What % of "qualified" applicants are not accepted to any medical school?

[dakims]

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By qualified I mean just based on numbers such as 3.7 and 30. I believe by the time I'm going to apply this is what my stats would be. But the problem is, I am not in interesting person and I'm not very outgoing, and my writing skills are pretty terrible. Therefore, I'm expecting to write a not so great personal statement and have a not so great interview. I will have research, dedication and many medical mission trips under my belt though. Should I be very worried about not getting in to any medical school?

 

[TheRealMD]

By qualified I mean just based on numbers such as 3.7 and 30. I believe by the time I'm going to apply this is what my stats would be. But the problem is, I am not in interesting person and I'm not very outgoing, and my writing skills are pretty terrible. Therefore, I'm expecting to write a not so great personal statement and have a not so great interview. I will have research, dedication and many medical mission trips under my belt though. Should I be very worried about not getting in to any medical school?

1) Make no assumptions about the MCAT if you haven't taken it.
2) If you can't write a quality personal statement, you should question your motivations to go to medical school.
3) You should not be doubting yourself like this at this stage in the game!

 

[etf]

whatever the percentage is, it includes me. hopefully my candidacy won't contribute to next year's stats, though.

 

[dakims]

1) Make no assumptions about the MCAT if you haven't taken it.
2) If you can't write a quality personal statement, you should question your motivations to go to medical school.
3) You should not be doubting yourself like this at this stage in the game!

theres no question i have the desire to be a doctor, its just a matter of expressing that desire with my poor writing skills

 

[TheRealMD]

theres no question i have the desire to be a doctor, its just a matter of expressing that desire with my poor writing skills

Hey, I understand. It takes time to write a quality personal statement. Don't expect it in the first day or week. I personally had 17 drafts including 3 re-writes and 8 trips to my university writing center. It seems daunting at first (your entire life in 5300 characters) but it's a challenge you can handle if you are willing to put in the time and effort.

Remember to take breaks!!!

 

[Wylde]

theres no question i have the desire to be a doctor, its just a matter of expressing that desire with my poor writing skills

you haven't written your PS yet, or gone to any of your interviews. Why accept crappy results before you even start anything... that will definitely lead to failure in most things you attempt.

There are tons of resources out there to help you improve on various aspects (ie PS or interviewing), if you aren't willing to try that is your problem.

 

[Despina]

By qualified I mean just based on numbers such as 3.7 and 30. I believe by the time I'm going to apply this is what my stats would be. But the problem is, I am not in interesting person and I'm not very outgoing, and my writing skills are pretty terrible. Therefore, I'm expecting to write a not so great personal statement and have a not so great interview. I will have research, dedication and many medical mission trips under my belt though. Should I be very worried about not getting in to any medical school?

I thinks it's interesting that a lot of people based "qualified" on straight numbers. Just because a personal has great stats doesn't mean they are qualified to be a doctor, and just because a person has mediocre stats doesn't mean they are not qualified. No one can give you the answer you are looking for, only an ADCOM holding their decision in their hands...Just work hard, believe in yourself, work on your weaknesses, and ignore SDN. If you don't get in the first year the world will not end. Keep reapplying and eventually you will get in. If fact if you are between the ages of 19-22 right now, you will probably be grateful later on that you got to take a year off.

 

[tiburones]

Hey, I understand. It takes time to write a quality personal statement. Don't expect it in the first day or week. I personally had 17 drafts including 3 re-writes and 8 trips to my university writing center.

HOLY COW. i wrote mine in a little under an hour, went to to the writing center, made a few changes...and that was that. average stats, 8 interviews, 3 acceptances, 1 waitlist...

 

[Rotinaj]

By qualified I mean just based on numbers such as 3.7 and 30. I believe by the time I'm going to apply this is what my stats would be. But the problem is, I am not in interesting person and I'm not very outgoing, and my writing skills are pretty terrible. Therefore, I'm expecting to write a not so great personal statement and have a not so great interview. I will have research, dedication and many medical mission trips under my belt though. Should I be very worried about not getting in to any medical school?

Take those weaknesses and work on them. Take some speaking/acting classes and try to make yourself more sociable by forcing yourself to be outgoing. Try to take a creative writing course or start posting your writing online and getting it evaluated. Also, be prepared to get bad responses for a while until you get the hang of it, but in the end, it'll pay off.

 

[skyeblue0610]

It will be fine. Try recording yourself. If you're very passionate about being a doctor then I'm sure you've told people that.

Record yourself saying all the reason why you want to be a doctor and what you think you're strongest qualities are...then play it back and transcribe it and volia you have a good start.

I'm already drafting my personal statement and I have a little over a year and a half until I apply😀

 

[spanamit]

0%. 🙂

 

[etf]

0%. 🙂

basically, the real answer. if you don't get in anywhere, you aren't "qualified."

 

[Law2Doc]

I thinks it's interesting that a lot of people based "qualified" on straight numbers.

Agreed - numbers are only part of this game and you can have a 4.0/40 and still not be qualified for med school if you significantly lack in the subjective parts of the application. This includes PS, LORs, ECs, essays, interviews. These are hugely important and numerically solid people have failed to get into med school with shortcomings in any of them.

Look at it this way. There are schools that are getting as many as 10,000 applications. They only have seats for 150. It would be silly to think only 150 out of the 10,000 were qualified. Heck, probably 7000 out of 10,000 are qualified. And looking at the applicant pool as a whole, 50% of all applicants won't get into med school. Hard to imagine all of those 50% were unqualified for med school, but that's life in a competitive system.

 

[45408]

Hard to imagine all of those 50% were unqualified for med school, but that's life in a competitive system.

A pretty fair number of them probably aren't qualified though. If the average applicant's MCAT is a 27, and the average matriculant's MCAT is a 30, then there are plenty of people applying to MD schools with <25 on the MCAT, which I honestly don't think is enough to succeed on a consistent basis.

 

[LikeClockWork]

HOLY COW. i wrote mine in a little under an hour, went to to the writing center, made a few changes...and that was that. average stats, 8 interviews, 3 acceptances, 1 waitlist...

Geez, I wish mine had come so easily. I started my PS by just typing out everything I wanted the Adcoms to hear about me and figured I'd pare it down once I had everything down. Not having a good concept of how long 5300 characters is, my first draft was about 12,000. I spent most of the next 7 drafts cutting stuff and trying to make sure it still flowed well. I'd say the PS was definitely the hardest part of the whole process for me.

 

[theNEWgirl]

basically, the real answer. if you don't get in anywhere, you aren't "qualified."

honestly though, being "qualified" means you need good stats AS WELL as good personality (outgoing etc), which is the exact thing you're lacking

a lot of adcoms stress the importance of non-cognitive skills, you must be able to relate and communicate as a physician

 

[jad2121]

1) Make no assumptions about the MCAT if you haven't taken it.
2) If you can't write a quality personal statement, you should question your motivations to go to medical school.
3) You should not be doubting yourself like this at this stage in the game!

Please stop it, you're scaring people. What does the personal statement have to do with the motivation to be a doctor? Some people are just not good writers and will be GREAT doctors. And also, if you look through SDN you will find SO many great applicants doubting themselves at every step of the way.

As for my advice on the essay (to the person who started the thread)...if you're not a good writer go into your college writing office. Most good colleges have them, they have people who will sit down with you and help you write a good essay. At my school, they were a great help to me. Good luck with everything, you will do fine.

 

[Blade28]

Please stop it, you're scaring people. What does the personal statement have to do with the motivation to be a doctor? Some people are just not good writers and will be GREAT doctors. And also, if you look through SDN you will find SO many great applicants doubting themselves at every step of the way.

It's one thing to write a personal statement that's not beautifully articulate and written with flawless prose. It's another to be ambivalent and vague when expressing your motivations for going into medicine.

I think this is what TheRealMD was alluding to.

 

[TheRealMD]

It's one thing to write a personal statement that's not beautifully articulate and written with flawless prose. It's another to be ambivalent and vague when expressing your motivations for goign into medicine.

I think this is what TheRealMD was alluding to.

Definitely. The thing is that there are 2 road blocks to easily writing a good personal statement.

1) Not being able to put why you want to be a doctor on paper. Most people initially suffer from this because it's just a gut feeling. You liked what you saw, enjoyed what you did, and think it's the greatest thing ever. But putting that into 5300 characters certainly isn't easy.

The other thing is...

2) Not knowing exactly why you want to be a doctor. A personal statement forces you to think really why you want to be a doctor. I'm not trying to scare anyone by saying this, but this is the first time you actually are FORCED to think about it. Anyone can take pre-reqs, MCAT, pay money for app fees and fly around for interviews, but the personal statement is all about YOU.


I guess I should have distinguished between writing a well written PS and writing a PS that has your desires about going into medicine in it. It would be nice to have the former, but the latter definitely needs to be paid attention to when writing it.

 

[Blade28]

Definitely. The thing is that there are 2 road blocks to easily writing a good personal statement.

1) Not being able to put why you want to be a doctor on paper. Most people initially suffer from this because it's just a gut feeling. You liked what you saw, enjoyed what you did, and think it's the greatest thing ever. But putting that into 5300 characters certainly isn't easy.

The other thing is...

2) Not knowing exactly why you want to be a doctor. A personal statement forces you to think really why you want to be a doctor. I'm not trying to scare anyone by saying this, but this is the first time you actually are FORCED to think about it. Anyone can take pre-reqs, MCAT, pay money for app fees and fly around for interviews, but the personal statement is all about YOU.


I guess I should have distinguished between writing a well written PS and writing a PS that has your desires about going into medicine in it. It would be nice to have the former, but the latter definitely needs to be paid attention to when writing it.

I agree. Excellent summary! 👍 I did a double-take when I saw you were a pre-med; I assumed you were at least an MS-II.

I wish I worked on the med school adcom here because I'd love to read your PS. 🙂

 

[merryeller]

When sending my PS around for feedback I asked people to answer the following questions:
1. Does it address why I want to be a doctor?
2. Does it address why I am qualified to be a doctor?
3. Does it convey who I am as a person? If so, do I portray myself positively?
4. Is it engaging?

Besides grammar/spelling edits, these are great questions for your reviewers to think about since they are most likely the questions that AdComs probably care most about. Sure, there are multiple ways to answer these questions, but I found that I got the best and most helpful feedback when I helped to direct my readers' focus.

Also, just because you have good or even stellar numbers, it doesn't mean you're an automatic "in." 4.0 GPAs and 40 MCATS get rejected to, ya know.

GL!

 

[Food]

The quality of your application plays a large role. I had a 3.4 / 38 MCAT, and 1 interview which turned into a WL. I'm still not off the WL and obviously chances are low that I will make it in this cycle. Lesson learned: spend as much time on your AMCAS as you do studying for your MCAT.