Wondering what rejection letters look like?

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vitaminX

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guys, check out this dude, he's my hero!
This MIT graduate with three undergrad degrees (and driving an S2000) is really one committed dude, and I honestly wish him success in life.

<a href="http://www.i8u.org/" target="_blank">http://www.i8u.org/</a>

And, as the topic implies, this guy is selfless enough to share his 63 rejection letters with us, and I personally have spent time "getting used" to seeing the one from UCSD so that if UCSD ever sends me the bad news, I would less likely punch a hole in the wall.
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Geez. . . It sure would have been nice if he put them in .PDF ! :wink: :wink:

***Seriously, though, it's funny, but it seems very immature to try (he probably wasn't but. . .) to collect as many rejection letters as possible.
 
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Is this a joke? I mean how can I guy who went to MIT be rejected from medical schools for 5 times? !!! He seems like a nice and intelligent person. I just don't get it.
 
Cool. So now I'm wondering, what exactly does an acceptance letter say?
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Cambrian:
•Is this a joke? I mean how can I guy who went to MIT be rejected from medical schools for 5 times? !!! He seems like a nice and intelligent person. I just don't get it.•••••After the first two times, they practically automatically reject you unless you've gotten a phd or something of equivalent status. . .

At the risk of being called too serious, I wonder what kinda doc this guy would make when he 'proudly' displays his rejection letters after going through all the trouble of typing them all in!
 
Ouch! The letter from University of Washington really hurts. At least it is more personalized than the ones that I have received. :rolleyes:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Cambrian:
•Is this a joke? I mean how can I guy who went to MIT be rejected from medical schools for 5 times? !!! He seems like a nice and intelligent person. I just don't get it.•••••His undergrad GPA was too low. It also sounds like he did not make his first application his best either. Wonder if he considered applying DO. It's sad when anyone can't get the career they wanted, but I suppose that they get over it eventually.
 
•••quote:•••Quote from the website:
•I have 63 rejections from 41 different medical schools. For those in the know, I had a 3.3 GPA (Post Bacc 3.9), MCAT scores of VR11, PS13, BS12, five years of volunteer experience in a hospital, a year as a medical receptionist, and I have the odd affect of wanting to do something useful.
•••••Actually, his undergrad GPA was not that low. Also, considering his postbac GPA, he was in good shape. His MCAT scores kick ass too. This is an enigma. There must be something fundamentally wrong with his application. His personal statement was probably poorly written. I mean, how can he get rejected from MCW with those stats? Given that he was not too serious about his first app, his second try should have gotten him in (assuming he was still serious about the second time). What has the world come to?
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly - aka GG16:
•After the first two times, they practically automatically reject you unless you've gotten a phd or something of equivalent status. . .•••••Not quite. I'm 1/25 with a PhD. And I certainly have this MIT character beat with rejection letters. The kind of person that would 'proudly' display them would be one who finds the whole process mind-boggling.

This guy's story is eerily similar to mine though.
 
that u dub one must have really hurt!

ouch ouch ouch

i hope he finds some happiness in his life, and i hope he doesn't become too bitter.
 
Man this is some harsh stuff!
 
where does it say what his gpa?
 
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Oh my gosh, take a look at the University of North Carolina letter! Those JERKS!

This poor guy. . . I hope that he's happy in whatever he's doing now. This process baffles me. . . . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />
 
Good grief, the one right below it, for U Maryland, is even worse. I wish some of these adcom members would take lessons in TACT.
 
I just received my final two rejection letters from Loyola and Albany, so, I know how bad these letters make you feel. Ahhhh the pain...
Oh well back to filling out the AMCAS application for the next cycle again.
 
I think he makes a good point in his little description at the top of the page with the rejections-- He says something about "I haven't had anything catastrophic happen to me".

I'm starting to wonder if that's sort of a hidden requirement for admission! I mean, half the secondaries I sent in straight up asked what great hardship I've overcome, or some giant mistake from which I've learned. I've been fortunate in that I haven't faced many hardships nor made any poor choices that I deeply regretted. I've never had any health problems, never failed a class, never had credit problems, never have been convicted of a misdemeanor, not even a traffic ticket. Yet I start to wonder if this is a liability instead of an asset.. no chance to "prove that I can overcome obstacles."
 
When I heard that I am on the UCSD waitlist, I searched for "UCSD rejection letter" on the Net (you know, to prepare myself psychologically), and that's how I found this guy's website. I immediately emailed the guy to ask how he's doing, and he is a SUPER-NICE guy who told me not to give up because of just one year of unsuccessful application, and he also seems very happy with his current engineering/computer-related career.

dude, if i can drive an S2000 like him, i'll be happy no matter what, too :) j/k

Anyway, from my correspondance with him, he seems to be a great guy. And I started this topic ONLY with the purpose of letting you guys see the rejection letters you might want to look at.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by westsidespartan:
•Yet I start to wonder if this is a liability instead of an asset."•••••you said it, pal!
it's certainly a hidden requirement.
when two people have exactly the same intelligence, compassion, enthusiam, and everything.... the one with the harder life would have been able to tell a better story about triumph over misfortune, etc.

...sometimes i wish i could have been buried in an avalanche and survive the ordeal, just to be able to tell a nice story on my essay.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by westsidespartan:
•I think he makes a good point in his little description at the top of the page with the rejections-- He says something about "I haven't had anything catastrophic happen to me".

I'm starting to wonder if that's sort of a hidden requirement for admission!•••••I think you are right about this one. If you look at my stats on the previous post, you'll see that I am not UCSD worthy. And yet, I got in. I believe this is due to my secondary, which involved writing an autobiography. I really poured my heart out on this piece of writing. I was able to convey my hardships and my family situation on the secondary, which was something I did not do on the primary and is something I regret not doing. The UCSD adcom must have felt sympathy for my past hardship and admire my overcoming of it. This is the reason why I believe I was rejected from UC Davis. I relooked at my UC Davis secondary app and it made me sound like I was just a typical, ordinary Asian with no hardship whatsoever.

So, whether we like it or not, triumph over hardship is kind of a hidden requirement. I don't think this is fair because a person with no extraordinary hardships deserves to go to medical school too.
 
WOW, it is unbelieveable. See, not even the school tuition but the application fee only could run you into debt.... :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
WOW, it is unbelieveable. See, not even the school tuition but the application fee only could run you into debt.... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
 
Medical schools should revise the way they send rejection letters. Tyranny of applicant numbers should not be an excuse to dehumanize rejections... they should at least state at least one reason for the rejection (e.g. GPA, MCAT, etc.) whether it is obvious or not. That way applicants will get their money's worth and find ways to improve. It will also make reapplicants think about where their chances are high. It's not really asking much... a bunch of applicants can be rejected based on numbers alone... why not state it? We're not talking about pride or tact here... the truth, no matter how bitter, is more useful in this case.
 
Rejection letters suck! How's that for being mature?
 
Man, I wonder what went wrong with this guy. He's clearly a pretty good writer (I'm not just saying that because of his English degree), and he's a travelled guy. Maybe he was too old. :confused:
 
Although his MCAT scores are impressive his other credentials like GPA, recommendation, personal statement may not be as strong. Furthermore, has he ever made to the interview stage?
 
What happened here? I sure feel lucky. My stats weren't nearly that good.
 
Is it especially hard for an Asian applicant to get into med school, even with good stats? Do you think that's one reason this poor guy didn't get accepted?
 
Something is wrong with this guy...and it's got to be pretty major. The game is random at times, but not this random.
 
Medical School Admissions can be a mystery.

My Stats were like this:

MCAT 34
GPA = 3.67
Science GPA = 3.75

I got about 20 rejection letters over the course of two years. I only received one acceptance - luckily, that acceptance was to the most prestigious school that I applied to! Go figure...
 
Hello, Doctor Nick!
So what is that school you are going to?
Anyway, congratulations!
This whole application process is a purely mad and senseless one for some people (like you and me), but I'm sure that you feel it's all worth it, right?

(but didn't you tell Bart that you went
to Hollywood Medical College?)
 
If you guys without any stories about overcoming hardships in your life to tell, why don't you just make one up. Sure I think it is unethical to lie, especially on a med school application, but if schools base a portion of your acceptance on the hardships you have overcome and you have one, exaggerate a little bit about something you overcame. :)
 
sistermike
although this forum is used to help, encourage, vent, gain information, and generally see what's going on in this crazy process..we love the humor here also, it helps a lot....however,forgive my bluntness, both your comments about making things up on the application as well as the context of your quote, leave much to be desired (perhaps I'm wrong, in your intent in both areas..that would be great)
 
This is the STUPIDEST thing I have seen so far, and I thought I saw a lot. First of all, why are my SDN buddies falling for this scam. He is a punk, who is obviously bored. Has anyone noticed how all the letters are typed in... no school letterhead, no logo, no name and no signatures. A high tech dude without a scanner.. HARD to believe... specially if he wanted to show off those letters. So thats my analytical take on this.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by driven:
•This is the STUPIDEST thing I have seen so far, and I thought I saw a lot. First of all, why are my SDN buddies falling for this scam. He is a punk, who is obviously bored. Has anyone noticed how all the letters are typed in... no school letterhead, no logo, no name and no signatures. A high tech dude without a scanner.. HARD to believe... specially if he wanted to show off those letters. So thats my analytical take on this.•••••Maybe creating pdf's out of all of those letters would take up too much space. But I agree that I find it hard to believe that with those numbers NOBODY accepted him.
 
i don't think these are made up because there are several lines from several school that were the same as the rejection letters i have received.
 
Interesting site. I'm guessing he got toasted by negative letters of recommendation.
 
Its very hard to believe that someone with those stats could get rejected EVERYWHERE!!

Did he get any waitlists?? Perhaps the admission committees saw this webpage??
 
I don't quite see what's wrong with him..I mean the 3.3 is still pretty decent, considering it's from MIT..and his MCATs are 36! Med school admissions is oh-so-unpredictable! :confused:
 
I don't think he's fakin' it. The Wash U rejxn letter from '98 on his list is almost ver batim the same one that I received in '99... It was the kindest rjxn letter I received.

I am baffled as to why this guy did not get in anywhere. Granted, the early to mid-'90s was sick competitive but still... His MCAT is very high, his post-bacc is almost perfect, and his 3.3 from MIT is pretty damn sweet too. I figure that a 3.3 from MIT carries as much weight as the generic 3.5 or 3.6 GPA from a lot of other schools... Must have been trememndously unlucky.
 
This website has been discussed on SDN many times before. Last time, I actually corresponded with him via email also. He says he can tell whenever this becomes a topic on SDN because the hits on his website go way up. He seems to be a really nice guy who just had an incredible amout of bad luck. Like some of you, I'm amazed that at least one school could'nt see fit to admit him. It really makes me question the value of the current admissions process. And, quite honestly, I also wondered if there was a problem with an LOR that he was'nt aware of. I have known of professors and commitees that have expressed reservations in the LOR that the applicant was not aware of. Undoubtedly that would negatively affect any application.

I liked one of the other poster's suggestions that the schools should at least be morally obligated to provide the reason for rejection. I mean, we all help fund the admissions committees with the fees, and for the amount of time some of them take to tell us we're rejected, it seems that the least they could do is give us the basis of the rejections.

But again, the individual who made that website is a nice guy - sincere, well-qualified, very intelligent and articulate, and certainly legitimate. Maybe it was cathartic for him to post all those letters. Who knows. Regardless, I hope he does find success and happieness in life.
 
perhaps he has an arrest record??? I know those applications ask that.
 
Originally posted by MaggieD
And, quite honestly, I also wondered if there was a problem with an LOR that he was'nt aware of. I have known of professors and commitees that have expressed reservations in the LOR that the applicant was not aware of. Undoubtedly that would negatively affect any application
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah, this is the main thing i wondered about too. I think at damn near every open file interview I had, the interviewers made some remarks about things in my LORs, and several quoted lines from them. They're a lot more important than people give credit for. The dont have to be Shakespeare or anything, but I think they should fill the basic requisties of 1) being accurate and 2) not sucking. You'd think within the rapport you have with a professor you'd get an idea of how they view you, but you never know.

Its funny, I was talking to one of my advisors from college who has written a buncha letters for me before, and he was telling me how he's heard of occasions when professors write downright disparaging letters for students they dont like or see fit for a particular field, for example using phrases such as "capable but arrogant" in describing students. I'm totally not implying thats whats going on with guy or that this rampant in schools across the country, but makes ya wonder what an unfavorable letter can do you. not trying to incite any paranoia ;)
 
Cr*p - now I feel paranoid about what's really in my committee letter. I felt that I had good relationships with my professors and everyone who wrote a letter for me, which would be about 15 all together. Some people even showed them to me and I was floored by how nice they were.

At my committee interview, the interviewer said that it was the job of the committee to be as supportive as possible for the candidates, and to help them - not bash them.

Still ... man! this process makes me tired and paranoid anyway and reading that guy's site made me freak. I thought he sounded like a great guy, and I laughed outloud at a few points because he was so funny !
 
This is insane, don't look at 1 applicant out of 40,000 to measure your chances. Sure, a 36 is great but it doesn't make him any smarter or more qualified to be a physician than someone with a 30 (cough cough). Clearly, he had a bad recommendation or some other reason for all these schools to reject him. MCATs aren't everything people, they are just a few bubbles, half a day out of an entire life of academic achievement. Some of the questions should be thrown in the trash I think. Move on, don't paste meaningless numbers on a website and meaningless letters... what's the point?

Live in the present, not the future (or past) I say...
 
Originally posted by The Fly

At the risk of being called too serious, I wonder what kinda doc this guy would make when he 'proudly' displays his rejection letters after going through all the trouble of typing them all in!
Click to expand...

actually, i wonder what kind of doctor you would make, as judgemental as you are. that's a horrible trait for anyone to have, let alone a health care professional.

he just found a healthy way to vent. i can only imagine and hope to never experience what he had to go through, and the fact that he can still have a sense of humor about it, albeit a cynical one(what else did you expect?), shows alot of character.
 
was this site moved or something? i can't find it at all.
 
I'm screwed!!!!!! :(
 
"I'm great at attracting rejection. One day, on the bus, two different people at two different stops got off immediately after looking at me, and then threw up on the sidewalk."

This was posted on his website. It sounds like he has some sort of self esteem complex.

Also, consider... His posted MCAT scores are from April of 1997. Most of his rejections are dated before this test date, which means only his last application cycle did he actually have these scores. If you look at his Job Rejection section, it notes that at an interview he was unable to demonstrate knowledge of a programming language that he claimed to know. This demonstrates to me a possible lack of interviewing skills. Finally, he is complaining about not being accepted because he was Asian and too old. With all of the stories of older premeds that can be found on this board alone, along with the number of asian premeds accepted with lower stats, I am betting that the people who suggested poor secondaries are on the mark.

I just want to make sure people are not discouraged by this sort of a site. Remember, the average MCAT scores for matriculants are 6 points lower than this guys', and over half of applicants are accepted.

~AS1~
 
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