Accepted to Medical School, Now What?

If you’re reading this because you received a medical school acceptance, congratulations! You should be proud of all that you’ve accomplished. I’m not going to recommend that you try to “prepare” yourself. Medical school courses are so different in pace and content that you can’t prepare. And that’s okay. Even if you stumble at first, you’ll find your stride, even if you did zero pre-studying. You did the hard thing by getting in, and it’s both okay and a great idea to spend time relaxing the summer before medical school classes start. You should also take time to celebrate. You’ve accomplished so much to get to this point, and you’ve got great things ahead of you.

Celebrate

You should take some time to celebrate your acceptance and everything it took to get you here. If there’s something you’ve wanted to do for a while but were too busy or were telling yourself you’d do it once you got in or were successful, now’s the time.

Not everyone will have the time or money to do something extravagant to celebrate, like traveling somewhere far away, but you all deserve to do at least something small for yourself. Have a nice dinner with friends, get yourself something you’ve wanted for a while, or take the time to acknowledge all of your efforts.

Post-Acceptance Blues

Whether you take the time to celebrate or not, you might find yourself feeling down after an acceptance. Self-doubt is common among premeds, and I’m sure all of you have faced it at one time or another. When you receive an acceptance to medical school, you expect to feel elated, thrilled, and relieved at the idea of the application cycle being over, and you probably do. But even if you are excited, self-doubt and anxiety might creep back in. You might find yourself worrying that the school made a mistake in accepting you or that you won’t be able to succeed in medical school once you get there. Trust the process and know that they only accepted you because they are confident that you can do this.

Combatting the Blues

Post-acceptance is a great time to return to things you haven’t had time for while studying for the MCAT and preparing your application. If you have any known ways that help pull you out of a dark period, this is a great chance to use those tools. Reach out to someone in your life you would usually share something like this with, and they might put some of your concerns into perspective.

Continue doing well in any classes you’re taking and stay involved in your community, but if you’ve been living at a breakneck speed, allow yourself to slow down. That will help ease some of the anxiety you might be having. Feeling this way doesn’t mean you’re any less excited to be a physician someday or that you deserve your seat any less.

Now that you’re feeling ready to move forward, you can deal with the practicalities and…

Logistics

Paperwork

After you get that acceptance call or email, the very first thing you need to do (after sharing the great news) is to accept the seat and put down the deposit to hold your spot. You can still change your mind later if you’re lucky enough to get multiple acceptances, but you don’t want to find yourself with only one acceptance that you lost out on by not saving your seat by the school’s deadline.

You will also need to make sure you have health insurance that meets the school’s requirements, either independently or through the school. You also need to verify your immunization record and get any vaccinations you may be missing. Your medical school will also send you paperwork to complete for things like background checks, financing, disability accommodations, and more. Some schools have multiple campuses or learning tracks, and this is when you complete those if this wasn’t included as part of the secondary application.

Multiple Acceptances

If you’re lucky enough to have multiple acceptances, this adds a few extra steps to the process. The different application services and schools will have their own deadlines and procedures, so do a careful reading of the instruction manuals and websites. You don’t want to lose a spot by missing a stated deadline.

Try to narrow down your school options and withdraw your other applications promptly so that other students can have a chance to earn that seat. Make a pro-con list if you don’t have an obvious first choice. Divide a sheet of paper down the middle, labeling one column pro and one con. Do this for each school you’re considering, and use this to narrow down your list. Ultimately, only you can decide what the ideal school is for you. Any school can train you and train you well. Choose a school that will best support you in your pursuit of success.

Pros of going to a school might include access to a residency you’re interested in, a dual degree program, or strong mentorship. Cons might consist of being far from friends and family, a bigger class size, the weather, a lack of direct flights, or anything else that’s important to you.

Financial Aid

The cost of one school over another might be a factor in deciding between one school or another. It’s not the only factor, but it will be on the minds of many students. It may also come down to which school can offer you more financial aid. If you’re choosing between two schools and genuinely want to go to the one offering less or nothing, you can reach out to them and ask for aid. You can call or write an email (according to school policy) saying something like, “I am hoping to attend your school, but another school has offered me [insert financial package]. Is there anything you can do to make my attendance at your school less financially stressful?”

Only do this if the money is actually keeping you from going to school 2. Don’t use this as a chance to go back and forth between them, asking each to match the other to see what you can get. There are plenty of other students who want your seat. Ask once and make your decision from there. If the finances of the two are similar or identical, come back to your pro/con list.