When and how to follow-up with Schools after a Rejection?

[Dhooy7]

I plan on reapplying next cycle as it is not going as well as I had hoped. For those who reapplied, did you email the schools you got waitlisted and rejected and asked for feedback on how to improve your application? When did you do this and how? I've only heard from one school but wanted to be prepared. I was looking for feedback before I heard back. Thanks!

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[Goro]

At the end of the cycle

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Don't bother. These schools pretend that they will give you great feedback and what not. On the other hand, what they will do is just give you some generic answer. I remember when I applied I got rejected from one school. When I contacted them, they told me how they'd be starting some masters or some other BS academic thing I could apply to. They won't tell you what you are really doing wrong, especially on interview

 

[animalluver101]

Lol the last time I was waitlisted (and finally rejected) by a school and reached out to them about what I can improve on, the adcom member told me to retake the MCAT and score like 1 point higher so that I can apply to that school's early decision program (I didn't do this because they'd already rejected me once so I didn't feel comfortable putting all my eggs in that basket). This wasn't very useful advice, but maybe your school will be better. I think it's not a bad idea to reach out to schools but take their advice with a grain of salt.

 

[HaveAnOsteoblast]

They could give you crappy feedback because they don't want to tell you the truth (for example, if you're bad at interviews). Or they could give you crappy feedback because they rejected you for trivial, stupid reasons, which isn't outside the realm of possibility

 

[MangoLabs]

Keep in mind what everyone above has said if you do decide to reach out. But if you really want to then go for it. You might come across some genuine and helpful feedback.

 

[Doctor of Democracy]

I plan on reapplying next cycle as it is not going as well as I had hoped. For those who reapplied, did you email the schools you got waitlisted and rejected and asked for feedback on how to improve your application? When did you do this and how? I've only heard from one school but wanted to be prepared. I was looking for feedback before I heard back. Thanks!

don't both asking schools for feedback. They will give you some generic bland prescripted statement. All schools get thousands of applicants so the best thing to do is find something that will OBJECTIVELY improve your application. I don't suggest fixating on contacting schools after rejection....it won't matter much.

 

[Doctor of Democracy]

They could give you crappy feedback because they don't want to tell you the truth (for example, if you're bad at interviews). Or they could give you crappy feedback because they rejected you for trivial, stupid reasons, which isn't outside the realm of possibility

Exactly, there is a good possibility that someone with your same MCAT (or worse) and otherwise similar application got accepted and you didn't. The reason they got in and you didn't was because they liked the other person better for subjective reasons. They're not going to tell you that...just give you some bland score reason

 

[Doctor of Democracy]

Keep in mind what everyone above has said if you do decide to reach out. But if you really want to then go for it. You might come across some genuine and helpful feedback.

I know someone who REALLY wanted to attend a certain MD school. He got rejected first round. He took a year off and developed a relationship with one of the ADCOMS...they emailed and he kept them updated on research and further advanced science courses and MCAT retake. He really went out of his way to show interest in this school. Improved MCAT by only one point (old scoring system) but was able to do more research and got an A in four more upper level science courses.

 

[futurexray]

Schools with strong legacy it is sometimes who you know and not what you know. Also how you interview will play a huge part in getting in or not