MED SCHOOL APPLICATION WORKSHOP 2015

Transcription

1 MED SCHOOL APPLICATION WORKSHOP 2015 THE CAREER CENTER

2 WORKSHOP TOPICS What is a centralized application service? Components Course Classification Timeline for Application Letter Requests Tips and Advice Career Center Support

3 WHAT IS A CENTRALIZED APPLICATION SERVICE? American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) AMCAS is the central application service that serves as a verifying agent between applicants and US/Canadian medical schools Cost: $160, includes one school, $34 per additional school Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) If applying to Texas medical schools (except Baylor), you must apply separately through the Texas Medical & Dental School Application Service (TMDSAS) located at American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) If applying to Osteopathic medical schools, you must apply separately through the American Association of Osteopathic Colleges of Medicine (AACOMAS) located at

4 2015 AMCAS APPLICATION DATES Date April 1 May 5 June 2 EVENT 2016 AMCAS Resources released 2016 AMCAS application opens AMCAS application submission begins Application Deadlines Completed application must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET of the deadline date All required official transcripts must be received by AMCAS within 14 calendar days of the application deadline date EDP deadline for application and transcripts is August 1 AMCAS does NOT grant deadline extensions Visit July 1 August 1 Sept.-Dec. Initial transmission of application data to medical schools Early Decision Program deadline Application deadlines *Dates subject to change. Application Fees (in 2014 cycle) $160 processing fee (includes ONE school) $34 for each additional school Fees subject to change START EARLY, SUBMIT EARLY, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL DEADLINES!

5 HOW DOES AMCAS WORK? Application Submitted Online application completed and submitted to AMCAS Fees paid (or FAP award used) Application Processed All required official transcripts arrive at AMCAS Verification of coursework Calculation of AMCAS GPAs Application Delivered Verified application sent to designated medical schools Letters delivered on a rolling basis MCAT scores automatically received (before or after application is submitted

6 AMCAS COMPONENTS 1. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION 2. SCHOOLS ATTENDED 3. BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 4. COURSE WORK 5. WORK/ACTIVITIES 6. LETTERS OF EVALUATION 7. MEDICAL SCHOOLS 8. ESSAYS 9. STANDARDIZED TESTS START EARLY! This application is lengthy and will take a considerable amount of time. It should NOT be rushed, it needs to be error free and your best work.

7 SCHOOLS ATTENDED *Make sure to include transient study and study abroad schools this can be tricky SEE 2016 MANUAL!

8 COURSE WORK Use a personal copy of your official transcript to complete this section- For Emory courses, you can get this from OPUS! Course guidelines are located on page 35 of the 2016 AMCAS instruction manual. Science GPA = BCPM (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math)

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10 WORK/ACTIVITIES Enter any work or extracurricular activities, awards, honors or publications you would like to bring to the attention of medical schools A maximum of 15 experiences may be entered (700 characters per entry) Contact or phone is required Applicants will be asked to identify up to three most meaningful experiences (additional 1,325 characters allowed for these 3) When considering which experiences are the most meaningful applicants will be prompted to consider the transformative nature of the experience, the impact made while engaging in the activity and the personal growth experienced as a result of participation

11 WORK/ACTIVITIES Maximum of 15 entries *Applicants can enter 4 additional date ranges for repeated activities Maximum of 3 Most Meaningful

12 WORK/ACTIVITIES You can now indicate repeated activities Up to four separate date ranges Future end dates up to the start of the matriculation year (up to August 2016) You will specify the total hours spent on this activity for each date range Make sure hours make sense for a full time student Work/Activities entries will be shown in the order they are entered within the online application *These entries are still sorted by each medical school s preference during application review

13 LETTERS OF EVALUATION You can submit your application BEFORE your letters are received by AMCAS.

14 LETTERS OF EVALUATION Letters DO NOT have to be entered before submission of the application. Application processing is independent of letter receipt Be aware that medical schools have letters deadlines and letter minimum/maximums Medical schools may require letters to be on letterhead and have a signature Check LOR requirements for EACH SCHOOL you are applying to

15 LETTERS OF EVALUATION- EMORY SPECIFIC For students who participated in the composite process and will be receiving a composite letter, select Committee Letter For students who have collected letters via a standard Career Center letter file or have additional letters outside of the composite letter packet, select Letter Packet You will then select Emory University and enter the contact information. For the Committee Letter, enter Dr. Shari Obrentz at the Prehealth Mentoring Office as the contact. For the letter packet, enter Mildred Davis-Echols at the Career Center as the contact. FULL LETTER INSTRUCTIONS AVAILABLE AT: and will be ed to composite participants in early May. Call if you have questions when uploading letters!

16 LETTER REQUEST FORM Letter Request Form Applicant s identifying information Letter ID and Letter Type Used by AMCAS to attach the letter to the application The author s address Methods the author can use to send their letter to AMCAS * Many medical schools require that recommendations are on official letterhead and bear the signature of the author

17 MEDICAL SCHOOLS Be sure to select the correct program type and be mindful of program and transcript deadlines You can add schools at ANY TIME before the program deadline Combined programs usually have additional applications School selection matters! Be aware of state residency biases and meet with a prehealth career counselor to review choices.

18 ESSAY/PERSONAL STATEMENT Essay/personal statement (5300 characters, includes spaces) Double check formatting if you copy/paste No grammatical errors or typos!!

19 TMDSAS OPTIONAL ESSAYS **In addition to the personal statement, TMDSAS has 2 optional essays. The essays are optional; however, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity** Optional Essay 1 (2500 characters ): Briefly state any unique circumstances or life experiences that are relevant to your application. This is not an area to continue your essay or reiterate what you have previously stated - this area is provided to address any issues which have not previously been addressed. Optional Essay 2 (2500 characters ): Describe any personal characteristics and/or important or challenging experiences you have had that will contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of/ or provide educational benefits to the student body.

20 MCAT SCORES MCAT scores are automatically released to AMCAS unless the score is voided You may submit your application PRIOR to testing and score release Indicate your intended testing date in the Standardized Tests section of the application Update your application if your testing date Contact the MCAT Team Monday Friday 9 am 5 pm ET

21 ONCE AMCAS IS SUBMITTED Usually 4-6 weeks for verification to be completed and schools listed to receive your application Supplemental/secondary requests can come in at any time after you submit your AMCAS. Some schools wait for verification while others will automatically send you their secondary. Most schools will send you a secondary application (i.e., not an indication of interest) Typically a 2 week window for you to submit your secondary applications (cannot submit until primary has been verified). Interviews are offered approximately August March (again, dates will vary by school and submission date of application) REMEMBER- You must request to have your letters uploaded from The Career Center to AMCAS! ALLOW 5-7 BUSINESS DAYS FOR THE CAREER CENTER TO PROCESS REQUESTS.

22 MULTIPLE ACCEPT DATA Medical schools cannot view the number or names of other schools that you have applied to Medical schools have access to: Multiple Accept Data (February 10). This report allows medical schools to see other schools to which an applicant they have accepted is also currently holding an acceptance decision The National Acceptance Report (April 1). This report lists all applicants with a current Acceptance or Matriculated action **See the Traffic Rules for Applicants for more info

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24 TMDSAS Application opens Friday, May 1, 2015 at 8:00am CST Deadline to submit is Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 5pm CST Participating medical schools UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas UT Medical Branch at Galveston UT Health Science Center at Houston Medical School UT School of Medicine at San Antonio Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, College of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock University of North Texas Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Texas Tech University Health Science Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at El Paso The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine

25 TMDSAS Secondary Applications DIFFERENT FROM AMCAS Links to secondary applications are available on the TMDSAS website and should be completed at the same time you submit your TMDSAS Application. The following schools require secondary applications: UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, College of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in Lubbock University of North Texas Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Texas Tech University Health Science Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine at El Paso

26 TMDSAS MCAT Scores Due to changes in the score reporting layout sent by AAMC, all scores released to TMDSAS prior to 5/1/2015 must be re-released. Any score released prior to 5/1/2015 will not be uploaded to the entry year 2016 application. Letters of Evaluation Two individual letters of evaluation OR one Health Professions Committee Letter/Packet (i.e. Composite letter)

27 A note about AACOMAS New system is being put in place and will open May 5, 2015 Key changes Mobile access to check application status and notifications Easier coursework entry An optional coursework entry service Quicker application processing times The ability to submit letters of recommendation through AACOMAS 2016 College Information Book will be released in late April. More information to come!

28 INSTRUCTION MANUALS DOWNLOAD AND READ: AMCAS 2016 INSTRUCTION MANUAL TMDSAS INSTRUCTION MANUAL AACOMAS will be available in late April **READ ENTIRE MANUAL AS IT WILL ANSWER MANY OF THE QUESTIONS YOU WILL HAVE** SERIOUSLY.READ THE MANUALS!!!!!

29 CAREER CENTER SUPPORT Individual Appointments: weekdays from 9 5, book two weeks in advance! Walk-In Office Hours: check website Personal Statement Review: must submit online through the Career Center. Go to and select Document Critique Service allow 5-8 business days for essay turnaround. Mock Interviews: year-round by appointment, we can do phone and Skype mock interviews if needed School Selection: we will not choose schools for you; we will help you evaluate your competitiveness for each school to make sure it is a reasonable choice Letter of Recommendation Service Application Assistance Throughout the ENTIRE Cycle

30 CONTACT US APPOINTMENTS BY CALLING CHEMISTRY MAJORS, HUMAN HEALTH MAJORS & PRE-MED NON-SCIENCE MAJORS OFFICE HOURS: WEDNESDAYS: 2-4PM BIOLOGY/NBB/BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER MAJORS OFFICE HOURS: THURSDAYS 2-4PM