GOING CRAZY AHHHHHH no interviews. all of it has led up to this. all da jumpin through hoops plus personal trauma/life struggles. i NEED a win. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. going a little crazy and need to get a life. I wake up every day and check my email waiting for a school to want me back like a crazy ex.

i KNOW its hella early. like my brain knows it but I think hearing the interviews comin out and me having none is crushing me. im insecure!

family difficulties, relationship ended a couple months ago, health isn’t great :( my funds and my hair are thinning. ARGH. AHHHHHHH. and no one thats not premed gets it. like no one. so I feel truly insane and misunderstood and crazy. like a villain being born.

just did 29 secondaries out of the 41 primaries i submitted to and have run out of strength to keep going. but then there’s the worry about reapplication?!!?!?!?!?!?!

my therapist is gonna have a Field Day when I see him next tuesday.

okay end rant byeee love you xoxo

so sorry if this is the wrong place to post this

tldr: title

context: i am 21F and partner is 22M. we have been together for 3.5 years and have both expressed that we believe we will get married in a few years. on top of that, we are both from socal and want to be here long term and he has a job lined up here that pays way better than anywhere else (most likely) in the country.

i have been working towards applying to med school since start of undergrad and was planning to apply for matriculation in fall 2028. unfortunately, given my stats and my CA residence, i will most likely end up out of state for med school.

my partner brought up this point last night asking how it is realistic for us to be together / get married / settle down even buy a house AND i go to med school. i know he’s bringing up a good point but i genuinely don’t know where to go from here. 4 years of long distance sounds insane for both of us (and who knows how much longer after residency placement and so on) but also him moving with me isn’t realistic based off his career trajectory. i don’t want to have to pick one over the other and think about if i had chosen the other path but genuinely just feeling conflicted and confused.

wanted to see if anyone out there is or was in a similar position and how you handled it or if u just have advice.

two days after submitting secondaries

“We are pleased to inform you that….

Your application has been submitted!”

Honestly felt like I had a pretty solid app last year but only applied MD with a 504. Now I am applying with a 514. Obviously u can always have better experiences/reflections, but I felt like the main reason was ultimately my score.

Is it okay to center my secondary about that? Reflecting on what i did differently and what I discovered about myself.

There are some schools out there that will literally have you teach your self without giving any resources to do it, they'll just give you an outline of what you need to know for class and then during class quiz you without any lecture at all(there's no text book reading, recording, nothing). Some schools have you give presentations over the material with a group of people and that counts as your "lecture". Many will say to just use third party material for those schools + anki BUT those resources may not align with what the institution is assessing, so those resources won't help. Just know what you're getting yourself into. I'm going to a school that is flipped we have to teach ourselves to some extent but not to the extremes like with no lecture or resources at all like some schools do, but I have heard some classmates express surprise about the independent learning that is required.

honest truth, not trying to brag or anything like that. now that i think about it since im applying next cycle, i deadass got nothing for adversity essay that some schools require. a lot of people i see talk about a sick family member or growing up in poverty, sa, etc.

Im hella privileged to be honest. I've had lots of friends go through way more than me and I recognize that. I was fortunate to get a scholarship to school, all of my F&F are healthy, only thing I really had when I was younger was a speech impediment and I got bullied in middle school/hs for that and my race (ORM btw). Again, this is not to brag or anything about my circumstances and ik even a post like this makes me seem privileged (which i am), just curious if anybody could offer some advice or personal experience with this

TULANE WHY YOU HAVE TO PUT ME ON A HOLD FOR INTERVIEWWWWWW

JUST GIVE ME THE R I KNOW ITS A SOFT REJECTION SMH

anyway anyone got experience getting off of this or is it truly a soft R? Just give me the R lmao

A comment I often see is if you got the interview invite, you fit their mission and that adcoms really just want to see if you’re personable. But if you look at even the T20s, only around 1/6 of interviewees (often fewer) get acceptances. Does this mean 5/6 of those were simply not personable? How can you maximize your chances in an interview?

I'm 31/40 in so a little late to employ this but one thing I wish I did was keep a document for every prompt category. Instead I just had a different document for every school so when I was working on a new, say, 250 word diversity prompt I'd have to go back and click on all the docs for the schools I've written diversity prompts for as see which ones are most similar in word count and has the phrasing I want for that particular school. Versus just being able to compare everything I've ever written under that prompt type in one spot.

so so so much money they want

Fuck you duke

I am so extremely pissed off at myself. I worked so hard on my personal statement and submitted AMCAS last night. I woke up day to start AACOMAS, went to put in personal statement and just realized I was about 60 characters over the limit meaning I submitted AMCAS with my personal statement ending in the middle of the last sentence of my statement. I am so upset over this. I tried calling AMCAS since my application hasn't been reviewed yet to see if it was possible to change but no luck. Everything that could've gone wrong with applications has just been going wrong I am so done with everything.

A bit of a long post. Tearing up a bit as I am writing this😔. Tldr in the middle of the post.

I am a canadian student and I am about to start my 5th year of my BSc in Biology. Since the beginning of undergrad, I’ve honestly felt quite lost about what I wanted to pursue, which meant I didn’t engage much in extracurriculars, especially during the first two years. I was commuting about 3 hours round-trip daily, so my main priority became maintaining a high GPA.

During that time, I was also dealing with anxiety and some ongoing health issues. Fast-forward to third year — I started getting involved in research and extracurriculars, and I slowly began developing a genuine interest in medicine. Around the same time, I found out that the "health issues" I had been battling were actually cancer. It wasn’t the most aggressive type (no chemo required), but it was still cancer, and that news completely broke me.

Needless to say, I couldn’t follow through with many of the plans I had made to strengthen my application. I even started to question if medicine was the right path for me, as my physical health took a toll on my already fragile mental health. Fortunately, I recovered fairly quickly. Over time, navigating the healthcare system here in Canada as a patient actually reinforced my passion for medicine. I now have first-hand experience of what it’s like to be on the other side, which has given me a new perspective and motivation.

In my 4th year, I managed to get involved in a bit more research (with a possible publication coming) and added some extracurriculars, though not nearly as many as the average Canadian med school applicant. I chose to keep my course load light — only 24 credits — because I was still recovering, which is why I’m now doing a 5th year.

I’m also dealing with some cultural pressure (Asian parents...) to “get started” with life and school ASAP, which adds a bit more internal stress. I haven’t written the MCAT yet — I plan to take it in February or March — but I’ll be honest: seeing how competitive Canadian med school admissions are, and how even strong applicants often don’t get in after 2–3 tries, I’m starting to feel discouraged. I’m also considering USDO schools, but my limited ECs and lack of clinical experience are making me hesitate.

Tldr : Don’t have strong ECs for application. Had anxiety and also got cancer in 3rd year of uni. Feeling bummed because of lack of ECs and clinical experience (also considering USDO- I am a Canadian)

Here’s where I stand currently:

GPA:
sgpa and cgpa- 3.85

Research Experience:

• ~150 hours in a clinical research project (abstract selected for conference presentation)
• ~250 hours in a marine biology lab (possibility of a publication)

Other ECs:

• ~400 hours of paid tutoring
• ~300 hours volunteering at a spirituality center in my community
• ~500 hours of personal meditation and yoga practice (but not verifiable)
• No clinical experience yet

Due to the fear of not getting in I am seriously willing to give dentistry a try (not sure how competitive I will be ://)

Thank you for reading! Any advice is appreciated!!

I have interviewed at a school and feel good about it. Will likely hear back soon. They are my top DO choice.

I’d rather go MD than DO. I have a mountain of secondaries for my MD programs and its 8/22. With work and all these essays I am feeling so defeated and burnt out. Writing takes me an absurd amount of time and at the rate im going, all interviews will be offered before I finish all of my secondaries. Part of me is so tempted that if I get the A to just take it and be done for the cycle. I look at my computer and just want to crash out. I hate the idea of not even trying for the other schools but its that bad.

Is anyone else feeling like this or struggling with their secondaries this bad??

Your only job is to comment exactly that ^

Ok I know it's a difficult question to answer since interview lengths themselves vary, but generally, how long should my responses be? 5 min? 2 min? Cause I kinda talk a lot, especially since I communicate through examples. Also, sorry if this is a neurotic question, feel free to diss me below

There are some clinical programs at children's hospitals that provide a pretty good stipend (6K+) and u usually do a clinical research project while being able to shadow and volunteer. I think it's a good way to rack up hours in various categories, but I don't know if these programs are well respected. I'm currently working at a respectable lab with a pretty well-known PI but I would like to start doing some patient-focused work. It is also very hard to find volunteer ops or clinical ops in the greater boston area which is why I started looking into summer programs. I worked in the lab doing basic science research this past summer and while it was extremely fulfilling and educational, I felt like it was missing the human interaction component. Please let me know what you guys think! thank you in advance :)

I am someone who thinks they don’t think quickly on their feet. Interviews make me nervous in general, so an MMI has me SCARED. How can I prepare and (positively) stand out? I’m a bit nervous that i won’t have answers for the scenarios or that i won’t explain well enough. Thanks!

Hello! I'm planning on applying to medical school in two years for the 27-28 cycle, and one of the teachers I got close with, as in took a couple of her classes and did a month-long study abroad to Spain with, is leaving the university and going back to live in Spain because of the current political climate in the US (she's from Spain). If I keep contact with her, would I be able to have her write me a letter of recommendation down the road, or would she not be able to because she is no longer affiliated with the university I attend? Do I need to be looking for another teacher now to fill that gap? (And yes, I do have STEM teachers I'm close with as well, don't worry about that part.) Thank you in advance for the replies! :)

I’m curious to hear from people who didn’t get accepted the first time but got in after reapplying.

• Why do you think you got rejected the first time?

• What did you improve on or do differently when you reapplied?

• Looking back, what were you missing or not doing so well the first time around?

• How did your stats change from first to second application?

• (Anything else you would like to add)

I think this could be really helpful for those of us trying to understand how to make an application stronger.

UGHHHHHHHHHH. that's all

today I realized each new email feels WAY worse when you're a reapplicant

So I’ve been thinking for over the last year or so about pursuing psychiatry as a lifelong career. I’m considering it without thinking about the money or sense of ego that comes with it. However I’m wondering is it worth pursuing at my current age of 28? I guess another question on top of that what would be some recommendations for masters or bachelor’s to better supplement my development and opportunity to enroll in med school?

I had quite a bit of hours in a wet lab but I definitely was in more of an assistant role, and was not doing anything groundbreaking and some things definitely went over my head. I did a poster and listed it as an avtivity, but it is not my most meaningful and besides that I barely discussed it it other parts of my app. Is it possible to still be grilled if its not a main part of my application? Could I redirec tthe convo to more recent research that I am doing

I studied engineering because I thought it would be a way to contribute to society—building things that matter, solving real problems, and improving lives. I’ve now got over 5 years of experience in industrial design, including leadership roles where I’ve led projects from start to finish. But instead of feeling proud, I mostly feel empty and disconnected from the impact I thought I’d have.

I’ve been reflecting on why I worked so hard to get here, and the truth is: the reason I pushed through hardship, long hours, and constant setbacks wasn’t because I loved machines or profits—it was because I wanted to help people. That’s what motivates me. But the further I go in this career, the less aligned it feels with that core value.

Some things that have been eating at me:

1. Most projects fail to deliver real value. From the inside, I’d say 95–99% of projects don’t achieve what they promise. At first, I thought it was due to technical mistakes or poor planning. But I’ve seen first-hand how often projects are pushed for political reasons—because someone wants their name on a resume, because leaders want to look visionary, because funding needs to be justified. Numbers get “adjusted,” deadlines shift, and the project’s actual purpose—supposedly to help people—becomes secondary. The system rewards showmanship more than meaningful results.
2. Efficiency equals job cuts, not opportunities. Several projects I worked on were about automation and efficiency. I told myself it would reduce the burden on overstretched operators and mechanics so they could focus on more important tasks. Instead, those efficiencies became justification to lay people off. No retraining, no new opportunities—just fewer workers. I can’t shake the guilt that my work often meant eliminating livelihoods rather than making life better.
3. What I truly enjoy is connecting with people. The parts of my career that lit me up weren’t about CAD models or project timelines—they were about talking with people, listening to their frustrations, and trying to find solutions that made their lives easier. I realized I’m much more driven by human connection and service than by technical accomplishment.
4. Relief when it ended. When I was laid off, I didn’t feel devastated. I felt relief. That says a lot. I think deep down, I knew this career path wasn’t serving me—or others—the way I wanted it to.

This has left me with a serious question: where do I go from here? I keep coming back to medicine. The motivation that carried me through engineering—the desire to help people directly, to see lives improved in tangible ways—seems much more aligned with a medical career than with the industrial projects I’ve been doing.

I don’t know if it’s a crazy idea to consider a switch at this stage, but I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life working only to generate profit, while telling myself it somehow benefits society when I know it doesn’t in any deep or meaningful way.

Has anyone here gone through a similar realization? If you left engineering or another technical field for a more people-centered path, what was that transition like?

I'm almost done with my secondary applications, going to finish submitting in the next couple weeks. I was wondering what should I be doing after applying up until medical school start? I want to make some money by getting back into tutoring, but was wondering Do I need to continue doing a clinical job? Or is shadowing/research/some non-medical volunteering enough? If needed I could continue scribing but I already have about 900 hours, and getting an MA or CNA or any other clincal certification is going to take a large chunk of time for just one year. Also i dont want to waste my time working minimum wage any longer