The Life Cycle of an "Average" Premed: a ragecomic chronicle

I've finally settled down enough to reflect on the last 4 years of applications... and thought it would be a good idea to share my application history for those of you who may be in similar positions.

As requested (many times), my year-by-year undergraduate GPA (OMSAS) :

Year 1: 3.64
Year 2: 3.75
Year 3: 3.86
Year 4: 3.86

cGPA: 3.78
wGPA (weighted for U of T): 3.88

Not the most impressive stats, as you can clearly see.

I first started applying during third year of undergrad, more for practice than expecting actual interviews given my stats at the time. I've applied every year since then, at one point applying to the US (which was a complete and utter fail- for good reason). Here's a year-to-year breakdown along with graphical illustrations of my reaction to rejections each year:

Cycle 1- 2010-2011

Applied: Queen's, Toronto, McMaster
Rejected: Queen's, Toronto, McMaster

Figure 1. Pre-intervew rejections.

Summary: Rejected pre-interview for the three schools I applied to. I was periodically checking the library computers during lab break times. My lab partner at the time didn't apply, but was accepted in our 4th year- to the same school I'll be attending, actually.

This was the year Queen's first started taking ECs into pre-interview scoring, hence the lack of an interview...

Cycle 2- 2011-2012

Applied: Queen's, Toronto, McMaster, Western, Ottawa, Manitoba, Calgary
Interview: Manitoba, Western
Rejected: Manitoba, Western

Interviews at Western & Manitoba- see How to really, really screw up important interviews: a ragecomic presentation.

Summary: As a (slightly) socially awkward & nervous interviewer, interviews did not go down well (see above link). This was during my 4th year, while I did not have any back-up plans planned. This was/is a terrible idea, I still can't stress this enough. See How I got my first research position: a ragecomic illustration for what is usually highly unlikely to happen for people without solid backup plans.

Cycle 3- 2012-2013

Applied: Queen's, Toronto, McMaster, Western, Ottawa, Manitoba, 14 US schools
Interview: McMaster (off waitlist), Western
Rejected: McMaster, Western, all US schools

Figure 2. Overly-exaggerated graphical illustration of post-rejection celebrations.

Summary: Sad times here. I prepared extensively for both interviews, practicing with friends, labmates, etc. I think the problem was (like many others) I was over-prepared, and sounded as if I was reading off a script... and consequently didn't seem like a real person. Interestingly, now that I look back- I actually thought I did well in the interview (see Interviews & raging times at the lab)... idiocy, idiocy everywhere.

To be honest, this was probably among the most (but not the most) depressing, disappointing moments in my life. Especially considering the amount of help I was given by some awesome people around me... also didn't help that I was receiving pre-interview rejections year-round (starting from September? Or something like that) from the US schools I applied to. More on that later, but mostly due to bad reference letter(s), terribly written essay & secondaries, and lack of quantifiable research during applications.

Cycle 4- 2013-2014

Applied: Queen's, Toronto, McMaster, Western, McGill

Interview: Queen's, Toronto, Western (MD/PhD)
Rejected: All MD/PhD programs, and 1 MD
Waitlist: 1 MD
Accepted: 1 MD (after initial waitlist)

Summary: This was the first year I could apply with actual research experience/accomplishments in hand, since I had only started my job around the time applications were due in the previous cycle (2012-2013). After 1-1.5 years of solid research slavery (see Enslaved by brains: a ragecomic representation), I had a reasonably decent CV for MD/PhD programs- and was lucky enough to get interviews.

The interview at the school I was accepted to was the last interview I did, whilst knowing I was rejected from all the MD/PhD programs and also highly likely rejected from the MD programs as well since the interviews occurred on the same days/weekends (and interview performance likely correlated among each other). I went into the interview saying to myself that this is the last med school interview I will ever do, and ended up as the most "real" interview I ever did- I was not nervous at all, and able to be "myself" during the entire interview. I left feeling confident, and continuously so until a week before May 13th.

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After 36 (that's a nice number) pre- and post-interview rejections, and 7 interviews over 4 application cycles, I finally have an acceptance in my hand. Even as I'm filling out paperwork, applying for my LOC, and doing all the med-like things I've always wanted to do (paperwork ftw), and as cliché as this sounds, I still can't believe I'm in. Imposter syndrome, even before starting med school...

...and I find myself wondering what I'm going to write about now in this blog of mine. Perhaps something about research? How to epic-fail at US med applications? Not really sure.

Matt