Health Professions Advising: 2010/11 Medical School Applicant FAQs

Transcription

1 Health Professions dvising: 2010/11 Medical School pplicant FQs These questions have been the most frequently asked questions over the last few application years. If you can t find the answer to your question here or in the pplying booklet, Stacy Barton with your question or, if you are on campus, visit walk-in hours. You will likely receive additional FQs via blitz over the coming months as new questions arise about the 2010/11 MCS application. Quick Page Reference: GENERL 1-2 SCHOOLS TTENDED.2 COURSE WORK.3-4 WORK/CTIVITIES..5 LETTERS OF EVLUTION..5-6 INTERFOLIO.. 6 MEDICL SCHOOLS 6 GENERL Where can I obtain help with my MCS application? Utilize the application instruction book available at and refer to the Online Help available within the application. In addition, you may contact MCS directly at amcas@aamc.org or (202) If you are not able to find an answer to your question, please your health professions advisor at Stacy.Barton@Dartmouth.edu or call (603) When should I apply to medical school? Timing is very important. Most medical schools have rolling admissions, and it is to your distinct advantage to be considered early in their process. We suggest that you submit your MCS application in June (after your spring grades have been reported); however it is better to delay an application a few weeks or a month than to apply when you are not ready. If you have questions about the timing of your application, discuss with a health professions advisor. How much does it cost to apply to medical school? MCS charges an application processing fee of $160 for one medical school designation, and $32 for each designation thereafter. TMDSS charges $75-$220 depending on your residency status and the number of schools you apply to. OMSS charges $285 - $660 (Canadian) depending on the number of schools you apply to. The fee for using COMS starts at $155 and is based on a graduated scale that varies according to the number of schools you designate to receive your application information. Fee Waivers are available, but you must apply for these early. Most schools charge fees for secondary applications. You will also be responsible for your travel expenses for interviews. Q4 What is included on the MCS application? The application includes Biographic Information, Post-Secondary Experiences (up to 15 experiences and a description for each which can be 1325 or fewer characters long), Personal Statement (5300 characters), Schools ttended, Course Work, Letter Reference Information and 1

2 Designated Medical Schools. Though you will indicate letter information in your MCS application, your credential packet (letters of recommendation) does not get submitted with your MCS application. These letters are submitted with secondary applications. Q5 Q6 Should I authorize MCS to release information about my application, including MCT scores, to school-designated advisors? Yes, please. Your personal information will be kept confidential. This information informs our advising and helps us serve you better. Can I change my MCS application after I have certified and submitted it? You may only update biographic information and add (but not delete) schools. You may also add to your letters section, but please check with Stacy or nnette before doing so. You may not edit or make corrections to course work, post-secondary experiences, or your personal statement. SCHOOLS TTENDED How do I handle credit earned in Dartmouth FSP or LS programs? FSP and LS terms should be entered as regular Dartmouth terms. You may choose to describe these experiences in the post-secondary experiences section. If you transferred in course work, completed exchange terms or post baccalaureate course work, you will need to add a school. ll credit earned at US colleges or universities must be reported. How do I send my transcripts to MCS? Print out the transcript request form from your MCS application and submit it to Dartmouth s REGISTRR'S Office. separate transcript request form should be created for each school you have attended. When I am creating the transcript request form in MCS, what Dartmouth address do I use for the College ddress Information? 6014 McNutt Hanover, NH Q4 Do I have to wait until spring grades are available to send my transcript to MCS? The transcript that you send to MCS should include your spring grades if you are taking courses this spring. However, you can submit a transcript request form to the Registrar early as long as you indicate that you would like the transcript sent after spring grades are out. (This should be a checkbox on the request form at the Registrar s office.) The transcript for your LEO account does not need to include spring grades. COURSE WORK How do I handle P credit? If you received credit, note the course number and name exactly as shown on your transcript. The grade should be noted as CR on your transcript and on your application. Choose DVNCED PLCEMENT in the Special Course Types section. If there is no indication of your P course on your Dartmouth transcript, you should not enter it on your MCS application. What should I list as my academic status for dvanced Placement course work? Choose FRESHMN and include this course work with your first year fall courses. 2

3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 0 What if I was exempt from a course? gain, enter the course exactly as it appears on your transcript ( EX for transcript grade). Choose EXEMPT from the Special Course Types section. What Course Type do I check if I have a NR on my official transcript? Choose PSS/FIL for course type. NR should be noted as the grade exactly as it appears on the transcript. What is the COURSE NUMBER? course number includes both the department abbreviation and course number. For example, BIOL013 or ENGL007. What do I put in the CREDIT HOURS box? ll Dartmouth courses are worth 1 credit hour, so 1 should be noted in the Credit Hours box. MCS will consider whether you checked lecture only or combined lecture and lab to calculate your MCS GPs. t Dartmouth, lecture-only courses are worth 3.3 semester hours and combined lecture & lab courses are worth 4.5. DO NOT ENTER semester hour equivalencies in MCS. If you have earned credit at other colleges or universities, you will need to check your official transcript(s) for information on how to record credit hours. I am confused as to what the Dartmouth term system matches up with under the MCS term options. Is it Trimesters (fall winter spring with a summer session option) or Quarters (fall winter spring) and a summer quarter? Our registrar has reported to MCS that we are a QURTER term school. Fall = First quarter, Winter = Second quarter, Spring = Third quarter, Summer = Summer quarter What is COURSE CLSSIFICTION? Course classifications are used in the calculation of your MCS GP. The BCPM GP is comprised of courses in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. This is also one method schools use to confirm that you have taken prerequisite courses. Do not be concerned if you have not yet completed all prerequisite courses at the time you submit your application. It will not hinder your application. ll prerequisites should be completed prior to med school matriculation. What do I do if I am unsure about how to classify a course? You should first use the MCS Help section to look up Coursework Classification. There you will find sub-categories for each classification. Classification designation is up to you and should primarily be determined by course content rather than course title or department. If you classify a course in a way that is not obvious/clear to MCS verifiers, you may be asked to justify your classification which could delay the processing of your application. How should I classify my First-Year Seminar course? Please classify it any way that you feel is appropriate. However, if you plan to use this course as fulfillment of an English prerequisite and this course was completed in a department other than English, you should classify it as English. You may also need to include follow-up information with your supplemental applications: In order to fulfill Dartmouth s writing requirement, I completed Geography 7 a First-Year Seminar. ccording to the Dartmouth College Bulletin, Organization, Regulations and Courses , First-Year Seminars offer every Dartmouth first-year student an opportunity to participate in a course structured around independent research, small group discussion, and 3

4 intensive writing. By vote of the Faculty and the Trustees, successful completion of one First- Year Seminar is a requirement for the.b. degree. The function of the First-Year Seminar Program is threefold. First, by means of a uniform writing requirement, it stresses the importance of written expression in all disciplines. Second, it provides an attractive and exciting supplement to the usual introductory survey course in many disciplines. nd finally, the program s emphasis on independent study enables each first-year student to have an early experience of the scholarship that fuels Dartmouth s upper-level courses How do I classify neuroscience courses? gain, classification should be based on course content rather than course title or department. If the primary topic/content of your neuroscience course was biology rather than psychology, then it can be classified as BIOLOGY. How do I list sophomore summer? Categorize sophomore summer as SUMMER QURTER of your JUNIOR year. It will also have the same year (200X/200X) as your other junior year terms. When your coursework section is complete, the terms should be listed in chronological order. How do I indicate a future course? Do I need to? You can add current or future courses the same way you add past courses except that you will not include a grade and you will check the current/future box at the bottom of the page. You do not NEED to indicate future courses. Some applicants will choose to do so in order to show the medical schools that they plan on taking a prerequisite (like biochem) but even so, it is not necessary. Medical schools will be made aware of your future coursework when you send updated transcripts later in the process. Should I copy the abbreviations for course names on my transcript or should I write out the entire name of the class? It is best to copy exactly what is on your transcript. If you feel that the abbreviation makes the topic of the course unclear, you can spell it out, but keep in mind that the verifiers at MCS will be trying to match up your transcript with your application. The more exact you are in your application, the easier and less time consuming it will be for them. If you have P courses on your transcript, you should put exactly what is on your transcript. If you would like, you can also add the topic at the end (e.g. College Board dv Placement: Calculus). How do I designate a course that I NROed? Check the box at the bottom of the screen that says Pass/Fail. Do NOT check the No Record box. Your transcript grade should be noted as NR. Should I include transfer credits on my application? Credits that are transferred from another college to Dartmouth should be listed under the original college not under Dartmouth. For example, if you took organic chemistry at Harvard, you would have a separate transcript from Harvard. Even if you transferred those credits to Dartmouth and they appear on your Dartmouth transcript, they should not be listed under Dartmouth in your MCS application. You should add Harvard as a separate college attended and list those courses there. 4

5 WORK/CTIVITIES Do I need to use all 1325 characters in each work/activity description? No, your readers will appreciate a concise description of your activities and accomplishments, similar to what you would write in a resume. Some applicants will add a line or two about what they got out of the experience. Do not feel compelled to fill this space. How do I categorize my shadowing experiences in the work/activities section? Most shadowing experiences should be categorized as Other. If, however, you did more than simply observe, if you played an active role in the care of patients or otherwise contributed to the healthcare facility, you may be able to categorize it as Community Service/Volunteer Medical/Clinical. Multiple shadowing experiences can be lumped together in one of your 15 work/activities entries. In this case, you would describe each experience separately in the Experience Description section. Where can I write about future activities? s you may have discovered, you cannot enter future activities in the Work/ctivities section of your MCS application. Some applicants will touch on future activities in a personal statement, but it should not be a big part of this essay and should only be mentioned if it is a clearly defined, definite plan. Future plans (gap year activities, work experiences, etc.) are typically documented in secondary applications. LETTERS OF EVLUTION How do I categorize my letters in the Letters of Evaluation section of MCS? Dartmouth uses a composite letter of evaluation in lieu of a Committee Letter; however, they serve the same purpose. If you are using a composite, you will check COMMITTEE LETTER in this section. lumni/ae two or more years out of Dartmouth, who are not using a composite letter, should check Letter Packet because all letters will be sent at once to every school. If you have questions about your particular situation, contact nnette Hamilton to determine your status. If you are considering sending an additional letter, please contact us SP to discuss. Who is my Primary Contact/uthor? Because Career Services will be sending your letters through Interfolio, Stacy Barton, Health Professions dvisor in Career Services, will be the primary contact for LL composite letters sent from Interfolio. If you are using another school s letter service, please contact them for this information. The following responses are appropriate for all Dartmouth applicants who are using Interfolio to transmit letters: What school is providing this letter? Dartmouth (if you are using Interfolio to transmit your letters) Letter Title Dartmouth Composite Institution name Dartmouth College (should be pre-populated) Primary Contact/uthor's Prefix Ms. Primary Contact/uthor's First Name Stacy Primary Contact/uthor's Middle Name Thurston Primary Contact/uthor's Last Name Barton Primary Contact/uthor's Title Health Professions dvisor Primary Contact/uthor's Stacy..Barton@Dartmouth.edu Primary Contact/uthor's Phone Organization Name Dartmouth College 5

6 ddress 63 South Main Street ddress 2 Suite 200 Country US State New Hampshire City Hanover Postal Code What do I do with my MCS Letter Request Form? Do NOT send it to your composite writer. You will not actually send this form to anyone, however, you can print this form to input your MCS Letter ID number and MCS number into your Interfolio mailing request. INTERFOLIO/CREDENTILS How do I submit my resume, autobiographical sketch and transcripts to Interfolio? You can directly upload your resume and sketch to Interfolio. Obtain a copy of your transcript from the Registrar, scan and upload to Interfolio as an other document. Does my composite need to be complete before I submit my primary (MCS) application? No. Your composite letter will be requested with your secondary applications. If it is not ready at that time, you can contact the medical school and ask for an extension. Schools are typically willing to grant extensions as long as your composite has been submitted by the final deadline for each school. My Interfolio file is complete, why hasn't my file been sent to my composite writer yet? Once your file is complete (appropriate letters, transcripts, autobiographical sketch, resume) you must submit a Release to Composite Writer form. This form will not be accepted until your file is complete, so monitor Interfolio and submit it SP after all of your letters and documents are in. The form can be found here: MEDICL SCHOOLS How do I decide which schools I should apply to? First, determine which schools you re eligible to apply to based your residency status. Many schools do not accept students from outside their state. Second, determine and prioritize the factors that are important to you in a medical education. Third, read directories and individual school web pages to compare and contrast schools based on the factors that are important to you. Fourth, review alumni questionnaires available in Career Services. Finally, narrow down your list to include a range of schools that interest you and where you are likely to be competitive. pply to multiple schools, but do not go overboard. Dartmouth applicants have applied to an average of schools in recent years. Remember that the admissions process is very expensive, as well as time- and labor- intensive. You won t be able to do a good job on your secondary applications if you apply to too many schools. great resource for determining your school list is the Medical School dmissions Requirements (MSR) book in Career Services, or available for $25 at aamc.org. There is also a list of schools and some basic information at under Fact Sheet on Med Schools For more information, please watch the School List Workshop : 6