Does anyone ever ask [the school] why they were accepted to med school?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Gauss44

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
3,185
Reaction score
416
I think this is what we all want to know.

...But keep trying to figure out in a roundabout way. (Maybe those who get accepted don't bother to ask, or are afraid admin will change their minds. "Whoops, we meant to accept someone else, bye bye...")

Members don't see this ad.
 
I think this is what we all want to know.

...But keep trying to figure out in a roundabout way. (Maybe those who get accepted don't bother to ask, or are afraid admin will change their minds. "Whoops, we meant to accept someone else, bye bye...")

That's exactly what I'm afraid of
 
Who cares why they accepted you. All that matters is that acceptance. What good does knowing why you were accepted do?

I love how an acceptance isn't good enough, now people want to know why. Just relax, enjoy yourself, and get ready for the next part of the journey in your life. You were accepted because the adcom thought you were a good fit for their school and that your would represent the school well. It wasn't a fluke.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Who cares why they accepted you. All that matters is that acceptance. What good does knowing why you were accepted do?

I love how an acceptance isn't good enough, now people want to know why. Just relax, enjoy yourself, and get ready for the next part of the journey in your life. You were accepted because the adcom thought you were a good fit for their school and that your would represent the school well. It wasn't a fluke.

Jesus, I'm all for the zen approach, but aren't people allowed to be the least bit curious? You know every school nit picks little things about each application... otherwise you wouldn't have people who got accepted at T15 medical school but rejected at instate schools. I can understand why people would be curious as to what it was that caught the adcoms eye (even if such a thing doesn't actually exist).
 
Jesus, I'm all for the zen approach, but aren't people allowed to be the least bit curious? You know every school nit picks little things about each application... otherwise you wouldn't have people who got accepted at T15 medical school but rejected at instate schools. I can understand why people would be curious as to what it was that caught the adcoms eye (even if such a thing doesn't actually exist).

I'm not saying that people can't be curious, but why would you try to find it out in a "roundabout way". We all work so hard for an acceptance, why not relax and put your mind at ease for a while? What good is trying to find out why going to do?
 
I'm not saying that people can't be curious, but why would you try to find it out in a "roundabout way". We all work so hard for an acceptance, why not relax and put your mind at ease for a while? What good is trying to find out why going to do?

Fair enough, my car got Hit-n-Run and I'm having a bad day. Probably being over combative.
 
Fair enough, my car got Hit-n-Run and I'm having a bad day. Probably being over combative.

Haha that's okay :) and I'm sorry about that.

Maybe I just see it differently. I spent years worrying about being accepted, now I'm ready to stop worrying and relax for a bit. No more stress for a few months :).
 
I think this is only a relevant question to someone with below average stats. People with decent stats expect to get in somewhere and are upset when they don't get in. Getting in when you likely shouldn't have based on scores means you killed it somewhere else which is what people should wonder about so they can mimic it. Some of it would just be interviewing skills/personality which no one can teach on SDN.
 
I imagine if you did, you'd get a pretty generic answer. Most schools outline what they are looking for in their students on their websites, during the interviews, etc, and a successful applicant usually presents themselves in a way that emphasizes the ways in which they fit that outline.
 
One of my T20 acceptances wrote a personalized acceptance letter that highlighted what they "liked" about me.

It was pretty novel... they outlined my "excellent" academics, my "productive" research, my "meaningful" EC's and "very strong" interviewer feedback.

Surprise.
 
One of my T20 acceptances wrote a personalized acceptance letter that highlighted what they "liked" about me.

It was pretty novel... they outlined my "excellent" academics, my "productive" research, my "meaningful" EC's and "very strong" interviewer feedback.

Surprise.

Hopefully they talked about your modesty.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Coming from the person who's asking how to fish for compliments from the ADCOM of a school that accepted them :laugh:

Huh? Maybe you should reread. I said that exact opposite of that.
 
Hopefully they talked about your modesty.

LoL, yea, in retrospect, my post read in such a way that it could be interpreted as bragging.

I wasn't.

What I was trying to get across is that schools (even the T20's, which are considered "crapshoots") accept people for the very same reasons SDN claims.

It is no secret: academics, unique ec's, and good interviewing. Hence my sarcasm with the word "novel".

"Surprise."

There, perhaps that gets my original point across better.
 
They said they were, "very impressed with all of [my] accomplishments, [my] demonstrated interest in humanism as well as [my] commitment to pursuing a career in medicine. [They] admire the variety of ways have endeavored to learn more about medicine and [my] record showed [them] an individual who has the highest integrity as well as a sincere, deep and abiding respect for others." However, they didn't use an oxford comma.
 
LoL, yea, in retrospect, my post read in such a way that it could be interpreted as bragging.

I wasn't.

What I was trying to get across is that schools (even the T20's, which are considered "crapshoots") accept people for the very same reasons SDN claims.

It is no secret: academics, unique ec's, and good interviewing. Hence my sarcasm with the word "novel".

"Surprise."

There, perhaps that gets my original point across better.

Haha I was only joking :p
 
You got me. ;)

But jokes aside, that is something to be proud of. For them to take the time out of their busy lives and write that about you means a lot. Congrats! :)
 
I think this is what we all want to know.

...But keep trying to figure out in a roundabout way. (Maybe those who get accepted don't bother to ask, or are afraid admin will change their minds. "Whoops, we meant to accept someone else, bye bye...")

Schools usually answer this in a broad sense at Orientation and/or your White Coat Ceremony. Of course, it's not individually-focused, but often many of the remarks will fit you personally. They are proud of the classes they've come up with.
 
As someone said, they'll give you a generic answer.

I don't think they can actually reveal why you were accepted.
 
One of my letter writers (Department chair) wrote, "If there is one student that you need to accept this cycle, this is him." I don't think it got me all of my acceptances, but I'm sure it played a significant roll. Interviewers at Wash U and HMS mentioned it to me during interviews.
 
Top