Rejection Season

WE HAVE MOVED TO: A Theory of Living  

 
       It would seem it's about that time of year for us pre-meds in our application cycles.  What time?  Yes.  Rejection season.  That time of the year when those 10 schools you haven't heard a peep from since they charged you 100+ dollars for their secondary (scam!), let you know that they aren't interested.

          I have been remarkably rejection free up until the last several weeks, having only received three until February (Georgetown, BU, and Cornell).  Yes.  Cornell was one of the first schools to reject me.  I have to make two admissions here.  First, I was never deeply interested in Cornell.  Second, it definitely still stung when they shot me down, since I went to undergrad there.

          Lately, though, I received a rash of rejections.  On some level it's kind of relieving.  At this point in the application cycle, I think most applicants have to assume that they have been rejected from schools where they still have not received an interview invitation.  There are very few interview invitations left lying around these days, so it's somewhat relieving to have some finality and closure and know where you stand.

Darn.

          Then again, on another level it still stings.  Rejection is never fun.  Some time in the last week I got my rejection from NYU.  NYU and Mt. Sinai have actually been my top two choices from day one.  Unfortunately, I have not received an interview at either one, and NYU rejected me a few days ago.  As I said, given how late we are in the cycle, I think it is very likely that Mt. Sinai will follow suit some time in the next few weeks.  The NYU letter really made me think a bit about what could have been, even though I had been prepared for it since mid January (NYU stops interviewing at the end of January, thus if you hadn't received an invite by mid/late January then you know you're cooked).

          The other icky thing is that each application cost about 100$ on AMCAS and another 100$ to the school itself for the secondary.  I have great faith in the vast majority of admissions offices to have made an effort to read all applications in a fair manner, but it is still hard to shake the idea that you didn't get your 200 dollars worth when all you have in the end is a rejection letter (some more nicely worded than others).

          I know some students take the rejections personally.  They feel like they have good stats and put together great essays and etc, and they feel hurt that the school didn't like them enough to offer an interview. I honestly don't feel that way about it.  Most medical schools cite the disparity between number of applicants they received relative to the number of spaces in the class or interviews they can offer in their rejection letters, and, honestly, the numbers are compelling.  Some schools get well over 10,000 applications for 800 or so interviews.  Of those 10,000 it's easy to believe that 8,000 are fully qualified for the school in question, and from there I feel like there is truly an element of randomness to the process, and that's totally fine.

This line is my visual analogy for application numbers.

          At the end of the day, though, I am incredibly happy about where I am and where this cycle has brought me.  I remember looking at my mediocre GPA a year ago, wondering if I would get a single interview.  Here I am, a year later, with an acceptance to a school I love in my pocket, more than a handful of interview invitations, and a few great schools looking to get back to me post interview within the next month and a half.

          So here's a cheers to all the other pre-meds who are getting their serving of rejection season.  I wish you continued success with you application cycles!



          Side Note: My close friend who applied late in the cycle received an interview invitation a week or so ago!!!  Huge congratz!  I thought things were starting to look pretty bleak for him, but he got an invite at a great school, and I have my fingers crossed for him.

          Side Note 2: I apologize for the long hiatus.  Work has been killing me, and I have been travelling a little bit for my February interviews.  Also, this blog was intended to be a Medical Student blog.  As much as I have enjoyed writing about applying, I am looking forward to writing about the medical school experience (emotional challenges, mental challenges, ethical challenges, oh there's so much!) much more!  I have to admit I'm kind of running out of things to say about this application cycle!