Hunger Games: Med School Style

It came.

We both knew it would. But knowing it will come, and actually getting it are two different things. Reality hit us across the face and left us spinning like a boxer trying to get his bearings back in the ring.

We got our first rejection.

It was less than two days after sending the secondary in. UC Irvine, a school that we had discussed since we first started this crazy road due to its proximity to Disneyland…er…. home. Mostly home, but Disneyland down the street was a definite bonus for two annual pass holders who got engaged there.

We drove by it so many times, and each time, he would say, “UC Irvine… Maybe our future!”.

Not our future. It is officially off the table. 

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t his first choice school. It was a drag though to get. Who likes rejection? It did however, make a few things very clear for us.

There is no such thing as a guarantee on this road. Many people had thought we would for sure get UC Irvine, due to my husband’s high MCAT score and science grades. There isn’t an assurance of anything though. Each school is looking for their own criteria, and you can never really be sure of what that is.

Was it something I said?! Getting the rejection so quickly after sending in his secondary made him wonder if he had said something wrong in his essays. Did he talk about me too much? Did he send in an old file with typos? What had he done that made them dismiss him so quickly? The reality is, you can’t even be sure anyone really ever looked at your primary application, or really read your secondary, other than to see if you hit anything they are specifically looking for. That being said, I sure wish they would have looked a little harder at the primary application before taking our 80 bucks and that writing/editing time. That was groceries for a week! 

You are not Katniss Everdeen. The odds are ever NOT in your favor. There are thousands of people applying at each school for a 100 or so spots.  Those odds are affected by your scores etc of course, but I don’t think any of us feel that comfortable with those kinds of number games being thrown around. Which makes this CLEARLY DIFFERENT than getting into grad school. No matter what anyone trying to say “they know how it is”, thinks.

We are pushing forward. For that one rejection, we have also gotten 17 other secondaries that are still possibilities, and a few other schools we haven't heard back from yet. Those are the odds we are focusing on for now! It is a wild ride we are all on, isn't it?!