Getting into medical school is extremely challenging. While we’re sure you’re hoping for an acceptance right out of the gate, know that only about a third of applicants are accepted each year. This leads many students to reapply. But what if you’re rejected a second time? How many times can you apply to medical school? Is there a limit?
In this post, we break down how many times you can apply to medical school, how many times you should actually apply, how to determine if reapplying is right for you, and what alternatives are available.
How Many Times Can You Apply to Medical School?
The number of times you can apply to medical school depends on the medical school to which you are applying. While many medical schools do not have explicit limits on how many times students can apply, some do. For example, Harvard Medical School only allows students to apply a total of two times, and Yale School of Medicine only allows applicants to apply three times.
However, keep in mind that schools know how many times you have previously applied. If you have applied to medical school three times and not been accepted or even waitlisted, admissions committees will certainly notice, which means, unfortunately, your chances of earning an acceptance one day are slim.
When you reapply, you will need to address the fact you have already applied to medical school and been rejected. Admissions committees will deeply scrutinize your reapplication to determine what improvements you’ve made since last time, so it is vital that you demonstrate why you’re more qualified now with tangible, recent examples.
How Many Times SHOULD You Apply to Medical School?
We recommend students apply to medical school no more than three times. If you have applied twice and been rejected twice, deeply consider whether or not you can make significant improvements to your application before applying a third time.
What you’re technically allowed to do and what’s actually advisable are two completely different things. Can you apply to some schools five times? Yes, but you shouldn’t.
It takes a great deal of time and effort to apply to medical school. Not only does the application process take over a year, but it will also cost you.
If you need to retake the MCAT, the standard MCAT registration fee is $330. It costs $175 to send your primary application to the first medical school and $45 for each additional school.
We recommend you apply to at least 20 schools, so the cost of sending just your primary application to 20 schools would be over $1000. Then there are also secondary application fees, which vary depending on the school but range from $30 to $200.
The majority of schools charge $100 for secondary applications, so if you apply to 20 schools and receive 10 secondaries, that’s another $1000. On top of that, there’s also the cost of interviews, which will likely include multiple plane tickets, at least one or two quality suits, hotel rooms, and so on.
Unless you’re filthy rich, applying more than three times to medical school will cost you greatly, to say nothing of medical school tuition, if you do get accepted on your third try.
If you’ve applied three times and still did not receive an acceptance, it’s time to face a very harsh truth: you will not be a medical doctor.
Take time to deeply consider what you can pursue next and how you will evolve your dreams. There are many other options for students to pursue medicine in related fields, and we’ll cover some of those options below.
Determining When to Reapply
Not being accepted to medical school is a clear sign you need to make changes to your application. Far too many students jump right back into the process, believing they will make it on their next try. They think that since they understand the process now, they have a leg up. This is far from the reality of reapplying to med school.
If you don’t make notable improvements to your application, you can’t expect it to go any different the second time around. Reapplying actually puts you at a disadvantage because schools will know you didn’t get accepted the previous year. It’s also very likely that you’ll be tired and possibly burnt out by the process.
Applying to medical school is a long and tedious process that takes over a year of dedication—even longer when you count extracurriculars and the time it takes to build meaningful relationships in pursuit of strong letters of recommendation.
Many students don’t find out if they are accepted until April. It can take even longer if you are put on waitlists—as late as August, which is right before the school year begins in September. Aiming to apply right away for the next cycle in June when applications open means you are applying either a couple of months after finding out you weren’t accepted or while you are still on waitlists.
The best advantage you can give yourself is applying early due to rolling admissions, which means you only have a couple of months to make notable changes to your application. Is it possible? Yes, in certain circumstances, such as if your application was strong but you applied too late. However, rushing right into the process can lead to the same results.
What’s most prudent is pinpointing the weak areas of your application as soon as possible.
If, for example, you received a few interviews but weren’t successful after that, you may not need to make drastic changes to your application. It’s likely that your interview skills hindered you, which is something you can work on over the months you have leading into interview season.
On the other hand, if a weak or generic letter of recommendation held you back, it will take time to build strong relationships for a new one. If you need more research experience, it will take months to find the right opportunity and complete research hours. Taking a year to make sure your application is successful is definitely a better choice than rushing in again with minimal changes to your application.
This advice is even more important if you are considering applying a third time. You must determine what it is about your application, experience, and interactions that’s not working so that you can make notable improvements. You may need to take 1-2 years to develop your skills and experience so that you’re not faced with more rejection.
This leads us to a very unfortunate scenario—what happens if you don’t gain an acceptance after three attempts? Although it’s a very tough pill to swallow, and your pride may have taken quite a beating, you do have a lot of other interesting options.
Alternatives to Medical School
While initially disappointing, not matriculating to medical school could be a blessing in disguise. Being a medical doctor is far, far from the only job you can find in the medical field. There are many, many roles to play in medicine.
Alternative jobs in the medical industry include:
- Registered Nurse
- Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN)
- Pharmacist
- Psychologist
- Physician Assistant
- Medical and Health Services Manager
- Radiologic or MRI Technician
- Radiation Therapist
- Occupational Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- EMT or Paramedic
- Nutritionist or Dietician
- Speech-Language Pathologist
- Orthotic or Prosthetic Professional
- Chiropractor
- Dental Hygienist
- Medical Sales
If it is your dream to help people feel well and stay healthy, you do not need to become a doctor to do so. It should also be noted that many of the above roles have a better quality of life than being a physician, thanks to a much better work/life balance.
If working in the medical field is what you want to dedicate your life to, know that there are many more options available to you.
Should You Consider DO or Caribbean Schools as a Backup?
Becoming an osteopath (DO) could also be a good option for you, but keep in mind that you shouldn’t wait until after your third attempt to consider this. Applying to a DO school is something to consider early on before you’ve exhausted all of your application attempts, finances, and enthusiasm.
Learn more: What Is a DO (Doctor of Osteopathy)? Principles and Doctor Journey.
Osteopathic schools generally have lower minimum requirements for GPA and MCAT scores. If this happens to be a weak area of your application, osteopathic medicine may be something to consider.
Take time to learn more about the practice of osteopathy to determine whether or not it is a good fit for you. Although much of the curriculum will be the same, the guiding principles behind osteopathy differ from allopathic medicine (MD).
Osteopaths distinguish themselves from allopathic (MD) doctors by practicing holistic medicine, using a complete system of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The major difference between MDs and DOs is that DOs provide manual medicine therapies designed to treat the musculoskeletal system—the body’s interconnected system of nerves, muscles, and bones. These manual medicine therapies, known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), include procedures such as spinal manipulation and massage therapy.
If osteopathy is not something you believe in or could get behind, it’s not a worthwhile avenue for you, as you won’t feel passionate about your work—your lack of enthusiasm and inauthenticity could shine through in your application or during interviews.
When making your final call, remember that you can’t simply add DO schools to your AMCAS application. DO schools use a separate application system called AACOMAS (The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service), and you’ll need to make a few adjustments to your application, including addressing why you want to become an osteopathic doctor specifically in your personal statement and including at least one letter of recommendation from a DO.
What about Carribean schools? Things get a bit more tricky here. You may be able to become a doctor at a Caribbean school, but you risk not being able to apply to residency in the US. On average, Caribbean schools only have match rates of around 50%, with the best schools only around 70%. And this gets worse if you want to join a competitive specialty. It’s extremely unlikely you’ll match into specialties like plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, head and neck surgery, neurosurgery, or dermatology if you earn your MD from a Caribbean school.
Learn more in our guide: Should I Apply to Caribbean Medical Schools? Pros and Cons.
Choosing Your Next Path
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t get the acceptance results you were hoping for. After all, you’re far from alone. While not becoming a doctor may feel crushing right now, take time to reflect on your journey so far and what you truly want from your life and career.
There are so many professions in the medical industry dedicated to healing people, both mentally and physically. Plus, while other medical professions may not make as much money, they have a far better standard of living, better hours, and more balance in their lives.
This is a major decision, so don’t make it lightly. Every decision must begin with methodical, detailed research. The larger the decision, the more research you’ll need to do. Go beyond online searches. Reach out to people you trust and people actually working the jobs you’re considering. We also recommend our guide on How to Make Tough Decisions — 7 Strategies for Better Decision Making.
Take the time to thoroughly research your options, contrast and compare jobs, and, most importantly, seek advice you can trust.
Med School Insiders offers one-on-one advising that pairs you with a physician advisor who best fits your specific needs. It’s our goal to help you create a future that aligns with your vision. We can help you pinpoint problem areas of your application to help you secure an acceptance the second time around or help you make career decisions about what to do next.
Sign up for our newsletter and follow our blog for the latest lifestyle and productivity strategies, as well as detailed guides on applying to medical school, succeeding as a medical student, and making specialty decisions. Our content library is filled with articles that will help you prepare for every aspect of your medical journey, including how to stand out when reapplying.
