Over the last three or four years, there has been a singular goal to my actions. My goal is to get into medical school. It is something that you must devote every ounce of your attention towards and something that cannot be taken lightly. People assume that if you are smart then you will be able to become a doctor if you do so choose. This is far from the truth. Admittance to medical school is based on a great many factors, but intelligence is not necessarily a factor. It's true that they look at GPA and MCAT scores in order to get a gauge of whether you will be able to handle the material or not, but that has only some to do with intelligence and more to do with effort. And there we reach the real trait that is necessary for med school: effort. You have to try very very very hard in order to get into medical school. According to AMCAS, only 44.7% of medical school applicants are accepted to at least one medical school. This mean that 55.7% (more than half, for those of you with math disabilities) of applicants who have spent hundreds of dollars on the MCAT and AMCAS application, not to mention the thousands on your undergraduate degree which is merely a stepping stone to your desired schooling, will never be accepted to a medical school. Now this number reflects a number of things. Some applicants can be discouraged by their initial rejection while some are just under-qualified. And while it is likely true that you will eventually get into medical school if you apply repeatedly, nobody has that kind of time to wait for their real life to begin.
So this is where we come back to me. Today I had my interview with KU Med. This is my 2nd attempt at gaining admittance to this medical school and I believe that my application has improved greatly since the last time. The issue, however, is not whether I get in or not, but what will I do if I don't get in? I don't want to go to any non-medical school and I don't really want to start a different career, though the options are certainly there. It's a conundrum, and one that I don't think you can quite understand without being in the situation.
Let's put it in a mental picture. We'll say that for a normal situation your future is like that little green line that Fidelity shows you the way to retirement with. It's easy enough to follow and you generally don't have important choices to make, so following the line and continuing on your path to success is relatively simple. For a prospective med student, it is slightly different. The little green line that you have been following for the last several years comes to a fork in the road. On one path you continue on your way to becoming a doctor and everything is perfectly fine. On the other path lies a 400 ft tall cliff with razor sharp rocks at the bottom. This cliff is not survivable. You will never be able to walk down that path again. It seems like an easy choice which path you should choose, right? But wait! You don't get to pick your path! Instead, a group of people get to choose for you. In fact, they get to choose for everyone like you. This is the medical school admissions process. A committee gets to decide whether you achieve your dream or find a new career now that your hopes have been dashed on the sharp rocks beneath the cliff.
And that's where you will find me. I'm standing at the fork in the road, waiting for my life to be chosen for me.
Impatiently Yours,
Brandan
