Fitting In

In middle school, I tried hard to "fit in." From the Old Navy anoraks to stuffing my Adidas Superstars with an extra pair of socks, I tried to stay in the loop with the latest fads and trends. Back then, I thought that if I just fit in with everyone else, I would be deemed "cool" and "popular." Once I reached high school, however, I learned that "fitting in" wasn't going to get me anywhere. Furthermore, college admissions committees didn't care if you were "cool" or "popular." Since then, I've noticed myself always trying to find a balance between fitting in and setting yourself apart.

As far as medical school applications go, an applicant must be able to set themselves apart and show admissions committees why their medical school would benefit from the applicant's matriculation. Therefore, I can't help but think that the admissions committees made some sort of mistake in offering me admission to their school. Perhaps they looked at the wrong application, or jumbled some numbers around? Did they not notice the businessman with the MBA? Or the woman in the Peace Corps who served in Africa for 2 years? I've always considered myself pretty normal, and can't help but ask "why me?" What on Earth did they see in my application? This feeling quickly passes, and when I realize that there is no mistake, and that they really do want me to attend their school...I can't help but feel honored. "You like me! You really like me!" is what I feel upon every acceptance.

And just when the relief sets in, you're brought back to reality and find that you're the one evaluating medical schools. I can't help but feel hypocritical and superficial (#firstworldproblems). In the first place, it is an honor to be accepted into any US medical school, and I know many deserving people who would love to be in this position. But, now I find myself asking how medical school X compares to medical school Y? How does one factor in cost of living, location, tuition, US News rankings, specialty rankings, and overall "fit." I hadn't really understood the notion of being a good fit for a school until going on these interviews and experiencing the school/students/admissions staff and the overall school environment.

From my last post, it seems like the University of Pittsburgh is the "obvious" choice for me to attend medical school. Perhaps I didn't give Case Western enough credit in the last post, but besides it being a great school, I really do consider Case in the running because of fit. From the admissions committee to the students, my student host, and even fellow interviewees, I just felt at home during this interview. Perhaps it was the fact that Case "sorts" its students into four different societies (the Harry Potter fan in me is jumping for joy right now) or that the annual Doc Opera hosted by medical students benefitting the Free Clinic of Cleveland wrote and danced to "iApply" (a parody of N*Sync's Bye Bye Bye...btw iApply is the Case admissions website that updates applicants' statuses). It was the one set of interviews where I felt comfortable and at ease. Not that other interviews were nerve-wracking or high-stress, but there was some sort of indescribable feeling that I felt when interviewing at Case that makes it hard for me to leave them out of consideration. I can't help but feel that I would be incredibly happy matriculating here. Call it the X factor if you will, but being a great "fit" at Case Western is really important to me and I can't help but consider Case even without a full tuition scholarship + stipend (which is not possible). Not that I don't think I'll enjoy Pittsburgh (by all means, it's a great school with a lot of great opportunities), it's just one of those gut feelings that I get with Case. I feel extremely lucky to even be in this situation, and hopefully the second look (where you revisit the medical schools to get a better idea of the school) at each school will give me a better idea of where I might be headed next year. Until then, I'll be enjoying sunny San Diego (jinx?) for as long as I can since I will most likely not be spending the next few years here. And with that, I'll leave you with N*Sync's Bye Bye Bye (to California :( )