56% of applicants were rejected from medical school this year. Will you become one of the nearly 30,000 rejected students?

Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

Of the 52,577 students who applied to medical school in the 2023-2024 cycle, only 22,981 successfully matriculated. That means more than half were rejected, so how do you beat the odds?

These are the 5 most likely reasons your medical school application will be rejected. If you can address all 5 of these common problem areas, you’ll be in great shape during your application cycle and maximize your chances of acceptance.

1 | Weak Narrative

Number 1 is a weak narrative. And we don’t just mean your personal statement. The narrative you establish in your personal statement must be reflected and expanded upon in your letters of recommendation, extracurriculars, secondaries, and interviews. Your entire application must have one cohesive narrative.

Establishing a compelling, story-driven narrative in your personal statement is essential to getting you noticed by admissions committees. This means showing, not telling. Don’t list off a few adjectives like resilient and dedicated. Demonstrate these qualities through tangible stories from your own life. After all, stories are much more compelling and convincing than dry facts.

Next, ensure these values and traits are reflected in your Work and Activities section, including how you describe these experiences. If you say you’re passionate about research but have limited research experience or that you’re devoted to serving the medically underserved but none of your extracurriculars reflect this, your story won’t hold water.

You may be able to write a story designed to impress adcoms in your personal statement, but if those passions and interests do not show up in any other area of your application, the admissions committee won’t be convinced.

Are you able to back up your narrative in every aspect of your application, including in your secondary application essays and interviews?

2 | Low Hard Metrics

The next reason is subpar hard metrics, including your GPA and MCAT score.

While this may sound obvious, far too many students underestimate just how serious your hard scores are. A medical school’s GPA or MCAT score cutoff is far from what you need to gain acceptance. Look at the average matriculant data for each of the schools you want to apply to.

But keep in mind that average scores are just that. If you hope to be a strong candidate who is sought after and eligible for merit-based scholarships, you’ll want to aim for much higher than average.

Our all new Med School Insiders Medical School List Calculator is a phenomenal resource for determining your ideal school list. It will help you narrow down the best fit medical schools, including a range of target, safety, and reach schools, based on your GPA, MCAT score, and state of residence. You’re able to prioritize based on highly customized data, including a school’s tuition fees, match rates across different specialties, and much more. Try it completely free at medschoolinsiders.com/schools.

Of course, there are exceptions, and people do get accepted to medical school with low GPAs and sub-optimal MCAT scores, but those people are exceptions, not the rule. In order to gain acceptance with a low GPA, the applicant likely had an otherwise stellar application, including a great MCAT score along with a narrative-driven personal statement and glowing letters of recommendation.

Don’t get caught thinking you will be the exception to the rule. Remember, around 60% of applicants are rejected each year. Every application cycle, there are students with exceptional hard metrics who still fail to get into medical school. Great scores can give students a false sense of security, as grades and test scores are only one piece of the medical school application.

We’ve worked with many students in this exact same position, and after working with Med School Insiders, they are able to get into multiple top medical schools as a reapplicant. We’re able to help them pinpoint weaknesses in their soft components to ensure they don’t submit a cookie-cutter application.

3 | A Cookie-Cutter Application

Which brings us to our next point. Applicants are frequently rejected because of their cookie-cutter application. This is sometimes referred to as having a checkbox mentality.

Sure, you might have good hard metrics, you made sure to have the recommended number of research hours, clinical hours, and volunteer hours to evenly balance out your experiences, and you might have what you believe is a well-crafted personal statement.

But all of that won’t be enough if your application looks exactly the same as thousands of applications the admissions committee has seen before. Of course, there are certain minimum requirements for applying to medical school, such as getting a good MCAT score or having some level of clinical exposure, but focusing so much on exactly what you think you should do rather than your passions and interests will show throughout your application.

Going through the motions doesn’t illustrate to admissions committees who you are and why you’re passionate about medicine.

You might have been president of a school club to check off leadership experience, but if all you did was take on the role of president without innovating the organization, working well with others, learning new skills, or growing as a person, then the title is a superficial one. Your lack of passion, dedication, and depth will show through once it’s time to expand on your experiences in secondary applications and interviews.

Having unique experiences that you’re passionate about, even if they are outside of medicine, will help you stand out and illustrate to admissions committees who you are beyond your metrics.

In college, I was on a school dance team for four years, which competed across the US and Canada. Through that experience, I was able to spearhead events and learn powerful leadership skills that went well beyond the hobby of dance. Adcoms loved asking me about this experience because it was unique, and they could see how passionate I was about it.

Now, I’m not saying you absolutely have to find something outside of medicine; again, looking for an interesting hobby just to check that box will also shine through. Early on in college, experiment with different activities across research, clinical experience, volunteering, and other hobbies until you narrow down what you’re most interested in. Whether the experience is clinical or non-clinical, what’s most important is your passion and long-term commitment to the experience.

Medical schools want students who will add diversity, passion, and innovation to the campus and student body.

4 | Bland Letters of Recommendation

Next is bland letters of recommendation.

While you don’t have control over what your letter writers say about you, you do have control over who you ask to write your letters.

It is critical that each of your letters is strong. Each should be glowing about your strengths, perseverance, and maturity while clearly coming from someone who knows you well.

It’s far better to have strong letters from people who know you well, even if those letter writers have zero prestige. You absolutely do not want to chase down well-known physicians who won’t have anything specific to say about you. While they may be a big fish in your pond, it’s unlikely that the prestige will even be recognized by the people reviewing your application.

Finding writers who will write you strong letters is all about building strong relationships throughout college. You want to have several letter writer options come application season. This takes noticeable time and effort but should not be an aspect of the application you overlook.

Even one weak letter can tank your chances of acceptance. We have a full guide on the MedSchoolInsiders.com website on how to approach and optimize the letter of recommendation process, including identifying possible writers, impressing them and building a relationship, and how to best ask. Link in the description.

5 | Poor Interview Performance

Last, but certainly not least, a poor interview performance will kill your chance of acceptance, no matter how strong the rest of your application is.

Getting an interview invitation is a great sign, but don’t allow yourself to lose steam in the final stretch.

Prepare for common questions, know the program and why you want to go there, and be calm and composed at game time. I created an Interview Study Guide for my interviews, which included summary sheets of my own research, important points on hot topics, which at the time was the Affordable Care Act, as well as my secondary answers for that specific school.

Using these review sheets before interviews helped me speak clearly about my own research and come across as well-informed regarding healthcare policies and the future of medicine.

Interviews are the final step, and while it may feel like the finish line, they can still make or break your chance of acceptance. Many students with strong stats and exceptional essays still fail to get into medical school because they fumble at the finish line.

Thorough preparation is essential, along with a tight feedback loop that allows you to continually pinpoint your weaknesses. Practicing the same thing over and over again with the wrong habits will cause the wrong things to stick.

Back when I had medical school and residency interviews, unlimited mock interviews weren’t an option. Now, with the Med School Insiders Interview AI course, you can access unlimited interview prep and the necessary tight feedback loop at your fingertips.

The hyper-realistic AI model is something you have to see to believe. Upload your application and you’ll even get asked targeted questions specific to your experiences and essays. And yes, there are even follow-up questions on your specific experiences just like you’ll experience on the real interview day. Our AI coach, Indigo, will guide you on the specific ways you can improve through one-on-one dialogue that’s tailored to your mock interview performance.

Test it yourself with no credit card required. We’re so proud of what we’ve created that the course comes with a 7-day 100% money-back guarantee!