Guess which schools!

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in medical education and for the extraordinary degree of thought, care, time, patience, passion, and effort that you invested in preparing and submitting your application. The Committee on Admissions has completed its thoughtful, careful, holistic, comprehensive, thorough, and judicious review and re-review of your application.

It is with sincere regret, great regret, and much regret that we inform you that we are unable to offer you an interview, unable to offer you a place in the entering class, unable to move forward with your application, and unfortunately will not be pursuing your candidacy further for this admissions cycle.

Please know that this decision is not a reflection of your accomplishments, abilities, potential, dedication to medicine, fitness to become a physician, intellectual qualities, personal qualities, or your ability to make important contributions to our profession and to society. Indeed, history shows that every year we pass on the opportunity to admit students who eventually go on to become leaders in every imaginable field of medicine.

As you may be aware, the applicant pool this year was exceptionally strong, extraordinarily talented, highly accomplished, deeply impressive, and incredibly competitive. With more than 5,000, 6,000, 7,500, 9,000, 11,700, 13,000, and even nearly 15,000 applications for classes ranging from approximately 95 to 190 seats, we simply do not have the capacity to interview or admit all of the many outstanding candidates who applied.

Because of this severe, intense, extraordinary, unprecedented, and frankly overwhelming level of competition for a limited number of places and interview invitations, we are forced each year to decline many highly qualified, exceptional, accomplished, talented, motivated, impressive, promising, and outstanding applicants such as yourself.

In addition to outstanding academic records, many of our applicants participate in significant and sustained extracurricular activities, including research, clinical and medical shadowing experiences, study and volunteer programs abroad, and outreach to underserved communities. Our institutions value patient-centered medicine and are particularly interested in applicants who have extended themselves well beyond their comfort zone through extensive volunteer or work activities with people from different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds beyond the campus environment.

Please understand that this decision was reached after careful consideration by the Committee and reflects the remarkable depth, strength, and sheer volume of this year’s applicant pool rather than any shortcoming in your candidacy. While we recognize the disappointment this news may bring, we hope you will appreciate that these decisions are difficult and that many more excellent candidates are denied admission each year than in the past.

We acknowledge and respect your accomplishments and recognize that our inability to offer you an opportunity to complete the admissions process is a loss for our institution.

Unfortunately, due to the large volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide individualized feedback, post-decision advising, consultation, explanation of our review process, discussion of your file, or clarification of the decision.

We thank you sincerely for considering our institutions and for sharing your story with us. We deeply appreciate the interest you have shown in our programs and are grateful for the opportunity to review your application.

Please accept our best wishes for success in all your future educational, professional, academic, and medical endeavors. We are confident that you will find a place where your talents can flourish and where your needs can be met, and we hope you will achieve all of the goals you have set for yourself as you pursue a fulfilling career in medicine.

Sincerely,

The Committee on Admissions

Literally Every Medical School in the United States