Sariah has been telling me that I should give some advice to others that are going through the application process that we just went through. In the off chance that someone actually finds this blog, here are things that I have learned through this experience.
First and foremost, you need to be certain that this is what you want to do. I haven't even started med school yet and I feel that I have already been stretched in ways that I wasn't expecting. To give a little background info, I'm not one of those people that always wanted to be a doctor. Although I knew that I wanted to do something where I could help others, I was torn about how to go about doing that. It was an honest struggle for me to commit myself to the idea of medicine. I was worried (and still worry albeit much less) about being able to make it in med school. I was scared about how the career would change my relationship with my family, especially with Sariah. Not only were those fears constantly circling around my inner dialogue, but I was seriously concerned about actually making it into school.
I was sucked into the trap of comparing myself to other students who had similar ambitions as mine. That wasn't helpful at all. Everyone else seemed to be succeeding with ease whereas I was struggling along the way. At any rate, I set aside my doubts, convinced and determined that I wanted to practice medicine. There is so much uncertainty throughout the application cycle that will really mess with your head if you aren't committed to this career path. Even if you are, this process can still mess with you, which leads me to advice tidbit thing number two: have a strong supporting cast.
Sariah has been such a help to me. Not only was she there to proofread essays and personal statements, but to help me keep believing in myself. She and the rest of my family were awesome at buoying me up during this last year. Without them, I don't think that I would have been able to make it to this point. I certainly wouldn't have maintained the same level of sanity after all was said and done.
Third, get your application in as soon as possible. I wish that I had done this. The longer you wait to turn in your primary and secondaries, the harder it is to get accepted due to rolling admissions. Take the time during the summer and get everything finished so that you don't have to stress during the Fall when you may be taking classes in addition to trying to make it into medical school. Learn from my mistake! I was finishing my last semester while still trying to finish the roughly 30 secondary application essay questions that I had.
Fourth, learn confidence, not arrogance. Believe in yourself. Seriously, you got this. You wouldn't be applying if you didn't think that you had what it takes. Don't doubt your abilities. That being said, don't be a cocky son of a gun that won't ever admit a mistake or an imperfection. Don't be that guy thinks he's all that and a bag of chips while advertising it to the world with a billboard complete with flashing lights. That is probably a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the gist of it. Confidence lets people know that you are honestly aware of yourself, meaning that you know your limitations and more importantly your strengths. Arrogance makes me less trusting of that person and (if I'm being honest) annoyed with that individual. I'll tune them out.
Fifth and finally, the wait/alternate list is not the end of the world. I applied to ten schools. After writing all of the secondary essays and paying all of the fees (seriously, someone is making money somewhere off of these applications. It's ridiculous!), I was invited to interview at three schools. Of those three schools, I was wait-listed at two of them and rejected from the third, which I found very annoying especially being rejected after flying all the way out there and spending all of that money. I kind of felt like that Asian guy in "The Dark Knight" when Morgan Freeman's character tells him that the joint venture with Wayne Enterprises was off - "A simple phone call would have sufficed," pre-interview that is. Anyway, Sariah and I were stuck in this state of alternate list limbo. We were stressed out because we didn't know if I would have to apply again or if we would be moving across the country at some unforeseen time in the near future. It was not a pleasant experience, but I'm glad that it happened the way that it did. I received a phone call one day from my school explaining that I had been accepted. All of the anxiety and stress were gone. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't lose hope about achieving your dream if you are placed on an alternate/wait list.
There are a slew of other little things that I could mention like save up money as this is expensive, or get your letters of recommendation taken care of early, but I think that these five things have helped me the most. To you who may be applying to med school, remember, you got this.
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