Top 4 Reasons Medical Schools Reject Qualified Applicants

Every year, roughly 60% of students apply to medical school unsuccessfully. Of these students, a significant number are qualified applicants. 🤯

After devoting countless hours to becoming a strong medical school candidate, the last thing you want to do is make a fatal application error that leads to rejection.

In this video, you'll learn the 4 most common reasons why medical schools reject qualified applicants, plus strategies you can use to ensure you don't end up having to reapply.

TIMESTAMPS:
[00:00] - Introduction
[00:58] - Reason 1: Applying to the wrong schools based on stats
[01:56] - Reason 2: Submitting a cliché personal statement
[02:38] - Reason 3: Submitting applications too late
[03:36] - Reason 4: Preparing for interviews the wrong way
[04:21] - Conclusion

Who we are:
Shemmassian Academic Consulting (SAC) was founded by Dr. Shirag Shemmassian, a medical school admissions expert with over 15 years of experience helping thousands of students get into top programs such as Harvard, Mayo, and UCSF. Despite a roughly 40% medical school matriculation rate nationally, the SAC team’s approach has resulted in over 90% of their students getting accepted the first time they apply. SAC has been featured on The Washington Post, US News and World Report, and NBC.

We'd love to hear from you! Drop a question down below in the comment section; we respond daily!

#medicalschooladmissions #rejectedfrommedicalschool #medschool #mcat

[thefenerbahcesk]

1. Stats
- apply strategically
2. Cliche personal statement
- be unique
3. Late submission
- submit early
4. Bad interview
- prepare

[garrettdyess]

This page is such high quality. Thank you for the information.

[taybaaziz]

If you have a high GPA (3.91) but haven't taken the MCAT yet (thanks to quarantine) what schools would be within target? I have pretty good extracurriculars and clinic experiences but not having an MCAT score is making deciding a proper school list really tough. Also how real is yield protection if I apply to schools with lower stats ?

[abbybrustad]

Can you explain a bit more about applying to schools strategically based on stats? What should the target breakdown be when building a school list (how many with stats below, at, or above your stats)? Do you have a blog post/video that discusses strategies for building a school list?

[lamboozled]

Hi Dr. Shemmassian,

I have a 3.77 GPA and a 511 MCAT, and last month I submitted secondaries to UC Irvine, UCSD, and UCSF, just to name a few. I just wanted to ask if I still have a slight chance of receiving interview offers for either of these schools based on my metrics. Even though all three schools have an MCAT average of 516 to 517, I checked last year's statistics that the 10th percentile of matriculants for those schools have 511 MCAT scores.

Also, since all three of those schools screen applicants, the fact that I received secondary invites should imply that I still may have a shot, right? I made sure that those secondaries were well written and looked over by professionals. Thank you so much for your thoughts!

[hafsamohammed]

I have 1 W on my transcript from my days in high school while taking dual credit classes. The reason being, my counselor forgot to drop the class for me before the deadline, and when she finally did remove it from my courses the drop deadline had passed and I ended up with a withdrawal for the course. I heard adcoms don't like it when you blame other people for potentially negative points on your application. I'm wondering how I should phrase the reason for the W on my transcript without appearing too negative and critical of my counselor?

[theodoremuka]

My primary application just got approved on August 31st. Would you say this is relatively late in the application cycle?

[DollyDomDom]

Hi, what are your thoughts regarding the timeline for this application cycle? AAMC released a statement saying medical schools may be transitioning from rolling admissions to one date where everyone finds out whether they were accepted/denied (but participating schools were not mentioned). I submitted my application June 14th but won’t write my MCAT until September secondary to all the cancellations from COVID (and I’m in Florida). It’s been so hard staying up to speed on this cycle would love for anyone to chime in

[DizzyArt]

I can’t wrap my head around the sentiment that people tell themselves that they have a “clichéd” personal statement. Every person’s situation is unique and it is far from cliché. What makes a good personal statement is an elaborated reflection on your life experiences that show ADCOMS why you want to become a physician.

[oceanemassamba]

Hi, I have 4 Ws in my transcript ? Can this be the reason why I would get rejected ?

[KT-pwcq]

Do you offer services that help with everything? Personal statement, interviews, and primaries/secondaries ? I find that I have high quality in all these areas but may have a hard time conveying it with writing. English is not my best

[HeavenlySunset]

Do you have to write separate essays for each school or can you send the same one to each school and just shift it a bit to focus solely on the school youre sending it to?

[ayanotanabe]

Got accepted into Harvard Med and rejected from UCSF. Go figure

[snj-tjfk]

Is it possible to write a unique personal statement even with a common experience? For example, tutoring is a common leadership experience for most applicants so I wondering how matriculants stand out even with a "common experience" with other applicants?

[prabalsharma]

Do Canadian Medical Schools also have rolling admissions?

[jibranimtiaz]

Should I apply to more than one med school and if I get an invitation for interview, what should I say if they ask me whether have i applied in more than one school .?

[cstgraphpads]

I wouldn't necessarily say that applying for a medical school that is statistically out of reach is inherently a bad thing. For one, about all you'd lose out on is the application fee and the relatively short amount of time required to actually fill out the application itself. For two, if you don't apply at all, you'll definitely not get in. At least in the eyes of some, it's better to apply and be rejected than to not apply at all and never know.

[anikabushra]

hi, I m anika . I'm from Bangladesh . I want to go to abroad with a full scholarship abd complete mbbs there. Will you please help me regarding this matter . I have none to explain .I don't know how and what to do step by step . Will you please maje a video regarding scholarship in well reputated universities ?please I really need your help

[smellypatel]

You forgot the number one reason for a lot of applicants: too Asian.