For all those rejected by Harvard/Princeton/Yale/Community College....

[petre]

I wanted to convey my story to give you some insight (Please excuse and grammatical errors and typos, I'm typing this at 6 am).

I was in your position this time 5 years ago, perhaps worse. I had been waitlisted/rejected from Harvard and all other universities except for my state school. I had near perfect SATs, great recommendations, graduated near the top of my class at Exeter, had leadership and extracurricular activities oozing out of my butt, lol.

I was devastated. I decided to attend my state school since I really did not have much choice and after doing very well my first year, applied again as a transfer. I was rejected once more, though I was accepted to other good schools. I decided to attend Cornell, but I still was not satisfied as it wasn't Harvard or Yale.

Right before the semester started, I was involved in a car accident. I ended up with a broken arm, leg and two ribs. I was immobilized for the better path of a month and had to take a leave of absence from Cornell. I spent most of my time reading books and grumbling. One day my doctor (who I had become good friends with at this point) informed me of a volunteer position available with a medical group traveling to Afghanistan. It would be for two weeks and I would act primarily as a translator (my family being of Afghan background). During this time Afghanistan was not the safest place to be; MSF (Doctors without borders) had pulled out a year earlier when five of their staff members were killed.

My mom was dead against it, but the good thing about being over 18 is that you're allowed to make your own mistakes. I accepted. Two months later I was on my way to Afghanistan. It was obvious from the start that there wasn't going to be much sight seeing. We were greeted by NATO soldiers who rushed us to our hotel. At the hotel, there was no electricity or water and occasional bangs of gun shots could be heard in the distance. However, I was fortunate that the weather was cool and dry. Over the course of the next two weeks we coordinated with the regional hospitals (if you can call them that) and distributed supplies and checked inventory. That the supplies would run short was painfully obvious within the first few days. Yet we decided to meet all needs as best as we could.

Two days before we left, I was at a local clinic when a young boy came in with Anaphylactic shock. There was no one around to administer emergency treatment. As the boy struggled for his last breadth, my team member yelled at me to start administering CPR while he ran and grabbed the epinephrine from the First Aid kit in our car. We managed to stabilize him until one of the doctors was able to assist him. The family that had been standing and watching in trepidation, were effusive in their gratitude. I remember clearly when the father grabbed both my hands and bent down to touch them with his head. In that single moment I realized that I had done something to really change his life. And it didn't matter what college I was attending, what my GPA was or even if I was completely uncomfortable holding hands with another man. He was grateful.

When I got back to the US, I decided to take another semester off and travel. I took road trips across the US and Canada; drove 12,000 miles in seven weeks (thankfully gas was still relatively cheap back then). I suppose I was trying to find myself, the way you do when you discover that your sacred beliefs aren't so sacred anymore. What I did know was that I had been selfish. I had always believed that having a big name institution on my resume would open doors for me. I looked at our last three US presidents who all attended Harvard/Yale in some capacity, with Obama perhaps the fourth. Yet I had never considered what I would do with that education; but I did now.

Fast forward 3 years, I hold in my hand acceptances to medical schools at Harvard, UPenn, Duke, Columbia, UChicago. I will be attending the University of Washington Medical School in the fall. Not as a slight to the other schools, but because I see a future for myself, one independent of which school I attend. I've learned a lesson which I hope to pass on to some of you.

[shua]

Amazing story.

Did you go back to Cornell after traveling around the world, before applying for medical school?

[pisconet_server]

Felicitationes! Very beautiful story!

[petre]

Yes, I spent two more years at Cornell.

Thank you for your comments!

[Ambitiousteen]

AHH i know why u chose WashU

[Ambitiousteen]

Its a good path your heading into petre congrats... Hope to see you in the near future with MSF (give me 4 years + med school)

[kryptonsa36]

University of Washington != WashU.

[Hamman]

lol, tell me you didn't take at least one look at the medical school rankings on US News. Of course University of Washington is a big name school, it's number one in primary care. But your story is very inspiring nonetheless

[ewho]

I can very much appreciate your view on them. Could you explain why they welcomed you now? Is that they think you "improved", or they just "discovered" you?

Best regards

[mammall]

Life is a long rambling road - your fate is not decided at 18.

[crimsonman]

my best friend's brother tried his hardest in high school. sadly, he was turned down by his dream college, harvard. 7 years later, he is now the CEO of a multi-million dollar business. he has NO regrets.

good luck to all of you!

[justcallmebob]

what a moving and tedious story - if only i read it all.

[petre]

Hamman - haha, I guess I'm guilty at looking at the list at least once or twice, but the reason I picked U of Washington (not WashU) is because their WWAMI program. It's a great program for those who wanting more exposure to practicing medicine in rural areas.

Ewho - Who knows why I got picked? Through my applications, I painted a very honest portrayal of who I was and where I wanted to go.

Ambitiousteen - Thank you and best of luck to you too!

[azsxdc]

Beautiful. Good luck to you man.

[ivycmm]

That's a really inspiring story. Thanks