Disappointment. Need help

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I just finished my sophomore year at SLU as a med scholar. My GPA was a 3.7, with 3.65 in the math/sciences (comfortably above the 3.5 requirement). I had over 300 hours of shadowing experience, as well other a few hundred other hours of non-shadowing clinical experience.</p>

<p>After i finished my med school interview a few months ago, i was confident that i would fall into the the 98% of scholars who make it into SLUMED. My interview was a breeze.</p>

<p>However, a few days ago, i received a letter in the mail. It was a letter of decline. I was outright rejected from med school.</p>

<p>As you can imagine, my family and I are extremely disappointed. I've spoken with the associate dean, Dr. Willmore, two times since then. Both were lengthy conversations about why i didn't get in. He went on to say that the committee had major concerns about my understanding of the medical field and the lifestyle of a physician. In my essays and interview, i tried to convey my belief that helping others in need, provides a sense of fulfillment and reward. Yet, he abruptly shot this down, telling me that my reasoning was entirely wrong. He stated that "doctors don't feel fulfilled or rewarded, they're tired, over-worked, and depressed."</p>

<p>I was rejected because apparently i don't understand that.</p>

<p>He would not specify what portions of my application caused my rejection (essay, interview, etc).</p>

<p>Anyways, i would advise people to stay away from this program. 5 other students were declined like me, even though they had the gpa. The 98% stat is far from the truth. It's false advertising at it's finest. In actuality, only 18-20% of the original pool of medical scholars make it into med school.</p>

<p>So, here i am, a little lost and unsure of what to do now. </p>

<p>The 1st thing i want to do, is immediately transfer from SLU, as its tuition is grossly expensive and no longer worth the price, but transfer deadlines for the fall have passed. I am considering staying at home for a semester, rather than go to slu. I could prepare for the mcats, do research and anything else. </p>

<p>But, how does staying home for a semester look to medical schools?</p>

<p>Also, if i was to transfer, how would i explain what happened to me, to medical schools, during future interviews?</p>

<p>More generally, where do i go from here? what do i need to do next to reach my goal of med school?</p>

2

<p>Why were you applying to med school as a soph in college?</p>

<p>Am I misunderstanding something? Were you in some kind of BS/MD program?</p>

<p>What is your home state? Can you transfer to your state school?</p>

<p>Does SLU really say that 98% of med scholars get accepted to SLU med?</p>

3

<p>I think the most important lesson you have learned is that this particular medical school is not a good fit for you. You should look at other options. </p>

<p>Another lesson is that medicine as a career is a hard slog that can sap the idealism from those who enter medical training with the best intentions. This reality should not dissuade you from seeking to fulfill your vocation as a physician, however. I would recommend that you talk to practicing physicians in your community in order to gain a realistic perspective and then re-think your approach to your med school applications, especially the essays and interviews. This does not mean that you should give up your idealism.</p>

<p>I am a retired pediatrician who entered medical school in his mid-thirties. The third year was rough for someone my age, and I made my decision for residency based in part on how we were treated on the various clinical rotations. The decision was easy: pediatricians are, by and large, nice people who like children. There are plenty of idealists among them.
They are also overworked and underpaid, they get phone calls in the middle of the night, and the insurance companies take advantage of their niceness. But they like being pediatricians: watching babies grow to young adulthood, helping to ease the pain of young children and the anxiety of parents, and knowing that most of the time their patients will get well (when they don’t it breaks your heart).</p>

<p>Do not take time off from university or change schools. These actions would raise red flags and suspicions from any med school admissions committee.</p>

<p>Hang in there. Research other medical schools. Do your best in class and on the MCAT. Enjoy your final year of college. Don’t give up.</p>

4

<p>mom2, SLU med scholars is almost a BS/MD. Students are admitted to the program after high school, go to a few select undergrads (SLU, Rockhurst, Marquette come to mind) and then interview for SLU medical school after junior year (provided they meet GPA requirements). SLU reports that 98% of the students are accepted after their sophomore year. The problem with that stat, as the OP wrote, is that it’s pretty misleading.</p>

<p>OP, this sounds like an absolutely devastating event. At least you’ve been keeping up with your ECs and are likely building a strong candidacy for medical school in the future. I really don’t know what I would do if I were in your shoes, and it might be tough to find sound advice on this board because this seems like a pretty rare occurrence (unfortunately).</p>

<p>Where would you transfer to?</p>

<p>I see you’re worried about explaining this in the future–but I’m wondering, will you even need to? That is, will your new school see that you were a med scholar?</p>

<p>Is it possible to appeal the decision? Is there such thing as a conditional acceptance? Is there ANYONE at SLU that can go to bat for you? A ton of medicine is who you know–perhaps there’s someone else up there that can help you out besides the dean. Maybe the docs you shadow?</p>

5

<ol>
<li><p>Don’t take any time off. You have to explain any gaps in your education. I don’t think you have a good explanation for this except that you were ****ed off at SLU.</p></li>
<li><p>I wouldn’t even mention this at all in your application. Plenty of people transfer for whatever reason. Most of the time, med schools won’t care why you transferred. It’s a no-win situation for you to bring up this messy situation with the Med Scholars program. I don’t think future adcoms would like the fact you’ve already been rejected by your own school’s adcom. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>What Dr. Willmore said is absolutely true. Even the most optimistic of med school mentors will admit that medical students lose their idealism from their M1 year to when they graduate. I don’t know what you wrote that would cause you to be rejected but something might have been so off base that the adcom thought you had an entirely unrealistic view of medicine. I won’t get into who’s right since we’re only hearing your side of the story but you might want to consider doing more shadowing and talking to more physicians to get a better perspective on medicine as a career.</p>

6

<p>The medical scholars program allows students to apply a year early. I will be a junior this upcoming fall semester, not a senior. So im not behind or anything.</p>

<p>I’ve decided not to take a semester off, and stick it out one more semester at SLU.</p>

<p>The reason i’d like to transfer is because SLU is incredibly expensive. The price was worth it when i was a medical scholar, but now, there’s no point in staying there.</p>

<p>I’m from Texas, so i’m thinking about transferring to a state school.</p>

<p>The reason this is so incredibly disheartening is because i’ve spent two years in Missouri. doing everything i can. All my friends are moving on with their guaranteed spot at SLUMED…but im left behind. It’s still hard for me to realize what i did that was so different from what my fellow med scholars did.</p>

<p>Anyways, the day i got my letter, i bought an mcat book. I’m going to study it religiously.</p>

<p>I’m also looking into research next semester. </p>

<p>Is my science gpa solid? 3.65? I did poorly my freshman year, but i had a huge rebound my sophomore year and made all As in orgo 1 and 2, as well as cell bio 1 and 2. </p>

<p>the help is greatly appreciated</p>

7

<p>@wannamed, To transfer from SLU to UTA(for example) for financial reasons, is not something that any future MS should question. The money you save will help you pay for MS. As long as you frame your decision as strictly financial, there should be no problem. Best of luck.</p>

<p>Also, in my opinion, UT is a better school.</p>

8

<p>I agree…transfer to UT. </p>

<p>Don’t know how you’re paying for SLU, but if it involves loans, that’s a bad idea.</p>

<p>Saying that you transferred for money reasons is certainly believable.</p>

9

<p>I agree with the last two recommendations. Transferring for financial reasons will not hurt your chances for med school admission. </p>

<p>Transferring to a Texas college is also a good idea, especially if you can establish Texas residency. With your academic record you should be able to transfer to UT Austin, but you should also consider UT Dallas and Austin College. The latter has an excellent pre-med program and a very high acceptance rate for medical schools.</p>

<p>Texas has 7 or 8 medical schools (I’ve lost count), including two of the best in the country: UT Southwestern in Dallas and Baylor in Houston. However, all American medical schools follow essentially the same curriculum and nearly all provide an excellent medical education.
(I don’t know the exceptions, if any, but if I wrote ‘all’ someone would enlighten me)></p>

10

<p>OP,</p>

<p>Quote:</p>

<p>"i tried to convey my belief that helping others in need, provides a sense of fulfillment and reward. "</p>

<p>S1 wrote a similar sentence in his college application. I sensed a self superiority from the writer. I am not sure if that is the true reason of the rejection. You may want to have someone knowledgeable review your essay. Hopefully, most medical schools are not like that.</p>

11

<p>I can’t imagine any scenario where transferring to a higher ranking school (UT) would be seen as a negative to med schools. Kids do that all the time.</p>

12

<p>No reason to stay depressed. I firmly believe the old adage of one door opening when another closes. Transfer to UT (or any other in state public school) would be very easy to explain…financial reasons…that’s all you’d need to say. </p>

<p>Make sure you check pre requisites for Texas schools. There are a few things that might be different than your current SLU path.</p>

<p>To be competitive for UTSW or Baylor you’ll need to be sure that the science GPA doesn’t drop and honestly, getting it to 3.7 + will help. You’re competitive for UT-H, UTMB, UTSA and Tech with your current GPA but it never hurts to strengthen it. One last thing, Texas med schools are far less expensive than SLU. Now you just need to focus on the MCAT. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

13

<p>OP,
My D. was in bs/md and applied out. She has applied out because she has decided on her own to do so. Her program had only 10 kids and all except for my D. stayed in the program (all who have survived in the program). Her program only required certain GPA and MCAT to stay. They had to apply to thier Med. School but it was free, no interview either. Your program seems to be more stringent. However, my point is that if you just continue where you are, you can apply to Med. Schools in your junior year (just like my D., her program was not accelerated, it was 4+4). I do not see much difference from outsider prospective. Yes, looking from inside, my D. was not rejected because she met easier requirements. But does anybody need to know that? I do not think that she has ever mentioned in her many Med. Schools interviews that she was in combined bs/md program. If she did, it would not make any difference one way or another. What got her into several Med. Schools were her GPA, MCAT score and EC’s and her great interview skills. She got rejected from couple Med. School that she applied, everybody does! However, she has always had a clear picture of hardships that MD’s have to indure for professional satisfaction and financial security. She has brought it up many many times, it made her doubt, but at the end she decided it was all worth it. Maybe some of it came up during her interivews, I do not know. Interviews were easy for her, even the one that was actually trying to put her down, she knew how to stand up for what she believed, she understood all her personal reasons for everything that she has done, and that is very important. She mentioned that focus was on unusual for pre-med activities, her unusual volunteering and more than anything else, her Music minor.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the support guys, its really giving me a lot of hope for the future.</p>

<p>Now that i’m out of this program, i really need to focus on the mcats.</p>

<p>I plan on taking physics my junior year. </p>

<p>I’m trying to figure out when to take the mcats.</p>

<p>Is it normal to take the mcats in the spring, while im taking physics II? or should i wait till physics is over?</p>

<p>I’m leaning towards taking it in august, as this would allow more time to prepare…but does taking the mcats later and applying later reduce my chances at getting into medschools at all?</p>

<p>I’ve heard that taking the mcats in the spring is best, because it allows time for applying early, which I’ve heard is very important. But i feel like i need more time to prepare…</p>

<p>any tips? thanks in advance</p>

15

<p>wannamed,</p>

<p>I’m dealing with the same situation. I’m also a med scholar at SLU (just finished my sophomore year too). My overall GPA is 3.88 and my math and science GPA is 3.80. My family and I are still in shock. I can’t believe this actually happened to me. Like you, I’ve also done my fair share of volunteering and shadowing. I have yet to speak to the dean or anyone else in the committee. My essay was about my concerns about women’s health and and how it sparked my interest in medicine. I feel terrible and i’m very sorry that your are dealing with the same problem.</p>

16

<p>ultraultra1269,</p>

<p>i’m so soryy this happened to you too. I felt awful, just awful, the 1st few days after the letter was received. It’s going to be hard to move on.</p>

<p>But i’ve taken things into perspective, and this forum has helped me out ALOTT. </p>

<p>We still have great shots at medical school. Your gpa is awesome btw.</p>

<p>I would call Willmore as soon as possible. He needs to know that this isn’t okay.</p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, were you a BME?</p>

17

<p>Thanks for your support. I will definitely be calling Willmore on Monday. I’m not BME. I’m a bio major and spanish minor.</p>

18

<p>wannamed,
D. also took physics junior year. She took MCAT 2 weeks after spring finals. It helped to have some material still fresh after finals. The only regret she had was not schedule MCAT earlier, 2 weeks were mostly waste of time (according to D.)</p>

19

<p>I think SLU needs to get slapped if they are advertising that 98% of their Medical Scholars are getting into their med school. </p>

<p>You need to find out what the real numbers are. They are doing false advertising to get families to pay their high costs as some kind of near-insurance of being accepted into med school.</p>

20

<p>wannamed:</p>

<p>You probably should not take the MCAT in August. If there is anything that is strongly recommended when applyint to med schools, it is that you be in a position to apply as soon as the application period opens in June. Many med schools are effectively rolling admissions. They review their first batch of applications and send out interview notices in August or September. The first people who interview do so when all slots are open. All subsequent waves of interviews may be in a weaker position. If you take the MCAT in August, get a score in September, you’ll be getting interviews after some people have already gotten offers of admission.</p>