One factor that can seriously hurt your chances of getting accepted to med school is a lack of substantive, ongoing service experiences, both clinical and nonclinical. Medical schools want students who are passionate and committed – to the world around them as well as to medicine. The AAMC says: “Most volunteer experiences are valuable and…
Rejected from Medical School? Three Tips for a Stronger Reapplication
You worked your tail off as an undergrad to earn an amazing GPA, took MCAT review courses to get a high score, and engaged in many hours of clinical experience and community service, but you were still rejected from medical school! Where did you go wrong? How can you get it right next time? Three…
Help, I Was Rejected by All the Med Schools I Applied To!
Here’s my 2-minute answer to the question I hear every application season: “I was rejected by every single medical school I applied to. What can I change?” There’s a simple 2-step process that rejected med school applicants need to follow: Assess what went wrong, Fix it! What exactly was your application weakness? Did you apply…
Reapplying to Medical School: Secondaries, Interviews and School Selection
In this final part of your assessment, we will look at all the other ways you communicated with the admissions committee. With the multi-staged admissions process, and an increasingly longer application season, applicants have multiple opportunities to make an impact – or be weeded out. Therefore, it’s important to evaluate whether or not your interactions…
Reapplying to Med School: Your Primary Application
The previous posts have focused on identifying problem areas in your application and offering ideas to help you address them. You might be feeling a bit fragile after such a critical review – if so, then you’re doing it right. This exercise demands that you be ruthless and identify every potential flaw. Your ego might…
How to Improve Your Experiences for Your Med School Reapplication
In this section of our Medical School Reapplicant Advice: 6 Tips for Success series, we’ll discuss how reapplicants can improve their service experiences. Another factor that can seriously hurt your chances is a lack of substantive, ongoing service experiences, both clinical and non-clinical. Medical schools want students who are passionate and committed – to the…
Improve Your MCAT Score for Medical School Acceptance
Fortunately, it’s easier to tackle a poor MCAT score than a poor GPA. While you should not retake the exam too many times, a better-prepared second or even third attempt can be a sound strategy. Many people find that studying independently or with a group of friends works well. Reviewing your old class notes and…
Boost Your GPA for Medical School Acceptance
In our last post, we talked about how to assess your application weaknesses. If you’re feeling a bit fragile now, that’s to be expected – you’ve just undergone a pretty brutal review of your application! But the admissions committee is scrutinizing submissions with the same critical eye. Anticipating the problems so you can correct them…
Reapplying to Med School: Evaluating Your Medical School Profile
What should you do if you applied to med school and all you’ve received are rejections? You knew there was a possibility that this would happen, but that doesn’t erase the sting. What can you do now? How can you move forward? To start with, know you’re not alone. In the 2021 application cycle, only…
Bouncing Back After Med School Rejection
Did you miss our recent webinar, titled The Reapplicant’s Guide to Medical School Acceptance? In it, Accepted founder and CEO Linda Abraham showed attendees how to recover from med school rejection and prepare for a successful reapplication. If you weren’t able to join us, don’t worry! It’s available now for free, on-demand viewing. Watch the…
An Accepted Student’s Advice for Reapplying to Medical School [Episode 408]
A tale of med school reapplication success [Show summary] After getting rejected from medical schools the first time around, Nicole Stephens bounced back and reapplied. Now happily anticipating the start of med school, she shares her advice for fellow reapplicants. How to apply stronger the second time around [Show notes] Were you rejected from this…
Facing Adversity as a Med School Applicant [Episode 390]
M2 Sotonye Douglas shares how she never lost sight of her dream to become a doctor. [Show summary] Sotonye Douglas describes herself as an “imperfect” medical school applicant who nevertheless became a student at Quinnipiac Netter School of Medicine, overcoming tremendous barriers in the process. An “imperfect” applicant discusses her path to medical school. [Show…
A Reapplicant’s Route to Med School Acceptance [Episode 361]
Zach Donato, who will be starting medical school later this year, reflects on his application experience and his expectations for med school [Show summary] Zach Donato, who is preparing to start medical school, shares his perspective on getting accepted as a reapplicant, staying on top of the application process, and mentally preparing for med school….
Rejected From Medical School 3x – Today a Pediatric Resident and Mom [Episode 238]
You’ve taken the MCAT, maybe even applied and been rejected. Discouraged? Don’t be. Hear Dr. Allie’s story. Allie Lyle had wanted to be a doctor since she was 14. More specifically she wanted to be a pediatrician. And she pursued this path diligently. But the MCAT and a few mistakes got in her way. She…
Should You Reapply to Medical School?
You’ve taken the MCAT, completed all the pre-reqs, and maybe shadowed a physician, done some research, and volunteered. Now it’s time to make sure you’re all in for the last legs of this long journey. In this series, we’ll discuss how you can continue to navigate your way to a med school acceptance by analyzing…
The Dreaded Med School Rejection: What Now?
“Dear Incredibly Hard Working Premed and Hopeful Doctor, Our admissions committee has met, and we regret to inform you that you were not selected as a student for our entering class. There were many qualified blah blah blah…” Ouch. I worked hard. I shadowed. I volunteered. My GPA was great! I gave everything I had…
Moving Forward After Medical School Rejection
It is devastating to receive a rejection. We actually experience physical pain; the same parts of the brain that are activated when we are kicked or punched, light up when we experience rejection. Given the very real physical and emotional pain of rejection, as anyone who has been through it before can attest, there are…
Your Past Doesn’t Define You [Episode 209]
Today’s one of those shows where I’m going to be the sole presenter. I actually started preparing this show during the World Series way back in October. Yes, folks, after 108 years of losing, the Chicago Cubs finally won the World Series. At the same time, we were working (and have worked in the past)…