Medical Will I get blacklisted from all medical schools if I chose to turn down an offer?

[southerndoc]

Hi,

I know that it is generally frowned upon if you turn down a medical school admission offer in order to take a gap year and re-apply instead, but I was wondering if my situation, which is different than the more generic situations I've seen posted on here/reddit, might be different.

I took the MCAT twice--once in March 2018 and then again in August 2018. My score increased by 10 points on the second exam. However, because I was initially applying with my March score when I sent in my applications in June/July, I ended up applying to and interviewing at some schools whose stats are similar to my first MCAT score. I ended up getting an acceptance to one of these schools--however, I received the interview invite and did the interview before my second MCAT score was even released.

Once my most recent score was released, I applied to more schools whose average MCAT scores were similar to mine. Due to the late date at which my second MCAT score was released, the secondaries to these other schools were not complete until the end of September/ early October, which I know is very late and I've heard puts me at a disadvantage. Definitely taking full responsibility for that, it was a poor choice to take it so late but I didn't know better.

My GPA is a 3.9X and I have been told by my school's pre-health advisor that all of the other parts of my application are "exceptional". He is the one who advised me to take a gap year and re-apply next cycle if the school I currently have been offered admission to is the only offer I end up getting. He thinks the reason I have only heard from 2 of the 10 schools I applied to after my second MCAT is because I just ended up applying too late and there was a bottleneck for interviews by the time they got to my application. I have had a number of other interviews, but I am starting to worry since it is getting late in the game and I'd like to start making a plan for a gap year if I really should take one.

Essentially, I want to know if my pre-health advisor is just hyping me up, or if his idea is solid advice. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the school I have been admitted to used my first MCAT to make the decision to accept me (since my score wasn't in when they gave me an II or even a couple weeks after interviewing), which is a bit disheartening because it makes all of the hard work I put into my second MCAT was for nothing.

I've heard that you can get blacklisted from all medical schools if you turn down an offer, and was wondering if this actually happens or if it's just a rumor. If so, how do they find out where you applied and got accepted?

Sorry this is a super long question; I just wanted to be sure to explain all the parts of my question. Thanks in advance for your help!!

I don't think you'll get blacklisted from all medical schools. You may not have a chance at the medical school you turn down. As far as I know, the medical school deans aren't going to send your name out to a listserv advising people to not take you.

The bigger question to ask is how much is this going to cost you? If you go into family medicine, it may cost you $120,000. If you go into emergency medicine or orthopedic surgery, it could cost you $300,000-500,000. If you go into neurosurgery, it could cost you a million.

This isn't including your student loan debt if you get into a big name private school with a high tuition. Of course, the opposite could be true and you get into a cheaper school or get a scholarship.

Honestly, I'd accept the offer and run with it if it were my choice.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

One of the problems you face is that some med schools will ask "have been accepted to other medical schools?"

 

[TexasPhysician]

Becoming “blacklisted” is a real possibility. I had a friend of mine apply to a small number of med schools. She received 1 acceptance, but later determined that she should have applied more broadly to enter a “better” medical school in her mind. She declined. While her stats were quite reasonable, she subsequently received all rejections for the next 4 years. After 4 years of applications, her determination paid off. She discussed this with admissions. They agreed that once a med school acceptance is declined then they question your desire to complete 4 difficult years. US MD schools do not want anyone to drop out. Any whiff of hesitancy, and they will look elsewhere. She very much regrets declining the initial offer.