What was your worst/most hated part of the application process?

[nuitsansetoiles]

As everyone already said:

WAITING for months for a decision/interview offer with no transparency whatsoever and then... WAITLIST! Yay.

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[EBTrailRunner]

This morning I received an email from a school I was rejected at letting me know of other opportunities at their school "to become a part of the growing healthcare team." Uh... thanks, but no thanks.

 

[SilentSoldier]

This morning I received an email from a school I was rejected at letting me know of other opportunities at their school "to become a part of the growing healthcare team." Uh... thanks, but no thanks.

UCSF did the same thing to me, asking me to apply to their postbac program. I wanted to be like thanks, but no thanks, but the thought of UCSF wanting me to apply to anything they were affiliated with made feel otherwise.

 

[Pattycake25]

The month before my MCAT. The waiting to hear from schools sucks, but at least I'm keeping busy with life in the meantime. But back in 2010, I felt like I was on death row in the last few weeks before The Big Day, and what did I get to do to deal with it? Study even harder!!!

Honestly, I don't know if even the USMLE will be that bad. Everyone will be toughing it out with me, and the vast majority of the material will be at least somewhat interesting to me, instead of the MCAT suck bombs that were orgo, optics, and read-the-question-writer's-mind VR. Seriously, no thank you. Ever again.

 

[Pattycake25]

This morning I received an email from a school I was rejected at letting me know of other opportunities at their school "to become a part of the growing healthcare team." Uh... thanks, but no thanks.

Awwwww, come on, you know you're interested...=P

 

[Pattycake25]

the school gives you recommendations that you need to do to strengthen your application if you plan on reapplying. i think its a nice touch. ive also been told by deans to call them personally to discuss why i was rejected. i would assume that most schools dont do this

Wow, +1 to this school. That's awfully considerate of them.

 

[EpicBearMan]

Worst parts of application cycle:

* Spending thousands of dollars on secondary and travel.
* Waiting, particularly waiting for an acceptance from wait lists in the spring!

 

[jesse120]

the worst part of applying to medical school is applying to medical school. What the heck am I getting myself into?

 

[Priti Dave]

All of it.

What was your GPA and MCAT?

 

[Bro Dude]

I think the worst thing is constantly reading this:


After careful review of your application, the Committee on Admissions regrets to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in the entering class of 2012....

This year we received over 13587154864 applications for the 130 seats in our first year class...............many highly competent applicants will be unable to gain admission to our program this year.....

We greatly appreciate your interest and we wish you the best in all future endeavors.....

And all you can say is this:

 

[furyhecla]

Being asked for a secondary and/or an interview... and then get rejected for something that they could have figured out from the primary. Just a lot of wasted energy, cost and hope.

For example, at U Hawaii I was rejected after secondary for not having a certain course... which would have been evident from my primary.

At another school, post interview and rejection, I was told that I didn't have 'enough' volunteer experience. Well it was a multiple-mini-interview format, where no questions had anything to do with speaking about volunteerism. So they could have eliminated me without a secondary if that was actually the reason.

One last school I was rejected from because 'my courses were too old' and they 'didn't know if I could "handle" a full load of courses'. This is despite that I have a Ph.D., 20 peer-review publications and am a research scientist....

Anyway, basically the most annoying thing are BS rejections.

At least I have a choice of where I will start this fall, for which I am grateful. I just get annoyed with the BS and age-ism.

 

[robertch8]

I think the worst thing is constantly reading this:


After careful review of your application, the Committee on Admissions regrets to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in the entering class of 2012....

This year we received over 13587154864 applications for the 130 seats in our first year class...............many highly competent applicants will be unable to gain admission to our program this year.....

We greatly appreciate your interest and we wish you the best in all future endeavors.....

And all you can say is this:

I think what's worse is when they follow it up with some joke mail or e-mail talking about their podiatry program saying that hey you weren't good enough for our med school but we'd love to take your tuition money at their scrub program saying that you can still be a presence in the health profession.

 

[Mazdave]

I think the worst thing is constantly reading this:


After careful review of your application, the Committee on Admissions regrets to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in the entering class of 2012....

This year we received over 13587154864 applications for the 130 seats in our first year class...............many highly competent applicants will be unable to gain admission to our program this year.....

We greatly appreciate your interest and we wish you the best in all future endeavors.....

And all you can say is this:

Or the letter where the first paragraph tells you how strong they think your application is and how they'd love to have you matriculate at their school, but the second paragraph explains how they can say whatever they want because you're so far down their waitlist they'll never have to offer you a spot.

 

[1289]

Or the letter where the first paragraph tells you how strong they think your application is and how they'd love to have you matriculate at their school, but the second paragraph explains how they can say whatever they want because you're so far down their waitlist they'll never have to offer you a spot.

did anyone else get a rejection from MSU? now that was just straight up mean

 

[Accalia]

Thank you for this thread, Irish Football.

I have some complaining to get out.

Worst parts:
1. Nearly having a panic attack every time I got an email or a phone call
2. A six for six interview to waitlist ratio. Being waitlisted everywhere sucks, and of course it means more waiting.
3. Thinking I was done only to be told I need to write letters of interest to all of the schools I am waitlisted at every 2-3 weeks
4. Having to do all this while working 40 hours a week, plus shadowing 15 hours a week, plus volunteering
5. Feeling that everything I do needs to be done with the goal of getting into med school, and feeling guilty when it's not
6. Having to tell my boss that no, I haven't heard any good news, and I'm sorry I don't know if or when I'm leaving
7. The suspicion that people must think I'm not a qualified applicant if I haven't gotten in anywhere yet
8. The suspicion that this is true
9. The realization that people looking at my apartment in April for a September lease means that if I end up here, either for med school or if I don't get in, I'm going to be stuck in a really crappy and/or expensive apartment

And worst of all:
10. That not knowing where I'm going to be next year means that my boyfriend (two years long distance, by the way, which just adds to the stress of all the above) can't start looking for jobs after graduation, and that wherever I end up determines where he'll go to grad school. It's one thing for med schools to mess up the lives of applicants, but it really sucks when innocent bystanders get hurt too. =/

Okay, maybe that was a LOT of complaining. Feels good...

 

[Guero]

Let it out sister.

 

[jesse120]

Thank you for this thread, Irish Football.

I have some complaining to get out.

Worst parts:
1. Nearly having a panic attack every time I got an email or a phone call
2. A six for six interview to waitlist ratio. Being waitlisted everywhere sucks, and of course it means more waiting.
3. Thinking I was done only to be told I need to write letters of interest to all of the schools I am waitlisted at every 2-3 weeks
4. Having to do all this while working 40 hours a week, plus shadowing 15 hours a week, plus volunteering
5. Feeling that everything I do needs to be done with the goal of getting into med school, and feeling guilty when it's not
6. Having to tell my boss that no, I haven't heard any good news, and I'm sorry I don't know if or when I'm leaving
7. The suspicion that people must think I'm not a qualified applicant if I haven't gotten in anywhere yet
8. The suspicion that this is true
9. The realization that people looking at my apartment in April for a September lease means that if I end up here, either for med school or if I don't get in, I'm going to be stuck in a really crappy and/or expensive apartment

And worst of all:
10. That not knowing where I'm going to be next year means that my boyfriend (two years long distance, by the way, which just adds to the stress of all the above) can't start looking for jobs after graduation, and that wherever I end up determines where he'll go to grad school. It's one thing for med schools to mess up the lives of applicants, but it really sucks when innocent bystanders get hurt too. =/

Okay, maybe that was a LOT of complaining. Feels good...

wow... that hurt a little just reading that. I wish you the best of luck

 

[1289]

Thank you for this thread, Irish Football.

I have some complaining to get out.

Worst parts:
1. Nearly having a panic attack every time I got an email or a phone call
2. A six for six interview to waitlist ratio. Being waitlisted everywhere sucks, and of course it means more waiting.
3. Thinking I was done only to be told I need to write letters of interest to all of the schools I am waitlisted at every 2-3 weeks
4. Having to do all this while working 40 hours a week, plus shadowing 15 hours a week, plus volunteering
5. Feeling that everything I do needs to be done with the goal of getting into med school, and feeling guilty when it's not
6. Having to tell my boss that no, I haven't heard any good news, and I'm sorry I don't know if or when I'm leaving
7. The suspicion that people must think I'm not a qualified applicant if I haven't gotten in anywhere yet
8. The suspicion that this is true
9. The realization that people looking at my apartment in April for a September lease means that if I end up here, either for med school or if I don't get in, I'm going to be stuck in a really crappy and/or expensive apartment

And worst of all:
10. That not knowing where I'm going to be next year means that my boyfriend (two years long distance, by the way, which just adds to the stress of all the above) can't start looking for jobs after graduation, and that wherever I end up determines where he'll go to grad school. It's one thing for med schools to mess up the lives of applicants, but it really sucks when innocent bystanders get hurt too. =/

Okay, maybe that was a LOT of complaining. Feels good...

wow i'm on 2 waitlists and thought I had a rough, hang in there! 6 WLs is really good odds. and omg #7, yup, that's the worst one.

 

[235788]

some interviewers can really suck.

 

[Accalia]

Aww, thanks guys. <3

And good luck to you too, 1289. I love your icon!

 

[MilkmanAl]

I recall the academic year I applied being probably the worst I've ever had. That was really, truly awful. Being a marginal candidate, at best, didn't help things at all. I was taking a freaking brutal semester at the time (applied late, too - also not helping), so the worst thing for me was writing all the secondaries. I got pretty unlucky in that I couldn't reuse many of my responses, so I had a ton of extra work on top of all the stuff I was already doing for school.

Being waitlisted was also agonizing. So was essentially throwing money away on bull**** secondaries. Oh yeah, the MCAT sucked, too. I think I'll stop reliving those times now...

 

[Renaissance Man]

I hate the secondaries where you essentially confirm your name and fork over $85 dollars. Such a waste of time and money.

 

[LoveBuffer]

Family member: Do you know where you're going to med school yet?
Me: No. I'm still waiting to hear back from some places.
Family member: But didn't you apply a really long time ago?
Me: Yep.

This.

 

[ccrone]

I think the hardest part is navigating all of the "inside information" needed to go through a successful application cycle. I know I'm probably going to get flamed big time for saying that, hahaha!

I think it's frustrating and disappointing that the stated rules aren't actually the rules. For example, if the application deadline is October 15, I expect that is the real deadline. Not being honest about the fact that the deadline for all practical purposes is probably closer to early/mid-August puts people who haven't spent days (and days and days and days) scouring the web to find these nuggets of wisdom in a tough spot.

I guess that's what I find most difficult: the game. It's not enough to be a competitive applicant. You have to be a competitive applicant *and* know all of the tips, tricks, etc. to get on a level playing field with everyone else. My personal funny story (because sometimes all you can do is shake it off and laugh): I didn't realize that I needed to include shadowing experience in my ECs under "other." It never occurred to me that I needed to list it separately (as opposed to talking about it in a personal statement, at the interview, etc.). Ooops.

As far as the waiting game, I had a difficult time with that, but not for the reasons others have listed. I had a hard time with the fact that schools felt like it was acceptable to string students along (you'll hear in 6-8 weeks! silent rejections, delaying decision notifications beyond the April 1 deadline, etc.). I understand that they want the best class possible. But I have a hard time understanding how anyone could find it acceptable to "silently reject" an applicant. That's inconsiderate (and borderline cruel, IMHO).

Speaking for myself, I didn't encounter issues with being strung along, or never hearing an application decision one way or the other. It just really hurt my heart to see students posting here--desperate to hear anything!--never hearing anything, and finally deciding that they weren't selected, but the school never bothered to let them know.

To me, it's sort of like not tipping the pizza man. Is it the most horrible thing you can do in life? Nope. But it's still completely obnoxious to do that to somebody.

 

[pfaction]

I really ****ing hate the entire thing, but if I had to choose? The application.

Work and Activities? Not just a resume list, you have all this other ****.
Personal Statement? Wow.
Most Significant? **** that.

I hate this entire thing.

 

[wololololololo]

I really ****ing hate the entire thing, but if I had to choose? The application.

Work and Activities? Not just a resume list, you have all this other ****.
Personal Statement? Wow.
Most Significant? **** that.

I hate this entire thing.

Don't forget having to pay the school to re-list your ECs and pre-reqs and write more essays which amount to 'have you read our website?"

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

I think what's worse is when they follow it up with some joke mail or e-mail talking about their podiatry program saying that hey you weren't good enough for our med school but we'd love to take your tuition money at their scrub program saying that you can still be a presence in the health profession.

Whhhaaaaatttt. Did this happen to you? I hate when schools do this, it's so low class. I remember one school that sent letters like this to their reject D-school students. How awful.

Do you mind sharing the school?

 

[Syfte3]

The worst part of the application process for me so far has been:

1) trying not to replay in my head moments in my interviews that could possibly mean a waitlist/rejection at a school I absolutely loved and then later thinking about how much better I could have answered this question or that question but I can't do anything about it now.....

2)the waiting and having tachycardia every time my phone says I have a new e-mail because it could mean an interview invite just to see that it's some random e-mail about something I have absolutely no interest in and feeling disappointed for the next few minutes until I move on to doing something else just to get another e-mail 5 min. later that makes me feel the same way.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

The verbal section of the MCAT.

Thinking that you can reuse a secondary essay, when you realize that there are subtle differences in the prompts which prevent you from doing so.

 

[Reek]

1) trying not to replay in my head moments in my interviews that could possibly mean a waitlist/rejection at a school I absolutely loved and then later thinking about how much better I could have answered this question or that question but I can't do anything about it now.....

This. Especially since the school in question for me is my top choice 10/15 will cathartic, whatever news I get.

 

[yellowfish]

The worst part of the application process for me so far has been:

1) trying not to replay in my head moments in my interviews that could possibly mean a waitlist/rejection at a school I absolutely loved and then later thinking about how much better I could have answered this question or that question but I can't do anything about it now.....

2)the waiting and having tachycardia every time my phone says I have a new e-mail because it could mean an interview invite just to see that it's some random e-mail about something I have absolutely no interest in and feeling disappointed for the next few minutes until I move on to doing something else just to get another e-mail 5 min. later that makes me feel the same way.

Well said, I feel like these have been the two worst parts of the application cycle for me, too!

 

[BigBlueBear]

Thread ressurected!!!

Also no idea how to spell that word.

 

[Jloyay]

For me, so far, waiting over a month for them them verify my AMCAS information. Technically, it is my fault for submitting so late.

 

[zwander]

Waiting....for the first interview and not know if you ****ed something up really bad in your application

 

[markyb03]

Rereading primary during an interview day and discovering a typo in an activity description. Totally threw me off

 

[jhuskp]

As a reapplicant, I have a lot:

1.) not knowing when and if I'm going to get into medical school, and worrying all the money I spent on applications may be just poured down the drain.

2.) the interviewer from last cycle telling me I wouldn't make a good doctor- ever.

3.) parents worrying if I will go to med school or end up in some dead- end job struggling to survive and pay bills

4.) having all my cousins getting into a BA/MD program, and looking on me as the black sheep of the family who is just too dumb to get into med school after wasting time in college

5.) replaying the interviews I went to this cycle in my head and worrying if I said something stupid and blew my chances

6.) waiting for invites - walking through the hospital of my top choice school and seeing applicants tour the school, knowing I'll never get an interview

7.) worrying that my high hopes for an Oct 15 acceptance will be crushed by lousy interviews

8.) the on-hold emails, the silent rejections

9.) reach school sending me shameless emails congratulating me on my MCAT score and telling me to apply - when most of their interviews have been already handed out -
(cough- Michigan- cough)

10.) taking the MCAT three times

 

[Guero]

As a reapplicant, I have a lot:

1.) not knowing when and if I'm going to get into medical school, and worrying all the money I spent on applications may be just poured down the drain.

2.) the interviewer from last cycle telling me I wouldn't make a good doctor- ever.

. . .

6.) waiting for invites - walking through the hospital of my top choice school and seeing applicants tour the school, knowing I'll never get an interview

+1 on #1, as I spent $3k so far, not including interview expenses.

#2!?What. The. ****!? What an awful person. Was this person an old school physician? Either way, there's no excuse for saying something so hurtful. I mean, even if everything you said goes against that person's personal opinions, went on a rant of why eugenics was a great idea, insert something racist, bigoted, et cetera, it's still very unprofessional to say such a thing. Even a simple, "Thank you for interviewing. Honestly, I don't think you'd make the best fit here; but that's up to the committee. I wish you the best of luck," would've sufficed. Ugh.

+1 on #3. I work in my top choice and see applicants touring and interviewing with physicians at offices near mine, including my PI. But the school rejects everything below 90-95th percentile MCAT scores.

 

[b0142654]

The MCAT because I think the fact that every section of it, even physics, o-chem, etc. was 'passage' based is really biased to a certain type of test-taker.

Other than that, by far the worst part is waiting. I am a re-applicant and my first cycle I sat on multiple wait lists until July from schools that I had interviewed with the previous August/September. Nearly a year of waiting to find out that I'm not getting in and have to find something else to do for a year. That's the worst.

Me too. This sucked.

 

[MicroSteph]

Above all, I feel like my self-worth is tied up in this entire process and it will be really tough to swallow if I don't get in anywhere. Does it make me dumb or a bad person if these school don't want to interview me? Right now, that's how it feels. So angsty!

 

[medicalapp12]

In no particular order:

1. Waiting for that first interview and not knowing if you may ever get it even though you thought your application was pretty solid.

2. Having your self worth tied to this process and not knowing if there will be something happy waiting for you at the end.

3. Having a panic attack every time a school sends you an email when they keep informing you that you're already complete...looking at you Toledo.

4. How every paycheck you get disappears into thin air.

5. Having friends and family ask you how the process is going and you can only shake your head saying you haven't heard anything yet.

6. Reading SDN and seeing everyone else get interviews.

7. How the whole process can seem so random and there's little to no transparency about why schools rejected you or if they have even rejected you since some are so soooo quiet.

 

[MedPR]

Waiting.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[typicalindian]

Waiting.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

This.
/thread

 

[Irish Football]

Glad to see my thread is back up and going again. Now that I'm actually a few months into the application cycle, I can appreciate many of these posts a lot more than when I first started this thread.

 

[bob99]

getting cavities from eating so much candy while filling out stupid secondaries

 

[reece05]

Originally Posted by Mazdave
Family member: Do you know where you're going to med school yet?
Me: No. I'm still waiting to hear back from some places.
Family member: But didn't you apply a really long time ago?
Me: Yep.



this plus the doctors in the practice you work for. At least one asks me every week. Every week I say I haven't heard back.

 

[woodside9]

The endless waiting is absolutely the worst. Waiting for the MCAT score, waiting for secondaries to come, waiting for secondaries to END, waiting for interview invites (if they come at all), waiting for post-interview responses, waiting for well over a year to finally have some closure...it's just all ridiculous.

This thread makes me feel marginally better though. Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it.

 

[sinombre]

Being from California. Working at a medical school that silently rejected me and watching interviewees tour the hospital. Hearing nothing from most schools for more than two months. And the terror that ensues when thinking about the possibility of getting waitlisted everywhere I interview and having to reapply.

 

[tn4596]

Waiting while on waitlist with no acceptance is probably the worst. Especially when May/June is approaching...

 

[Praefectus]

Waiting sucks.

 

[sinombre]

Strangely enough, this thread does help. I grow to hate this process more and more every day.