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As a reapplicant, nontraditional student, minority and “other” in many ways, I’ve relied extensively on the stories of others for guidance, inspiration and emotional sanity. For this reason, I know lessons from my tale might help somebody somewhere at some point. So here goes.
I had to apply to medical school three times. Here are three things that I wish I could have telegraphed to the old me that may have made things a lot less painful:
1) Your priorities are going to change. That’s fine, swim with the current.
When I graduated undergrad, I was coming from a shiny brand name school, I had a shiny brand name fellowship and I was ready to hit the road running. I aimed for the top and never thought twice. Hubris is a bitch.
I applied high and narrow. I didn’t think timing was that big a deal. I submitted my primary early and my secondaries late… VERY late. That first cycle was a real slap back to reality. I had one interview at a last minute addition school and I was rejected after a really wonky interview experience. It was very painful.
This whole episode was, in hindsight, an invaluable tool. What’s truly important in a medical school? Honestly, I don’t think I knew (I probably still totally don’t). I used academia standards and this really is a cultish way of thinking. Maybe the high bar of American medical institutions spoils us, because I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of any US MD programs that turn out crops of “bad” physicians. And let’s be clear, the goal is to be a physician, for most applicants anyway. Learn to know when enough is enough. Getting in is enough. Cut out all the other bull****.
Second cycle, I had this tool of experience. I got closer, but it was still kind of backwards. I applied much more broadly, turned in my secondaries much earlier, but the timing was still hampered by financial issues. I had one waitlist spot at a top 10 and zilch otherwise. In honesty, the waitlist was vindication of sorts. It made the failure easier because I had improved dramatically and nothing was going to be a worse feeling than that first year of failure.
Third cycle, I hit gold, thus segueing into the next topics.
2) Medical school interviews are not like other interviews.
I read it all the time in non-trad forums. “I’m a great interviewer, I’ve gotten every job I’ve interviewed for.” So did I. The single most valuable resource that changed me from applicant to future medical student was a great mock interview process. This happened in application cycle 3 by way of a really excellent guy with experience in adcoms. If I would have had this dude in application cycle 1, I would be going into MS3. If I would have had him in application cycle 2, I would be going into MS2 at a top 10. It’s that simple. I took home 3 flat out acceptances in three interviews this cycle. Boom town.
A little about this guy: He is a psychologist at a medical school. He gave me some real questions he might ask based on my AMCAS and he helped me tweak my answers and preparations. He helped me become less robotic and pseudo scripted. He helped me nail down a sense of timing in responses and formations of simple conclusions. He helped me nail down the answer and presentation to the most universal question “why do you want to be a doctor?” It may seem like we worked together extensively, but this wasn’t the case at all. We literally had two 1-hour meetings. I don’t care what kind of charismatic interview killer you are. Find a high quality source to help you with mock interviews/mock question sessions.
Note: I probably needed less mock interview time because I had been on interviews previously and knew what to expect going forward. Your mileage may vary.
3) Writing all these damn essays sucks, but, for god’s sake, have clean threads and a coherent narrative.
Okay. In trying to nail down my essays, I wrote… a lot. I have documents well over 100 pages. I sent portions of them to anyone who wasn’t tired of reading my stuff for comments. But I can say with high certainty that my last and most successful application packet had much less narrative noise.
But here’s the thing. That’s so hard for some people. I’m older. I basically grew up in a hospital. I moved out of my childhood home when I was 16 due to domestic stuff. I lived in a van for half a year. I’ve been all over the place and worked in polar opposite industries. I have a long resume but also black eyes on my records from stupid mistakes. Originally, I tried to capture all of this. BAD. IDEA.
Less is more. It’s going to be really hard to define yourself by one to three major threads but if you don’t, you’re probably not going to have enough room and you’ll either get really abstract and general or far too chaotic. In my third cycle, my whole goal was literally to make my theses as transparent as possible. To be honest, this was kind of painful.
I’m proud of the black eyes and scars life has given me. Further, if I can get you to a table with a couple of beers for a couple hours and an open ear, I’m going to tell you what makes me tick, I’m going to find what makes you tick and we’re probably going walk away appreciating each other. However, we’re going to meander, digress and lose track of topics. Anything less than that, I kind of take a what’s-the-point attitude. People are complicated and not giving that the diligence it deserves is insult, in my opinion.
If you understand what I’m saying here, do your best to get over it. Also, find someone who you can lean on who can give you direction since this kind of strategy isn’t your wheelhouse. I had a good core team in my third cycle of my pre-med advisor, a stud applicant friend who also needed me and a couple less involved auxiliary folks.
That all being said, if I were to give a more general answer as to why I didn’t get in on the first try, I was ignorant, anxious and financially hindered. Obviously, I didn’t see these issues being a problem from the front end, but the trick would have been to have that kind of foresight.
Lastly, this forum has been really great in many ways (and bad in others). Use the informational threads well. Don’t get caught up in micro conversations. Follow everything @LizzyM and @HomeSkool say (there are others, but those are my personal faves).
Godspeed and keep your eye on the prize. I lost hope a few times, but now I get to choose from some really awesome programs and it’s an amazing feeling. I wish it for everyone!
I had to apply to medical school three times. Here are three things that I wish I could have telegraphed to the old me that may have made things a lot less painful:
1) Your priorities are going to change. That’s fine, swim with the current.
When I graduated undergrad, I was coming from a shiny brand name school, I had a shiny brand name fellowship and I was ready to hit the road running. I aimed for the top and never thought twice. Hubris is a bitch.
I applied high and narrow. I didn’t think timing was that big a deal. I submitted my primary early and my secondaries late… VERY late. That first cycle was a real slap back to reality. I had one interview at a last minute addition school and I was rejected after a really wonky interview experience. It was very painful.
This whole episode was, in hindsight, an invaluable tool. What’s truly important in a medical school? Honestly, I don’t think I knew (I probably still totally don’t). I used academia standards and this really is a cultish way of thinking. Maybe the high bar of American medical institutions spoils us, because I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of any US MD programs that turn out crops of “bad” physicians. And let’s be clear, the goal is to be a physician, for most applicants anyway. Learn to know when enough is enough. Getting in is enough. Cut out all the other bull****.
Second cycle, I had this tool of experience. I got closer, but it was still kind of backwards. I applied much more broadly, turned in my secondaries much earlier, but the timing was still hampered by financial issues. I had one waitlist spot at a top 10 and zilch otherwise. In honesty, the waitlist was vindication of sorts. It made the failure easier because I had improved dramatically and nothing was going to be a worse feeling than that first year of failure.
Third cycle, I hit gold, thus segueing into the next topics.
2) Medical school interviews are not like other interviews.
I read it all the time in non-trad forums. “I’m a great interviewer, I’ve gotten every job I’ve interviewed for.” So did I. The single most valuable resource that changed me from applicant to future medical student was a great mock interview process. This happened in application cycle 3 by way of a really excellent guy with experience in adcoms. If I would have had this dude in application cycle 1, I would be going into MS3. If I would have had him in application cycle 2, I would be going into MS2 at a top 10. It’s that simple. I took home 3 flat out acceptances in three interviews this cycle. Boom town.
A little about this guy: He is a psychologist at a medical school. He gave me some real questions he might ask based on my AMCAS and he helped me tweak my answers and preparations. He helped me become less robotic and pseudo scripted. He helped me nail down a sense of timing in responses and formations of simple conclusions. He helped me nail down the answer and presentation to the most universal question “why do you want to be a doctor?” It may seem like we worked together extensively, but this wasn’t the case at all. We literally had two 1-hour meetings. I don’t care what kind of charismatic interview killer you are. Find a high quality source to help you with mock interviews/mock question sessions.
Note: I probably needed less mock interview time because I had been on interviews previously and knew what to expect going forward. Your mileage may vary.
3) Writing all these damn essays sucks, but, for god’s sake, have clean threads and a coherent narrative.
Okay. In trying to nail down my essays, I wrote… a lot. I have documents well over 100 pages. I sent portions of them to anyone who wasn’t tired of reading my stuff for comments. But I can say with high certainty that my last and most successful application packet had much less narrative noise.
But here’s the thing. That’s so hard for some people. I’m older. I basically grew up in a hospital. I moved out of my childhood home when I was 16 due to domestic stuff. I lived in a van for half a year. I’ve been all over the place and worked in polar opposite industries. I have a long resume but also black eyes on my records from stupid mistakes. Originally, I tried to capture all of this. BAD. IDEA.
Less is more. It’s going to be really hard to define yourself by one to three major threads but if you don’t, you’re probably not going to have enough room and you’ll either get really abstract and general or far too chaotic. In my third cycle, my whole goal was literally to make my theses as transparent as possible. To be honest, this was kind of painful.
I’m proud of the black eyes and scars life has given me. Further, if I can get you to a table with a couple of beers for a couple hours and an open ear, I’m going to tell you what makes me tick, I’m going to find what makes you tick and we’re probably going walk away appreciating each other. However, we’re going to meander, digress and lose track of topics. Anything less than that, I kind of take a what’s-the-point attitude. People are complicated and not giving that the diligence it deserves is insult, in my opinion.
If you understand what I’m saying here, do your best to get over it. Also, find someone who you can lean on who can give you direction since this kind of strategy isn’t your wheelhouse. I had a good core team in my third cycle of my pre-med advisor, a stud applicant friend who also needed me and a couple less involved auxiliary folks.
That all being said, if I were to give a more general answer as to why I didn’t get in on the first try, I was ignorant, anxious and financially hindered. Obviously, I didn’t see these issues being a problem from the front end, but the trick would have been to have that kind of foresight.
Lastly, this forum has been really great in many ways (and bad in others). Use the informational threads well. Don’t get caught up in micro conversations. Follow everything @LizzyM and @HomeSkool say (there are others, but those are my personal faves).
Godspeed and keep your eye on the prize. I lost hope a few times, but now I get to choose from some really awesome programs and it’s an amazing feeling. I wish it for everyone!
