A parent recently told me that her son prefers to take a gap year, but is going to apply anyway to “test the waters”. He’s not going to apply to many SOMs, maybe just one or two in his state. And then if he doesn’t get in, do his gap year and apply the next cycle.
I freaked a bit at the thought for several reasons, but I’d like to hear yours as to what are all the negative consequences to doing this.
I know that you have do disclose that you’re a re-applicant on AMCAS during the second cycle.
I’ve heard that some med schools will not review re-applicants applications until after they look at first-timers. However, does that only apply to those who are re-applicants to THAT med school or to any med schools?
What are the other negatives?
@WayOutWestMom I bet you could name a few!
The biggest negative is the perception of being “damaged goods”. (If this applicant is a good candidate, why wasn’t he accepted anywhere last cycle?) Adcomms put re-applicants under closer scrutiny and hold them to a higher level of expectations. Afterall, they should have found out where their deficiencies lay and fixed them before they applied again, right? And if he applies again to the same schools on the second round, the adcomm will quite literally pull out his previous application and compare the 2 to see what he’s done to improve.
Additionally , a number of medical school say explicitly in their FAQs that anyone who has a failed cycle should not apply again the following year, but should take at least a year off to strengthen their application. (So throwing a half-assed application out there means an additional gap year.)
Lastly, a number of med schools say explicitly they will only accept 2 application rounds from an individual. Third time applicants won’t be considered. (Most common at private and highly ranked schools. Less common at state schools.)
Then there’s the cost. Primary & secondary fees can easily run a thousand dollars or more. And there’s the emotional wear & tear. Applying is exhausting. No one really wants to do it twice.
P.S. I’ve also heard that re-applicants get reviewed only after first time applicants–but I don’t know for a fact if this is true. And I don’t know if it’s a universal policy or something school-specific.
First of all, if S in question gets in, congrats
If S in question applies at end of third year, what’s he going to do senior year, just sit back and wait for an interview/acceptance? He almost has to assume he will not be accepted and be proactive from time he submits initial app working to substantially improve his chances (eg MCAT retake, ECs, etc) should a reapplication be necessary. If S in question gets waitlisted, then finds out late in cycle he won’t get in, it could be too late to strengthen his app and he’d just be in position of refreshing an already questionable application.
As has been said many times in this forum it’s best to apply one time with the strongest app possible. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Reapplicant typically means something was not quite right first time around that had to be repaired, i.e. MCAT scores, GPA, EC’s, motivation, good rationale. If that box is checked, ADCOMS will be looking at the application with a more critical eye to see if they can decipher what was underpar and now corrected and how much. Steer away from this misperception if you can. It’s loaded with emotional baggage you don’t need in an already tough-enough process.
This Vandy document provides application information for first time applicants and re-applicants. You can see that re-applicants have notably lower test scores and grades, but still have a decent success rate.
https://as.vanderbilt.edu/hpao/documents/2014_Annual_Report.pdf
In any case, a student only has a limited bits at the apple and it seems stupid to toss an opportunity away.