To those who got refused

[MEDusa]

Even though she doesn't speak about medicine per say, I found her message valuable and thought I'd share it with my fellow candidates. It might help some of you cope with rejection and to not give up on your dream even when it seems unattainable. 

 

[Redroses]

Thank you @MEDusa for sharing this. It was very helpful. I am one of the people who was refused post-interview so this message resonates with me deeply.

[swtomd]

As the video started, I wondered how this was relevant. But as the video continued, it clicked.

1 month later, after the pain of rejection has diminished, I have a bit more perspective and this video has inspired me to continue. Thank you for posting and good luck on your journey!

[swtomd]

I do not know if any of you have asked for your rankings.

I received it and it was bittersweet. I applied in the NTP category and pre-interview I was ranked 2nd out of 85. However, on the interview I was in the bottom half of interviewees which is devastating since I`m a clinician with many years of experience in the health field. If I do not have ``good bedside manners,`` I do not know who does...

I will be applying to the regular stream next year. Does anyone have an idea of what they will do differently to prepare for the interview?

[Redroses]

@swtomd  I have just sent you a message regarding this. 

[Notsohappyguy]

I am one of those who didn't even get accepted to the interviews (my CV was probably the weakest possible on the volunteering side of the spectrum) 

Honestly rejection made me feel like a human piece of shit, like "oh yeah all the work you did in your life, all the time you accorded to research doesn't matter because you didn't want to drive 45min every afternoon to the nearest hospital or geriatric center to help some people in need, while someone living 5 min away from the general Jewish hospital for example wouldn't have to spend any ounce of their free time to get there while still having the time to get high grades and R-scores". It also felt really unfair because I know some people who are in it just for the money and others who have inflated their numbers in legal but dishonest ways by, for example, being supposed to take care of Mr. Smith 2 hours today but he had family over so they left 1h early but still mentioned having taken care of him for 2 hours to their supervisor when asked ( normally I wouldn't make a fuss out of that if they had done it only once or twice but Mr. Smith being 92 years old and Mr. MacDonald being 89 their family members visit them surprisingly more often than expected); and yet it feels that as human being I am deemed worse than them for being entirely honest about what I do in my free time.

Asking for my ranking only added salt to the wound as I realized that I'm also on the bottom 80 (not even 100) for the Casper Test which made me question myself about: 

1 my qualities as a human being 

2 my qualities as an active member of society 

3 my ability to interact with other human beings 

4 if my whole social circle is flawed as: if I'm so amoral are my friends amoral too or are they just accepting me as I am but never see my flaws.

All in all I hope to be able to apply again after finishing my first undergraduate degree and at least get a higher ranking

TLDR: after being rejected got too much insecurities 

 

[anonymouspls]

2 hours ago, Notsohappyguy said:

I am one of those who didn't even get accepted to the interviews (my CV was probably the weakest possible on the volunteering side of the spectrum) 

Honestly rejection made me feel like a human piece of shit, like "oh yeah all the work you did in your life, all the time you accorded to research doesn't matter because you didn't want to drive 45min every afternoon to the nearest hospital or geriatric center to help some people in need, while someone living 5 min away from the general Jewish hospital for example wouldn't have to spend any ounce of their free time to get there while still having the time to get high grades and R-scores". It also felt really unfair because I know some people who are in it just for the money and others who have inflated their numbers in legal but dishonest ways by, for example, being supposed to take care of Mr. Smith 2 hours today but he had family over so they left 1h early but still mentioned having taken care of him for 2 hours to their supervisor when asked ( normally I wouldn't make a fuss out of that if they had done it only once or twice but Mr. Smith being 92 years old and Mr. MacDonald being 89 their family members visit them surprisingly more often than expected); and yet it feels that as human being I am deemed worse than them for being entirely honest about what I do in my free time.

Asking for my ranking only added salt to the wound as I realized that I'm also on the bottom 80 (not even 100) for the Casper Test which made me question myself about: 

1 my qualities as a human being 

2 my qualities as an active member of society 

3 my ability to interact with other human beings 

4 if my whole social circle is flawed as: if I'm so amoral are my friends amoral too or are they just accepting me as I am but never see my flaws.

All in all I hope to be able to apply again after finishing my first undergraduate degree and at least get a higher ranking

TLDR: after being rejected got too much insecurities 

 

Despite what schools try to tell themselves, how well you do in the application process is not a representation of your inherent quality or fit to be a medical doctor. How well you score on the MCAT is not an indication of how well you'll do in medical school, and how well you do on CASPER is not an indication of how well your personality fits with medicine.

All your results tell you is how well you understand what these tests want from you, nothing more. The whole process is incredibly arbitrary. I know it's hard, but don't take it as a measurement of your self worth, the whole thing is about knowing how to succeed as an applicant. Take it as a learning experience. The same goes for knowing how to write your abs, how to answer interview questions, etc.

[Elgar]

On 8/23/2019 at 8:50 PM, Notsohappyguy said:

I am one of those who didn't even get accepted to the interviews (my CV was probably the weakest possible on the volunteering side of the spectrum) 

Honestly rejection made me feel like a human piece of shit, like "oh yeah all the work you did in your life, all the time you accorded to research doesn't matter because you didn't want to drive 45min every afternoon to the nearest hospital or geriatric center to help some people in need, while someone living 5 min away from the general Jewish hospital for example wouldn't have to spend any ounce of their free time to get there while still having the time to get high grades and R-scores". It also felt really unfair because I know some people who are in it just for the money and others who have inflated their numbers in legal but dishonest ways by, for example, being supposed to take care of Mr. Smith 2 hours today but he had family over so they left 1h early but still mentioned having taken care of him for 2 hours to their supervisor when asked ( normally I wouldn't make a fuss out of that if they had done it only once or twice but Mr. Smith being 92 years old and Mr. MacDonald being 89 their family members visit them surprisingly more often than expected); and yet it feels that as human being I am deemed worse than them for being entirely honest about what I do in my free time.

Asking for my ranking only added salt to the wound as I realized that I'm also on the bottom 80 (not even 100) for the Casper Test which made me question myself about: 

1 my qualities as a human being 

2 my qualities as an active member of society 

3 my ability to interact with other human beings 

4 if my whole social circle is flawed as: if I'm so amoral are my friends amoral too or are they just accepting me as I am but never see my flaws.

All in all I hope to be able to apply again after finishing my first undergraduate degree and at least get a higher ranking

TLDR: after being rejected got too much insecurities 

 

First of all, the results you got DO NOT define you as person, although I absolutely know it's hard not to see it that way. I have been rejected pre-interview, as well as post-interview.... and yet here I am, starting med school at McGill this year. I am the same person I was before, but I learned from errors I made in the past.

For your next application, try to think why you didn't performed so well on the Casper. After a rejection, I used to think that I did my best and that it would be impossible for me to improve, but I was totally wrong, you can always improve. Maybe it's just a question of learning to clearly express your ideas in a concise manner, while being under stress. It can be plenty of reasons, that doesn't mean you're a bad human being.

About the volunteering, to be honest it's not longer a big part of the application, so please don't drive 45 minutes everyday to go volunteer at a hospital. However to get a bit more points there, you can do anything else that you like that may be a little less time consuming (at least for transportation). For example you could work in your student association or anything else on campus. If you like animals you can even volunteer as a temporary family for cats.

The most important part of your CV is not so much what you did as much as the justification they ask for. You can do plenty of research or volunteering, but you have to show them that you were not doing them solely to get in med school. You have to show that this very life experience made you learn something about yourself or acquire a skill that will make you a better physician (ie go for the CanMED competencies).

I hope this helps, you can message me if you want!