Reference letters and secondary appln

[wwjdsj]

I have a couple of questions..

I'm really new to all this, so please bear with me.

For the reference letters I noticed that some schools (unlike Canadian schools) don't have reference forms that profs can fill out. So what should I ask them for? (I don't think my profs know what to write in med reference) Are there any specific guidelines?

 

My second question is,

I was reading through the website and saw that ppl are preparing for the secondaries to save time and was wondering whether or not you can send the secondary applns even before you get a verification from school for the primary.

 

Thanks in advance! Your help will be truly~ appreciated!

[acromium]

For your second quest: You have to get an invitation to send your secondary; the reason many here ask for the quests before hand is that once the secondary invitation actually comes ( although most schools are automatic upon submitting AMCAS) you can send the secondary right away. Due to the rolling-admission policy in 95% of schools in the states, you need to send your appl. ASAP, and be complete as early as possible ( that includes, references, secondary, and primary, in addition to MCAT).

 

As for the reference quest, the general indication on the letter should be as to your personal attributes and why your referee thinks you would make an incredible physician, more importantly: research, academics, extra-curriculars, community service, local/national/international work...etc....

 

hope this helps,

[Tan008]

Find profs who know you well and ask them to write letters describing why they think you are a good medical school candidate, relating it to things that you have done (as mentioned above: academics, research, etc).