What to Do if You Didn't Get Accepted to

Professional School This Year

We know that pre-health students put an incredible amount of time and effort into becoming a competitive applicant, and not being accepted in this cycle is a difficult reality to process. Before we give recommendations on what to do next, we want to address several lies you might be telling yourself right now:

• Not being accepted means that I am not good enough to work in healthcare.

Not getting in on your first try does not mean you lack the talent to become a successful healthcare professional. Getting into professional school takes hard work and dedication—if you continue to put in hard work, you will continue to increase your future chances of success. Additionally, there are a wide variety of opportunities to work in healthcare. You can reapply to programs in your dream profession or you can pursue other opportunities, but that choice is up to you.

• All of the people I know are getting accepted to their programs—I feel like I am the only one who has been rejected.

Some people may be getting acceptances, yes, but the people who have been denied are often not as open about it. In reality, you are likely in the same boat as many of your peers. Remember: nobody wins in the comparison game.

The average age of matriculation for many healthcare programs is increasing because competition is increasing. We encourage you to look up data on the matriculation rates and average age of matriculation for your pre-professional designation, and remember that it is completely normal for students to take more than one application cycle to be admitted to their desired program.

• If I don't get into my dream program my first cycle, I shouldn't try again.

Like we mentioned before, gap years are incredibly common for pre-health students. There are many ways you can strengthen your professional school applications post-graduation to prepare to reapply. We recommend taking an honest look at your application, identifying areas for improvement, and working hard to address those areas.

Whatever you might be experiencing right now, please remember to honor how you are feeling, take time to process those emotions, and identify where lies might be conflated with the truth. Read on to learn more about ways to persevere and pursue a career in the healthcare industry:

1. Ask programs for feedback and address gaps in your application

Professional schools want to see that you continued gaining experience during your gap year. Many programs are willing to offer you feedback on your application if you reach out and ask. They may recommend improvements on any aspect of your application, including personal attributes, experiences, and academics/metrics, which will give you clear next steps to improve your application for the next cycle.

2. Meet with your pre-health advisor

Your pre-health advisor can also take a look at your application and offer recommendations. In addition, if you receive feedback from programs and want to explore methods to improve your application, your pre-health advisor can help you with exploring options. You can schedule appointments with your pre-health advisor in your Navigate account.

3. Revise your application documents and practice your interview skills

Your application documents, including your personal statement, are a critical part of helping professional schools understand your motivation for pursuing a healthcare profession. We recommend taking another look at your application documents and bringing them to your pre-health advisor for additional feedback. This is also a great time to practice your interview skills with your pre-health advisor.

4. Revisit your list of programs

Consider conducting additional research on what programs you want to apply to in the next cycle. What are the average GPAs/Science GPAs, admissions test scores, and time spent on extra-curricular activities (e.g., volunteering, patient care experience, shadowing) for the programs you applied to and/or plan to apply to in the future? What are the mission/vision/values of those programs, and do they align with what you have expressed in your application?

5. Consider potential alternatives and make a plan

There are many career paths in healthcare, and our office always recommends having an alternative plan in case future application cycles do not turn out as expected. The Career Explorer on ExploreHealthCareers.org is a great tool to sort through the wide variety of career options in the healthcare industry.