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You might be getting ready to face the reality of reapplication. You might wonder what you can do to gauge your chances of being moved off of a waitlist and into a medical school. You're tired of waiting and want to take some action. First, read this. Stop and consider this advice from medical school admissions officers. They see reapplicants come through their processes every year and have provided us with some tips to help us advise you. These admissions officers also offer some insight into what you can do as a waitlisted or "on hold" applicant at this point in the application cycle.

Should you reapply right away?

You must have something new and different in your second application.

If you present the same application but have one more year of coursework as part of that computation of your academic strength, that is a little bit of "something new." You likely have more confidence as a learner at this point. If during your application year you continued with your volunteer work doing physical therapy with stroke patients at the moment you submit your AMCAS or AACOMAS for the second time, you will have two and half years with that experience instead of one and a half years. If you take a medical Spanish language terms class at a local community college for one quarter so that you can work with a new group of clients, that is new AND different.

Take time and use your resources to directly address your weaknesses as an applicant before submitting a new application.

Have you not really demonstrated by your actions or learning experiences out of class (known as post secondary experiences on your central application) that you know the work environment and business of health care delivery is for you? Then get yourself out there in the world in or near a clinic and around health professionals so that this criticism does not exist in your next application. Two months of activity is not sufficient; one or two years should be completed before you present yourself again for admission to medical school.

Is your academic record as represented by your application GPA keeping you from some opportunities? This takes time; looking at taking more coursework can seem exhausting after all of your hard work here at Cal. You may need to take three to six semesters to demonstrate your readiness to handle "the load" at medical schools. You can design your own plan or check out post baccalaureate programs. Begin at our website at the Post Baccalaureate FAQS. Also, go to Ask the Counselor and search for "post bac" or "re-apply" to learn from others' questions and answers.

What about my "on hold" or waitlisted status?

Utilize resources. Every applicant's situation is a little different, so use your resources to gain perspective. Set up a Mini-Appointment and let us know how your application process is going, or check our calendar for programs on professional communication and career etiquette. Did you just hear a rumor about how to handle being waitlisted and wonder if it is true? Ask the Counselor and get a response in two working days. Check out the Applying section of the Pre Med FAQs. You may want to learn about how to use the job search tools that we have here at the Career Center; our counselors and services to help students find jobs apply to pre med students, too! Begin with our Job Search Tools.

Take care. This is a stressful situation and a chance for you to practice your mature responses to such stress. As a physician you'll encounter a wide variety of stressors, so this is a marvelous opportunity to learn skills you will need for the rest of your career. You have been embroiled in a long process (for most it's been 12-14 months for the application process alone), so give yourself a break. Stop before you take your frustration out on a person working in admissions by placing a nasty phone call. Recently a senior at Cal told one of the pre med counselors that she wrote a letter to one of the medical schools that placed her in the vague "on hold" status, telling them what she thought of them "giving her the run around." She regrets this now, and may be too embarrassed to apply to that school again. In the moment, it felt great to let them know exactly how she felt, but she now realizes this may not be a good applicant strategy. While you are still a student, you have some marvelous resources to help you develop some strategies to deal with stress. Begin with an appointment with Health Education or Counseling and Psychological Services.

Develop a hobby. When you are on a waitlist, your job is to wait. This can be very hard for many of us as the end of this process is facing us and those around us are being seated in medical schools. Learn to knit, help your friend coach the kids' soccer team, or read 16th century poetry. Learn these skills now, as you may end up applying again one day. Once you get in to medical school, you won't have a lot of extra time to do anything interesting beyond learning medicine. Applicants from recent years have been very vocal in giving this advice; do something besides check your in box and mail box.

Read. Do your homework by looking at websites and carefully read the information sent to you by individual medical schools. Medical school admissions people tell us that some applicants call with questions about their waitlist procedure that are specifically answered on the information sheet sent via mail or email.

Don't harass. Some students are circulating a rumor that it is wise to send a monthly report to the school where you are waitlisted. This in general is not a good idea. Every admissions officer was clear about this. If you have had something notable happen since you sent in your AMCAS to that school; send them a letter. One Cal applicant received the Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Chemistry research after his interview and was waitlisted. He sent in a very brief letter with a copy of the program from the awards ceremony attached. Sending a letter to let a medical school know that you have a different volunteer position than you had listed on your AMCAS nine months ago is likely not appropriate. As one medical school admissions dean noted: "If we have interviewed you and made a decision on you, we have looked at you very carefully. We have everything we need."

Learn the rules. Each medical school does business a bit differently; one may prefer email communication; another the phone or the postal service. Even if you are not typically an organized person, this is a time to get organized. Keep track of every communication you have with AMCAS; do the same with each of your medical schools.

Remember May 15th. The AAMC is very clear about what is expected of medical schools and the responsibilities of applicants. Read these policies over to remind you of the perspective on this situation from the medical school admissions office.

Regardless of your next step, you will need your family and friends to understand what is going on with you. You might be putting pressure on yourself to get into medical school as soon as possible and you may be encouraged by your family to just try again right away. Resist this impulse, as applying again (even with an earlier date) is almost certain to result in the same outcome. You must take time to strengthen your application before sending in another AMCAS and all of that money.

The Career Center will help you as you look for a job, seek an edifying health volunteer situation, or find a way to strengthen your academic credentials. In the end, your family, especially your parents, just want to see you able to take care of yourself as an adult and to be basically happy. You might use some information on our website to help them understand that many of us do NOT go immediately to medical school out of Cal. Check out the number of graduates that enter medical school "one year out." Also worth noting is that there is typically a group of 100 Cal students in every medical school application pool who are applying to enter medical school TWO years out of Cal. This is the winning strategy for many.

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