Serious Advice Needed

[caviarcrunch]

I'm going to start this off saying that my dilemma might annoy or offend people, but I thought I'd seek some advice from the respected admins from SDN before making any rash decision. I had the privilege of interviewing at a DO school this cycle and recently found out that I was waitlisted. After some serious thought in regarding my application, I am questioning if I really want to attend this school.

Quite frankly I did not see myself going there for my medical school eduction for my next four years and I don't see the point of attending a school where I don't think I will be happy. I don't want to make the mistake of being miserable at a school where I have no desire to go in the first place, when I know that there is someone out there who would love to have my spot at this school that they might truly admire. I am thinking about withdrawing from the waitlist, as I have done some research on SDN regarding that it is relatively better to withdraw on the waitlist rather than withdraw after being accepted. My future plans are to reapply to medical school, although I am not exactly sure when, but I will exclude this school since I don't envision myself being happy there and having an education that I will truly enjoy.

I hope that this decision does not question my true desire to be a doctor, as I wish to be the best doctor that I aspire to be, but I would like to go to a school that I truly like and don't feel "forced" to going. I know that I will be taking a big gamble by hoping that I would get offers from other schools when I apply next, but at this point I wish to make the right decision before it is too late and reflects poorly on my part. My main concern would be if I will be "blacklisted" by other schools, as I applied to this school via TMDSAS, which is a shared application for all Texas schools, be it MD or DO. I don't want to deprive my chances of ever becoming a doctor by doing something foolish and appearing as if I'm "too good for this school", so I've come to SDN to ask for some sincere advice. Thank you for your feedback SDN community.

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[Isoval]

As far as I am aware, withdrawing from the waitlist does not blacklist you. (I’m roughly 99.99% sure this is the case)

You must withdraw an acceptance in order to be “flagged”.

It’s worth noting that it’s not, strictly speaking, a blacklist. There are many reasonable scenarios where one may withdraw an acceptance and later reapply to medical school (family emergency/medical emergency/etc).

 

[caviarcrunch]

Thanks for your reply. That's definitely comforting to know that I won't be "blacklisted" or "flagged" if I withdraw prior acceptance. My major concern is that since all the schools in question are jointly under the TMDSAS banner, that if I withdraw from the waitlist will the other schools raise some red flags or strongly question my decision to withdraw? I know for a fact that I won't be reapplying to this very same school, due to the above mentioned reasons, so I am not going to waste their time with an application that isn't committed.

And to answer the potential question of "What if you don't like the other schools you may potentially interview at?", my answer would be I don't know. It's very difficult to tell how much one can like the school via a website or other information source when one is applying. Post application all the way after the interview, I did my research and I believe I have weighed my pros and cons, to which I think my happiness matters a lot to me personally.

 

[caviarcrunch]

@Goro I would like to hear your take regarding my situation, please. Thank you

 

[deleted480308]

The biggest problem is that your app is still the same one that only got you a waitlist so far...not even an acceptance

Would you rather go to this place or not be a doctor? That’s a very likely scenario. I would not assume that you will get another chance.

Even you are going to assume, would you pay $200k to get into a different school? Because that’s the opportunity cost of missing a year. Break that down and you’re saving $50k per year to not be in your dream school...

You could blow your whole career, be careful about turning this down

 

[Steve H]

Who knows where you will land for residency. There is a good chance it will be somewhere you don't really want to be. You might as well get over your fear of being some place you don't want to be. If you get in, run with it. The alternative is a setback, the annoyance of reapplying, perhaps without acceptance, and lost $$$.

 

[Magus5454]

Honestly i applied to schools i wasn't 100% happy with. Id rather be a doctor than hold out for the "dream" school. Look at it this way, for (most) DO schools you are going to be there for two years. Then you might end up doing rotations across the country

 

[MyGrainAura]

As far as I am aware, withdrawing from the waitlist does not blacklist you. (I’m roughly 99.99% sure this is the case)

You must withdraw an acceptance in order to be “flagged”.

It’s worth noting that it’s not, strictly speaking, a blacklist. There are many reasonable scenarios where one may withdraw an acceptance and later reapply to medical school (family emergency/medical emergency/etc).

I don’t think turning down an acceptance is fatal, but rather backing out of a signed matriculation agreement which would blacklist you from matriculation in the future.


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[Trollest]

What is it about TCOM that you don't like? I have only heard praises from them?

I'm going to start this off saying that my dilemma might annoy or offend people, but I thought I'd seek some advice from the respected admins from SDN before making any rash decision. I had the privilege of interviewing at a DO school this cycle and recently found out that I was waitlisted. After some serious thought in regarding my application, I am questioning if I really want to attend this school.

Quite frankly I did not see myself going there for my medical school eduction for my next four years and I don't see the point of attending a school where I don't think I will be happy. I don't want to make the mistake of being miserable at a school where I have no desire to go in the first place, when I know that there is someone out there who would love to have my spot at this school that they might truly admire. I am thinking about withdrawing from the waitlist, as I have done some research on SDN regarding that it is relatively better to withdraw on the waitlist rather than withdraw after being accepted. My future plans are to reapply to medical school, although I am not exactly sure when, but I will exclude this school since I don't envision myself being happy there and having an education that I will truly enjoy.

I hope that this decision does not question my true desire to be a doctor, as I wish to be the best doctor that I aspire to be, but I would like to go to a school that I truly like and don't feel "forced" to going. I know that I will be taking a big gamble by hoping that I would get offers from other schools when I apply next, but at this point I wish to make the right decision before it is too late and reflects poorly on my part. My main concern would be if I will be "blacklisted" by other schools, as I applied to this school via TMDSAS, which is a shared application for all Texas schools, be it MD or DO. I don't want to deprive my chances of ever becoming a doctor by doing something foolish and appearing as if I'm "too good for this school", so I've come to SDN to ask for some sincere advice. Thank you for your feedback SDN community.

 

[workaholic181]

I’m pretty sure this would not black list you going forward. But regardless this seems like a mistake to me. As the above poster stated, why do you think you have a better chance next cycle?

I honestly had a similar vibe from a school I was accepted to (and withdrew from) this year. But the kicker was I would be paying 50k+ a year to go there. You’re paying in state tuition at this program correct? You need to see the long play here. Going to this school and graduating with so much less debt will give you the freedom to pursue a practice of your choosing going forward. That’s huge OP.

 

[Mimosas]

I mean, who knows, you might end up loving the school or liking it more than you thought. It kind of depends on how you make your experience there. Is there something you really did not like about the school or is it more of an indifferent feeling?

 

[caviarcrunch]

The biggest problem is that your app is still the same one that only got you a waitlist so far...not even an acceptance

Would you rather go to this place or not be a doctor? That’s a very likely scenario. I would not assume that you will get another chance.

Even you are going to assume, would you pay $200k to get into a different school? Because that’s the opportunity cost of missing a year. Break that down and you’re saving $50k per year to not be in your dream school...

You could blow your whole career, be careful about turning this down

Thank you for your reply. I'm aware that I will be taking a big risk if I withdraw and that maybe I won't even get in anywhere my second application cycle. Being a doctor is my end goal, but I don't at the same time want to go to a place that I believe I didn't like, or felt like I was forced to like, based on what the online reviews have been. Essentially at this point, I can't think of a good reason to convince myself to enroll in this school (if I can get accepted here) and I don't want to take this opportunity away from someone else who might view this as their dream school.

 

[caviarcrunch]

What is it about TCOM that you don't like? I have only heard praises from them?

I simply didn't like the overall atmosphere there and I didn't understand why people praised the staff there a lot. I talked to some students during my interview and even after my interview to get a general idea of how they felt about going there, and it just didn't seem like I would mesh well and be able to thrive there. To be honest, my heart isn't in it going there and I feel like I would be betraying myself going to a school I'm just not comfortable in going to.

 

[caviarcrunch]

I’m pretty sure this would not black list you going forward. But regardless this seems like a mistake to me. As the above poster stated, why do you think you have a better chance next cycle?

I honestly had a similar vibe from a school I was accepted to (and withdrew from) this year. But the kicker was I would be paying 50k+ a year to go there. You’re paying in state tuition at this program correct? You need to see the long play here. Going to this school and graduating with so much less debt will give you the freedom to pursue a practice of your choosing going forward. That’s huge OP.

I realize that if I reapply next cycle I need to make myself look more competitive. I am currently enrolled in TCOM's masters program and I am doing well in it. I plan on retaking the MCAT, because I realize that being average in that department isn't cutting it for me and I need to stand out more given the amount of competition applicants are facing there.

Since I'm already in TCOMs master program, I do interact with some professors and staff in the school and my encounters and experiences have not been what I thought they would be, honestly. I've immersed myself as much as I can as a premed student in the school, so I don't want to be seen as making some sort of rash decision without actually exploring the school out more. Like I said, at this point I know I'm risking a lot for the sake of me not feeling confident or happy about going to this school, but if this doesn't "blacklist" or "flag" me, then I think I will go about on this perhaps foolish risk.

 

[caviarcrunch]

Thank you all for the insight so far. This dilemma has been eating away at me ever since I interviewed at this school and I want to make the right decision that does not affect my future plans of reapplying. Is there anyway @Goro can reply to this thread, being a prominent figure in the community? Sorry to keep bothering, but my friends have told me that the admin offers great advice and I am hoping to receive some as well.

 

[deleted480308]

(Double post)

 

[deleted480308]

(Double post by accident)

 

[Isoval]

A wild Goro will appear eventually. Just keep poking him

 

[deleted480308]

You are over romanticizing this. A school is not there to complete you or fulfill your dreams. It’s there to get you to residency.

But you do you

 

[Goro]

I'm going to start this off saying that my dilemma might annoy or offend people, but I thought I'd seek some advice from the respected admins from SDN before making any rash decision. I had the privilege of interviewing at a DO school this cycle and recently found out that I was waitlisted. After some serious thought in regarding my application, I am questioning if I really want to attend this school.

Quite frankly I did not see myself going there for my medical school eduction for my next four years and I don't see the point of attending a school where I don't think I will be happy. I don't want to make the mistake of being miserable at a school where I have no desire to go in the first place, when I know that there is someone out there who would love to have my spot at this school that they might truly admire. I am thinking about withdrawing from the waitlist, as I have done some research on SDN regarding that it is relatively better to withdraw on the waitlist rather than withdraw after being accepted. My future plans are to reapply to medical school, although I am not exactly sure when, but I will exclude this school since I don't envision myself being happy there and having an education that I will truly enjoy.

I hope that this decision does not question my true desire to be a doctor, as I wish to be the best doctor that I aspire to be, but I would like to go to a school that I truly like and don't feel "forced" to going. I know that I will be taking a big gamble by hoping that I would get offers from other schools when I apply next, but at this point I wish to make the right decision before it is too late and reflects poorly on my part. My main concern would be if I will be "blacklisted" by other schools, as I applied to this school via TMDSAS, which is a shared application for all Texas schools, be it MD or DO. I don't want to deprive my chances of ever becoming a doctor by doing something foolish and appearing as if I'm "too good for this school", so I've come to SDN to ask for some sincere advice. Thank you for your feedback SDN community.

Since you don't want to be a DO, by all withdraw and let some who wants to be a doctor right now take your place.

 

[Trollest]

But is it going to affect him in anyway?

Since you don't want to be a DO, by all withdraw and let some who wants to be a doctor right now take your place.

 

[caviarcrunch]

Since you don't want to be a DO, by all withdraw and let some who wants to be a doctor right now take your place.

Thank you for your reply, Goro. I've mentioned the reasons why I don't feel like matriculating at this school and now my biggest concern is if it will negatively affect me when I decide to apply in the future via TMDSAS, AMCAS, AACOMAS.

 

[Trollest]

Thank you for your reply, Goro. I've mentioned the reasons why I don't feel like matriculating at this school and now my biggest concern is if it will negatively affect me when I decide to apply in the future via TMDSAS, AMCAS, AACOMAS.

Yeah, unless you decide to apply to TOP DO only, it would be kind of hard convincing the adcoms that you wont withdraw from their school as well. Like seriously TCOM is pretty up there.

 

[jab12]

But wait, you’re not even accepted yet and panicking about whether or not you want to go to this school lol. Your waitlist position doesn’t guarantee a thing so0oO you might not even have to make this decision. But best of luck to you

 

[caviarcrunch]

Right, but will they know that I withdrew myself from the waitlist? I just would like to know if adcoms will look at my second application and know that I withdrew myself from TCOM. I’m mainly considering TMDSAS schools since TCOM is part of that application, but I’d like to know what other applications like AAMC might think.

 

[caviarcrunch]

But wait, you’re not even accepted yet and panicking about whether or not you want to go to this school lol. Your waitlist position doesn’t guarantee a thing so0oO you might not even have to make this decision. But best of luck to you

I understand that, but wouldn’t it be better to withdraw prior to acceptance in the case I actually get accepted? I thought it looks relatively worse to withdraw after a school has decided to give you a seat and consider you a deserving candidate. I’d like to respect the school and not waste their time as well.

 

[Trollest]

I understand that, but wouldn’t it be better to withdraw prior to acceptance in the case I actually get accepted? I thought it looks relatively worse to withdraw after a school has decided to give you a seat and consider you a deserving candidate. I’d like to respect the school and not waste their time as well.

Based on last year thread, do you think you have a chance of getting off the waitlist? If not, i would just wait it off and not send any LOI or updates to the school. So that they reject you instead of you rejecting them.

 

[caviarcrunch]

Based on last year thread, do you think you have a chance of getting off the waitlist? If not, i would just wait it off and not send any LOI or updates to the school. So that they reject you instead of you rejecting them.

I’m not too sure about that, as I can only speculate. I just don’t want it to be too late to withdraw

 

[Goro]

Thank you for your reply, Goro. I've mentioned the reasons why I don't feel like matriculating at this school and now my biggest concern is if it will negatively affect me when I decide to apply in the future via TMDSAS, AMCAS, AACOMAS.

I don't know what the TX schools do.

DO and MD schools don't talk to each other...so you won't get affected. Besides, you were waitlisted, so it's a bit premature to be thinking that somehow this decision will have any effect.

Keep in mind that the majority of med school applicant neven get an acceptance, and of those that do, they get only a single accept. So, my thinking is beggars can't be choosy.

If you don't get any accepts this year, next year please do not post "reapplicant now... what went wrong??"

 

[caviarcrunch]

Thanks again Goro. Is there anyone on here that would be well versed on TX oriented questions like mine? If I withdraw, would you advise to do it on the waitlist or if I somehow get the acceptance, do it then?

I don't know what the TX schools do.

DO and MD schools don't talk to each other...so you won't get affected. Besides, you were waitlisted, so it's a bit premature to be thinking that somehow this decision will have any effect.

Keep in mind that the majority of med school applicant neven get an acceptance, and of those that do, they get only a single accept. So, my thinking is beggars can't be choosy.

If you don't get any accepts this year, next year please do not post "reapplicant now... what went wrong??"

 

[Goro]

Thanks again Goro. Is there anyone on here that would be well versed on TX oriented questions like mine? If I withdraw, would you advise to do it on the waitlist or if I somehow get the acceptance, do it then?

Some schools ask in their secondaries about other acceptances.

Wait until you you actually have an accept from an MD school before having to go back into the app cycle....because as or right now, that's where you're headed.

 

[Magus5454]

I still cant believe this thread is a thing.

 

[wysdoc]

Thanks again Goro. Is there anyone on here that would be well versed on TX oriented questions like mine? If I withdraw, would you advise to do it on the waitlist or if I somehow get the acceptance, do it then?

If you absolutely do not want to attend TCOM, withdraw while you are still on their wait list. Then don't apply there next time. But won't you feel very awkward as you are still in the SMP program there? The teachers may wonder what you were thinking. Much worse for you to withdraw if already accepted.

 

[caviarcrunch]

If you absolutely do not want to attend TCOM, withdraw while you are still on their wait list. Then don't apply there next time. But won't you feel very awkward as you are still in the SMP program there? The teachers may wonder what you were thinking. Much worse for you to withdraw if already accepted.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I agree it might be awkward, but I don’t think it will be unless I bring it up. If they ask I’ll just be honest about my reasons. Would you think that me withdrawing before getting an acceptance would be alarming or notify any of the other TX schools when I plan on reapplying?

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I agree it might be awkward, but I don’t think it will be unless I bring it up. If they ask I’ll just be honest about my reasons. Would you think that me withdrawing before getting an acceptance would be alarming or notify any of the other TX schools when I plan on reapplying?

No

 

[THEBACKANDFORTH]

Daft

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Withdraw. You don’t want to be there so give the slot to someone who does. However, you should be prepared for the very real possibility that this might be the only chance you get to be a doctor as an application that only yields a waitlist spot at a DO school most likely will have a hard time getting up to MD level, unless you want to go to UIWSOM

 

[IslandStyle808]

To DIRECTLY answer OPs question they WILL NOT know you applied to other schools if you withdraw from this school and do a second cycle. It's SDN myth that has been floating around that schools will know what other schools you applied to, unless you have matriculated and withdrew/were dismissed that is a different story.

 

[Afp0731]

OP, I agree to an extent with others here that med school is ultimately a means to an end, but I think they are also downplaying your hesitation to go this school. Its important to connect with the atmosphere and faculty at the school you choose to attend. Could you possibly expand on what it is you don't like? It's tough to give thoughtful advice here without more context.

I will say that this app cycle will be your only shot only if you allow it to be. I firmly believe that doors are always open to those who are willing to put forth the effort. It sounds like you are working hard to improve your app too. Whether or not this potential opportunity is your last is up to you.

 

[caviarcrunch]

Hey guys, just a quick update. The email I received stated that the adcoms "had not made a final decision and have put my application under review". My portal status says "under review" as well, so I don't think I'm on an official waitlist. So my understanding is that I am not even on a waitlist at this point and the school wants to see my how my performance in my master's program will be till the final grades have been released. I have also decided to withdraw, but my question is am I safe to do so now without having any repercussions since I'm still "under review"? That is all I would like to know, thank you for the continued help.