Session 7

I didn’t think I should have to tell anyone not to lie on their medical school application, but apparently, I do. Let me do it one more time: Don’t lie on your med school application.

It would be a huge red flag if you got caught lying in your application. You’re not going to get interviews. You’re not going to get an acceptance. It would likely get you kicked out of medical school if you were already accepted when they found out.

Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.

[00:57] Don’t Lie in Your Application to Medical School

I’m part of a prehealth advisors email list. There was a recent email from an advisor saying that she came across a student who wasn’t being very honest. This student was exaggerating stories and marking off minority statuses when she wasn’t really a minority. This student was filing the disadvantaged statements when she wasn’t disadvantaged.

This student submitted the application the way it was. And so what the advisor did was to put on the letter of recommendation that this student has serious issues in terms of fabricating. So the advisor recommended that the admissions committee carefully look through the application and verify things.

[Related episode: Can I Get Grades Removed from My Transcript to Increase My GPA?]

[02:10] You May Get an Interview, But They Will Soon Find Out

So the school is basically getting a letter from the advisor saying not to interview or accept this student. Interestingly, a lot of schools still invited the student for interviews.

One of the medical schools explained why they still invited the student for an interview. They simply explained that they receive 10,000 applications per year. On average, each application comes with three letters of recommendation. So that’s 30,000 letters of recommendation they have to go through. So this school just hadn’t read the letter from the advisor yet.

It depends on the specific process at each medical school for when and how they review those letters. Whether they review it upfront, post-interview, or in between interview invite and the interview varies. Every school is going to be different.

So you may sneak through the cracks long enough to get an interview if you’re fabricating things on your application. But this is just because the schools are not going to look at the letters of recommendation until later.

[Related episode: Ignoring Advice, He Disclosed His Bipolar Disorder in Apps.]

You Won’t Get Away with Lying on Your Medical School Application

But one way or another, trust me, it will catch up to you. And as soon as it does, you’re in a world of hurt because that school is going to tell everybody else out there. You’re going to fall flat on your face.

You wasted all of that money applying and all that money traveling for interviews. At the end of the day, you’re probably not going to get in. In fact, I hope you don’t get in if you’re fabricating stuff on your application.

You’re entering a career field where you are supposed to be honest. This bears repeating. Do not fabricate anything in your application.

Links and Other Resources

• Check out my Premed Playbook series of books (available on Amazon), with installments on the personal statement, the medical school interview, and the MCAT.
• Related episode: Can You Become a Doctor If You’ve Been Arrested?
• Related episode: Disclosing a DUI Didn’t Hold Him Back from Medical School.
• Need MCAT Prep? Save on tutoring, classes, and full-length practice tests by using promo code “MSHQ” for 10% off Next Step full-length practice tests or “MSHQTOC” for $50 off MCAT tutoring or the Next Step MCAT Course at Blueprint MCAT (formerly Next Step Test Prep)!