Print Page
Applying to Professional School
Your Application Checklist - Application and Admission Timeline
This general guide will prepare college students for the medical school application and admission process. Consult your Pre-Health Advisor to devise an individualized schedule that works best for you.
College Year 1
Fall Semester
• Attend mandatory Pre-Health Program Orientation
• Meet Pre-Health Advisor and investigate Pre-Health Program
• Learn how to balance academic life with residential life and selectively choose minimal
campus involvement
• Participate in Pre-Health Society meetings
• Successfully complete first-semester required pre-health coursework and other degree requirements
• Request course evaluations from first semester faculty members at end of semester
Spring Semester
• Explore The Road to Becoming a Doctor or Explore Health Careers, for careers outside of medicine
• Identify summer paid/volunteer medically related opportunities
• Participate in Pre-Health Society meetings
• Successfully complete second-semester required pre-health coursework and other degree requirements
• Have you met with the Career Center Pre-Health Advisor to discuss experiential opportunities?
• Ensure that you have met with your Pre-Health Advisor during this academic year
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Summer
• Complete summer paid/volunteer medically related experience
• Attend summer school, if desired or necessary, following discussion with your Pre-Health Advisor
return
College Year 2
Fall Semester
• Check in with Pre-Health Advisor and participate in Pre-Health Society activities
• Investigate available volunteer/paid medically related clinical or research activities
• Successfully complete first-semester required pre-health coursework and other degree requirements
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Spring Semester
• Check in with Pre-Health advisor and participate in Pre-Health Society activities
• Participate in paid/volunteer medically related clinical or research activities
• Identify summer paid/volunteer medically related opportunities
• Successfully complete second-semester required premedical coursework and other degree
requirements
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Summer
• Complete summer paid/volunteer medically related experience
• Participate in a summer health careers program, if available
• Attend summer school, if desired or necessary, following discussion with your Pre-Health Advisor
return
College Year 3
Fall Semester
• Check in with Pre-Health Advisor and participate in Pre-Health Society activities
• Continue participation in paid/volunteer medically related activities
• Investigate:
o Applying to Medical School - if applying to another health profession, please contact the
Career Center Pre-Health Advisor
o Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
o Fee Assistance Program (FAP)
o Minorities in Medicine to get information for groups underrepresented in medicine
• Begin preparation and register for desired MCAT administration; visit MCAT Web site for available
test dates
• Successfully complete first-semester required premedical coursework and other degree requirements
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Spring Semester
• Attend mandatory Pre-Health Program Admissions Series and consult regularly with
Pre-Health Advisor about:
o Schedule for completion of school-specific requirements for application process
o Advice about career education options within healthcare
o Continue participation in paid/volunteer medically related activities
o Prepare for and take desired MCAT administration; visit MCAT Web site
o Continue review of medical education options
o Set goal to take either an April or May MCAT
• Investigate information about professional school application services:
o AMCAS
o Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS)
o Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS)
o American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)
o American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service AACOMAS)
o Curriculum Directory for information about medical school curricula and joint, dual, and
combined-degree programs
o American Dental Education Association and AADSAS
o Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and VMCAS
• Investigate appropriate medical school choices as well as how the process currently works
• Successfully complete second-semester required Pre-Health coursework and other degree requirements
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Summer
• Participate in a summer health careers program, if available
• Complete professional school application if applying to attend in the fall immediately after graduation
• Take desired MCAT or other required professional school test administration
• Attend summer school, if desired or necessary
• Become familiar with applicant responsibilities for your particular professional school application
process
return
College Year 4
Fall Semester
• Complete supplementary or secondary application materials for schools to which you've applied
• Consult regularly with Pre-Health Advisor regarding:
o Completion of school-specific requirements for advisor/committee premedical evaluation
o Status of application/admission process for schools to which you've applied
• Continue participation in paid/volunteer medically related activities
• Interview at medical schools
• Continue review of medical education options
• Successfully complete first-semester elective science and non-science coursework and other degree
requirements
• Request course evaluations from first year faculty members at the end of the semester
Spring Semester
• Make interim and final decisions about medical school choice or career path
• Immediately notify professional schools that you will not be attending
• Ensure that all IRS forms are submitted as early as possible if attending professional school
• Successfully complete second-semester elective science and non-science coursework and other degree
requirements
• Graduate – congratulations!
Summer
• Prepare for professional school enrollment: purchase books and equipment and make appropriate
living arrangements
• Relax and prepare for professional school
• Attend orientation programs and matriculate in – start all over again!
Timeline adapted courtesy of AAMC, American Association of Medical Colleges
return
Professional School Testing & Admissions Timing
For successful applicants, the professional school application process really begins two full years ahead of the date that you wish to enter. The first year includes studying for your professional school test. At the end of that first year, preferably within April or May, you will take the standardized test necessary for your professional school followed by completion of the standardized application service for your program. The second year then includes supplemental applications, called supplemental applications or "secondaries." Following completion of those, applicants complete necessary tasks requested by professional schools and await contact about the interviews. The final stage of the application process is interviewing, which can occur as early as September or as late as March. Decision time for each candidate follows the period of interviewing time.
What makes a successful testing candidate?
Truthfully, it is either your natural ability to test well or the well-planned time combined with ability that makes you a successful candidate. In the recent past, alumni who have done well shared the following suggestions:
Study independently for approximately 20 hours per week
• 12 hours of material review using available resources
• 8 hours of mock-testing followed by extensive review of the incorrect answers to figure out the wording and why your answer
was wrong
• Use available resources including: Chad's Videos, ExamKrackers or Princeton Review.
Princeton Review does offer a free mock test for the MCAT on campus. Additionally, they you can register for test
preparatory programs for a fee. Sign up for those by emailing Kelsey McGuinn at (717) 873-4188 or email me at kmcguinn@review.com.
• It is recommended that you study at least 10 hours outside of the Princeton Review course program.
• Other Princeton Review programs may be offered at regional campuses or on-line.
• Using ExamKrackers "1001 Questions in …Series" can be helpful within the last two months of preparation.
• Use a mix of preparation resources to be the most successful.
• Consult with a learning specialist from a counseling background in order to prepare successfully for the exam, including
overcoming test anxiety.
The MCAT and other professional tests are currently examining materials in order to update their test services. Please be aware of this and prepare for announced changes. The Career Center Pre-Health Advisor attempts to update potential candidates as soon as the associations release the news.
return
Personal Statement
Consider and write your personal comments carefully. No changes are permitted after submission within the application system and the systems do not typically include a spell or grammar check. Admissions committees place significant weight on this piece in addition to your committee letter and other letters of reference/evaluation.
Tips to help you to write a successful statement:
• The applications vary in character numbers allowed. Check your particular application system for
the number of characters before you begin. Be aware that some systems will cut you off whenever
it goes over the limit, but you may not be able to see where the statement was cut off. It will be
your responsibility to use the appropriate number of characters.
• It is not necessary to repeat information that is included at other places in your application.
• Plagiarism or misrepresentations will prompt an investigation.
• Enter the wording as you would like the schools to see it. Avoid using all caps or lower case as
medical schools prefer to receive evidence of your writing capabilities. Your writing in this
exercise should demonstrate your normal writing style – and probably should serve as an
example of the best paper ever!
• PROOFREAD carefully and have other people help you with the proofreading. Debi Swarner,
Pre-Health Advisor, is available to assist you with your efforts to proofread the documents.
Your faculty Pre-Health Advisor will likely also be available to assist you; however, many
are traveling on summer research and may need to assist via email.
Topics to consider:
• Why have you selected the field of medicine or healthcare? (Hint: This may be an interview
question!)
• Who are you as a person and how will that impact your experience in medical school?
• What motivates you to learn more about your field of medicine or healthcare?
• Was there someone whose example inspired you to consider medicine or healthcare?
• Were you considering another field, but experienced a situation that led you to the field of
medicine?
• Was there someone with whom you worked whose situation or encouragement inspired you to
grow professionally in the field of medicine?
• What do you want professional schools to know about you that have not been disclosed in another
section of the application?
You may want to include information about special hardships, challenges or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits. Commentary on significant fluctuations in your academic record that are not explained elsewhere in the application might be included in this piece as well.
return
Holistic Review in Admissions
Some medical schools and many other professional schools including veterinary and dentistry have begun the move to considering applicants’ experiences on a more equal footing with the grade point average (gpa) and MCAT score. More schools are moving in this direction, and the MCAT review is currently underway to assess more of the interpersonal, communications and leadership qualities sought within the holistic admissions process. Writing an effective personal statement can strengthen your application to support the holistic review within the admissions process.
Writing Format
In discussions with several medical school admissions directors/staff members, they prefer to read an engaging, story-like personal statement describing your rationale for pursuing the field of medicine. You might consider including clinical experiences. If you use shadowing stories, they definitely want to hear the more "hands-on" situations instead of how you observed doctors.
Consider the following content suggestions in writing your personal statement. You are the main content of your story. To begin your story, you should think through your experiences and share why you’re choosing this long and challenging path to a career in medicine or healthcare. In fact, you might even want to retreat to the place where you think best and be honest with yourself about the reason or reasons that you’re making this choice. If you learn that you should be pursuing another path within healthcare, this is the time to make a change. If not, continue with your story.
The first paragraph of your statement should be the piece that draws the reader into your story. This engaging introduction can be about you personally or about a situation from your past that taught you something about yourself as related to medicine. While this story can be about another person, it should also connect with you as a candidate.
The second and third paragraphs should include your experiences and rationale for entering this career field. You can share anecdotes explaining how your interest in pursuing a career in medicine has grown; however, these should refer back to your own experiences. These examples could be either personal or professional in nature.
They could also refer to a mentor or patient when concerning your interaction with them, even detailing some of the tasks that you performed.
For some writers, the closing ties back into the opening. When your statement flows and makes the reader want to learn more about you, your goal has been accomplished. Some writers choose to add a summary at this point while others use the characters wisely to create a mix between a summary including what they have learned from these experiences and why this career is the one that they will pursue based on those lessons.
Whatever your style, it is important that your story is well-written with a flow from the beginning to end of it. In this way, the reader can gain a strong impression of you as a candidate and begin to understand why they should choose you to fill one of the slots within their medical or professional school. The seats are limited, so this document will be read with hopes of finding people that will be a good fit within the entry class for the upcoming year. Sharing your story effectively will help you to accomplish your goal of reaching medical school.
return
Financing Professional School
Many parents indicate to their students that they’re on their own to pay for graduate school after Dickinson. Imagine that – you’re an adult and somehow these decisions are your responsibility from this point in your life onwards. And guess what – there is little financial aid for professional schools. However, you will still need to complete the FAFSA form as soon as possible prior to your medical school entry.
Here are some resources that will help you with your plans going forward:
Talk with your Pre-Health Advisor to gain an understanding of fees and options
• Transitioning to Med School, courtesy of American Association of Medical Colleges FIRST
• Budgeting Tips, courtesy of American Association of Medical Colleges FIRST
• Financing a Dental Education, courtesy of American Dental Education Association (ADEA)
• Get Help Paying for a Veterinary Medical Education, AAVMC
return