3 Mistakes That Will Lead to Medical School Rejections

When you are applying to Medical School, you are trying to compete with over 50,000 other applicants — so it is important make a good impression if you are to have any hope at all of getting an invitation to interview at the school, which is itself of course only a first step.

With such high stakes, it is paramount that you do whatever you can to ensure you do not reduce your already slim chances of getting into the Medical School of your dreams further by making some of the most common tactical errors in your preparation.

A Medical School application is not something you can turn around in a week's time, so it is vital for applicants to do everything in their power to make sure that by the time that you can submit applications, they have all material ready to go on the first day.  

Number 1:  Do Not Wait to Ask for Letters of Recommendation 

Getting a Letter of Recommendation is easily the most frustrating aspect of submitting your Medical School applications, and it is essential that you make sure you are not procrastinating and putting this task off until it is absolutely necessary. To get a Letter of Recommendation from your professors, ask for one in a timely manner.

It is a good idea to meet with professors routinely during office hours to build a rapport and make sure they know who you are and like or respect you. Then, after scoring a high mark in the class, you are in a much better position to ask the Professor for a Letter of Recommendation.

The key to a good letter is having a Professor write more intimate comments as opposed to the generic, "he was a great student, he was always eager to learn". You will not find a professor willing to veer from his or her "cookie-cutter" Letter template that they will use for dozens of students if you do not put an effort to get to know your professor, and more importantly, allow for him or her to get to know you.

In many circumstances, the Professor may even ask you to write out the letter yourself, and that will give you at least a little more leverage when you are drafting out your version.  

Another thing to remember is that even if you ask for a letter 3 months in advance, it is often one of the last things you will have when you are trying to send out your applications.

Professors are notorious for dragging their feet on completing these Letters of Recommendation on time, so it is up to you to constantly remind them and make sure that they complete the task. It may seem strange for some but it is important that you poke and prod the Professor to the point where they will complete your request just so you stop bugging him or her.

Consider the process of obtaining a Letter of Recommendation good practice for the rest of your career in Medicine. You will have to start asking doctors for Letters of Recommendation before the ERAS MATCH applications, after all, and will realize that with physicians, you may have to "border-line" stalk and harass them to make sure you get your letter within 6 months.  

A good practice is to make sure you are constantly asking for a Letter of Recommendation in your Sophomore and Junior years in classes that you are doing well in. Faculty can change constantly so the longer you wait, the more likely you may find yourself chasing down a professor who no longer works in the school or is taking a sabbatical for research. Ask sooner rather than later.  

Two More Common Mistakes That Will Guarantee Your Medical School Rejection 

Number 2:  Do Not Delay Registering For the MCAT Exam 

Waiting to register for the MCAT exam is another big "no-no". A lot of students make this mistake when they are preparing to submit their Medical School applications. A limited number of centers offer MCAT Testing Dates, so it is key that you make sure you register for the test as soon as possible so you don't have to settle for a later test date.  

A problem that you may not be aware of is that even if the MCAT test is computerized, for whatever reason, the AAMC is not able to tabulate your scores instantly and you must wait at least 6 weeks in most cases for your score to be reported.  

It is logical that you may want to delay writing your MCAT until the last possible moment to give yourself the biggest amount of time to study, but there is a "Catch-22" with that ideology.

If you delay writing your test for too long, you may have a higher score than you would have had by completing this step earlier. Most Medical Schools do rolling interviews when they are determining who will be granted an invitation to interview, on the other hand. Rolling interviews mean that if a decent student is found in the first few days the Medical School reviews their applicant pool, they will grant that student a request to interview, which of course removes one position for you to compete for.

Medical Schools will reserve a few spots for the stragglers to make sure that if an amazing candidate should apply a month or two later, they may have a chance to interview but the longer you wait, the stiffer the competition you will face for that final-call interview slot. Medical School is already extremely difficult to get into, so don't make it harder on yourself by causing a delay in the date when your MCAT scores will be reported.  

Number 3:  Do Not Go to An Interview Without Practicing First 

For some reason, there is an urban legend circulating around Pre-Med programs around the country that the interview is "just to make sure you are not crazy."

It is true that if you do get an invitation to interview, you are from an elite segment of the applicant pool and you should be able to find placement somewhere to start your medical training. Do not, however, be overly confident, thinking it is an easy cruise to the finish from here.

Medical School interviews are very challenging and programs will often ask you awkward and embarrassing questions that can quickly leave you tongue-tied if you are not prepared with an adequate answer. The tough questions you may get asked as you apply for Medical School could be things like why did you score so poorly in a science class, or why you chose to be part of such a specialized research group. The interview board may challenge everything you have done and will even question the merits of some of the papers you have been published in.  

It is your job to practice for the interview diligently to be able to respond to any of the strange questions you may encounter. Schools invite more applicants than they have spots for, so just make sure that you have not given them a reason to remove you from the list of potential candidates.  

During this time, I would also recommend deleting all your social media accounts.  Medical Schools are not run by elderly people who have no idea how to turn on a computer. They have a team of secretaries and other members of staff that research page after page on the internet to learn everything there is to know about you before considering your application in the final selection.

Even an innocent picture of you going out to a bar with friends after an exam could be viewed as you being a "loose cannon", so in this situation, it is better to be safe than sorry. Delete your accounts or at least change your name so it will become impossible for a program to track you online.