or is your goal to be a physician? These two things are not one and the same. I think anyone who turns down an acceptance to any accredited American school without major extenuating circumstances is focusing on the wrong goal. 🙂

 

[A Tree]

Seriously? You're writing about what's wrong with your application and you're still waiting to hear back from the 3 schools you interviewed with? I'm not exactly sure what you expected to happen but interviewing at 3 schools out of 7 is pretty damn good. You're batting .420...

Maybe you should repost this thread if all three of those schools reject you. Otherwise, chill, you're in a very very good place right now, much better than most, and my money is on you going to med school next year.

👍

helloooooo. This thread seems a bit over the top for someone who has 3/7 interview offers. This ratio is better than my 8/21 incidentally. Anyway, congrats OP on the three interviews--I'm impressed given you submitted AMCAS on what was likely the last possible day for some of your schools. I hope you get in somewhere you'd be happy (of course let's also hope you applied to places you'd be happy).

 

[Rocket3004]

Agree. OP, is your goal to be a medical student at a specific school, or is your goal to be a physician? These two things are not one and the same. I think anyone who turns down an acceptance to any accredited American school without major extenuating circumstances is focusing on the wrong goal. 🙂

But what if that acceptance is to a school that, after musing it over, think it's just not a good fit for you... for whatever reason? Just suck it up for 4 years and make the best of it?

I'm in a similar position. Although I know there are many better qualified applicants than myself, I feel that had I applied earlier I would have had a lot more options in front of me. I will still end up with the same degree after 4 years, but I just don't know what would have been had I went to a different school... flourish and take advantage of more opportunites that
one school has over another, etc.

So if you re-apply w/ an acceptance that you declined, it's possible that an adcom member might say "gee, this guy just wants to go to a school with a good name and is selfish! He doesn't want to be a physician, blah blah"... BUT, isn't it possible for them to say (upon your justification of why you reapplied) "He reapplied with an acceptance from before. He said that school wasn't a good match/he wasn't ready to attend/he had such and such extenuating circumstance... He is determined to attend our school/find the right school to flourish and make the best of his 4 years here"
(I'm not saying that is the case, but asking your opinions... could that be the case or.. 👍 👎 ??)

edit: and I'm basing that on the fact that so many schools talk about finding the "right fit/type of student" for their institution

 

[QofQuimica]

But what if that acceptance is to a school that, after musing it over, think it's just not a good fit for you... for whatever reason? Just suck it up for 4 years and make the best of it?

I'm in a similar position. Although I know there are many better qualified applicants than myself, I feel that had I applied earlier I would have had a lot more options in front of me. I will still end up with the same degree after 4 years, but I just don't know what would have been had I went to a different school... flourish and take advantage of more opportunites that
one school has over another, etc.

So if you re-apply w/ an acceptance that you declined, it's possible that an adcom member might say "gee, this guy just wants to go to a school with a good name and is selfish! He doesn't want to be a physician, blah blah"... BUT, isn't it possible for them to say (upon your justification of why you reapplied) "He reapplied with an acceptance from before. He said that school wasn't a good match/he wasn't ready to attend/he had such and such extenuating circumstance... He is determined to attend our school/find the right school to flourish and make the best of his 4 years here"
(I'm not saying that is the case, but asking your opinions... could that be the case or.. 👍 👎 ??)

edit: and I'm basing that on the fact that so many schools talk about finding the "right fit/type of student" for their institution

You FEEL you would have had a lot more options if you'd have applied earlier??? What evidence do you have for that? It's not like you can reapply earlier for this year and do a controlled experiment! This is what I'm talking about when I say that people do not make rational decisions when it comes to choosing med schools. Just because you feel some way doesn't mean that it's rational for you to act on those feelings. We all have feelings like that. I mean, *I* feel that if I had been born twenty years earlier than I was, I would have been a hippie. But you know what? I was born in the mid-seventies, not the mid-fifties. All the tie-dye wearing and pot smoking I might care to do now isn't going to change a d*** thing about the fact that I totally missed growing up in the sixties and had to endure the eighties instead.

At the risk of repeating myself, what is your ultimate goal? The med school, or the career as a physician? Again, I would argue that the former is a means to the latter, not an end in and of itself. Yeah, it would be great if we could all attend our first choice schools on full scholarships with awesome (and totally hot) classmates of our preferred sex and sexual persuasion. But this is real life, not a made-for-TV movie. Sometimes our happy endings come from having enough maturity and foresight to look at the bigger picture and working hard to make things happen. What I'm trying to tell you is this: don't miss out on riding off into the sunset of being a physician just because you don't get to ride out there on a white horse you may never have, but you FEEL is better than the mule you do have.

 

[Gut Shot]

But what if that acceptance is to a school that, after musing it over, think it's just not a good fit for you... for whatever reason? Just suck it up for 4 years and make the best of it?

Yes, that's exactly what you do. Getting through med school is akin to eating a large pile of horse manure, and you're fretting over the brand of ketchup at the table.

Med School A:
Two years of professors droning on
Many hours in library
Test after test
Step 1
M3 clerkships (take some histories, retract, catch some babies, etc.)

Med School B:
Two years of professors droning on
Many hours in library
Test after test
Step 1
M3 clerkships (take some histories, retract, catch some babies, etc.)

About the only things that vary are tuition and the weather.

 

[Kiara]

What exactly is "early enough"? Im a canadian engg and am writing the mcat end of july. The results wont be out for a month so my application wont go out till sep...is that too late? I wrote the mcat in aug 2004, got a 32 but 7 in verbal so I have to rewrite again. Also I think its been 3 years and a lot of schools dont accept the score.

Should I just apply early, like April/May and try my old mcat score or just wait till september?

Thx 🙂

 

[Nomemory]

What exactly is "early enough"? Im a canadian engg and am writing the mcat end of july. The results wont be out for a month so my application wont go out till sep...is that too late? I wrote the mcat in aug 2004, got a 32 but 7 in verbal so I have to rewrite again. Also I think its been 3 years and a lot of schools dont accept the score.

Should I just apply early, like April/May and try my old mcat score or just wait till september?

Thx 🙂

If it were me (and it might be next cycle), I'd submit my AMCAS before getting my new scores back. That way you can get processing under way and just update schools on your new and improved MCAT score once it arrives. You can always add more schools if you end up scoring a 3, 45 or some otherwise unexpected score. I'm not as knowledgable as some of the other SDNers so, anyone else have better advice? 😳

 

[Nomemory]

Getting through med school is akin to eating a large pile of horse manure, and you're fretting over the brand of ketchup at the table.

 

[kaudung]

One suggestion I have heard from others is to call your top school (try to choose only one) and ask how they feel about your chances next year. Some schools will offer advice or review your application if you call back. Many of those schools that offer to do this service, however, won't review your application until April or May.

I see the logic in what many of the responders on this thread have advised. Go to medical school if you can right now. I also understand the sentiment that an applicant, having been rejected from their top choice, may consider themselves better candidates if they applied early (before July!) next year. I have been told by admissions staff on interviews and on the phone that an early application cannot hurt but that a late application will not help (but may not hurt either). Before you do this, call the two or three schools you would absolutely attend if accepted and tell them about your situation. Ask them for advice. Take their advice very seriously. If it's important to you to go to a specific school you were rejected from, then it's worth exploring reapplication.