A Federal contract study with Johns Hopkins University School of Health Services was initiated to analyze career decisions and behavior of unaccepted medical school applicants for implications as to their recruitability to alternative health careers. Questionnaires were sent to a national sample, stratified by sex, of 3,500 of the 16,800 unaccepted applicants to the 1971-72 entering medical school class. From the 3,034 located respondents, there was a 68 percent return. Focus was on the 73 percent of respondents remaining unaccepted applicants in 1973. The current major activity of 53 percent of males and 49 percent females was study, with 46 percent males and 49 percent females employed. Half of both males and females were in health-related jobs or study, with very few in innovative, mid-level health occupations. Over half the unaccepted applicants reapplied to medical school within a year. Post-rejection advice to persist was the strongest correlate for reapplication. An early, single-minded commitment to a medical career also was correlated with persistence. Women displayed an overall pattern of lowered aspirations in reaction to the blocked career. Implications are the need for career information on newer mid-level and alternative health careers and intensified pre-application counseling and counseling for women. (30-page appendix). (EA)