A tale of med school reapplication success [Show summary]

After getting rejected from medical schools the first time around, Nicole Stephens bounced back and reapplied. Now happily anticipating the start of med school, she shares her advice for fellow reapplicants.

How to apply stronger the second time around [Show notes]

Were you rejected from this year's med school cycle? Is the deafening silence from medical schools causing you to fear rejection? Are you starting to think about reapplication?

Our guest today, Nicole Stephens, reapplied successfully and is happily anticipating the start of medical school. She earned her bachelor's in neuroscience from UT Austin in May 2019, and she is currently pursuing an MS in biomedical science from MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Science in Houston. 

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, and where you grew up? [1:56]

I grew up moving around the country with my brother and my parents, and both my parents served in the military. Every few years we would pack up and move to a new location. Not only did this inspire my future career, but it taught me a lot and shaped me a lot as a person, teaching me things like integrity and discipline and showing me the diversity across the whole country. We finally did settle in Central Texas where we really fell in love with the area. I decided to stay to do my undergrad in Austin at the University of Texas. Then, I stayed in Texas for my graduate program here in Houston and will be attending medical school here in Texas as well. I'm not from Texas, but I'm now a Texan at heart.

How did you decide to pursue a career in medicine? [3:01]

I decided around when I was in middle school and early in high school from observing and learning about the injuries of returning soldiers. Being from military communities, many of the members would deploy overseas and return with injuries like post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injury. I saw somewhere in my community that I would be able to help. That's what inspired me to go into medicine.

Did you volunteer with some of the veterans and soldiers that came back injured? [3:29]

I was able to volunteer at the military hospital at Fort Hood, Texas in the ICU there. My mom, she's an artist. She did some art with some veterans, and I was able to volunteer with her for that. This was when I was 14 or 15. I wasn't able to do much as a volunteer, being so young, but I was able to observe a lot. I think being in that environment at a young age, I was able to see that that is what I want to pursue in the future.

Why did you decide to pursue the master's in biomedical science? [4:09]

I knew that there would be some time between my time as an undergrad and medical school, and I wanted to do something that would challenge myself, but also show medical schools that I was dedicated to continuing my education and show them that I was able to continue to increase my GPA. That's why I decided to do a program. The reason I chose my particular program is because I had the opportunity to continue my ...