How to answer “What will you do if you are not accepted?” in a medical school interview

When an interviewer asks what you'll do if you don't get into medical school this year, show that you'd reflect honestly, find out where your application fell short, and use the year to grow before reapplying. The panel wants a steady, practical plan rather than a promise that you'll never give up.

What the interviewer is assessing

• Self-reflection and growth
• Professionalism and integrity

Many applicants aren't accepted in a given year, and plenty of physicians applied more than once. The interviewer is checking how you handle disappointment and whether your motivation for medicine survives it. They also want to see insight. An applicant who can name the likely gaps in their own application is more likely to close them. Finally, they're listening for whether you'd use the time well and keep contributing to the people and work around you.

How to structure your answer

1. Acknowledge in one sentence that you'd be disappointed.
2. Explain how you'd review your application, including asking for feedback if the schools offer it.
3. Name the parts of your application you'd work on, and say how, such as a longer commitment to a community, a course, research or a job.
4. Describe how you'd keep doing work you care about during the year.
5. Say that you'd reapply with a stronger application if the year confirmed that medicine is right for you.

Feedback and reapplication policies differ across schools in both Canada and the US, so keep your answer general rather than describing any one school's process. Your plan for what you'll do if you don't get into medical school should sound like a year you'd value for its own sake.

Common mistakes

• Saying you'd switch to a different career right away suggests medicine isn't your priority.
• Saying you'd reapply with no changes suggests you don't see room to grow.
• Sounding as if a rejection would devastate you can worry the panel about how you'd handle setbacks in training.
• Blaming the admissions process for a hypothetical rejection comes across as defensive.
• Listing activities only because they'd look good on an application makes the plan sound hollow.

Follow-up questions to prepare for

• Why haven't you already worked on the gaps you just named?
• How many times would you reapply before choosing another path?
• Would you apply to the same schools next year?
• Would you consider applying to schools outside Canada and the US?
• Who would you turn to for support in the weeks after the decision?