scores. Weakness in any of these areas seriously
compromises one's admission poten-
tial, even when the less quantifiable elements
are present. Some applicants are able to
overcome grade and test score deficiencies, but
many others are not, and in spite of
their potential must make alternative career
plans. Some applicants may clearly not
merit admission. It is the rejected borderline
cases that deserve special review and
analysis to determine the appropriate course of
action.
Responding to Rejection
Each year many thousands of applicants to
medical school are rejected for one reason or
another. If you unfortunately find yourself in
this category, very careful examination of
your future plans is needed.
Try to determine the reasons for your
rejection. Weigh the advantages and disadvan-
tages of the various alternatives that present
themselves and then select a course of
action that is realistic. Almost all rejected
applicants fall into one of the six categories
listed below:
1. Those who plan to reapply to U.S. medical
schools the following year.
2. Those who plan to apply to foreign medical
schools.
3. Those who will apply to enter a different
health profession.
4. Those who will apply for admission to a
graduate school to enter a career in
teaching and research or in the basic medical
sciences.
5. Those who plan a career in science education
on the high school level or lower.
6. Those who will seek a nonscience-oriented
career.
Seriously consider the reasons why you might
have been rejected. If your academic
record has been consistently poor, your SAT I
and MCAT scores were low, and there
were no genuine extenuating circumstances for
your unimpressive performance, then
you should consider either another health
profession or a nonscience career. If your aca-
demic record is good, but for obvious
reasons--physical or mental health--you were
considered unsuitable for a medical career,
consider another health career, a career in
science education, or a nonscience
program.
If you were a borderline candidate and you have
had a consistently fair acade-
mic record at a recognized college,
satisfactory test scores, a pleasant personality,
and good motivation, and were probably rejected
because of a very competitive
admissions situation, then you should consider
attending graduate school and study-
ing for a career in teaching or research. If
your test scores were low because of
some unusual circumstances, you should consider
retaking the examination and
reapplying.
If you think that your record, as a whole, is
not exceptional but does reveal the
possibility of considerable capability as
reflected by occasional high performance in
some key courses, high test scores, and so
forth, you should seriously consider reap-
plying to schools the following year. You
should also consider applying to foreign
schools or beginning a nonscience career. The
schools you select to apply to the sec-
ond time should be those that offer the best
possibility of accepting you.
If you believe that you were rejected because
of possible late applications, delay in
receiving or loss of supporting data, poor
selection of schools to which you applied, too
few applications submitted, poor performance at
the interview, or some similar explain-
able factor, you should consider reapplying,
and think about other options open to you.
A percentage of students who reapply do
succeed; therefore, you should feel encouraged
to do so.
A study was made of the career choices of 98
unsuccessful applicants to an entering
medical class. Of that group of 57 men and 41
women, it was discovered that 52%
entered occupations outside the health care
field. Forty-eight percent ultimately entered
health-related occupations, of which 10 men and
2 women became physicians, 7
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