I Got Rejected From Medical School!

I mentioned last week that I do not have any insider information on how to get into medical school because, well, I am not a med student. In fact, I was outright REJECTED last year and now I'm giving it a go for a second time. So, while all the advice I have on what to do correctly is second-hand information, I have a WEALTH of information on what NOT to do. And I think that counts for something!

Here are a few bullet points for people who have just dealt with the soul crushing failure that is medical school rejection and now need to pick themselves up off the floor and try again.

1.) Take some time to recover

No sympathy from Emma Stone

Realization that you are not going to matriculate doesn't happen in an instant. Silent rejections and wait-lists (even interview wait-lists) kept me hanging on to hope until late March. While this saves you from a huge knock-out blow, it is still incredibly exhausting. Your application is something that consumed a great deal of your life and approximately half of all applicants walk away without a school to call home. To add insult to injury, your friends and family are all very curious to know what happened and, while they are well-intentioned, force you to dwell on the rejection. It's not fun, it's disappointing, and you need some time to make peace with it all. You must recharge before you can realistically expect to put your best foot forward and try again.

2.) Critically examine your application

When I submitted my applications last year, I believed that it was good enough to be a success (If I didn't I never would have submitted it). Going through the entire application process (especially interviews) put every detail of my application under the microscope. Things I thought were adequate were actually significant holes that I wish I realized needed to be addressed. Maybe it was your GPA, MCAT, or lack of solid clinical experience. Be honest with yourself. If you would like to take this self-examination one step further, then try contacting some schools that rejected you. Try and arrange a meeting or a phone call with someone in the admissions office who can point you towards areas to improve. 

3.) Fill in the holes of your app.

Hang in there, Jake

Now is the time to put this research to use. If you feel your GPA is what's holding you down, consider a post baccalaureate program or graduate school. If your MCAT score is well below 30 consider taking it again. If you are graduated or about to graduate you may find it much easier to study without the burden of undergrad course work. Finally, there is no such thing as too much clinical experience. Contact physicians to shadow or see if a hospital near you has a strong volunteering program. A significant amount of secondary applications will ask you what you have been doing since you have been out of school, and, if you are a re-applicant, many will want to know how you have improved your application since your last attempt. It is imperative that you can answer these questions.

4.) Improve your strategy

Something I believe really hurt me was having bad application strategy. I submitted to AMCAS during a busy period and it took 6 weeks to be verified. I was slow with filling out secondary applications. I did not thoroughly research the schools to which I applied (this hurt me during secondary essays/interviews), and I did not apply widely. Buy the MSAR and DO YOUR RESEARCH! Get organized and submit things early, but DO NOT submit rushed and sloppy essays. Scores on the lower end of the spectrum can be partially compensated for by good writing and good interviewing. That starts with knowing what is important to the schools in which you are interested. Put the time in.

I hope this mash-up of personal experience and advice from others was useful. Hopefully, this work we put in will result in that acceptance we are all looking for. Being a pre-med is hard and the application process is taxing. If you have been rejected and still want to try again, then you must be truly passionate about becoming a doctor. Don't give up.



Hey I'm John and thank you for reading. For any of the true fans who have made it this far into the blog, the question of the week is: Have you applied to medical school in previous years? What are some mistakes you made? Comments are cool. Let's chat.