67.67是我在两个医学院申请周期中收到的拒绝数。在第30封信左右，我开始回答关心我的朋友和家人提出的问题。他们不仅询问了我被拒绝后的精神状态，还询问了我的后备计划是什么。说实话，我一直都没有答案。每一次被医学院录取的失败，都让我对自己有了新的认识，知道了哪些特质有助于我的申请，以及我的申请中需要改进的部分。然而，在那两年里，我一次也没有忘记我的目标。我知道成为一名医生是我人生的目标。即使67所学校对我说“不”，我也不会让它们阻碍我实现这个愿望。我坚信生活中的每件事都是有原因的。 The knowledge I gained through these failures is something I wish to pass along to other students who may be in the same place I was only a few short years ago. With each failure, my knowledge of the grueling beast that is the medical application cycle grew. I learned what specific attributes make a successful candidate and how to convey these to admission committees. I gained insight as to when an applicant is strong enough to be successful in an application cycle and when they are not. After many long discussions with several different admission committee members across various schools, I even had the opportunity to discover what schools' applicants should apply to in order to maximize their chances at gaining at acceptance and which ones they should not waste their time and money on. Through numerous secondary applications, I developed an understanding of the true meaning of diversity and how to appropriately portray this understanding in writing. Even on the interview trail, I had the opportunity to learn how to convey my assets to several admission committee members in one-on-one, panel, and multiple-mini interviews. I learned how to adapt to each school's environment while maintaining my core values. I even discovered how to gain an acceptance off of the waitlist. While I learned a tremendous about what medical schools are looking for in a student, the most important lesson I learned over the course of 67 rejections is in regard to my own personal resilience and grit. A career in medicine is by no means an easy journey to undertake. Making it through an application cycle to medical school is just the start of a very windy and bumpy road ahead. The truth is, many hopeful students will apply to medical school next year and most will unfortunately not be successful. Their passion for medicine will be tested and their own perseverance will be questioned. While I want to help these students craft the perfect essay on why they would meet a schools' mission and learn how to ace a medical school interview, I more importantly want to provide them support through what undoubtedly might be the toughest year they have every encountered. I want to remind them that if a career in medicine is what they genuinely want to pursue, then with a little hard work they can make that happen. I want to question those students who are unsure of this path. Medical school is challenging, and admissions committees are learning how to weed out students who are not passionate about becoming a physician. If a student is doubting their reasons for entering this field, then I also wish to provide mentorship to these applicants as well. Everything happens in life for a reason. If the reason why I received over 60 rejection letters is to help at least one student obtain a goal they thought was unattainable, then I truly believe each of those "not now" letters were worth it.