Harvardocs-medschool-applicants-list July 2016

harvardocs-medschool-applicants-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

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2 discussions

AMCAS, Variable requirements and interview schedules

by Premedical College

Dear Medical School Applicants, Welcome to those of you who have just joined the list. You can look at our archives to see the first post about AMCAS, secondary applications, optional questions, and House letters. Here are a few more issues that I have been asked about recently. 1) AMCAS submission-If there are some of you who had planned to apply for 2017, but have not yet submitted your primary AMCAS application, submitting this late will definitely hurt your application substantially. If you are in this situation, please make an appointment with me in Crimson Careers to discuss the benefits of waiting for the 2018 cycle. 2) Variable requirements. The basic premed requirements will work for almost all medical schools. Some of you will find schools with fairly strict English requirements. There are some Texas schools that require more than one year of biology. There may be some schools that require that math actually be taken in college (as opposed to accepting AP credit). You may be able to work out individual solutions to these situations depending on the courses you have taken. Know that in the end, if you have not met the requirements for a school where you have been accepted and want to go, you can take the course in the spring of 2017 prior to matriculation, even as a single course if you are an alum. Schools only require that course work be completed prior to matriculation, not prior to acceptance. If you run into a situation where you feel sure that you have met the requirement, but the school is less sure, email me and I may be able to help. 3) Being unavailable for interviews. If you are going to be out of the country much of the year or have another reason that you have a substantial period of time where you will not be available for interviews, you should let your school list know this. Many schools ask about this on their secondary applications. For those who do not, you can send emails or upload to their portal to indicate your availability. This is not necessary for very small windows of time when you will be unavailable since schools always give you some choice. If you do send an email, just be very gracious, stating that you understand that not everyone is granted an interview, that you understand this may not be possible, that it would save you the financial hardship of an additional trip from overseas, and then describe your situation. If you are out of the country, you will do well to pick some very specific times that you are available-perhaps two weeks in November, to start with. Do not pick Thanksgiving week or the week between Christmas and New Year's since schools will not be interviewing then. Expect to have to make at least two trips to the U.S for interviews. 4) Interview invitations. A few students may have already received interview invitations. This is very early and very unusual. Do not worry if you are not among those few students. No Harvard House letters have been uploaded, so do not think that people are getting interviews because their letters were sent earlier than yours. Rarely, schools will issue interview invitations without the letters. The interview season is long-definitely requiring more of a marathon than sprint mentality. Schools mostly interview between September and February, with some starting earlier and some going later. While generally early applicants get earlier interviews than late applicants, there is no clear correlation since it is done in so many different ways at different schools. The main thing to remember is that people who get interviewed in September get accepted and rejected and people who interview in February get accepted and rejected. Good luck with all this. With all best wishes, Ellen Ellen K. Williams, MD, EdM Premedical and Health Careers Advising ellenwilliams(a)fas.harvard.edu<mailto:ellenwilliams@fas.harvard.edu> 617-495-2595 Office of Career Services<http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/>, Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 54 Dunster Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 [cid:image001.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://www.facebook.com/OCSHarvard>[cid:image002.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://twitter.com/HarvardOCS>[cid:image003.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://ocsharvard.tumblr.com/>[cid:image004.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/> http://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/medical-health

7 years, 9 months

Secondary Applications

by Premedical College

Greetings Current Medical School Applicants! Welcome to the new list serve and good luck with your secondary applications. I am writing to answer a couple of questions that have come in a number of emails from applicants. 1) AMCAS submission-For those of you who are planning to apply for 2017, it is getting late to submit your primary AMCAS application if you have not already done so. If you are trying to decide whether this is the right year for you to apply, then please contact me by email and we can arrange a phone appointment. 2) Timing of turning around secondary applications- We recommend that you turn around your secondary applications in 10-14 days. Some schools will give you a specific deadline. Others do not. Our rationale for suggesting 10-14 days is three-fold. First, we know that being early in this process is an advantage and you lose that advantage if you hang on to your secondary applications a long time. Second, turning them around quickly shows interest and good organization. Third, in our experience, hanging on to them just makes them pile up and causes misery and anxiety. Do not worry, though, if something has come up and some take you a bit longer to get in. There is nothing magic about our 10-day guideline. You do not need to stress over them excessively, but you do want to be sure they are error free. 3) Optional Questions-Are they optional? --It really depends on the wording. At times, the question is worded in such a way that they only want you to answer if you have clearly had a hardship, a disadvantage, or a significant bump in the road. Other times, it is an invitation to tell them something else. For schools that do not have a "why this medical school" question, then telling why you are interested in being in NY or at that particular school can be great. For schools that already have that question, it is fine to talk about something that helps them understand you better. Some people use it to talk about a significant interest (backpacking, running, kayaking, etc.) that might not have found a place in your original application. Just look at your overall AMCAS, look at the secondary for that school, and think about what more you want to convey. It should not be repetitive, but you can use the space to provide more information or a different perspective on something that is important to you even if you touched on it in your original application. 4) Timing of Harvard letters-As long as you have gotten your information to your House by their deadlines, then your Harvard Committee letter with your letters of recommendations will be uploaded and sent to your medical schools by August 15. Medical schools are used to this date and our letters in fact go in sooner than many of the letters from our peer institutions. Many schools will begin reviewing your application before this date or will put it in a queue once they receive your secondary, so you still need to get your materials in as soon as you can. Good luck with the process. With all best wishes, Ellen Ellen K. Williams, MD, EdM Assistant Director, Premedical and Health Careers Advising ellenwilliams(a)fas.harvard.edu<mailto:ellenwilliams@fas.harvard.edu> 617-495-2595 Office of Career Services<http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/>, Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences 54 Dunster Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 [cid:image001.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://www.facebook.com/OCSHarvard>[cid:image002.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://twitter.com/HarvardOCS>[cid:image003.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://ocsharvard.tumblr.com/>[cid:image004.jpg@01CD8445.F53D2F50]<http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/> http://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/medical-health

7 years, 9 months

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Harvardocs-medschool-applicants-list July 2016