When You Can’t Get Into Medical School
By: Jake Tabbot
I attended one of the better colleges in California, received straight A’s, volunteered at the hospital, did research, and did pretty well on the MCAT. I loved what I was doing, and was pretty good at it.
Thus, I was shocked when I applied to medical schools for the first time. I applied broadly to 20 different schools and received only one interview (which resulted in a rejection). Completely stumped, I brushed it off as bad luck, picked myself up, and applied again the next year. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again. What should one do when you can’t get into medical school? What was I doing wrong?
My pre-med counselor’s best guess was that my application was lacking in the non-clinical volunteering area and that my personal statement wasn’t the strongest. Still, she and I both thought that the other areas of my application should have made up for that.
The reality is that getting into medical school is extremely difficult even with a decent application. Some of the smartest kids I knew from college only got into one school.
You’re competing against the kids who were valedictorian in high school, non-traditional applicants who have years of working experience, and students who have taken one or two years off to just volunteer.
So what can you do if you have an average application and can’t get in? The first step is to fix your application where it’s weakest. If your grades aren’t the best, consider attending a post-baccalaureate program. Retake the MCAT if you totally bombed it. Take a year off and volunteer if your application is weak in that area. If you do this, you’ll most likely get in eventually.
I know it might seem like a bummer at first to have to wait a couple of years before starting medical school, but taking some time off and reapplying will definitely be your best option. Trust me.
However, some students just can’t get in after applying repeatedly. Competition in states like California and New York is especially fierce, and many might get to the point where they need to consider a different route.
Therefore, I’ve come up with a few ways to help those who have applied a few times and are still having a tough time getting accepted to medical school.
Below are options I personally wish I knew of coming straight out of college.
1. Consider osteopathic medical schools
Although you won’t have an M.D. after your name when you graduate, you can still become a doctor by going the osteopathic (D.O.) route. There are a ton of D.O. schools across the United States that have excellent programs and great reputations, and these schools sometimes take a more holistic view of your application and may focus less on strict GPA/MCAT scores. You’ll also have the same amount of options as a doctor who graduated from an allopathic (MD) medical school.
(Editor note: By 2020 there will be a single/combined Match and Residency system for MD and DO students, which may make the difference between MD/DO even smaller in big picture going forward.)
2. Consider Caribbean medical schools
One benefit of going to a Caribbean medical school is that you’ll still end up with an M.D. If you’re a US citizen and wish to return back to the states to practice medicine, I personally would only look at the best Caribbean Medical schools. Regardless, if you do go this route, please make sure to research the school’s attrition rate, residency placement rate, match list, and USMLE pass rate. Many believe going this route is riskier than attending an osteopathic medical school in the United States.
3. Consider other international medical schools
A good number of students have gone to medical schools overseas and returned back to the US for residency. Going to medical school in Australia especially seems to be an up-and-coming thing today.
Make sure to do your due diligence and research the school, though, if you do decide to go this route. Not all international medical schools are created equal, and not all will give you the same chance of returning back home to practice.
(Editor note: I’ve written caution about International/Caribbean schools before, and would personally consider this an absolute last resort… and only consider the big name/long history schools with favorable match statistics.)
4. Work a few years in a different state
If you live in California, New York, or another competitive state, your chances of getting accepted to an in-state medical school are way lower. Moving to a less-competitive state, working there for a few years, and then applying might allow that state’s medical schools to consider you an in-state applicant. This should increase your odds of being accepted significantly.
I can’t guarantee that this strategy will work, however, as I’ve neither personally attempted this nor known anyone else who has. You should also be aware that different states have different requirements for establishing residency, so working a few years in certain states might not even help you become an in-state applicant. You should do your due diligence and contact the admissions department at whatever medical school you’re looking into to make sure.
5. Consider a different career
Medical school is tough and residency is tougher. You’ll also be in debt for a long time. If you’re not totally gung-ho about becoming a doctor, it may be worth it for you to pursue a different career.
(Editor note: Podiatry, Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner are all great options. My personal favorite non-physician job? Nurse anesthetist! You can find jobs where you are very independent, and in the Midwest, CRNA salaries are not infrequently better than primary care doctors – without the heavy medical student debt!)
Conclusion
That being said, if you really do want to become a doctor, continue to work towards medical school. Consider the other options listed above if you’re having a tough time getting in. This may provide you with a slightly easier way to get accepted!
Jake Tabbot is the creator of medschooltips.com, a website dedicated to helping pre-med students. He enjoys writing about topics which have yet to be fully researched or explored in-depth within the medical community. You can follow him on Twitter at @medschooltip.
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With the dearth of post-graduate residency positions, I strongly advise against going to any offshore medical school over attending a osteopathic medical school here in the United States. Osteopathic medical schools are a very viable means of becoming a physician with osteopathic medicine not holding the stigma that it once held in the 1990s and 2000s. Until there are more residency positions, getting one of those residency positions is very difficult coming from an offshore school as many American medical school grads (DO and MD) go unmatched. The other point that begs to be made is that grades are but one determinant of admission which means that often many applicants focus on academics to the exclusion of other experiences that can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. In today’s world, it’s not just being a valedictorian or even being an honor student that can lead to a successful application. Being able to judge the pulse/philosophy of a medical school and determine if one is a good “fit” is crucial. Medicine is about being able to connect, communicate and solve the health problems of one’s fellow humans. While academics, MCAT scores, research and other scholastic activities are important, many folks with perfection in these areas become despondent when they find that they are unsuccessful in gaining admission into medical school. In short, take an honest appraisal of one’s entire application, including non-academic areas as well as allowing a broad range of advisers to do the same. Change what one can change but be willing to go outside of comfort zone.
Here are a couple facts that Mr. Tabbot apparently does not understand. First, Osteopathic Medical Schools are not easier to get into compared to Allopathic Schools. They are as difficult and many schools are more difficult to get into then most allopathic schools. Second, if you do succeed in being accepted into and eventually graduate from an osteopathic medical school, you are not in any way limited as to the specialty you may wish to pursue. I would advise Mr. Tabbot to educate himself about the osteopathic medical profession should he decide to once again comment publicly about this topic.