To anyone who thinks they can't make it

[spike22]

---

Members do not see this ad.

This is to anyone who feels hurt/discouraged after applying to medical school.

I applied last year to 20+ schools and received one interview at MCW. They subsequently rejected me rather quickly. I worked my ass off, for that year, retaking the MCAT, working hard in school for my senior year, reading the economist etc. I reapplied to 20+ schools. Got 10 interviews, including MCW. At MCW they told me that I interviewed terribly, and continued to rip into me telling me how poorly I interviewed with them the last year. I kept my head up, working hard even after interviewing. Taking extra classes, working as a CNA, studying 7+ hours a day for the boards. Basically 2 years of hard work beyond what normal human beings should do. I was just accepted to Wash U in St. Louis. I went from no schools, to one of the best schools, albeit all medical schools are great and it doesn't really matter where you go.

I just wanted although in a short and choppy way, express to anyone who feels rejected that hard work pays off. The most important part is making sure this is what you want to do, shadowing physicians, getting on the grind as hard as you can. You can do it. This is g damn America, where if you work hard, your dreams can come true. Best of luck to anyone in a similar situation, although luck isn't needed. Just good ol' fashion hard work.

Sincerely,

Spike (had an iguana named that when I was a small kid)

 

[slight365]

You can do it. This is g damn America, where if you work hard, your dreams can come true.

To those native to the US, this might seem like an overly sappy, romantic view of the US. However, I moved to Western Europe, to a country that's one of the world's top economies. However, I immediately saw that one is barred from being anything they want and how free we are to move between social and economic classes in the US. There's a way to do whatever people want, as evidenced by this story above, and countless others.

I miss the freedom and mobility that brings more possibilities, in contrast to someone's life being decided essentially at 14 and little to no recourse for late bloomers.

 

[Klemptor]

Congratulations to you Spike, that's a wonderful accomplishment! At a time when I'm sure many of us are freaking out about what happens after June 2nd, it's really great to read a success story like yours.

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

Congratulations to you Spike, that's a wonderful accomplishment! At a time when I'm sure many of us are freaking out about what happens after June 2nd, it's really great to read a success story like yours.

Hey I looked at your mdapps. You should really, really consider applying to PCOM. It's considered the best DO school.

 

[longhorn09]

Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right.

 

[DrBrizzle]

This is to anyone who feels hurt/discouraged after applying to medical school.

I applied last year to 20+ schools and received one interview at MCW. They subsequently rejected me rather quickly. I worked my ass off, for that year, retaking the MCAT, working hard in school for my senior year, reading the economist etc. I reapplied to 20+ schools. Got 10 interviews, including MCW. At MCW they told me that I interviewed terribly, and continued to rip into me telling me how poorly I interviewed with them the last year. I kept my head up, working hard even after interviewing. Taking extra classes, working as a CNA, studying 7+ hours a day for the boards. Basically 2 years of hard work beyond what normal human beings should do. I was just accepted to Wash U in St. Louis. I went from no schools, to one of the best schools, albeit all medical schools are great and it doesn't really matter where you go.

I just wanted although in a short and choppy way, express to anyone who feels rejected that hard work pays off. The most important part is making sure this is what you want to do, shadowing physicians, getting on the grind as hard as you can. You can do it. This is g damn America, where if you work hard, your dreams can come true. Best of luck to anyone in a similar situation, although luck isn't needed. Just good ol' fashion hard work.

Sincerely,

Spike (had an iguana named that when I was a small kid)

I want you to know that this will forever be immortalized in my facebook wall of quotes, haha. But seriously, nice f*ckin' job.

 

[witness23]

mad props dude. I bet you will beast at WashU






I really hope this thread doesn't go south.

 

[RapplixGmed]

Congrats Spike! I'll be one of your classmates at WashU in next year's entering class (just got accepted from the waitlist a week and a half ago) and it'll be awesome to have somebody as hardworking and dedicated as you with us.

I've felt very fortunate and lucky this application season too. I guess the same saying applies to medicine as in submariners: "If you're not lucky, we can't use you."

 

[Klemptor]

Hey I looked at your mdapps. You should really, really consider applying to PCOM. It's considered the best DO school.

Thank you, I will consider that!

 

[spike22]

Failing was great because it made me hungry. I appreciate all your congrats. Just know it doesn't really matter where you go for medical school. This is not business or law. Like the dos equis commercial, "Stay thirsty my friends".

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Failing was great because it made me hungry. I appreciate all your congrats. Just know it doesn't really matter where you go for medical school. This is not business or law. Like the dos equis commercial, "Stay thirsty my friends".

I had a similar story... This is my third time applying. 1st year 12 schools 0 interviews. 2nd year 20 schools, 2 interviews, 2 wls. This year 33 schools, many interview offers, 7 acceptances (four MD) and wled at Pitt.

You gotta work it hard sometimes.

 

[stayclassy]

Failing was great because it made me hungry. I appreciate all your congrats. Just know it doesn't really matter where you go for medical school. This is not business or law. Like the dos equis commercial, "Stay thirsty my friends".

Dude, I know exactly what you mean - I half-assed all my stuff last cycle and got no results... but it's the failure that's motivating me 10x fold this time around! It's not what you have but what you do with it!

Good luck mate

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

Failing was great because it made me hungry. I appreciate all your congrats. Just know it doesn't really matter where you go for medical school. This is not business or law. Like the dos equis commercial, "Stay thirsty my friends".

Word man. I'm sitting on six waitlists right now... there's a good possiblity that I won't be in an MD school this fall. But I'm still hungry as ****, I'm getting my application ready for DO school in case the waitlists don't work out. Persistence is key in this process.

 

[John Holmes]

This is to anyone who feels hurt/discouraged after applying to medical school.

I applied last year to 20+ schools and received one interview at MCW. They subsequently rejected me rather quickly. I worked my ass off, for that year, retaking the MCAT, working hard in school for my senior year, reading the economist etc. I reapplied to 20+ schools. Got 10 interviews, including MCW. At MCW they told me that I interviewed terribly, and continued to rip into me telling me how poorly I interviewed with them the last year. I kept my head up, working hard even after interviewing. Taking extra classes, working as a CNA, studying 7+ hours a day for the boards. Basically 2 years of hard work beyond what normal human beings should do. I was just accepted to Wash U in St. Louis. I went from no schools, to one of the best schools, albeit all medical schools are great and it doesn't really matter where you go.

I just wanted although in a short and choppy way, express to anyone who feels rejected that hard work pays off. The most important part is making sure this is what you want to do, shadowing physicians, getting on the grind as hard as you can. You can do it. This is g damn America, where if you work hard, your dreams can come true. Best of luck to anyone in a similar situation, although luck isn't needed. Just good ol' fashion hard work.

Sincerely,

Spike (had an iguana named that when I was a small kid)

i think you made that up 👎

 

[whoisthedrizzle]

i think you made that up 👎

There's nothing in his post that suggests he made that up

 

[spike22]

"i think you made that up 👎"

who put you down?? THE HATERRSSSS.

 

[not so calm now]

Congrats on the awesome news!😀

 

[batman1983]

Its good that us reapplicants getting some love this cycle.

 

[spike22]

Thanks again to everyone for the congrats, as well as everyone who PMed me. Best of luck to everyone.

 

[gonj]

hey that's an awesome story. just wondering, how useful did reading the economist come into play?

 

[littlealex]

Hats off to you. It's good to see good old fashioned hardwork pay off dividends.
And you know what? All the reading and preparation you did will continue to pay off for the rest of your life. You may not had been a strong enough candidate when you begin this process, but you were able to bolster yourself to be the person you need to be.

Don't let your guard down. Keep up this motivation and keep proving the world wrong.

 

[YouNeverKnow22]

great job!

 

[BBender716]

hey that's an awesome story. just wondering, how useful did reading the economist come into play?

By many it's considered the best practice for verbal outside of explicit test prep because of the dense style of writing.

As a casual reader of The Economist, I must say it's definitely the tits.

 

[gonj]

By many it's considered the best practice for verbal outside of explicit test prep because of the dense style of writing.

As a casual reader of The Economist, I must say it's definitely the tits.

Cool. I like The Economist. I'll read it more often.

 

[spike22]

So. The Economist is great for many reasons. One, it comes out weekly, which makes you work really hard to finish it while working on your classes, volunteering, shadowing, etc etc etc. It's also light, so you can take it anywhere and read articles on the go. This includes ones that are BORING AND DON'T INTEREST YOU. These are the most important ones to read and try to maintain your critical reading skills.

Secondly, the material is dense (some consider it boring), and covers a range of topics, somewhat similar to what you see on the verbal section. This general knowledge helped me on my interviews when asked about currect events, and the writing section.


Thirdly, I don't remember if I mentioned this, but I used my phone or a computer, depending on where I was, to look up any word or encylopedic term I did not know. I increased my vocabulary to immeasurable heights from its previous position.

Lastly, the Economist is well written. Not that the writing section is important.... but reading and seeing what good writing is. Subsequently, I raised my writing score 6 letters which made my theme of improvement all the more believeable.

Also, the Economist is inexpensive when you get a subscription considering how many issues you get.

I'm not sure how much it helped me on the verbal to read it, but it really helped me as a person to understand many of the complex situations going on in the world. Humbling.

Best wishes to all. 👍

The last thing I wanna say. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. Talk about a bunch of bull ****.

 

[Moebius]

The main problem isn't lack of personal motivation, but a lack of financial resources to continue.

 

[spike22]

I was just asked if he could pull off the same thing, but it depends on where you are in school, your financial situation etc, but regardless. If you really want it. You can make time for anything.

This is how I did it.

I made sure I hit the gamit and touched on every category of my application. Also, I had anyother year of school so I could prove myself academically. If you just finished your senior year, then it may be harder to prove.

*Did more academic research
*Read over 5000 pages of the economist, looking up any word or encylopedic term I did not know
*4.0'd every quarter thereafter
*Retook the MCAT class
*Added an additional VR reasoning class
*Went on a shadowing spree, shadowing gastroenterologists, general surgeons, an anesthesiologist, an opthamologist, and an orthopedic surgeon. (In retrospect, I hurt myself at primary care specialised schools by only shadowing specialists)
*Inrolled in a mini-medical school series two consecutive years (which may have been overkill)at my school - Various physicians gave a short lecture on a special topic.
*Got all new letters of recommendations from professors that I got really close with.
*Rewrote my personal statement of course..
*Volunteered at an underserved clinic every week
*Volunteered with an organization that helps people with AIDS
*Read an 800 page text book on pathology twice, that went along with 8 classes I was taking at a CC. All the classes were classes for medical assistants.
*Made a list of any medically related word/concept that tops a hundred pages.
*Took the MCAT a second time, did considerbally better
*During the second app process where I had to write a ton, but after I took the MCAT the second, I went weekly, if not twice a week to work on my personal statement, and ANY, and by any I mean ANY statement that went to a school. For secondaries and otherwise.
*Ran a half marathon, donating the proceeds to the two places I was volunteering at. (I was sponsered by family and friends).
*Read half of an anatomy coloring book. I got exhausted since I don't quite know a lot yet.
*Read First Aid for the USMLE for step 1 which is about 500 pages. All dense since it is review for the first two years of medical school. During this book, I looked up any word, as well as memorized many of the facts in the book. (I would make flashcards of the things that interested me, and memorized them while going on walks/ slow treadmill running).
*Took a 12 week class to become a CNA, passed the tests, and I am still now currently working as one.
*Forewent my spring break where my all my friends went to vegas, to study 6-8 hours of VR a day, and work out every single day. I just didn't feel like I deserved to have fun.
*Rewrote the old EC's, condensed where I could, and of course used the writing center religiously.
*Read and let the schools know which classics I was reading to broaden my horizon. I looked up the top 100 or whatever books, and read as many as I could, and applied the message to the medical field where I could.
*I know I'm forget a few of the things I did.. but this should do

To give some time perspective since I did not really give those bullet points in any particular order, partly to give me some anonynimity, and partly because I just got home from work and I'm tired. All the events listed above came after I saw my MCAT score (one month after mid september) and before I found out I was rejected at MCW. I knew I needed to change my lifestyle if I wanted to get what I wanted. Also, keep in mind that only some of these events were on my application, and some were sent as written update letters to schools. Also, I did not list any of my EC's from the previous cycle, which included quite a bit of research, some volunteering, A tiny bit of shadowing etc. I applied broadly to top, middle and low tier schools, I suggest the same. You never know what a particular school is looking for. Don't worry about stats too much, although they are important.

One thing that just hit me, as one of the most important things to remember. You MUST. MUST, find out why were not accepted, and what you can do better/how to get accepted. Find out your weak points in your app, and fix them. Although the best approach is to lift every aspect of your application, while knocking your problem spots out of the park.

Excuse me if this is not written in perfect English, but I don't have the energy anymore! I am taking these last few months to only have fun. I will not be picking up a book, or using my brain in any appreciable manor, and yes that includes the spelling of manor for which I don't know, and would have looked up in the past. ... I just caved in, it's manner. =D

Anyways best of luck to everyone.

 

[spike22]

I forgot one thing. Find a really good advisor, and use them, use them, use them, and use them some more. Use them to find medical opportunities, use them for advice, use them for support, use them to read your essays, and use them to help you plot your every move. Then buy them a gift card for at least 20 dollars to thank them for all their help.

Send emails to all your profs, and anyone else that helped you. Thank them for helping shape and make you.

Also, buy something nice (something commensurate with your financial situation) or make something for the other people that helped support you through this exhausting process, whether it be your parents, grandparents, a teacher or whoever. Then, buy yourself something cool/nice. You deserve it.

Bests.