What to do?

[next.med88]

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[biochem4]

46 minutes ago, next.med88 said:

So, this year is my fourth time applying to medical school. My first two applications I got an interview and did horrible on them and did not get an offer (I am just applying to Manitoba since I don't meet the requirements for many other schools).

Last year, I got offered an interview but I did not attend due to many personal things going on in my life and I felt as though I was not ready for my interview whatsoever, and seeing that  my interview is my downfall I did not want to do it and get disappointed again.

So this year I applied again, and I am expecting an offer for interview next week (seeing as my stats have not changed), but yet again I do not think I am ready nor will I have time to get ready and I am thinking of declining the offer. 

The problem is that I am not very satisfied in my current profession (I won't say what since it is a small field, but it is in health care) since I do not find it challenging enough and medicine is something that I really really want. However, I feel kinda old (I will be turning 26 this year, that means if I only get in next year, I'd be 27) and I would be forced to rewrite my MCAT this summer since it would not be good for another application cycle (my current MCAT is 34 (11.5 on Manitoba scale) and my AGPA is 4.17) and I am worried that I won't be able to do as well on my MCAT since I have zero background in psychology/sociology and I really think my verbal reasoning score was just luck since I managed to score 2 points higher than I normally did on my practice.

The thought of declining my interview again this year brings me sadness knowing that I will for sure not be in medicine next year, yet it also brings me a sense of relief, knowing I won't be stressing over the interview which I know I am not ready for.

So, my question is: Should I just do my interview for the small chance that maybe I will miraculously do well and then start studying for my MCAT in March, or should I just start studying for my MCAT now and get an extra two month of studying in? (I know some people think this might be early to start studying for the MCAT, but I work full time and won't have the summer off to study, and I also work night shift, which would make it really hard for me to study on those weeks since I am always tired)

And then after my MCAT, I would start preparing for my interview in september (also, any tips on how to improve interviewing skills?)?

In all honesty, I will be 27 years old by the time I apply to med schools in Canada. I also don’t know if I will get in. The point is that keep going on if medicine is really what you want to do in life.

Just a bit of my background, I started university in 2010. I came to Canada in 2013. Basically, I already had 3 years of university studies back home but I started again from scratch in my new university due to differences in academic curriculum. As well, my transition in living here did not go well. I got too delayed. In fact, I was supposed to graduate in 2015 if we did not move here. I was supposed to graduate last year (2017) if things went well or normally when I came here.

But I won’t mind these unfortunate circumstances at all, I became resilient and I’m still focused on my goals in life. That’s what really matters.

PS: Still attend your interview if you get an offer!  You won’t know until you try. If you will have enough time, make up some possible interview questions and answer them on your own. There are many resources that will help you land in your med school class.

 

I hope I inspire you with my story.

Best of luck this cycle! 

[next.med88]

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[Bambi]

I see the solution as simple. Start studying for the MCAT and attend the Interview with minimum preparation, considering it to be “a practice run” to give you more experience. Using this approach,you will likely do better on the Interview than you imagine. 

[rmorelan]

1 hour ago, Bambi said:

I see the solution as simple. Start studying for the MCAT and attend the Interview with minimum preparation, considering it to be “a practice run” to give you more experience. Using this approach,you will likely do better on the Interview than you imagine. 

ha could be true!

the big question is why do you think you are doing poorly on the interviews? Interview prep comes in many forms really, and there are often ways to shortcut things. There are structural things to prepare for, and then there are stress management aspects as well. 

 

[next.med88]

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[kiterunner]

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[rmorelan]

27 minutes ago, next.med88 said:

I think my problem in my interview is lack of content for the answers as well as lack of structure in my answers and I really think I don't have the time to prepare in what I have left. My plan was to start preparing for my interview in June, but many personal things got in the way yet again.

I think that if I do the interview again and bomb it, it will just take my confidence so low and will discourage me from trying again

I can see that - it hurts to not advance and is stressful. Clearly there are a bunch of personal issue floating around with respect to this. It is a hard thing though to not take an interview opportunity though as victory is within your grasp if you are getting them. 

Confidence at the interview itself may be an issue you are running into. It is possible for most people to prepare in that time you have - that doesn't mean you would find it to be so. I will say this is more a skill than a something you can rigidly structure if that makes any sense. In the broad sense there is only about 25 generic scenarios (if that) and the content isn't really the concern, it is having a basic approach. After all part of the interview process is to force you to deal with things where you have no content or structure effectively.

 

 

[HoopDreams]

Once upon a time, a solid student applied to medical school and got an interview but he got rejected since he did not attend his interview out of fear of being rejected. 

Does this make any sense?
This basically sums up your story my dear friend.
Reading this, I just hope you will realize that your fear is making you take irrational decisions.
How would you even think about not attending?
You have nothing to loose.
Be confident, you're almost there.
Good luck !

[HoopDreams]

Once upon a time, a solid student applied to medical school and got an interview but he got rejected since he did not attend his interview out of fear of being rejected. 

Does this make any sense?
This basically sums up your story my dear friend.
Reading this, I just hope you will realize that your fear is making you take irrational decisions.
How would you even think about not attending?
You have nothing to loose.
Be confident, you're almost there.
Good luck !

[Olaf]

I agree with what people have said above. DEFINITELY do the interview - if you decline the offer, there is a 0% chance of getting in but if you attend the interview, your chance is greater than 0%. If you're so worried about how you are spending your time, I would recommend you prep and study for the MCAT at the same time. Even if you spend all the time prepping and don't end up getting in, that interview prep will be beneficial for next year. 

Really take the time to reflect on what went wrong in your previous interviews and what you can do to improve in those areas. I know a lot of people do practice interviews with others and tape them so that they can watch them back, maybe that would be helpful?

Also, with regards to the age thing, I am in my first year of med school and at age 26, there are several people who are older than me! There are people in my year who have kids and who had other professional careers beforehand so age is really not that big of a deal! 

 Best of luck  

[next.med88]

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[Bambi]

There is no downside to attend.

[JohnGrisham]

It sounds like there is a lot of anxiety and self-preservation of your self-esteem going on, by declining the interview offer twice now, after 2 unsuccessful post-interview attempts.  

Do what you need to do to get to the point where you are at least slightly more comfortable in going for medicine. But don't just keep doing the same things you've been doing the last 2-3 years. Because it is obviously not working, and you seem to be stuck in a rut. I assume your healthcare job has benefits, and probably some coverage for counselling. Look up a well reviewed counsellor in your area, and explore some CBT perhaps. 

Many, many people by definition of the interview process get rejected post-interview. At some schools they interview 2-3x as many seats. Regardless of that, people simply reapply and keep trying despite getting rejected post-interview multiple times. The situation you are in, seems more complex then this. So it would seem apt to get an outside set of eyes, professional eyes, to help you sort this out. Especially since you keep alluding to other things going on in your life.  Good luck with working them out, and hopefully in the next year or two you will be ready to apply again. Just know that no one feels "ready" for interviews, or is fully confident. But it seems you need to get to a bit higher baseline from where you are now in the life circumstances or confidence dept. You can do it!

[SunAndMoon]

9 hours ago, next.med88 said:

Thank you everybody for the replies, I truly appreciate the time you have put in to try and help me out!

However, I have decided not to attend my interview. There are many other personal things in my life that I need to straighten out before I am ready for medical school.

What the hell??????????

What's the deferral policy at your school if you got in but don't "feel ready" to begin? 

You should 100% attend your interview, for practice and exposure (as someone already mentioned) AND for a shot at getting accepted. It seems to me you do not give yourself enough credit or have confidence issues. Clearly you have done enough to get an interview, so both your experiences and grades are good enough. It's just a matter of talking about those experiences now. Preparation does not need to be THAT extensive. You can practice for months and sound like a robot. 

Unless you have some severe communication issues I would not think that you could not prepare enough to perform sufficiently well within a short timeframe. 

As to your age, you'll quickly see that a significant proportion of your class will be your age or older. Don't throw away a chance at it. I too had a cycle like that a couple of years ago but I went anyway. I didn't get in, I was disappointed even though I didn't believe in my chances, but the experience was good and I got in at your age.

There's clearly a lot of things going on right now in your life and they do not seem like they are easy to handle for you at the moment, but I think your emotions might be clouding your judgment a bit. If you haven't cancelled your application yet, GO to your interview.

[medisforme]

I am surprised this has not been brought up yet, but why have you waited until now to even think about doing any interview prep?  You really should have been working on it since your first application.  I had to apply to med school 4x as well (and I was older than you when I started).  Each year I did a variety of prep (1:1, group interviews, mock MMI, did some counselling/mock MMI with a professional company etc...).  If you really want to get into medicine, you need to constantly be trying to improve your game.  It is just so cut throat these days with hundreds of very qualified applicants.  

[goleafsgochris]

How is this even a question?  Just do the interview prep!  Literally drop everything aside from your job and do CONSTANT interview prep.  Find interview prep courses.  Practice with friends.  Read prep materials.  Create answers to common questions.

I don't mean for this to sound harsh, but the fact that you cancelled one interview and are considering cancelling another makes me seriously call your judgement into question.  Its so beyond irrational, and so self defeating that I'm almost at a loss for words.  I mean this from a place of kindness and I'm trying to help you: if you ever want the chance to be a doctor, you need to get over your fear and start doing interview prep.  Otherwise you truly don't deserve it, and from the info we have, its clearly your own fault from awful decision making (sorry).  Don't cancel your interview.  How is this even an option you are entertaining?  How is every other poster not giving you this opinion?  

Edit:  I just had the thought that this is so absurd you might be trolling.  If that is the case, you got me lmao.

[brady23]

It's still great practice to just do the interview - what's better practice than doing a real interview? Even if you don't feel ready, you'll know what to expect. And 1.5 months is enough time to practice - find friends, school services, even online companies who do coaching, and just keep practicing. 

You can study for your MCAT after the interview.

 

[Meridian]

next.med88 ...  so many people on this board work so very hard to just get one interview.  You have one, and you are considering to waste it.   I think you are making a poor choice.  You may in fact never get another chance.  Don't assume Manitoba will not change requirements in future years or the MCAT may not be kind to you next time.

Start preparing now and go to that interview.    If you need to, take a few weeks leave from work.   Seek interview help or even hire professional help if that is what you need.

Don't waste this chance.

[sangria]

I think this is unfathomable to many of us because we would never make that decision -- we are driven and worked hard to get to where we are. I mean, that's why we are on premed101. But reading the OP's post, although they say they really want to get into medicine, OP spent more time convincing us or themselves why they shouldn't interview. Assuming it's not a troll post, there has to be more underlying issues that the OP needs to figure out. Fast.

OP: Before you make any decision, I think you need to talk to a counsellor.  

Do you really want to go to medical school? What changed your mindset from filling out that fourth application to now? Your age, MCAT score, and interviewing skills were not surprises at the point you handed in your application this cycle. If your answer is yes, you really do want it, then basically everyone on this thread has given you great advice. Do what you need to do to get you there -- the only way is going to the interview. 

[Nietzsche_hammer]

haha don't feel the troll this guy is a fucking moron