A story of hope (?): Third Year Applying

[Chuck's Right Foot]

So this is my third application round.

First year: No interviews.
Last Year: Two Interviews, Two WLs, Two rejections. In fact, the interviews didn't come till december and with some strings being pulled.
This Year: I already have three interview invites. 2 MD and 1 DO. I don't have an acceptance yet, but I feel very excited!!!

(30 year old who left a Ph.D. program to pursue medicine....)

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[Ebola Virus]

Goodluck with this time. I am a reapplicant too. Unfortunately no interview last year since I applied in late Nov/early Dec. What did you do differently this time from the last?

 

[Nasem]

i am just having a hard time with this... how does a person with a 3.6 GPA and an MCAT score like that not get accepted first 2 times????

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

i am just having a hard time with this... how does a person with a 3.6 GPA and an MCAT score like that not get accepted first 2 times????

Not enough clinical experience and a bad PS. My score was a 32 the first time (still pretty good). Not applying to enough schools.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Goodluck with this time. I am a reapplicant too. Unfortunately no interview last year since I applied in late Nov/early Dec. What did you do differently this time from the last?

Thanks for the well wishes. Rewrote the PS (actually my pre-med advisor doesn't like current draft, but my MD friends say it looks alot like their residency essays....) and had much greater exposure as a volunteer and in personal life. applied a little bit earlier as well.

 

[Ebola Virus]

Well goodluck to all reapplicants. Persistence is definitely the key to success.

 

[Nasem]

if you don't get in this cycle... then... I stand NO chance of ever making it to any MD program EVER... (me = 3.2 GPA, and no MCAT yet, and only clinic exposure I have is shadowed a few doctors here and there and some hospital volunteering)

i'll be applying next year for the first time tho.. but honestly, If you don't make it this year, I am not even going to put any MD schools in my list (other than the 3 that are in my state)... and everything else will be D.O

 

[Ebola Virus]

if you don't get in this cycle... then... I stand NO chance of ever making it to any MD program EVER... (me = 3.2 GPA, and no MCAT yet, and only clinic exposure I have is shadowed a few doctors here and there and some hospital volunteering)

i'll be applying next year for the first time tho.. but honestly, If you don't make it this year, I am not even going to put any MD schools in my list (other than the 3 that are in my state)... and everything else will be D.O

I believe that MSU-COM is a public DO university (good for IS), so with a decent MCAT you should do fine.

 

[lainey234]

Thanks for the well wishes. Rewrote the PS (actually my pre-med advisor doesn't like current draft, but my MD friends say it looks alot like their residency essays....) and had much greater exposure as a volunteer and in personal life. applied a little bit earlier as well.

Wait, wait, wait...We are going to have to write residency essays too at some point? Arrrrrggggghhhhh - just when I thought I was done writing ridiculous essays about why I am so great. When, dear God, when will it end?

On another note - best of luck to you!!!

 

[reiterin]

Good luck!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Well goodluck to all reapplicants. Persistence is definitely the key to success.

persistence and learning from things that didn't work last year..couple things that I learned were apply earlier, preferably Aug/Sept for secondaries, be more careful about the primary app categories (first time around I listed positions and responsibilities for each job, second time around it was more specific to experiences such as volunteer, clinical, leadership) also some schools want to see future classes listed on the primary which I'd never thought would be of much value), speak with schools to see what they wanted (several schools noted that I'd spoken with them & said that would be viewed favorably as a reapplicant), more clinical experience.

The level of disconnect between what the MSAR listed as selection factors for each school on the school's page versus what that same school's admissions office said was staggering.

good luck, 3rd time's the charm?!

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Just a quick follow up...

I'm IN BABY, I'M IN!!!!

But I can't really revel in the happiness. Still have interviews to go. But it looks like I might have some good choices to make. And it's still early in the cycle.

 

[dec0y]

Just a quick follow up...

I'm IN BABY, I'M IN!!!!

But I can't really revel in the happiness. Still have interviews to go. But it looks like I might have some good choices to make. And it's still early in the cycle.

Thank god! I have renewed hope in my application.

 

[mp1106]

congrats!!!!! I wish you all the luck in Med school. You did not get in the first two time because you dropped out of the PhD program. Medical schools looks at commitment. This is why I never dropped out of mine eventhough I hate it. Now I am applying hopefully I wilol get in. Again I am so happy for you.

 

[Law2Doc]

Wait, wait, wait...We are going to have to write residency essays too at some point? Arrrrrggggghhhhh - just when I thought I was done writing ridiculous essays about why I am so great.

Yep -- you have to go through another whole application process in your 4th year of med school, which includes a personal statement essay, computerized application, and interviews. If you go on to a fellowship, you probably have to do the whole thing over again a few years after that. Get used to it.

 

[QofQuimica]

Yep -- you have to go through another whole application process in your 4th year of med school, which includes a personal statement essay, computerized application, and interviews. If you go on to a fellowship, you probably have to do the whole thing over again a few years after that. Get used to it.

That, and the standardized exams. You get to keep taking *those* for the rest of your working life too, and they make you pay out the rear for the privilege of taking them. The cost of the med school exams (USMLE Steps) makes the MCAT seem like a real bargain. I'm going to be registering for Step 2 in a few months and all I can say is I'm glad I was sitting down when I checked. The CS fee in particular is just ridiculous.

P.S. On that depressing note, congrats to the OP on being accepted.

 

[Phenol312]

Good success story. This will also be my third year applying. So far 3 interview invites but no acceptances as of yet. No MD school love either and my apps have been complete for 3+ months at some schools.

 

[njbmd]

if you don't get in this cycle... then... I stand NO chance of ever making it to any MD program EVER... (me = 3.2 GPA, and no MCAT yet, and only clinic exposure I have is shadowed a few doctors here and there and some hospital volunteering)

i'll be applying next year for the first time tho.. but honestly, If you don't make it this year, I am not even going to put any MD schools in my list (other than the 3 that are in my state)... and everything else will be D.O

You don't know the OPs entire story so don't base any decisions on what you read. With all due respect to the OP, this is a public message board and you have presented one side of the story. We are not looking at the OPs application and we do not know the entire situation (only what we have been told). Don't make the "traditional-student" mistake of comparing yourself and your situation to anyone else. You can only apply with what YOU have. What has happened to and for anyone in the past is meaningless to you and your application.

In the past, I have know people to enter medical school with 2.7 GPAs and MCAT score of 23. I have also know people who didn't get accepted with 42 MCAT score and 3.8 GPA. There were circumstances in each of these applicants that were responsible for their success and non-success (well eventual success after Peace Corps).

When your application time comes, you maximize what you have and apply with what's there. There are tons of variables that cannot be predicted and there are as many ways into medical school as there are matriculants in any given year. Even the economy plays a role in your competition and we know how economic predictions have gone in the past year.

The one thing for sure is that no applicant is a "shoo-in" and no applicant is an automatic "reject". I have no evidence to doubt the OPs story but I am a skeptic (was an career scientist before medical school). This process is very, very subjective and you do the best with what you have. Who knows for sure if it's enough or not enough in any given year. While things are not completely random, there is some randomness to the process that cannot be entirely discounted.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

I'm not sure what NJBMD thinks my "story" is. But his premise is true: my process is independent of anyone else. My advice was: "do what you are supposed to do, get as good MCAT as possible, get exposure to medicine via volunteering, lab, job, etc. and be expressive in your applications. I don't think I was presenting any special "trick" into getting into medical school. But you can have very different experiences year to year, based on differences in activities, etc.

YMMV.

 

[Nasem]

You don't know the OPs entire story so don't base any decisions on what you read. With all due respect to the OP, this is a public message board and you have presented one side of the story. We are not looking at the OPs application and we do not know the entire situation (only what we have been told). Don't make the "traditional-student" mistake of comparing yourself and your situation to anyone else. You can only apply with what YOU have. What has happened to and for anyone in the past is meaningless to you and your application.

In the past, I have know people to enter medical school with 2.7 GPAs and MCAT score of 23. I have also know people who didn't get accepted with 42 MCAT score and 3.8 GPA. There were circumstances in each of these applicants that were responsible for their success and non-success (well eventual success after Peace Corps).

When your application time comes, you maximize what you have and apply with what's there. There are tons of variables that cannot be predicted and there are as many ways into medical school as there are matriculants in any given year. Even the economy plays a role in your competition and we know how economic predictions have gone in the past year.

The one thing for sure is that no applicant is a "shoo-in" and no applicant is an automatic "reject". I have no evidence to doubt the OPs story but I am a skeptic (was an career scientist before medical school). This process is very, very subjective and you do the best with what you have. Who knows for sure if it's enough or not enough in any given year. While things are not completely random, there is some randomness to the process that cannot be entirely discounted.

I respect your comment and totally understand what your saying.... but you gotta put yourself in my shoes here.... it does discourage me a little bit when I see someone whos got a better academic record (GPA / MCAT strictly speaking) than me and is not getting accepted the first 2 times he/she apply.... Of course I agree with you when you say there are way TOO MANY variables that play a significant role in the application process (one easy and powerful example is state of residency)... I don't know what the OP's state of residency was, but if he was a MI resident, I think he would have had a very strong chance of making it into one of the Michigan schools first time applying (our schools tend to accept 85%+ of the medical students from Michigan alone, approx 750 students each year from just Mi)

To the OP-
Congradulations
Are you going to accept? or are you waiting for a different school to accept you?

 

[Nasem]

Yep -- you have to go through another whole application process in your 4th year of med school, which includes a personal statement essay, computerized application, and interviews. If you go on to a fellowship, you probably have to do the whole thing over again a few years after that. Get used to it.

I am curious about this.... Is the residency process the same as the pre-med process? What I mean is, do you often see students finish 4th year of medical school, apply to a bunch of residency programs and don't get in anywhere? What happens in that situation? do they forget practicing medicine all together and start working for Burger king as burger flippers (cause thats probebly the only thing they know how to do at that point haha)

 

[QofQuimica]

I am curious about this.... Is the residency process the same as the pre-med process? What I mean is, do you often see students finish 4th year of medical school, apply to a bunch of residency programs and don't get in anywhere? What happens in that situation? do they forget practicing medicine all together and start working for Burger king as burger flippers (cause thats probebly the only thing they know how to do at that point haha)

No, it's a little different, because you go through a matching system (kind of like what the TX state schools do). Very few people end up not getting into some residency program somewhere in the end. The process is a bit complicated, so I'm going to explain it with the caveat that I am simplifying it somewhat. Say I apply to 30 residencies, interview at 15 of them, and rank 10. The programs are also ranking me and the other students that they interview. Then in March, a computer assigns the students to a residency program based on the rankings of both parties. The majority of allo students match this way. It *is* possible to not match; one of the most common reasons for not matching is that the student didn't rank enough programs. But in that case, what they will do is scramble, because some residency programs will not fill also. (Scrambling means that the unmatched students contact residency programs with vacancies and try to get a position.) There are more American residency positions than there are senior allo med students, so an unmatched student can usually scramble in somewhere. The scrambled student just might not be in a location (or in a specialty!) that he or she was wanting. I hope this explanation makes sense.

 

[Nasem]

Thank you Q, that expalains ALOT....

I just wish pre-meds had that same matching system haha

 

[QofQuimica]

Thank you Q, that expalains ALOT....

I just wish pre-meds had that same matching system haha

Well, they both have their pros and cons. The bad thing about the match system is that you don't get a bunch of acceptances where you can then choose which one you want to take after thinking about it some more and revisiting your top choice schools. You also don't find out any news until March. It's bad enough as a premed having to wait until Oct. 15 to hear....even the most stellar med students don't find out until March whether (and where!) they matched. On the bright side, the odds of matching or scrambling somewhere are infinitely better than the odds of getting into med school are.

I'm actually going to postpone the whole match craziness and do a post doc for a year. But most of the current third years will start getting ready to apply this summer already.

 

[Nasem]

Q, what are you planning to go into?