Patience Makes Perfect: Turning Med School Rejection into a Success Story

I’m pretty open about the fact that I was not accepted to any medical school the first time I applied (in the 2017-18 cycle). I was a senior in college, and, even though I was able to experience many treasured events during this time, I remember the year had a backdrop of uncertainty and fear. While many of my peers were traveling to medical school interviews and receiving acceptances, my only emails from medical schools were rejections. I eventually landed late-cycle interviews at two medical schools, both of which waitlisted me. I graduated with no plan, except to cross my fingers and hope that I was accepted off of a waitlist––which unfortunately did not happen.

Earlier that year, in December 2017, I remember attending a holiday party for Rice University seniors. When the university’s president asked us what we planned to do post-graduation, each classmate confidently spoke about the medical school they’d attend or the job they’d accepted. I was caught off-guard and could only mutter, “I don’t know.” When I entered the party, I expected to celebrate the end of the semester, but instead, I was faced with the reality that I was not achieving my goal of matriculating to medical school right after college. Graduation was also particularly tough. I was fortunate to have a large number of family attend, but I felt guilty thinking of how much my family sacrificed to put me through college and how, in a sense, I was graduating “empty-handed.”

While not what I hoped for, the summer following graduation allowed me time to think. I thought about my most meaningful undergraduate experiences and how I hoped to use a career in medicine to make a positive impact on communities. After reflecting on the social issues that resonated with me the most, I decided to spend my gap years trying to help address educational disparities. After researching several cities and regions, I pinpointed Baltimore as the optimal setting to learn more about urban social issues and how to use conscious service to help address them.

I was fortunate to find an opportunity that aligned with my goals: serving as an Achievement Coach for the non-profit organization Higher Achievement. This part-time position involved teaching math classes at an after school enrichment program, which also allowed me time each morning to prepare for my MCAT retake. Despite a hurricane delaying my move to Baltimore, I was able to start at Higher Achievement mid-September. I also worked an additional job as an academic tutor so I could begin paying off my student loans. After I retook the MCAT in January 2019, I had significantly more time during the day, which I took advantage of by shadowing physicians, volunteering at Health Care for the Homeless, and teaching math part-time at Carver Vocational-Technical High School (a program run by the Johns Hopkins School of Education).

Through teaching, I learned how health can impact other areas of life, specifically education. For example, I witnessed firsthand how an un-diagnosed behavioral issue or an improper vision prescription can impact and impede a student’s ability to succeed in school. While some may consider primary education tangential to healthcare, my experience teaching solidified my decision to become a doctor; I want to use health to empower students to succeed in school and achieve their goals.

To diversify what my students were learning, I created an elective called “Future Doctors” to teach students about healthcare topics. Activities included a relay race to understand how endocrine hormones move between organs, a puzzle to correctly order the GI tract’s organs, and heart rate measurements before and after jumping jacks to note how physical activity raises cardiac output. In addition to being fun, Future Doctors allowed me to create more enriching science experiences for my students and directly address the under-representation of minorities pursuing healthcare professions. Through dynamic education environments and insightful conversations, my students profoundly shaped my understanding of diverse social issues and molded my professional aspirations, which I was able discuss in my personal statement and interviews.

In addition to shaping my professional goals, my gap years allowed me to achieve things I didn’t think were possible as an undergraduate student:

• Moved to a new city and make connections entirely on my own
• Spent 100s of hours providing direct educational support to youths
• Completed dozens of hours of clinical volunteering and shadowing
• Gained a much stronger understanding of urban social issues and how to engage in asset-based community development
• Raised my MCAT score by 10 points
• Paid off a significant amount of student debt, and
• Traveled extensively for recreation and for interviews

During the 2019-20 application cycle, I saw my hard work pay off. I received six interview invitations, substantially more than in the previous cycle. Five schools initially waitlisted me, but one offered me my first acceptance! I felt immense excitement for this acceptance, but I still felt some disappointment, as a few other schools, namely the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, felt like a better fit for me .

However, on May 6, 2020 at 5:08 pm, I was chopping onions when my phone started buzzing. The caller ID said “Cleveland, OH.” Miraculously, the call was to offer me an acceptance to the incoming class at CWRU School of Medicine, my top choice. I am now officially enrolled at CWRU , whose curriculum emphasizes team-based learning, mentorship, and community engagement. I feel it is an ideal fit for me, and I am so excited to move to Cleveland and begin orientation.

As I reflect on my experience, I’ve realized that sometimes success is out of reach, even when you try your best. However, with enough reflection, honesty, resilience and patience, you can achieve what once felt impossible. The delay in my journey to medical school led me to learn much more about my own capabilities, strengthen my understanding of many pressing social issues, and visualize how I hope to use medicine to address inequities. Though tough and initially disappointing, all of my experiences taught me lessons that I will continue to use throughout medical school and beyond.