American Application Survival Guide

[kidslit]

my biggest concern is my personal statement - not sure the one I did for Canadian schools this year hit the mark - any suggestions on whether its worth paying for a service to comment or edit? Also, since I was in Kinesiology my science courses were not the trad ones - is it better to get letters from profs who really can comment, or just try and get random science profs who saw me once in one chem class??

[North12]

These are both personal judgement calls - perhaps start a new thread (so that we can keep this one clean for topics to update the survival guide). Or PM me.

 

That being said (note the following are all only my personal opinions... and I am just another premed like you all):

 

 

 

I need some advice. I am currently doing a Masters degree that will be done at the end of June. The marks will likely not appear on my transcripts until mid-July. AMCAS said that I would not have a graduate GPA if my transcript did not show my completed graduate degree. If I wait, till the transcript gets there and by the time my application is verified, it could be August.

 

Or I could submit my application as soon as possible before my graduate thesis mark is on my transcript and not get a graduate GPA.

 

I am not sure what will give me the better advantage. Submitting earlier or submitting later but with a graduate GPA. My undergraduate grades are not stellar, but my graduate grades are good.

 

Thanks for any advice

 

I would call up 3 of the schools you are most interested in and ask them if, at their school, would your application be more successful if you applied in August with grad degree / increased GPA or to submit earlier with your current GPA.

 

my biggest concern is my personal statement - not sure the one I did for Canadian schools this year hit the mark - any suggestions on whether its worth paying for a service to comment or edit? Also, since I was in Kinesiology my science courses were not the trad ones - is it better to get letters from profs who really can comment, or just try and get random science profs who saw me once in one chem class??

 

PS - I would start a fresh personal statement and then incorporate in your best lines from last year. If you try to work on the one you have already you will get stuck. As for paying someone to edit, each draft I sent out to 2 new people which amounted to all the adults in my life, all my business/commerce friends who helped me sell my qualities and my artsy friends for flow. Many opinions is probably more helpful than one paid opinion, I would think.

 

LORs - one of each?

[biochembro]

Hello North12,

 

I must say your thread is simply brilliant. I am planning on applying to American schools this year and this I feel has given me a good crash course. However, I am uncertain about a couple things.

 

I will be writing my MCAT end of August and so I was thinking that was the time I could apply, but from searching around I find it is better to apply early. So if I were to apply within next couple weeks, would I be able to proceed to the verification process, or do I need my MCAT scores released before I can do that? In short, what are the requirements I need to have to ready so that I can proceed with the verification process, because I do not want to be at an advantage apply late august.

 

I would really appreciate your advice.

 

Thanks.

[North12]

Hey! Thanks, and great question, I should add this info to the original post.

 

For verification you do not need your MCAT scores, I think just the date you intend to write. You do need to finish:

 

1. Inputting courses for GPA

2. Transcripts arrived at AMCAS

3. Your PS (will not be able to alter once submitted)

4. ECs (also cannot change after submitted)

5. Demographic info

 

 

... can anyone who has done this more recently add anything?

 

You might have to include one or two schools and a letter or two. Im not certain. You can definitely add schools and letters to your app after yuo submit though.

[biochembro]

hey North12,

 

Thanks for the reply. I had another question. Since my MCAT scores will be released end of September, meaning that my application will only be labelled "complete" during that time point, would it really be advisable to submit in a primary application within this month, considering that I would have to wait till end of September anyways in order for my file to be looked at properly?

 

Would really appreciate your opinion in this matter.

 

Thanks.

[trojjanhorse]

Your MCAT scores are not needed for your primary application. If I were you, (and I am in the same boat as you), I would submit my primaries this month and work on the secondaries. By the time you receive your MCAT scores, you would have your secondaries done and would not waste time preparing after your scores are released.

 

Question to the forum: If I don't have an english credit (few of the schools I'm applying to require it), how can I show them that I will be taking the english course in the coming fall and winter term?

[North12]

You include the courses for the upcoming academic year in with your academic history. There is special designation for them.

[trojjanhorse]

You include the courses for the upcoming academic year in with your academic history. There is special designation for them.

 

Even though I have not enrolled yet?

[North12]

Yes. Sometimes you dont have the option to enroll yet. After verification AMCAS has this symbol system and they will mark that course as "unverified". The schools, regardless, will expect updated transcripts as a condition for matriculation and they will withdraw your acceptance if you havent completed it in time.

[GaganS]

Hey!

 

Last year at this time I realized that I was pretty much out of luck for Canadian Medical Schools, and started to look south to fulfill my dreams. In the states the application cycle is this giant daunting process. As Canadians we don’t have access the resources our American counterparts do. They have entire pre-med advisory committees to help them get through the season!

 

Enter premed101. This site, SDN, and (luckily) a former Canadian applicant successful in the states is where I turned for a lot of my information. I am very appreciative for their help and I want to pay it forward. So here is a place to start for all of you who are starting to think about applying to the US! I hope someone finds it helpful. I’m going to bring up some of the differences between the systems, terms you should know and a rough time-line of how things go down.

 

 

SDN: Is the american premed101 and will fill in any gaps that I miss.

 

List of specific SDN advice threads : The section of SDN were there is advice for writing your PS, filling out secondaries etc.

 

 

 

 

 

There are 12 Sections to this Guide:

 

1. Important Dates

2. Rolling Admissions

3. American Subjectivity

4. Application Overview

5. AMCAS Primary

*Side Note on Taking/Retaking MCAT

6. School Selections

7. ECs for Primary

8. Secondaries

9. After Secondaries

10. Interviews

11. After the Interview

12. Glossary

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Important Dates

 

June 1st – AMCAS can be submitted

October 15th – First acceptances are released

May 15th – Students must pick a single school to be accepted at (can be on as many waitlists as they like).

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Rolling Admissions

 

Most schools in the US have rolling admissions. This means that they

 

- will start looking at applications in June/July

- will interview candidates from late August – March

- will accept candidates from October - start of school

 

US schools interview anywhere from 400-1300 applicants in that time frame. Generally, the earlier you interview the better your chances are. I don’t think I will be able to stress this enough but APPLY AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE. The competition is twice as hard every month you put it off. Pretty much the only way you’ll get by gracefully if you submit your primary after August is if you have >35 and >3.85.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Holistic Approach

 

One large difference between the two systems is that the American system is a lot more subjective. Canada, for the most part, relies a lot more on stats and MMIs. Don’t get me wrong, there are many stat-heavy schools in the states. However (10X) more schools = greater diversity. Most schools in the US use a holistic approach when comparing applicants. My strength lies in my ECs, so I applied to schools that I knew would read my application front to back before they made a decision. Its really nice to see this holistic approach in action - the interviewers will know exactly why you are there in front of them. Man were they thorough: an interviewer quoted my MCAT sub-scores to me, without my application for reference! It was awesome.

 

In the states, its not over ‘till its over. You can write the admissions office updates on your life, expressing your undying love and interest in their school. They want to know that you think their program is great and why you would be an amazing asset to their school. In the American system you don’t just submit an application and pray to the adcom gods to be kind! Its kind of fun in a competitive pre-med kind of way! With that said, it’s also a lot more intensive. So here we go:

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Application

 

What is different from Canada is that the American applications have two parts:

 

Primary Application – this is your application to AMCAS. It is kind of like OMSAS for the entire country (except Texas). It is AAMC so they already have your MCAT information right there. In it you will include:

- Schools that you will apply to

- Your Transcripts

- Your letters of reference (LORs)

- Your activities (15 with a lot of space for description, 3 you can label “most meaningful” and then get even more space! Its fantastic.)

- Your personal statement (~750-1000 words)

- Payment (Base fee + 30$ / school)

 

 

 

Secondary Application – Each individual school will send you a secondary application (some are screened, most aren’t). Essentially this is a money grab as each school will charge you an additional $60-125 to submit the secondary. Most schools will also ask you to write several additional essays in your secondary as well. Note that this is incredibly time consuming. To make it a little more stressful, it seems to be generally accepted that the faster you return the secondary application = the more interest you seem to have in their school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. AMCAS Primary

 

AMCAS applications open and will start accepting transcripts / LORs in May. Therefore in May make sure all of your references and transcripts are sent in, and write that personal statement.

 

Personal Statement - There are many other places to get advice on your PS so I wont talk about it here. Basically, make it awesome and have it read by strangers on the street before you submit it. This is the best place to sell yourself because you never know what opportunities you will have in your secondary essays.

 

Grades – AMCAS has a really sweet grade conversion which makes Canadian GPAs skyrocket (A+ = A = 4.0!) Also, most American programs live on the bell curve so only 5% of the class will ever get an A+ etc. As such, the average GPA of applicants in the US is much lower (3.65-3.7). This is a good table to refer to find out what your chances are.

 

Also, Americans make the distinction between your cGPA and your BCPM GPA. BCPM = sciences and math courses.

 

Verification - On June 1st you can submit your application. Only after submitting will AMCAS check your transcripts against your reported grades. Before submitting your ap for verification the following sections must be complete:

 

-Demographic Information

-Grades/Courses

-PS

-ECs

 

You cannot edit these sections after submitting your application.

You can add LORs and schools until October.

 

The earlier you submit, the shorter the verification process. Someone graphed, based on SDN data, how long it takes to be verified given your date of submission (graph is at the bottom of the post).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side note on Taking / Retaking MCAT

 

I have been getting a lot of questions about releasing MCAT scores and the AMCAS primary. Here is what you need to know:

 

1. There is a place on your AMCAS application to indicate that you are retaking the MCAT. Schools will hold off on reviewing your application until they receive your new score.

2. MCAT and AMCAS are both run by the AAMC, therefore you do not have to release your score. It will be automatically sent to all the schools that you applied to!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. School Selection

 

This is the question of every other thread on this site. Things to think about:

 

GET MSAR. This site has a profile for each school in the US. It reports everything you could want to know, including the tuition, the range of MCAT scores of the students matriculating, pre-requisite courses required, * how many international students they interviewed etc. The peace of mind it will bring is so worth the 15$ fee in my opinion. It saved me (valuable) hours I would have spent probing the web for questionable stats. US News is another option, but I haven’t tried it out.

 

 

ITS A NUMBERS GAME. If you are serious about getting in somewhere, I would apply to at least 10 schools. Make sure that at least 7 of these schools have average MCAT and GPA’s that are below yours. Also, don’t classify any school as a “safety school”. Only apply to schools that you would actually attend (which means you're going to have to do a whole lot of research). Most schools, especially the ones with lower stats, are going to have you write a secondary essay about “Why their school”. If you cannot sell it to yourself, you are going to have a hard time selling them that you are interested.

 

Here is a compilation of each schools' average matriculating stats. It was put together by SDN users in 2011. Download a copy.

 

 

FINANCES – Keep in mind that some American schools have escrow policies where you basically have to come up with all four years tuition up front (160-200 thousand at once - scary). The ones I know of are WashU, SLU, Hopkins and NYMC. I will add any that people tell me about below.

 

 

LORs - Every school has frustratingly specific LOR requirements. Start looking into individual LOR requirements asap.

 

The worst offender for LORs I had was Harvard (a girl can dream, right?). They required 2 science profs, 1 non-science prof, and all research supervisors. I threw in a character reference and my count I think was 6 letters! Also I think it was SUNY that wanted letters from profs of two different science departments. So be sure to look into LORs!

 

 

Pre-Reqs - They vary by school, but I would say 80% of them require that you take a full year of physics, chemistry, biology, organic chemistry (all with labs) and English. Math & biochem is all over the place, especially if you are applying MD/PhD.

 

 

YOU - What kind of medicine do you want to do? Academic? Primary Care? Travel with MSF? Public Health and Policy? If you are going into academic meds look into research heavy schools (so schools high on the US News rankings bc that is based on research grants). If you want to do policy look into schools in Washington DC and maybe something in MA bc it is an atypical state. This is something no one ever asked me in Canada. They expect you to have at least thought about this in the US.

 

MD Applicants is an AMAZING resource. People willingly post their stats and info about how they did in the cycle ex. which schools there were accepted at, rejected from (before or after interviews), applications they withdrew from and why. Search your stats, search your province etc. to get a better idea about where you should apply. Keep in mind you have no idea how strong their writing (personal statements and secondaries) might be.

 

MSAR is your best bet, but in the meantime this is a pretty comprehensive and mostly accurate list of schools who accept Canadian Applications (great starting point):

 

 

AECOM

Boston U

Case Western Reserve University

Columbia

Cornell

Dartmouth

Duke

Georgetown

George Washington University

Harvard

Hawaii

Jefferson

John Hopkins

Loma Linda

Mayo

Michigan State University

Mount Sinai

Northwestern

NYU

NYMC

Oakland

Penn State

Rosalind Franklin U – Chicago Medical School

SLU

Stanford

SUNY Upstate (Syracuse)

Tulane

University of Kentucky

UChicago – Pritzker

University of California - there are many, each school is different.

Vanderbilt

Virginia Commonwealth University

Wayne State

Washington U in St. Louis

Yale

 

You will figure this out on MSAR but Americans have two types of schools:

 

State Schools - Generally lower averages to get in, but its like of like MUN or Dal - you have to fight your connection to the state, there are fewer spots for out of state (OOS) applicants, and it is easily twice as expensive tuition for OOS. Ex. SUNY is roughly 25k for IS and 55k for OOS / year. So dont be fooled / enticed by the lower averages.

 

Private Schools - All applicants are generally on equal ground, and overall the price is expensive (35-50k/year). I would say most Canadians have the best luck at private schools.

 

And then there are:

 

Schools with Religious Affiliations - Loma Linda and Georgetown (they will accept all applications, but your education will have religious add-ins)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Extra Curriculars

 

As stated above, you have room for 15 activities. You can divide them into the following categories:

 

Employment – Non-military

Employment – Military

Honours / Awards

Leadership

Teaching/ Tutoring

Volunteer – Non-clinical

Volunteer – Clinical

Research / Publications

Extracurricular / Hobbies

Other

 

I did this by memory so there are probably some more categories, but again, this is a good starting point.

 

 

 

The US really wants evidence that you have seriously considered medicine and understand what you are getting yourself into. Make sure you have:

 

1. Volunteered/worked with patients in some respect (at a hospital, as your schools emergency medical team, as a clerical worker in a medical office etc.)

 

2. You have shadowed a physician. Now this one is hard in Canada because it is... frowned upon / unlikely physicians who don’t know you will take you on. However, Americans have trouble with this too and they have compiled some strategies to enlist MDs for shadowing. This can be a greater challenge in Canada, but not impossible.

 

The Law edit: While shadowing is helpful, it is by no means essential. If you have some reasonable clinical experiences (ex. working at emergency room, volunteering at a long term care centre, or other related experiences), then you will have enough to talk about. They just want to see that you have some health care/clinical exposure. Shadowing will help, but it isn't necessary if you have other stuff!

 

 

 

Otherwise just show you are well rounded and try to have either

a) A long term, high level commitment (University-level athletics, Concert pianist) or

A gimmick ex. expert in child soldiers, or designed an (intelligent) youtube video that has had over 5 million viewers and was featured on the news type thing.

 

 

Just try to fill most categories and don’t be afraid to collapse multiple activities under one sub-heading. This is something I wish I had done more of. Think about doing umbrella headings for activities like:

 

- Undergraduate Employment – list all jobs, dates, and responsibilities

- Hospital Volunteer work – include all positions and what you learned from them

- Undergraduate Awards / Distinctions – include deans list + scholarships + awards upon graduation where applicable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. The Secondaries

 

So, you’ve submitted your Primary for verification. Good job, that was a lot of work. Picking schools, assigning LORs, hoping that that one LOR you wrangled from a Faculty of Arts prof makes it to AMCAS because of the worst-timed postal strike of your life... but that was just me.

 

Take a week off! Enjoy the beginning of summer. Because if you have a full time job, the next part becomes a little time consuming.

 

The general rule is to have your secondary back to the school within two weeks of receiving it. For some schools (Harvard – only a fee) its pretty easy. Others this can be a bit more difficult to do (NYU and MSU have about three essays each). Usually you will get about 2 secondaries before you are verified (Dartmouth and GWU) and then after you are verified about 10 will come at once.

 

So, plan ahead. This is where SDN is helpful. Most schools have the same essay questions year to year. Also, the first person to receive their secondary will usually post the question(s). Therefore you can start writing your essays before you even receive the secondary! If you do this the secondaries are a piece of cake. Edit: Below Blizzah has posted a link that shares all the secondary prompts for 2011-2012.

 

This is the "school specific" SDN forum for 2012-2013. The first post of each thread will list the secondary essay questions.

People on this site will also tell you when they were verified vs. when they received their secondary. It will give you an idea of when to expect to receive your secondary.

 

 

When writing each secondary make sure to ask yourself (thank you Joe):

 

1. "What insight will this give about me as a human being/future physician/ future med student"

 

2. "If they didn't know this about me, would it make a difference one way or another?".

 

Make sure they are immaculate. They receive 4 000-14 000 applications. They are looking for some reason to cut you out of the pool asap. So, have each secondary read by a couple other people. Rotate those people... you can only ask so much of someone!

 

My only advice here is that after about 5-10 of these bad boys, you get really good at them. There is a bit of a learning curve. I regret sending in Dartmouth as my first secondary – re-reading it now it was AWFUL. I can’t believe they kept me around until February before rejecting me. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Do not sacrifice quality for speed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Between Secondaries and Invites

 

Take a deep breath, because the fun is about to start. Welcome to land of neuroticism. You’re about to enter a love/hate relationship with “Inbox [1]”.

 

 

 

Things you can do in the meantime:

 

1. Start neurotically checking SDN school specific threads to see where you stand. Be excited – that first interview invite is really great!

 

2. Financially travelling does get expensive. To a certain degree I actually narrowed down schools by how many flights it would take me to get there. Porter’s constant sales = your new favourite airline. Sign yourself up to receive notifications about Air Canada, WestJet and Porter sales.

 

3. Start doing Canadian applications. They will seem really easy at this point: Copy. Paste. Pay. Complete.

 

4. Buy your LORs a bottle of wine for sending your letters all over North America.

 

Very helpful thread!

 

Thanks for posting!

[dxll]

FYI Hopkins no longer has a four-year escrow requirement and now offers financial aid to international students.

 

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/offices/finaid/international/index.html

 

It'd be great if this could be corrected in the original post!

[North12]

Thanks for letting me know, and corrected!

[Tetragrammaton]

This was an incredibly useful thread for me. Thank you.

[ashleygirl]

Thanks for clearing things up!