Business and Technology
US:Multiple Medical Schools Accepted You? Six things to consider
If you were accepted to multiple schools, you must decide: “Which school is right for me?”
Create a spreadsheet to compare schools’ traits.
Include the following on your spreadsheet.
Include descriptive language and scale numbers.
1. School Comfort
Are values and friendliness present?
How do you feel as you enter? Will others greet you?
Do the students behave as a family or independently?
Have you watched live or unstaged classes?
Student questioning: comfortable?
Virtual interviews have replaced in-person interviews for medical school admissions, reducing student interaction.
Before accepting an offer, visit a school you are seriously considering.
How to Wait for a Medical School Decision
I’ve seen this issue greatly impact student success and unhappiness in med school admissions and student affairs.
Students who like regulations like some schools.
Some students love less-structured institutions.
If classes are in vast lecture halls or small groups, the school may seem smaller.
See how students interact outside of class.
Fit matters.
2. Career Goal-Curriculum Alignment
Are your professional goals, curriculum, and instruction compatible?
Is there enough time and primary investigator available for research if you want to be a physician investigator?
Will you help underserved patients as a primary care physician?
Are you interested in rural medical rotations?
Not all med schools will help you achieve these goals, but some will.
If you wish to test mini-samples of super-subspecialized clinical rotations early in your preclinical education, schools will have different options.
Ask when you can work with patients regularly.
Real-life connections boost study motivation.
Even as a listener, you’ll feel the bond between patients and you.
Before applying for residency programs, check a student’s electives.
This helps students who prefer different specialties and need more time to decide.
Read: Medical School Specialization Pros and Cons.
These electives may be undervalued, but any curriculum should have several.
Your selection will be based on less experience if all electives are after residency application.
Some students prefer lectures over the flipped classroom.
Some prefer group-based problem-solving, while others prefer self-study.
Be sure you’re open to a fresh style at your chosen institution.
3. Advisement
Student counseling is crucial.
Is advising mostly one-on-one or in groups?
How close are you to your mentors the first two years? What happens when you start clerkships and residency applications?
By the third or fourth year, do you have speciality advisers in addition to a principal adviser?
Find out how senior students rate the advising system and where they need help.
Avoiding this before picking a school can make residency more difficult.
For educated responses, contact final-year students.
This is increasingly important in highly competitive fields.
Ask about advisers’ student advocacy and accessibility.
Health and Tutoring
Students often dismiss tutoring, physical, and mental health services as unnecessary.
Plan for the unexpected.
Explore these critical services with students who used them, not just administration.
How easy was access and time to use resources throughout the curriculum?
Position
You should weigh each school’s location’s pros and downsides.
Being closer to supportive family has benefits.
Being near your children’s grandparents may matter.
As a single individual, a med school closer to home for laundry, home-cooked meals, and auto repair advice may be best.
It may be more expensive and time-consuming to fly home during vacations if you choose a distant institution.
That depends on how much financial aid you get.
Finally, if one school accepts you, it’s right.
6. Cost
If you are not receiving a substantial grant or scholarship, finances may be your top or second factor.
Once accepted, you’ll need to discuss this with each school’s admissions dean.
Many institutions need a large deposit, which makes holding spots in various schools difficult.
Should Medical Students Work?
Inquiring about a school’s funding is practical, not resentful.
If necessary, getting your parents to fill out documentation may speed up the response.
Most medical students have huge student loan debt.
Only students entering the highest-paying medical specialty can ignore expense.
You can’t ensure you’ll get into one of those specializations or enjoy it before starting med school.
Unless you’re in the military or a program that forgives federal student loans after a particular number of years of repayment while working in public service, don’t expect loans to be written off.
I’ve had kids who thought their parents would pay for their entire college, but for various reasons, that plan fell through.
Ask medical school deans for their greatest financial aid offer and weigh it against other variables.
Gather as much school information as possible early on, then weigh these six factors.
Prioritize them immediately.
Now is the time to work harder to make the best choice for yourself and your family.
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