finks Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 ok other non trads, i'm feeling rather blue these days following my rejection and i was just wondering if anyone else was feeling that way too. i am starting to feel like the system is just stacked against us. experience in life is great IF you have done everything a normal traditional applicant has done but NOT if you haven't. i've travelled the world, worked many different jobs, had some amazing experiences and yet i can't seem to get in. does this rant sound bitter, you bet it does! i know, i know it doesn't "help" me get anywhere but i'm currently feeling that nothing will get me where i want to go. the evaluation system seems very ......well random. not in the sense that "bad" people are getting in instead of me, quite the opposite. everyone i have met that has gotten in has been exceptional and i've been very impressed with their applications but in the end, i still feel like the process sucks cause i don't know how to improve my application all that much and i don't know if it will matter in the end anyways...... ok i'm done.....and i actually do feel better.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karma Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, just wanted to tell you that it's normal to feel this way after being rejected. But at the same time, if being a doctor is your dream, you should'nt let one rejection make you give up on it. I've read on this forum of people applying to med school 5 even 9! times. It took me 5 years to get in, so just try again next year:) It's not over till it's over:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, just wanted to tell you that it's normal to feel this way after being rejected. But at the same time, if being a doctor is your dream, you should'nt let one rejection make you give up on it. I've read on this forum of people applying to med school 5 even 9! times. It took me 5 years to get in, so just try again next year:) It's not over till it's over:) Congrats, Karma! Where did you get in? p.s. Love the username Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 ok other non trads, i'm feeling rather blue these days following my rejection and i was just wondering if anyone else was feeling that way too.i am starting to feel like the system is just stacked against us. experience in life is great IF you have done everything a normal traditional applicant has done but NOT if you haven't. i've travelled the world, worked many different jobs, had some amazing experiences and yet i can't seem to get in. does this rant sound bitter, you bet it does! i know, i know it doesn't "help" me get anywhere but i'm currently feeling that nothing will get me where i want to go. the evaluation system seems very ......well random. not in the sense that "bad" people are getting in instead of me, quite the opposite. everyone i have met that has gotten in has been exceptional and i've been very impressed with their applications but in the end, i still feel like the process sucks cause i don't know how to improve my application all that much and i don't know if it will matter in the end anyways...... ok i'm done.....and i actually do feel better.... Where did you apply and get rejected from? Stay positive, okay? Promise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 I think the reality is that no matter how great you are in terms of your life experience, you stand very little chance with low grades and/or low MCAT. So I would analyze your GPA and MCAT and consider the chances of improving that. You can get in if ONE part of your app is weak, but if you have 2 or more, 1 strong area will not compensate for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finks Posted July 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Where did you apply and get rejected from? Stay positive, okay? Promise? i was rejected from UBC post interview. i think i just needed to vent. i will apply again, i guess i just am finding myself down and i thought i would have gotten over it by now. i mean it has been over a month! for pete's sake! i will enjoy a year of no school though to be honest, and more free time, so its not all bad. i guess its the not knowing that is hard for me to take. plus the process is so long, that by the time you get rejected you have very little time to improve what you were weak at. in response to jochi, i think my gpa is right on the average and i'm taking my mcat again to do a bit better to apply to some other schools across canada, but once again right on the average. and basically that is what i'm saying....in the end experience is great but when it comes to med school, you still need all the little traditional boxes ticked off and there will be no extra marks give out for anything "special" that you have accomplished in your past and as a bunch of non trads we are looking for our experience to be give some value and i think we are looking too hard for it when it won't be given. plus everyone evaluating our applications fit into the traditional side of things so i feel there is very little positive value given to not being traditional. i'm not trying to be a total downer, i think it is just important to know..........and accept. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 i was rejected from UBC post interview. i think i just needed to vent. i will apply again, i guess i just am finding myself down and i thought i would have gotten over it by now. i mean it has been over a month! for pete's sake! i will enjoy a year of no school though to be honest, and more free time, so its not all bad. i guess its the not knowing that is hard for me to take. plus the process is so long, that by the time you get rejected you have very little time to improve what you were weak at. in response to jochi, i think my gpa is right on the average and i'm taking my mcat again to do a bit better to apply to some other schools across canada, but once again right on the average. and basically that is what i'm saying....in the end experience is great but when it comes to med school, you still need all the little traditional boxes ticked off and there will be no extra marks give out for anything "special" that you have accomplished in your past and as a bunch of non trads we are looking for our experience to be give some value and i think we are looking too hard for it when it won't be given. plus everyone evaluating our applications fit into the traditional side of things so i feel there is very little positive value given to not being traditional. i'm not trying to be a total downer, i think it is just important to know..........and accept. I have been curious how much being a non-trad affects you application chances. I thought it helped me a lot at the interviews I got - I was able to pull in a lot of examples of various things. I like to think it was an advantage, rather than something that held me back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karma Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 Thanx Halcyon:) I got into Laval university med school. Me too, I found that being a non-traditional applicant was actually an advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finks Posted July 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 valid point on the diverse examples for the interview and i will try and improve that on the next go round, if i get that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_k Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I too am feeling a little bummed after not being accepted into Dent. My DAT's were terrible (16), yet they still granted me an interview. I thought I would blow them away with my life experience at the interview but i guess it just wasn't meant to be. I thought about giving up but I think i will apply again next year. I felt really crappy because there isn't much more I can improve with my GPA (3.7 and done 7 years ago in Mech. Eng.) and I did all the pre-reqs with A's in all of them. At this point I don't know what else I can do besides some more volunteer work but this is hard with a family and a full time job. If they didn't take me this year, what would chang next year? I am still the same person, will not do another Bachelor's and taking a few bogus courses would simply be wasting my time and not helping anyone. So the ultimate question is besides the applicant pool, what will improve my chances? There isn't much more I can change for next year so i figure I will probably get rejected next year also...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 My DAT's were terrible (16), Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karma Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 You can improve you DAT. I heard that for the manual dexterity test for exemple, some ppl take jewellery classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 My DAT's were terrible (16) At this point I don't know what else I can do besides some more volunteer work but this is hard with a family and a full time job. So the ultimate question is besides the applicant pool, what will improve my chances? Rewrite the DAT, obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncparker Posted July 6, 2009 Report Share Posted July 6, 2009 I applied at U of A 3 years in a row as a non-trad and finally got in on the third try. The only difference was a reference letter from a physician - I had used former employers (from my previos career) the other 2 years. So getting a good reference from a doc seemed to boost my application significantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finks Posted July 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 really you think that was what put you over the edge? i was told that having references that have known you for along time is better than anyone else no matter how great their title is....thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m_k Posted July 7, 2009 Report Share Posted July 7, 2009 My reference letters were from a Dentist I knew for 20 years and a professor. Thanks for the responses. I may write my DAT's again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
filterstb Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Finks, I'm glad that talking about it helped out. It may not seem like the best thing to do at times, but expressing how you really feel can make things much easier to understand. I know this won't necessarily make you feel better, but there is a cap on how many med school students are accepted each year. Meaning, there is a limit to how many doctors we may have (at least in the U.S.) at a certain time. Sounds backwards I know, but that's politics for you. So just remember that even qualified people get rejected. Probably lots of qualified people do. But you try again, until you get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny7 Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 Do you guys really think reference letters are that important? and do u know how they're actually used in the evaluation? Some people have told me that they aren't very important and are more of just a flag. I heard it's just to make sure there's people that agree that you would make a good doctor. In addition, Western's criteria is 50% interview, 25% GPA, 25% MCAT, so where does the reference letter come in? I emailed them and this is all they said, "Confidential letters of assessment are used as part of the application process as additional verification." That seems kinda vague to me, so I'm still unsure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 I think we need more success stories!!! ahaha I have a 1.0 gpa, never did any ec, or masters and i got accepted to med and dent!! yay!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacko Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 I applied during my masters and got 0 interviews. I decided to stay and do a PhD, something I had already kinda planned to do anyways. This time around I got a few interviews and a couple of offers.During this time, I published a few papers that were only submitted when I applied last time and I got a few more awards and abstracts. Not much else really. I think honestly the biggest difference was the maturity that was lacking in my application during my masters. When I was writing my personal statement this time, I went back and read my last one and I coudln't even finish reading it... it was so bad!!! I think alot of times what gets you that interview or even an offer isn't something quantitative but rather some quality that your application may or may not have. Obviously I'm talking out of my ass here since I have no clue what the process is, but I think especially at schools which require personal statements that they go a long way in deciding cases which may be on the fence otherwise. Don't get discouraged. I have a pretty similar story to Wavesense. I applied to a number of Ontario schools after my undergrad (BioMed Science at Guelph) and didn't get a single interview. At that time I was relying mainly on ECs, ~80% avg. and not a great MCAT score. I then went onto Grad Studies and eventually did a PhD (and wrote the MCAT twice more) before applying again. The training I did during my PhD gave me a number of improvements on my application including several awards, teaching experience, several abstracts and conference citations (albeit no accepted peer-reviewed publications at the time I submitted my application). However, I totally agree that relaying one's maturity on the application is a big component of success. I read my application from about six years back and it seems so novice compared to how I write and share my experiences today. I think that ability to relay 'maturity' on the application is an important consideration that is difficult to appreciate when you're younger. However, getting someone who is more in tune with what a strong application looks and reads like would be a good first step for a younger applicant. To be fair, although I was accepted for the 2013 class, I applied to about 8 schools and only got an interview at one (my undergrad GPA still held me back from many schools)... thankfully that single interview went well (again, I think the increased comfort in social skills that comes with an extended education was helpful to me). It seems so cliche, but if Medicine is what you really want in life, keep working at it until you reach your goal. Some interesting and rewarding experiences often happen along the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 I have a pretty similar story to Wavesense. I applied to a number of Ontario schools after my undergrad (BioMed Science at Guelph) and didn't get a single interview. At that time I was relying mainly on ECs, ~80% avg. and not a great MCAT score. I then went onto Grad Studies and eventually did a PhD (and wrote the MCAT twice more) before applying again. The training I did during my PhD gave me a number of improvements on my application including several awards, teaching experience, several abstracts and conference citations (albeit no accepted peer-reviewed publications at the time I submitted my application). However, I totally agree that relaying one's maturity on the application is a big component of success. I read my application from about six years back and it seems so novice compared to how I write and share my experiences today. I think that ability to relay 'maturity' on the application is an important consideration that is difficult to appreciate when you're younger. However, getting someone who is more in tune with what a strong application looks and reads like would be a good first step for a younger applicant. To be fair, although I was accepted for the 2013 class, I applied to about 8 schools and only got an interview at one (my undergrad GPA still held me back from many schools)... thankfully that single interview went well (again, I think the increased comfort in social skills that comes with an extended education was helpful to me). It seems so cliche, but if Medicine is what you really want in life, keep working at it until you reach your goal. Some interesting and rewarding experiences often happen along the way! Thank you for sharing your stories Yes, there's something to be said about the journey to med school. As strange as it sounds (after being rejected this year), I've really made peace with the idea that it may still take a couple years before I get in. Why this is? I'm really looking forward to some of the things (more school, travel, etc), I'm planning to do for myself, for others, and for my journey to med school. They are things I've wanted to do for a while and now's my chance! Best wishes! Haly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnomey Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Finks, I can relate to how you are feeling. I have applied 4X and am currently waitlisted, if this is something you really want to do, then stop beating yourself up about why it didn't happen to you and it did to someone else. There is no magic answer to what you need to do differently, but use your non-trad. experiences to your advantage. Now matter how small or insignificant them seem to you, someone else hasn't had them. Make them seem great learning experiences. If you doubt yourself it will come across. Take a big breath, reapply and beleive. It will happen, it may take a couple of tries. Rachel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__sally__ Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 one thing that can be good is that next year in your letter/interview you can mention that your rejection made you take a serious look at what you wanted and reaffirmed how much this is the path that you want to follow. that you realize that no matter what happens you will continue to reapply, making improvements to your application where you can. (maybe you can find some volunteering that would be very relevant but not too time consuming. or maybe something you could do with your kids (depending on age) like maybe doing crafts at a senior center or geriatrics unit or something like that. which might also allow you to talk about how you think family and community is important and that health involves the whole community) maybe addressing the low DAT would be good as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mei_Mei_girl Posted August 4, 2009 Report Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hang in there...and hang in there tight... I know its tough. I didn't get accepted my first time and it stung. But just keep at it...A physician once told me the strongest residents he sees are those who want it the most... so just think of this as a trial to see how much you want it... good luck, i know its tough when things dont seem to be going the right way...but eventually they will if you keep at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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