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Medical School Rollercoaster: A Journey of Resilience, Rejection, and Redemption

A Journey of Resilience, Rejection, and Redemption

My journey into medical school has felt a bit like a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. There were moments where I felt on top of the world, my confidence was at a high point, and there were moments where it was the complete opposite. When it comes to my first semester in medical school, it almost felt ‘like a miracle’. This is the mindset I had originally entered university with. In reality, that’s just not a healthy one and not the case at all. Having this mindset made me feel like an impostor on my course, and it made me think for a while that I wasn’t good enough to be there. In reality, I had worked just as hard as everyone around me and earned my place like everyone else. At this current point in time, I have just completed my second semester of university and have pretty much completely stamped this negative way of thinking out of my mind (with the help of Dr. Mike, of course, as well as my role as a medic mentor scholar). In this article, I’m going to walk you through my slightly unconventional journey into med school, talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly all throughout the application process.

No Offers From Medical School

Around this time last year, I received four medicine rejections and thought that was the end of my medicine journey for that year. Seeing everyone around me receive med offer after med offer, picking out student accommodation, and hearing my friends talking about their medicine courses in lessons with teachers was incredibly difficult. I had given it my all, and it just didn’t seem to work out for me. At this point, I remember feeling a number of different emotions, including embarrassment. I was a medic mentor, VMS committee member, as well as a summer school student, so I believed that it was expected for me to get into med school the first time. Another reason I felt so embarrassed was due to the reaction I would get from people once I told them I didn’t get any offers. It was always a case of, ‘Really?? But everyone thought you were gonna get in.’ Ouch, to say the least.

What should I do Next?

Once I had gotten over the initial pain of my rejections, it was important for me to think about my next steps. I had always told myself that if I didn’t get in the first time, I would just reapply. However, once I was in the position myself, it was a lot harder to say this. It took a lot of thinking, and that thinking included looking at my fifth non-medicine choice that I had put down on UCAS. Many times, people advise you not to put a fifth choice down on UCAS if you’re so set on medicine, but in many ways, I’m glad I did put it down even though I didn’t end up taking it. I left that fifth option on UCAS without a reply for weeks and weeks until my head of year told me I had to make a decision as the deadline was approaching.

There was this constant battle in my mind of whether I go down a different career path altogether or whether I stay true to what I wanted in my heart. After receiving my rejections, I found myself internally thinking that my rejections might have been ‘a sign’ to do something else instead of medicine. But after attending a Medic Mentor reapplication conference, I quickly realised that just because things didn’t go my way this time doesn’t mean I should completely throw in the towel when I know I would be unhappy doing any other degree. Having that fifth choice on UCAS really made me ask myself the question ‘why medicine?’ all over again, and I’m incredibly glad because that fuelled my decision to reject the non-medicine offer and start preparing for a gap year.

This was Not the end of my Medical Application

By this point in year 13, I was set on taking a gap year, and I was already planning it out. I had secured a job as a healthcare assistant, which I was going to start in September, and I was beginning to think about travel plans for the second half of my gap year. Although I was perfectly fine with taking a gap year (I was quite excited, actually), before I fully embraced the idea, I wanted to try one last thing. I started to do some research into medicine clearing, and what I found online gave me a glimmer of hope. However, when I spoke to my teachers at school, many of them told me I was essentially wasting my time and that there was no chance of it working. Nevertheless, I still told myself it was possible.

At this point in time, it was getting close to my A-level exams, so I had to focus on what I could control, and that was my grades. I put everything into my revision, even though I wasn’t holding any offers. During exam season, I received an email from the University of Liverpool, who had previously rejected me for medicine. This email essentially invited me to be on their waiting list, but with no guarantees of getting an offer. Even though they hadn’t given me an offer, I was extremely happy as it meant there was a possibility I could be in medical school come September. Receiving this email pushed me further to make sure I got my grades to maximize my chances of getting that late offer.

Something amazing and unexpected happened...

Come Year 13 summer, I had received another email from a medical school that had previously rejected me pre-interview, inviting me to interview a few days after results day (considering I had achieved the required grades). This was a guaranteed interview, and I was over the moon. I never thought this was a possibility, and the prospect of taking a gap year moved further and further away.

Before I knew it, it was results day. The night before, I had written down numbers and emails of medical schools that were ‘suspected’ to be in clearing. St George’s medical school had announced that they would be clearing, so that was one of the universities on my radar. As soon as I had my results in my hand, I wasted no time opening them and started contacting universities. I looked down at the piece of paper and saw A*A*A, and I was overjoyed. I had filled in a form on the St George’s website, and I was invited to interview. I also had my interview for Leicester University confirmed. Before I even had the opportunity to attend those interviews, I opened my inbox and saw I had been offered a place to study medicine in September by the University of Liverpool. I woke up that morning prepping for my gap year and went to bed the same day with an offer to study medicine at what would’ve been my first choice university. This is exactly where I wanted to go, so I didn’t see the need to attend the other interviews. I accepted the offer and started getting ready to go to university.

So I guess that brings me to now...

Grace Agbo, Medic Mentor scholar, and first-year medical student at the University of Liverpool. It’s been a journey, to say the least, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. This application journey has taught me that it’s never really over until it’s over and never to give up on something you set your sights on because you never know what the universe has planned for you.

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