Turning Down Acceptance and Reapplying (Advice Needed)

[AspiringMedStudent0003]

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I've looked for similar threads and cannot find one, so let me explain my situation. I have just submitted my primaries for med school, and this year I am an okay applicant and may potentially get into my lower tier schools, but next year I will have potentially 100+ hours shadowing (I have 40 currently), 1 or 2 first author papers, I could retake the mcat and boost my score significantly, etc... TLDR: I will go from an okay applicant to one who can get into my top schools and potentially an MD/PhD program.
I've wanted to go to med school since I was 10, so I won't be changing my mind, but if I apply and get in this year to one of my lower end schools, but decide not to go because I could get into my dream schools next year, can my top schools see or only the ones I didn't accept? Part of the reason I would do this is one to get into MD/PhD potentially, and two I promised myself I'd do whatever would help any future patients I have which involves going to a school that will make me the best doctor I can be. I'm already going to remove schools that I know I would not want to go to even if I do get accepted, based on what I read! And I might get an offer this year I would take, but if I get the offer and decide not to take it, I need to know how it effects me in the long run.

 

[workaholic181]

I've looked for similar threads and cannot find one, so let me explain my situation. I have just submitted my primaries for med school, and this year I am an okay applicant and may potentially get into my lower tier schools, but next year I will have potentially 100+ hours shadowing (I have 40 currently), 1 or 2 first author papers, I could retake the mcat and boost my score significantly, etc... TLDR: I will go from an okay applicant to one who can get into my top schools and potentially an MD/PhD program.
I've wanted to go to med school since I was 10, so I won't be changing my mind, but if I apply and get in this year to one of my lower end schools, but decide not to go because I could get into my dream schools next year, can my top schools see or only the ones I didn't accept? Part of the reason I would do this is one to get into MD/PhD potentially, and two I promised myself I'd do whatever would help any future patients I have which involves going to a school that will make me the best doctor I can be. I'm already going to remove schools that I know I would not want to go to even if I do get accepted, based on what I read! And I might get an offer this year I would take, but if I get the offer and decide not to take it, I need to know how it effects me in the long run.

Well to answer your question, yes if you turn down an acceptance other schools can see it. You have to report it on AMCAS and I'm pretty sure they can already see it in their anyway, so there is no way to hide it.

If you really want to do what you're thinking of then just dont submit any secondaries, and decline any interviews that you're offered. That way you wont be put in a situation to decline an acceptance.

That said, your plan is really foolish. Adding 100 shadowing hours isnt going to make you an elite applicant. Everyone thinks they can improve their MCAT score, few do. The research helps but not nearly enough to guarantee a top acceptance

While going to a top school certainly has benefits at the end of the day and MD/DO program can and will allow you to reach your potential as a physician. What you're proposing is ill informed and highly risky for your prospects of getting in anywhere.

 

[hebrewBAMmer]

I've wanted to go to med school since I was 10

but decide not to go

So given that each school has roughly a 2-3% acceptance rate, and a school is saying "Yes, we are giving you the opportunity to live your dream," and now you'll say no? Bruh

 

[futureDocDD]

If you think you will be a much better applicant next year for top schools (MD/PhD), your best option right now is to withdraw all your current applications. Otherwise you'll be labeled as re-applicant next cycle.

 

[nlax30]

Simple...

IF you don't think you can achieve your future career goals at the current schools you've applied to and don't feel like you can apply to higher reach schools this year then withdraw your application and reapply next year.

If you don't want to spend another year in the process and wish to start med school as soon as you can then keep going with your current applications and go where you are accepted and don't look back.

Just don't go through this whole application cycle, get an acceptance and then turn it down with intention of applying again next year.

Either one of the two options is fine in my opinion, only you can do the requisite soul searching to figure out which is right for you.

That said, just based odds/statistics I would be willing to bet your ultimate specialty/career is likely to look different than how you currently imagine it will look. Just the nature of this process, most people end up changing their minds once they finally get into their rotations and see the reality of medicine which you just can't comprehend until you're actually in the middle of it.

 

[Med Ed]

I've looked for similar threads and cannot find one, so let me explain my situation. I have just submitted my primaries for med school, and this year I am an okay applicant and may potentially get into my lower tier schools, but next year I will have potentially 100+ hours shadowing (I have 40 currently), 1 or 2 first author papers, I could retake the mcat and boost my score significantly, etc... TLDR: I will go from an okay applicant to one who can get into my top schools and potentially an MD/PhD program.

Just to be clear, an additional 60+ hours of shadowing will not help your application. First author papers will, to some extent. A MCAT boost is potentially quite significant.

It's also September. If you are just now submitting primaries (and hesitating in the process) I suggest you withdraw and try again next time.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Agree withdraw now rather than when accepted. It still won't look great though.

 

[Catalystik]

If you think you will be a much better applicant next year for top schools (MD/PhD), your best option right now is to withdraw all your current applications. Otherwise you'll be labeled as re-applicant next cycle.

IF you don't think you can achieve your future career goals at the current schools you've applied to and don't feel like you can apply to higher reach schools this year then withdraw your application and reapply next year.

It's also September. If you are just now submitting primaries (and hesitating in the process) I suggest you withdraw and try again next time.

Agree withdraw now rather than when accepted.

If you withdraw from AMCAS before you are verified, you will get all your money back except for the base rate for a single school. And you won't be a reapplicant next year.

 

[candbgirl]

Your plan is very foolish and there are many threads dealing with this subject. Few people make “significant” jumps in MCAT scores. Did you apply MD/PhD this year? If not why not if that’s what you want to do. You really only need about 10 more hours of shadowing to have what is expected. If you don’t have primary care use those 10 hours to get your pc shadowing. If you aren’t going to accept an acceptance why are you wasting your time and the time of the school(s)? Why did you even apply? Are you verified? If not withdraw before you are and you won’t be considered a reapplicant next year. Reapplicants have a difficult time in the next cycle and if the schools find out(pretty easy for them to do) that you refused an acceptance your dreams just might be quashed. II is always rec. to apply one time with the best possible application possible.

 

[AspiringMedStudent0003]

Okay thank you everyone! I think I'll stay in the app process and see if I get in, but I'll remove all lower end schools and just keep all mid tier schools since I'd go to those if I get in! AND keep of like my top 4 that I know I won't get into this year, but might next year so I'm not a re applicant at those schools? (Is that a good idea?)
1. I did not submit my primaries in Sep but Aug 1, still not ideal but I had a legitimate reason in that my gap year job started on the 23rd of July and then my PI proof read it for me that week.
2. Sorry if this offended anyone, I never had a prehealth advisor, and so until I started my gap year job I haven't got a ton of advice, and now I'm getting a ton and need to sort through the validity of it.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Okay thank you everyone! I think I'll stay in the app process and see if I get in, but I'll remove all lower end schools and just keep all mid tier schools since I'd go to those if I get in! AND keep of like my top 4 that I know I won't get into this year, but might next year so I'm not a re applicant at those schools? (Is that a good idea?)
1. I did not submit my primaries in Sep but Aug 1, still not ideal but I had a legitimate reason in that my gap year job started on the 23rd of July and then my PI proof read it for me that week.
2. Sorry if this offended anyone, I never had a prehealth advisor, and so until I started my gap year job I haven't got a ton of advice, and now I'm getting a ton and need to sort through the validity of it.

1. What are you concerned about by "low tier" schools?
2. Many schools ask if you've applied to medical school ever in the past so you would still be considered a reapplicant. There may even be an AMCAS app box that you need to press saying you've applied in the past. This will hurt your application.

It is ok to be ignorant on the process before you apply but you don't want to make any mistakes that can't be fixed in the future-that is why people are telling you to withdraw your application now and get your money back. Your initial post may have rubbed some people the wrong way because the fixes you are saying make you a candidate for top schools either don't actually improve you app that much or are changes that everyone can do but not too many fulfill.

Without knowing your stats or info or desires I'd say you have 2 routes: either leave all the schools in or take them all out. If your application is good enough to get in now you should thankfully take wherever opens their doors to you. The difference between top tier schools and lower tier schools is way less than you think. I would personally say that the only reason to take a year off and improve your app is if your goal is to be a MD/PhD and be an 80% research physician.

 

[JugglesMed]

I have worked with a lot of doctors And I can't tell you what school any of them went to. If you get an acceptance, you're a doctor. Why would you decline this opportunity to change your life forever and reach your goal?

 

[AspiringMedStudent0003]

I have worked with a lot of doctors And I can't tell you what school any of them went to. If you get an acceptance, you're a doctor. Why would you decline this opportunity to change your life forever and reach your goal?

Okay all in, I think all the advice got to me, and this forum really put it in perspective. I can become a great doctor no matter what school I go to as long as I put in the time and effort, but thanks for reminding me.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Don’t, just don’t.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I've looked for similar threads and cannot find one,

Don't lie. We know you didn't actually look.

I will have potentially 100+ hours shadowing (I have 40 currently), 1 or 2 first author papers, I could retake the mcat and boost my score significantly, etc... TLDR: I will go from an okay applicant to one who can get into my top schools and potentially an MD/PhD program.

Yeah...... no.

but I'll remove all lower end schools and just keep all mid tier schools since I'd go to those if I get in!

Lol, OP says they have had the dream to be a doctor since the age of 10, follows that up by not applying to the schools that will give them the best chance to fulfill that dream. 🙄

Let me give it to you straight OP, you are not nearly as good of a candidate as you think you are. Even if you do the things that you say you will change in a year's time you won't be near the candidate you think you are. I know people who go to mid tier and top MD schools. Personally know someone who interviewed at HMS and had 6 top 20 acceptances at the end of the cycle, these people are complete superstars. Even the ones at "Mid-tier" schools are studs who have the whole package. You won't realize how great other applicants are until you get out there and meet them and it will blow your mind how you even got an interview.

tldr, you aren't in a place to be picky, apply broadly and be thrilled that you get the chance to do what you've wanted to do since 10 years old.

 

[drbatsandwich]

Maybe you can't find another thread about someone turning down an acceptance to reapply the following year because... who in their right mind would do that??!

Do you want to be a doctor, or do you want to be a doctor that graduated from 'insert prestigious school here' when you might not even get in the second time around because this makes it look like your judgement is impaired.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Do this, and you are grievously wounded. People have come back from this bad of a mistake; I've even read a story of an individual who turned down a mid-ranked acceptance, did two years of research, got a couple of papers, and is now at a top-10 school. This is unusual; most of the time, applicants who pursue such an ill-advised strategy succumb to the wounds their poor judgment has inflicted upon them. Best, then, to withdraw before you've got an acceptance in your hands. You're not quite DOA, but you are in critical condition and are unlikely to survive if you do this. It's the second-worst mistake premed applicants can make; the worst is a felony conviction.

 

[Goro]

Maybe you can't find another thread about someone turning down an acceptance to reapply the following year because... who in their right mind would do that??!

Do you want to be a doctor, or do you want to be a doctor that graduated from 'insert prestigious school here' when you might not even get in the second time around because this makes it look like your judgement is impaired.

OP was last seen 9/4/18, so this was probably a poor attempt at trolling

 

[puahate]

OP please listen

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

I've looked for similar threads and cannot find one, so let me explain my situation. I have just submitted my primaries for med school, and this year I am an okay applicant and may potentially get into my lower tier schools, but next year I will have potentially 100+ hours shadowing (I have 40 currently), 1 or 2 first author papers, I could retake the mcat and boost my score significantly, etc... TLDR: I will go from an okay applicant to one who can get into my top schools and potentially an MD/PhD program.
I've wanted to go to med school since I was 10, so I won't be changing my mind, but if I apply and get in this year to one of my lower end schools, but decide not to go because I could get into my dream schools next year, can my top schools see or only the ones I didn't accept? Part of the reason I would do this is one to get into MD/PhD potentially, and two I promised myself I'd do whatever would help any future patients I have which involves going to a school that will make me the best doctor I can be. I'm already going to remove schools that I know I would not want to go to even if I do get accepted, based on what I read! And I might get an offer this year I would take, but if I get the offer and decide not to take it, I need to know how it effects me in the long run.

I find it hard to believe you looked for similar threads and couldn’t find one. This question has been asked so many times and I’m shocked it’s been asked as often as it is. Turning down an acceptance is never ok. Adcoms and other people in these past threads have always given the same answer. NO!! It would be perhaps the worst mistake of your life.

 

[Goro]

Why are you guys bumping a five month old thread?

 

[Walter Raleigh]

To show the folly of declining acceptances to try once more. @Goro, have you ever interviewed anyone who turned down acceptances?

 

[Goro]

To show the folly of declining acceptances to try once more. @Goro, have you ever interviewed anyone who turned down acceptances?

Not that I know of. The wily old admissions Dean may have very well screened them out.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Hmm: how the heck did the people that Lazarus'd themselves back from the dead and earned acceptances a second time pull this off? They can't all have had once-in-a-generation ECs like the Navy Cross or a MacArthur Genius Grant the second time around.