EPTAnyway, this post is about the problems with medical school applications and how I feel about them.
The first problem is the software. AMCAS isn't THE worst software I've ever dealt with, but it is pretty bad. One gripe is that fields to fill out stuff are ordered sequentially and I feel that there is no reasoning behind that order. Another is the lack of warnings before data becomes read-only. However, this is a minor issue to the one I'm gonna say now. So, AMCAS requires current transcripts from the college that one attended for undergrad. But, it also requires one to fill out all courses one's taken on the application itself, even though they're gonna know it. I don't think I need to explain further on how retarded this is. The only reason that this could make sense, is to list the required and recommended courses that need to be taken before matriculation, so the school can easily look at them. There's no need to list ALL of them because the school committees are not going to care about 99% of them, and even if they did care, they can have the official transcript to look them over.
The second problem is the arbitrary requirements for writers of letters of recommendation. Usually, schools want at least three letters, two of which are from science professors and one non-science, or one letter from a health science committee. I don't really understand what makes them more qualified to recommend an applicant for medical school, especially non-science, compared to other people, such as one's work supervisor or an actual doctor one's shadowed. In fact, one school requested a letter from computer science professor, which was my major, which is pretty dumb and I fail to see the point to doing so.
My suggestion for these letters is that there should be one letter from a science professor in discuss an applicant's intellectual ability and interest in the sciences and one letter from anyone else, other than friends and family, to discuss interpersonal and intrapersonal values. I know some schools that require four or five of them, which is pretty ridiculous, and I don't know what that's going to prove honestly.
The third problem is the utter lack of consideration for the applicants. So, imagine that you are a company recruiter and you decide that some applicants aren't worth hiring. The most natural and the most considerate thing to do is tell them within a few weeks, so they can move on with their lives. Most medical schools don't do this and they tell the news after the interview season is over, which is around March, while the application was submitted around July and August. I do admit that I don't know everything that goes on in considering applicants, but this is just excessive if the application was turned in really early. Long story short is that my time is just as valuable to me, as their time is to them.
So, there is this one school that sent a rejection letter and I was appalled by the part of wanting feedback from the school. They wanted a short synopsis of perceived strengths and weaknesses of my application, specifically in the areas of academics, community service, and whatever was relevant, if I wanted feedback on it. I was dumbfounded. I should be just able to ask what they thought was weak about it and be done with it. This isn't the millenial generation entitlement bullshit. They have already reviewed my file and they decided that I wasn't worth considering based on strengths and weaknesses, and so I shouldn't do the extra work that I've already done, which is literally years of work, just to get feedback and to improve for a future application. Furthermore, I paid money to submit that application, so I've actually done a service for them financially. Finally, the most hilarious part, which I'll never forget, is "We will respond to you with feedback as time permits." Needless to say, I won't deal with that school ever again, if I were to re-apply.
So, I've actually submitted applications for podiatry schools and I accepted an offer, starting in late July. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get into allopathic medical school, but perhaps that's not a bad thing. It might be a good thing. Anyway, that's all I have for today.
