Preprofessional Studies

THE REJECTED APPLICANT

If the "worse case" unfolds and the applicant is rejected, what can be done? The one thing that is NOT advised is to remain at the college where they are, just to take courses. If, for example, the applicant was a biology major at IUN, the course offerings in biology are not going to change that much from year to year. The first thing the rejected applicant should do is to talk with the admissions people at the schools where they applied and ask why they were rejected. Admissions people are very honest about answering such questions and may talk about specific courses, or course sequences, etc. One applicant was told that the application had "gotten caught in the cracks" and the rejection letter should have been an acceptance letter. A simple matter of re-application the following year brought that acceptance letter. With professional schools getting thousands of applications, such problems do occur.

Rejected applicants often say they intend to go to graduate school and prove they can do the work. With professional school programs taking the time in class per week that they do, this is usually not that good of a choice. Graduate programs often have "readings courses" and seminars for their students and professional schools do not look on these courses as being of any value. For programs leading to advanced degrees, these seminar courses are important. Professional schools would rather see more rigorous course work in a program where the student must maintain a B average to stay in the program. Certain graduate programs, like the one-year biology program at IUPUI in Indianapolis, where the student takes 5 courses for 15 credit hours of course work each semester to complete a 30 hour Master's degree in one year, are excellent in the professional school's eyes. People who complete this program or the Master's in Physiology mentioned below have no trouble getting into professional school.

Some graduate programs, aimed at enrolling the non-accepted medical applicant, also look at the MCAT scores. For example, at Indiana University School of Medicine, the Department of Physiology and Biophysics has a one-year M.S. program. No financial aid is available for the 16 students admitted to the program. This year, they expect about 200 applicants. For an Indiana resident, there must be a minimum GPA of 3.24 and a minimum MCAT total of 28. Again, scores below the means insure non-admittance. If taken, GRE (Graduate Record Exams) scores should be above the 85% percentile. The deadline for application to this program is May 1 preceeding the Fall entry. Other information on this Physiology Program and the IUPUI Program are available from Dr. Stabler.

The major problem is that the students usually do not plan for the "worse case". They have intended to go to a certain professional school, very often from a very early age. Once in college, Mom and Dad tell everyone that their child is in college preparing to go to this or that professional school. Rejection is never part of the picture. Students need to plan for this possibility. Graduate programs are usually filled by the time the last professional school rejection letter is received. Being accepted in several programs offers the chance to decide which professional program will be accepted by the applicant. Students are urged to discuss this matter with their pre-professional advisor very early in their pre-professional career, so that the whole concept of total "rejection" need never be faced by the applicant.