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Is it rare to get in on your first or second try?


ceelbe

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I wouldn’t say it’s rare. The average person who gets into med school has applied 2-3 times. Aside from that, I will echo JohnGrisham’s point. Statistics don’t matter to the individual.

The avg applicant has (by definition) average stats and scores. If you too have average stats and scores you’re about as likely to get in as the avg applicant. Comparing your own stats to the avg applicant isn’t very useful because the avg applicant doesn’t get into med school.

If you’re looking to get an idea of your own chances, I would say that it’ll be far more useful to compare your stats to the mean/median stats of matriculated applicants at different schools than to look at how many tries it takes people to get in on avg (because again, it is very statistically unlikely that you’re perfectly avg). If you have a 4.0GPA and 528 MCAT with great ECs/CASPer, you’ll prob get in on your first try. Alternately, if you rank poorly in all of the categories med schools look at, it may take you many more than 2-3 tries to get in (if you do at all).

 

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I think that it is also pretty variable. I mean we all have to admit that for a large portion of successful applicants it is a bit of a lottery. If you speak with individuals with experience on Adcoms/doing interviews, they will tell you that it is pretty hard to differentiate candidates. So candidate 1 who has similar stats/ a similar application to candidate 2, might get in first try, while it takes candidate 2 a few tries. The admission process is pretty subjective at many stages – so try not to over analyze it, shoot your shot, and hope for the best! 

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27 is not old at all. I applied to med school when I was 27 too :)! When I was applying, I told myself that I would try 5 times. If I couldn’t get in after 5 tries, I would do something else with my life. Luckily the stars aligned and I got in on my first application. 
 

I’m turning 30 this year and will graduate next year, before I turn 31! Still young enough to start a family in residency! 

Therefore, I wouldn’t worry about your age :) and encourage you to apply!


I wish you the best of luck!

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