Varsity Tutors interviewed me a decade ago regarding mistakes to avoid in a medical school application, best undergraduate majors for pre-meds, how to approach MCAT prep, and the most important factor a medical school applicant should focus on in her candidacy. My answers still hold true today and might improve your angle on the process. Take a look at this short interview. (Note that there are some typos in the piece that are not mine ;)).
AMCAS opens in three and a half weeks!
The AMCAS open-for-submission date is this Thursday, May 27. While submitting on Thursday is to your advantage because of rolling admissions, getting that application in at 9:30am EST on May 27 is not worth losing your mind over, so if you simply can’t, please don’t kick yourself.
If you’re wrapping up your work and have your written materials in a superior state, just keep moving and get your application submitted promptly. If you’re behind the eight ball and don’t feel that you can craft outstanding written materials speedily, consider waiting a year to apply. Every season I encounter re-applicants who, during the previous cycle, submitted their AMCASes in August or September…thus making them re-applicants :(.
AMCAS provides 18 categories in which you can classify your experiences. They are:
Artistic Endeavors
Community Service/Volunteer – Not Medical/Clinical
Community Service/Volunteer – Medical/Clinical
Conferences Attended
Extracurricular Activities
Hobbies
Honors/Awards/Recognitions
Intercollegiate Athletics
Leadership – Not listed elsewhere
Military Service
Other
Paid Employment – Medical/Clinical
Paid Employment – Not Medical/Clinical
Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation
Presentations/Posters
Publications
Research/Lab
Teaching/Tutoring/Teaching Assistant
Sometimes an activity can match two categories. When that happens, lean on the clinical categories, if applicable. (For example, if your activity is both Leadership and Community Service – Medical/ Clinical, choose the latter.) If clinical is not relevant, then choose the category in which you have the fewest activities.
A client who came to me as a re-applicant a few years back told me that a school from which she was rejected indicated that they had not counted a clearly clinical activity as clinical because she had classified it differently. So be sure you consider the categories deliberately in crafting your AMCAS.
The AMCAS open-for-submission date came and went, and the question I’m getting now is: Should I panic if I haven’t yet submitted my AMCAS?
The answer is no – and depending on where you are in the process – yes. Submitting on Day 1 precisely is not worth losing your mind over, so if you didn’t do so, please don’t kick yourself. On the other hand, submitting very soon is to your advantage because of rolling admissions.
So, if you are wrapping up your work and have your written materials in a superior state, just keep moving and get your application submitted promptly. If you are behind the eight ball and don’t feel that you can craft outstanding written materials speedily, consider waiting a year to apply. Every season I encounter re-applicants who, during the previous application cycle, submitted their AMCASes in August or September…thus making them re-applicants :(.
So… on your mark. Get set. Go!
The AMCAS submission date came and went, and the question I’m getting now is: Should I be panicking if I haven’t submitted my AMCAS yet?
The answer is no… and, depending on where you are in the process, yes. Submitting on Day 1 precisely is not worth losing your mind over, so if you didn’t do so, please do not kick yourself. On the other hand, submitting very soon is to your advantage because of rolling admissions.
So, if you are wrapping up your work and have your written materials in a superior state, just keep moving and get your application submitted promptly. If you are behind the eight ball and don’t feel that you can craft outstanding written materials speedily, consider waiting a year to apply. Every season I encounter re-applicants who submitted their AMCASes in August or September.
So… on your mark. Get set. Go!
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
