Most medical schools in the United States belong to a centralized application service, while a few medical schools require separate application to their school. The largest central application service for medical schools is the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). The majority of U.S. medical schools belong to AMCAS. For a fee, this service accepts your application and official college transcripts, checks your application for accuracy, and forwards copies of your application and MCAT scores to medical schools that you are interested in applying to.
AMCAS is only a processing service and does not render any admission decisions. After receiving application materials from AMCAS, medical schools will notify you of any supplemental items that may be required, such as fees and letters of recommendation. To apply to a school represented by AMCAS, you must obtain an official application online at www.aamc.org/amcas. Contact AMCAS online or at:
AMCAS, Section for Student Services
Association of American Medical Colleges
2501 M Street, N.W., Suite 26
Washington, D.C. 20037-1300
(202) 828-0600
www.aamc.org/amcas
The University of Texas medical schools have their own application service and require application through their service. These schools do not belong to AMCAS. You may obtain an application for the University of Texas medical schools online at www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas or:
University of Texas System Medical Application Center
702 Colorado, Suite 6.400
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 499-4785
www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas
Fewer than 10 medical schools require individual application to their school. Examples of such schools include: NYU, Columbia, and Brown. Contact these schools for applications.
Before you start making decisions about where to apply, obtain the current "Medical School Admissions Requirements" guide from your college bookstore. It is published by the AAMC and gives important information about all the medical schools in the U.S. and Canada. This book costs about twenty dollars. Spend some time reviewing the medical schools you have interest in. Focus on the number of applicants, class size, requirements for admission, average entering GPAs & MCAT scores of accepted students, and tuition costs. This guide is really helpful!
We believe that most applicants should apply to three types of medical schools:
We strongly believe that you should apply to all your state-funded medical schools. Most state medical schools have excellent academic and clinical programs. In addition, they are relatively cheap! The taxpayers help pay for your education. Once you have applied to your public state schools, consider several "dream" schools. If you have a competitive application, why not apply to some elite and exciting schools? If you do not apply to these schools, you have no chance of gaining admission. Remember that every medical schools accepts a diversity of applicants. Some accepted students will have higher grades and others will have lower grades. Do not be intimidated to apply to prestigious or elite schools. However, only apply to these once you have applied to all your state-funded schools and some "back-up" schools.
The last category of medical schools we recommend that you apply to is the "realistic" or "back-up" schools. These are schools that you may have your best chance gaining acceptance to. The AAMC Medical School Admissions Requirements book provides you with average entering GPA and MCAT scores of accepted applicants at many U.S. medical schools. Use this data, and think about your GPA, MCAT scores and strength of your overall application. Choose a number of schools which have average entering GPA and MCATs of matriculating students in the range of your performance. Choose the best schools you can, thinking about location, tuition, and school reputation.
0n average, students apply to about a dozen medical schools. We believe that this number is suitable for many students who have strong grades and MCAT scores. Other students may need to apply to more schools to increase their options or have the greatest chance for admission. Consult your premedical advisor or our medical staff on your individual situation.
You should apply to medical school the summer prior to the year you wish to matriculate into medical school. For example, if you wish to start medical school in Fall 2005, plan on applying in summer 2004.
When you are ready to apply, start by obtaining an AMCAS application from your premedical office or by contacting AMCAS. Applications are available in April of each year and AMCAS starts accepting applications on June 1st. Each medical school has its own specified application deadline, and this is usually between Oct.15 and Dec.15. The application to AMCAS should be submitted as early as possible during the application period because many medical schools evaluate applications in the order which they are received, i.e. having a "rolling" admissions process!
The AMCAS application to medical school is only four pages. The first page asks you about where you live, the educational background and occupation of your parent(s), and where you have attended college. You are also asked about your extracurricular activities, work experience, honors received, and time spent away from school. The second page of the AMCAS application asks you to write a one page personal essay (personal statement). You may write about anything you want, however, most students write about why they are interested in medicine. The personal statement is described below. The remaining pages of the application ask you to list all college courses that you have taken and grades received.
The personal statement is a one page essay that you will submit with your application to medical schools. It is a critical part of your application. This essay is important because it represents the only place on the application where you can emphasize your strengths, interest in medicine, and individuality. Many students use this essay to describe their background, exposure to medicine, school life, academic achievements, work experience, hobbies, volunteer work, research, and desire to become a physician. We suggest that you start writing the personal statement well in advance and review your essay with your premedical advisor. Our expert medical staff is also more than happy to help review your essay.
Most medical schools do a preliminary screening of applications to make sure that they meet certain minimum standards. This screening usually entails evaluation of your GPA, MCAT scores, and background. If you meet certain minimum criteria, you are usually asked to complete a secondary application and to send letters of recommendation. Based on evaluation of this new information, a decision is made as to whether or not you will be offered an interview. Most medical schools interview about two times as many applicants as will be accepted.
Most medical schools consider three categories in evaluating you as an applicant:
Each of the above categories carries weight in your overall evaluation. Many medical schools assign the GPA a little more weight than the MCAT scores and the "other" category, however, the importance of the MCAT in the overall evaluation cannot be stressed enough! Since the background of applicants vary greatly, the MCAT offers the admissions committee a way to compare all students with a similar measurement.
The application process to medical school can be stressful and complicated. At Columbia Review, our medical staff is available to help you in all facets of the application process. In addition to your premedical advisor, we are here to be a resource for your individual problems and questions. We not only want to help you get great MCAT scores...we want to help you get over the hurdle of the application process.
Best wishes for a successful medical career!
Columbia
Review
Intensive MCAT Preparation
Main Office:
811 Oregon Avenue
San Mateo, CA 94402
1-800-300-PREP or 1-650-343-0309
E-mail: info@columbiareview.com