If you find yourself depressed and worried, saying Im not getting into medical school, what do I do now? you have options after not being accepted. Dont be scared.
You can show your commitment to medicine by applying to medical school a second time. Theres no shame.
Out of the 129,134 applicants to medical school between 2010-2012, only 58,375 were accepted, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
This means 54.8 percent were not accepted and did not get into medical school the first time.
How did the 45.2 percent of applicants deal with not getting into med school? Lets look at two options.
Re-apply to medical school
Find out where you failed or faltered. If the school identified a reason(s) why your application was rejected, then act on the problematic area.
Example: If the 5 schools that you applied to declined your application on the ground of a low MCAT score, you will know that you need to spend more time and effort studying to improve and retake the MCAT.
Plan out how you will improve on the aspect pointed out as the culprit for your failure to enter the schools.
Adopt corrective measures. Map out a plan with a realistic time frame.
- Improve your application package
Relevant extracurricular activities can provide talking points during the interview and excellent topical information for your personal essay.
Join a research project, work in homeless shelters and battered women’s shelters, and be active in your community.
Volunteer in patient-related activities to improve your clinical experience.
The idea here is to reapply stronger the second time around as a person who can intervene to improve human conditions.
- Don’t recycle your previous personal statement
Whether reapplying to the same school or applying for the first time in a new school after failing to enter med school the first time, avoid using or recycling your old personal statement.
You dont want the committee to compare 2 identical personal statements, which shows no growth.
Besides, the first personal statement didn’t get you past the entry to med school, right? So it most probably wasn’t that effective.
- Get feedback
Many, although not all, medical schools encourage reapplying students to call the school for feedback and opinion regarding their unsuccessful application.
Also solicit ideas and opinions from friends, family, and other students who were successfully admitted to medical schools for possible areas of improvement of your materials used for application.
- Rerun and practice interviews
If you made it to the interview phase, it means that you have a good chance.
Ask family or friends to listen to you as you recount as closely accurate as possible what happened during the previous interview.
Ask for their opinion about your answers and your possible body language.
How could you have answered better? Where do they think were your answers weak?
Filter their input and practice on it until you think you sound credible and your answers are strong. Practice, practice, practice.
- Submit an addendum
An addendum can be included in your application if you need to explain something in your background. Otherwise, there is no need for it.
Some reasons why you might need an addendum: You need to explain a particularly poor performance during your baccalaureate degree, or you have a criminal record or a disciplinary sanction, or there is a gap in college when you took a leave from school.
An addendum is a proactive explanation for unusual events in your record that you want to straighten out even before the committee notices it.
It is you coming out clean instead of waiting out and hoping nobody notices that blotch on your record.
An addendum is usually brief and ends with a positive note like how you have become a better person after such an episode.
Choose another medical career
If you did not get into medical school the first time, you can re-apply for a second round.
But a third or a fourth application doesn’t seem feasible.
Dogged persistence may work for a handful of applicants but many of us need to move on to a different health care careers.
Become a physician’s assistant. You can have as much autonomy in providing health care services as the supervising physician will allow.
Often, a physicians assistant works as a primary care provider in many areas because there is a shortage of physicians in many areas.
There is a high demand for this profession and it pays well, too. It requires a master’s degree.
If you want to get a doctorates degree, you have many options such as optometry, dentistry, biomedical sciences, pharmacy, audiology, to name a few.
You could also use your undergraduate degree and work in a laboratory. Go back to school for an allied health career, such as a registered nurse, or any other disciplines adjunct to medicine. Consider a health care career from this list.
I hope you can see that even if you are saying Im not getting into medical school, now what do I do? there are options available after not being accepted.