What if you don't get in?

Every year, very highly qualified applicants are not admitted.  The reasons vary.  Admissions Committees are trying to create a diverse class of students.  There may have been too many students with your profile already admitted by the time they got to your application (the luck of the draw, and a reason to apply as early as you can).  Some years, the competition is more fierce than others.

If you are not admitted the first time you apply, despite a strong record, don't despair! 

Before going on to Plan B for your life, consider re-applying. Sometimes, the overlooked candidate one year is admitted the next, so long as the applicant's record is strong.

To decide whether it's worth it to re-apply:

First, contact the Admissions Office or Admissions Recruiter and say the following: "What can you tell me about the perceived weaknesses of my application that kept me from being admitted this year?"   This is a polite, no-pressure way to ask for sensitive information.  Take careful notes on any answer you are given.   You may wish to ask a follow-up that might be worded, "Given your experience with Admissions, is re-application a good option for me?"

Warning: Most schools have absolute minimum criteria, such as the lowest GPA or entrance exam score they will even consider. You may need to ask what those bottom cut-offs are.  If you are just too low and see no way to improve your record, you have no choice but to go to Plan B for your future.

Second, take the Admissions Office's advice as best you can. You have a year "off" ahead of you where you can show the Admissions Committee that you took their advice to heart. 

• Was your GPA an issue?  Consider taking extra courses from your Health Professional school's "recommended" list and committing yourself to "A" work in them. 
• Not enough volunteer experience?  Find the time to add this to your resume. 
• Rec letters not strong enough? Arrange another Shadow or other activity that lets you show someone influential that you are deserving of admission.
• If there was nothing really wrong with your application, you will just want to keep yourself busy in a way that enhances your skills in support of your application.  Find a job that makes use of your college coursework (e.g. assisting with laboratory research) or puts you in contact with the healthcare industry (e.g. certified nurse's assistant work).

Third, if possible, contact a UW alumnus who is in the school you want to be in. Their email links are on the specific Profession web pages (e.g. Medicine, Dentistry) that are part of this web. See if s/he has any advice.

If you decide that a particular Health Profession just isn't going to work for you, you may have Plan B already worked out and ready to go.  Or, you may need to explore alternative Health Professional careers for which you are a better match.  To see a list of dozens of different careers, visit http://wihealthcareers.org/Career_occ_toc.cfm.

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