ok, I just started filling out my apps… and now I’m freaking out… now, of all times, I’m starting to become ultra paranoid of being out and out rejected by everybody…
I’m planning on applying to LOTS of schools… I’ve started my osteopathic apps first… and will do allopathic next… but man… EEEEEEEEK!!!
I guess I won’t know if anybody will take me if I don’t try… but ugh… if they all hate me…
but the other kids won’t play with me at school… what am I going to do.?
Ok… calming down… whew!
Andrea
Breathe, Andrea!
You can do it! 
(But it IS exciting, I agree…the adrenalin rush of hitting the “send” button!)
Andrea
I’m right there with ya’…hopefully someone loves us.
Don 
EVERYONE, except the blissfully ignorant or delusionally over-confident, fears out & out rejection from all comers. It is normal to do so, esp in such a competitive, elaborate & sometimes capricious process such as this.
Relax, breath deeply and forge ahead.
Quote:
ok, I just started filling out my apps… and now I’m freaking out… now, of all times, I’m starting to become ultra paranoid of being out and out rejected by everybody…
I’m planning on applying to LOTS of schools… I’ve started my osteopathic apps first… and will do allopathic next… but man… EEEEEEEEK!!!
I guess I won’t know if anybody will take me if I don’t try… but ugh… if they all hate me…
but the other kids won’t play with me at school… what am I going to do.?
Ok… calming down… whew!
Andrea
Hi there,
First of all, medical schools do not reject YOU but reject your application for admission to the Class of “whatever year”. Don’t personalize this so much. It is not a question of you being “good enough” to enter medical school, it is a question of your application presenting you in the proper light for you to gain admission.
Second, the worst case scenario is that you are do not make it in for the Class of 2009. If this is the case, you find out what you need to do to get admitted to the Class of 2010. If medicine is what you have decided to do, you figure out a way to make it happen. The timeline may not be yours but the endpoint can be. The last man left standing is the one who wins in this case. I never forget the person who posted a couple of years back who spent five years applying to medical school but got into the University of Colorado. If this is what you want, you proactively go for it.
Third, apply to lots of schools but don’t make yourself crazy trying to keep up with everything. Keep a folder for each school and put all correspondence and copies of everything that you have sent to that school in its folder. If you are going to invest the money in this process, be anal about keeping everything at your fingertips. When you are invited to interview, take COPIES of everything in your folder with you. Don’t take the original folder because things get lost. If for no other reason, the folder is something to hold onto and read through while you are sitting there. It cuts down on that nervous tension that creeps in when you attempt to compare yourself to others.
Finally, you are only in competition with yourself. The process is a little like running 10K races. You have to have a bit of strategy but you can only best your last best time. Everytime you interview or send your application to a school, you need to put your best foot forward and be ready to adjust your application to that school. Read their bulletins and on-line information very carefully. For example, don’t apply to a huge research center if you have no research experience or are not interested in research. I can’t emphasize more that any accredited medical school in this country can prepare you for a great career in medicine.
Harvard (or insert any nationally-known medical school) is a great school but it may not be for you. That doesn’t make you a lesser person if you don’t get into Harvard and do get into your state school or any other medical school. Graduation from Harvard Medical school is not a guarantee that you are going to be an excellent physician. The qualities that will make you an excellent physician are already there. Just put them out there for the admissions committees to see.
Good luck and run your own race!
Natalie