You're Going to Get Rejected...A Lot

Figure 1: Your med school application. (Source 1)

My Application Stats

cGPA: 3.82
sGPA: 3.52
MCAT: 34 (12B 12P 10V)

Schools applied to: 18
Interview invites: 6
Interviews attended: 4
Acceptances: 2
Waitlists: 2
Rejections: 12

That's Not Very Encouraging...

First off, you can get into medical school, it's not impossible.  Now, I am extremely grateful to have gotten into medical school, but holy hell it is difficult.  But you guys all knew that from browsing the SDN forums (Don't listen to everything those forum users say).  I mean seriously SDN, not everyone that gets into med school will have a 36+ MCAT and 3.9 GPA.  Still, just look at this USNews article on the most applied to medical schools in the USA.

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2013/04/23/10-med-schools-that-receive-the-most-applications

The ten schools in that list received over 8,000 applications, with the top school getting 14,700 in 012-2013.  Most med schools have 120-250 spots, but even 8,000/250 is 32 people competing for one seat.  Just getting the interview invite means you're doing pretty good so far.

So, how did my application process go?  Well, I already gave you the numbers, so here's the timeline.  I applied and finished all of my secondaries by late July, early August.  I applied to all of the schools in my state, and many in neighboring states.  I got interview invitations here and there for each month from September to February.  After I received an acceptance in November, I cancelled a couple of interviews.  During all of this I received a few rejections and holds (which are basically rejections).  The rest silently rejected me (without even an email!).

Advise for You

First off, YOU CAN DO IT!  I know you can get into at least one medical school.  Yea yea yea, I know what I titled this post, but trust me!  If you have decent stats, ~30 MCAT ~3.6 GPA, you will eventually get in.

The best application advice I was given is to apply early, and to many schools.  You have to apply early, because these schools will get inundated with applicants.  Getting reviewed first doesn't mean you'll receive a response first, but it doesn't hurt.  The longer you wait to apply, the sooner interview spots and class seats will begin to get filled.

Why should you apply to a lot of schools?  Well, look at my stats.  I got rejected by 12 places!  My numbers were in their ranges, and most weren't public out of state schools.  Admittedly, some of my secondary essays probably sucked since I wrote ones for 18 schools.  Still, you cannot predict how the application process will go, and your best option is to hedge your bets.  A surgeon I know got into UPenn (Ivy League), but was rejected from Jefferson when he was applying.  Yeah, that makes no sense, and neither will most of your application process.

To close, the general rate of acceptance I have heard is 1 for every 3 interviews.  My experience kind of matched up with that.  I wish you the best of luck when you apply, and follow my advice to increase your chances.  Good luck!

References

1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rejected.jpg From Wikimedia commons under the creative commons license.