Application Hacks 2012-2013 cycle

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With AMCAS opening up today I figured this would be a good time for those of us who have just gone through the application process to point out some overlooked aspects and tips. Here are my Big 3:

Maximize your BCPM GPA: It is up to you to decide how to designate a class. AMCAS tells you to do it by course content, not by course department, course title, etc. Obviously you can't make the Ochem class you got a C+ on anything but chem or try and make your English Lit class you got an A on into a BCPM class....but with "gray area" classes feel free to designate them in such a way as to maximize your BCPM GPA. Put the onus on AMCAS to change it because they rarely do. And most of all, don't take advice from the super anal people on SDN who always tend to designate courses conservatively. Remember, it's your call (although AMCAS can overturn) and it's by course content. How could someone else who hasn't taken the course possibly tell you how to designate it? If I had followed the advice of the people on here I doubt I would have gotten in this cycle because my BCPM GPA would have been sub-3.4 instead of 3.5+ . See this thread for my experience concerning this issue - http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=829188

Diversify your "3 most meaningful experiences": What I mean by this is don't pick 3 clinical experiences or 3 research experiences, etc as the activities where you are given 1325 extra characters to expand upon as your 3 most meaningful experiences. I picked 1 clinical experience, 1 research experience, and 1 personal offbeat hobby I was heavily involved in (improv/standup comedy). This year will only be the 2nd year of the "3 most meaningful experiences" so there isn't much to go by but I felt my method worked out fine. The offbeat hobby was brought up at all my interviews and I felt it was something that set my application apart and maybe even got me interviews I wouldn't have gotten otherwise with my stats....never underestimate how bored application readers/interviewers/adcoms get hearing about mission trips, ER volunteering, bench research, over and over and over again. Highlight your hobbies, if not as a "most meaningful," then at least somewhere else in your app.

Read previous year's school-specific threads: Not just last year's but 2, 3, even 4 years ago. Lots of good information in these on interviews questions that aren't in interview feedback as well as posts by current students that offer insight on the school not available elsewhere. Just search "X school of medicine 2009-2010 SDN" or "Y college of medicine 2010-2011 SDN" on google and it should be in the first couple links. It is a lot to read through and a lot of it is just paranoid applicants but the golden nuggets by interviewees and current students is totally worth it.....they greatly help in writing secondaries and prepping just before interviews.

Also to add to this, I noticed that in my interviews the only questions I got related to my activities were my most meaningful activities. I had three interviews and this is what happened at all of them. Particularly it seemed that, as they understood it, the activities listed closer to the top were more meaningful than the ones located at the bottom. So basically choose your most meaningful activities wisely and make sure they are freaking awesome.

Somewhat obvious, but still helpful nonetheless.

So my Wildlife Issues class, WIS2040, which is essentially an easier Ecology I took first semester as a freshman, should be classified as Biology?

It does satisfy the Bio requirement for GenEds at this institution if that helps.

Originally Posted by MDschoolorbust

So my Wildlife Issues class, WIS2040, which is essentially an easier Ecology I took first semester as a freshman, should be classified as Biology?

It does satisfy the Bio requirement for GenEds at this institution if that helps.

If it helps your BCPM GPA classify it as Bio
If it hurts your BCPM GPA classify it as Other Science

Originally Posted by flatearth22

....never underestimate how bored application readers/interviewers/adcoms get hearing about mission trips, er volunteering, bench research, over and over and over again. Highlight your hobbies, if not as a "most meaningful," then at least somewhere else in your app.

qft

So I am assuming Physiological Psychology and Health Psychology can be counted as BCPM? They were definitely over 75% bio material.

Originally Posted by flatearth22

If it helps your BCPM GPA classify it as Bio
If it hurts your BCPM GPA classify it as Other Science

A 4.0 in a 3 credit would definitely help. I also have an Abnormal Psych course that I could try as Biology. Is there any indication that courses are changed by AMCAS to medical schools?

Originally Posted by MDschoolorbust

A 4.0 in a 3 credit would definitely help. I also have an Abnormal Psych course that I could try as Biology. Is there any indication that courses are changed by AMCAS to medical schools?

Abnormal psych isn't biology... it is behavioral science.

If you screw around with your designations, you might risk the chance of delaying your app slightly since things will have to be reclassified upon verification.

Originally Posted by MDschoolorbust

A 4.0 in a 3 credit would definitely help. I also have an Abnormal Psych course that I could try as Biology. Is there any indication that courses are changed by AMCAS to medical schools?

Abnormal Psych is absolutely not Bio, don't try that.

Originally Posted by MDschoolorbust

A 4.0 in a 3 credit would definitely help. I also have an Abnormal Psych course that I could try as Biology. Is there any indication that courses are changed by AMCAS to medical schools?

Yes, but it won't reflect negatively on you in any way whatsoever. However, as mentioned in the previous post, if corrections need to be made it might cause a delay.

I already posted this in your other thread. But how did you exclude your chem engineering courses on the basis of thermo and analytical chem material? Isn't that chemistry material?! I'd love to exclude a PChem and an A Chem class out of my AMCAS

Originally Posted by LizzyM

qft

'quoted for truth' ?

Originally Posted by Ismet

Abnormal Psych is absolutely not Bio, don't try that.

Fair enough. I was unsure since there was definitely a lot of material based on the biology behind each disease.

Originally Posted by MDschoolorbust

Fair enough. I was unsure since there was definitely a lot of material based on the biology behind each disease.

I'm surprised you're having a hard time including the class in bio since it was about diseases.

Originally Posted by pre med 2014

I'm surprised you're having a hard time including the class in bio since it was about diseases.

Well the above said it shouldn't? Mysteries of the AMCAS I suppose.

Is it really true that AMCAS rarely changes designation?

Im in a bit of a bind because I am a pharmacy student and 'Pharmacy and Pharmacology' are listed under the Health Sciences. However I have had multiple advisers tell me to try and list certain pharmacy classes under bio, including pharmacology. Other examples include Molecular Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacy Microbiology. I agree with them with classes such as Mol Bio and Microbiology, because even though they were taken through the pharmacy school they are clearly bio classes. However what should be done with the other ones? Pharmacology is taught in medical schools so its definitely not just a pharmacy topic. And pharm/med chem classes can be considered chemistry classes... they are honestly very similar to orgo.

Wouldn't schools notice that you're massaging the numbers a little for sGPA?

Originally Posted by DOCTAfoHIRE

Is it really true that AMCAS rarely changes designation?

Im in a bit of a bind because I am a pharmacy student and 'Pharmacy and Pharmacology' are listed under the Health Sciences. However I have had multiple advisers tell me to try and list certain pharmacy classes under bio, including pharmacology. Other examples include Molecular Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacy Microbiology. I agree with them with classes such as Mol Bio and Microbiology, because even though they were taken through the pharmacy school they are clearly bio classes. However what should be done with the other ones? Pharmacology is taught in medical schools so its definitely not just a pharmacy topic. And pharm/med chem classes can be considered chemistry classes... they are honestly very similar to orgo.

I listed Psychopharmacology (taken in the Psych dept) as BCPM and they didn't change it. YMMV.

hmm, I so could have labeled a bunch of my engineering classes as BCPMs. Never crossed my mind. oh well, good advice

PS: 5300 characters includes spaces! I decided the best way to separate paragraphs was to not indent and to put a blank line in between. This method uses two spaces per paragraph vs 5 to create a reasonable indent. I felt it made a cleaner look.

Experiences: List all your experiences in Word. Pick your fav then start adding in the tedious stuff. The following will help fill in the Experiences section and will be a fantastic resource for your secondaries.

1. Dates (sometimes it can be hard to remember!).
2. Contact person and contact details (many of mine were not current, eg, manager for student employment, so I provided contact info for HR where my work hours could be verified)
3. List your responsibilities
4. Write about one or two memorable moments
5. Briefly describe how this experience shaped you
6. Type out an engaging description of it, something cooler than "I volunteered once a week" eg, try "Supported nursing team on the post-surgical ward to accelerate patient services, eg discharged patients, retrieved supplies and improved access to frequently used documents"

Use a list of Common Interview Questions as a "journal": I used the below resource to find a list of common interview questions. There are many lists online. I put the questions into word and just started typing out answers to each of these questions. I didn't stress about grammar/spelling , just wrote like a free-flowing journal. This helped my brain start to think about these questions because many are not normal things you think about. This exercise really fed into my secondaries and my interview prep. http://www.udel.edu/CSC/pdfs/MedSchoolInterviews.pdf . . . I wish I had done this before writing my PS!

Check out the AMCAS guide for 2012: https://www.aamc.org/students/downlo...tionmanual.pdf . . . . . Just helped a friend peek through it and it seemed to have better details than last year's.

Transcripts (copies for AMCAS and for you!): Look at placing your order for these as soon as you create your AMCAS since schools get rushed with transcript requests at the end of the year. If you are still in school you can usually select "after Spring grades are in" . . . don't forget the transcript request form from your AMCAS application. Also, ask when transcripts for spring grades are available. My cc didn't release official grades until late June!!! That can seriously affect your plans to submit in early June! Finally, get a copy for yourself if you have time in case the online records are slightly different from the official ones.

Could an intro to public health class count as bio?

Originally Posted by uniqenam

Could an intro to public health class count as bio?

No, that definitely wouldn't count. I could maybe see epidemiology being counted as a BCPM class (for the stats component) but even that might be a stretch.

Edit: It looks like epidemiology can be counted as BCPM for DO schools but not MD schools (from a 2008 thread...)

I don't remember what "biology" is, now. Is it plants and birds and platyhelminthes?

Originally Posted by Morsetlis

I don't remember what "biology" is, now. Is it plants and birds and platyhelminthes?

No, it's the study of life.

I took a class that was essentially matrix algebra but was titled 'language and formal reasoning' to fulfill a math requirement. Count that a BCPM?

Originally Posted by hopeful22213

I took a class that was essentially matrix algebra but was titled 'language and formal reasoning' to fulfill a math requirement. Count that a BCPM?

Was it an official math class? What department was it under? Look up the course number and what department it falls under.

If it's math, it's BCPM.

Originally Posted by hopeful22213

I took a class that was essentially matrix algebra but was titled 'language and formal reasoning' to fulfill a math requirement. Count that a BCPM?

This is a logical question.

The department was something like linguistics- I took it to fulfill the school's math requirement. And I'm asking because if the primary decision is based on the content of the course- it was a math class. But it might seem like I'm being disingenuous to classify it as such.

.

I took a class under the geology department but it focused entirely on evolution, can I slip that in as biology?

It's a bummer that this thread, which began with such promise, is turning into another "can I classify X as Y" thread.

All of these questions can be answered by consulting the AMCAS Instruction Manual, most notably page 40. RTFM, kids, and classify your class according to what is fair. Use your own brain. If you get a little boost by creatively reasoning a class into or out of BCPM status, then mazel tov.

Can these be considered BCPM (on the fence about it): Behavioral Neuroscience and Behavioral Statistics? I looked at AMCAS Quick Guide and they do list neuroscience and statistics under BCPM, but I took them in Psych department. Thanks

Originally Posted by aspiringdoc09

Can these be considered BCPM (on the fence about it): Behavioral Neuroscience and Behavioral Statistics? I looked at AMCAS Quick Guide and they do list neuroscience and statistics under BCPM, but I took them in Psych department. Thanks

I'd label the Behavioral Neuro as bio and the Behavioral Statistics as math. I'd be surprised if they change those back to Psych, but it's no biggie if they do (you're allowed 10 errors before it gets bounced back to you to correct)

Originally Posted by Ismet

I'd label the Behavioral Neuro as bio and the Behavioral Statistics as math. I'd be surprised if they change those back to Psych, but it's no biggie if they do (you're allowed 10 errors before it gets bounced back to you to correct)

I called and asked them. They told me to put it under the designation the course detailed; therefore, neuro=> bio and stats => math. If they need to change it then they will. Thanks.

Originally Posted by HatWobble

It's a bummer that this thread, which began with such promise, is turning into another "can I classify X as Y" thread.

All of these questions can be answered by consulting the AMCAS Instruction Manual, most notably page 40. RTFM, kids, and classify your class according to what is fair. Use your own brain. If you get a little boost by creatively reasoning a class into or out of BCPM status, then mazel tov.

True but us first time applicants can't really help out this thread. If other previous applicants would post more tips they could steer the thread back on track.

I appreciate any help I can get!

This thread is not as cool as I expected it to be...I was expecting a discussion of possible ways to hack into the AMCAS system...

I'm a little bit confused about the AMCAS grading system.

Does it have its own GPA scale, or does it rely on that of our school?

For example, my school considers 90-100 to be a 4.0; 80-89 as a 3.0 and so on. Lets say that I end up getting a 91 in a class. When I enter that class grade into AMCAS, will I be entering a 4.0 for it?

Originally Posted by ElCapone

I'm a little bit confused about the AMCAS grading system.

Does it have its own GPA scale, or does it rely on that of our school?

For example, my school considers 90-100 to be a 4.0; 80-89 as a 3.0 and so on. Lets say that I end up getting a 91 in a class. When I enter that class grade into AMCAS, will I be entering a 4.0 for it?

Does your school also list the percentage you got on your transcript? If it awards you an A for anything >90%, then yes, that's still a 4.0 for AMCAS. Likewise, an 89% would be a 3.0.

Originally Posted by Praefectus

Wouldn't schools notice that you're massaging the numbers a little for sGPA?

They would have to spend a lot of time on every application to notice any "massaging" of numbers, unless something is quite blatant (such as taking "chemistry for non-majors" after completing the gen chem and organic chem sequence).

Originally Posted by ElCapone

I'm a little bit confused about the AMCAS grading system.

Does it have its own GPA scale, or does it rely on that of our school?

For example, my school considers 90-100 to be a 4.0; 80-89 as a 3.0 and so on. Lets say that I end up getting a 91 in a class. When I enter that class grade into AMCAS, will I be entering a 4.0 for it?

You don't enter 4.0 or 3.0, you enter the letter grade you received. So if you got a 91 but your transcript just says "A," you write A and you'll get a 4.0 for that. Schools that do +/- grades will be different (I believe X.7 for a - and X.3 for a +). The only exception is an A+: you do not get a 4.3 for an A+, it's just a 4.0.

Another pro tip: For secondary or interview questions about why you want to go to that school, it might be helpful to use Google News to search for the school and see how it's been making headlines.

Originally Posted by diamethuel

Another pro tip: For secondary or interview questions about why you want to go to that school, it might be helpful to use Google News to search for the school and see how it's been making headlines.

+1.

To add to this, when writing your "why X school" secondaries, don't just kiss the school's a** like they're the greatest thing since the Beatles. Tie your own interests and passions into what the school prides itself upon. Is the school big into providing healthcare to the underserved? Then bring up your own history of volunteering at free clinics and how that fits their missions statement. Is the school invested in translational research? Then tie in your own experience with clinical research and how that school will suit you well for such a career.

Look at the "why X school" as an opportunity to explain why you are a good fit for the school, not just why the school is all that and a bag of chips.

If UCSD is in your list of schools to apply to, complete its secondary question before other schools'. Secondary questions for many schools are similar enough that you'll eventually find yourself just reusing and modifying previous essays. UCSD's essay was easily my longest and most involved secondary essay. Its almost feels like its asking for a second, longer personal statement than your AMCAS personal statement. If you put a lot of effort into UCSD's secondary, you'll have a good springboard from which to answer many essay questions from other schools. Here's the UCSD prompt from the previous application cycle:

"This should be a true autobiographical statement. Topics to be included are family, childhood, primary and secondary school years, undergraduate years, and, if applicable, what you've done since completing your bachelor's degree. You should also discuss the motivational factors which led you to a career in medicine including any disadvantages or obstacles which might put your accomplishments into context. A repeat of your AMCAS statement will not be acceptable.
Note that the autobiographical sketch is limited to 6000 characters."

Consider pre-writing your secondary essays to save yourself from later stress, especially if you're applying to a lot of schools." Prompts don't generally change from year to year, and you can find schools' previous secondary questions by looking at the "School-Specific Discussions" forum. I applied to 30 schools and wish I had pre-written some of my essays. It feels great to receive secondaries, but it kind of sucks when you start receiving like 2-3 secondaries a day.

Originally Posted by diamethuel

Consider pre-writing your secondary essays to save yourself from later stress, especially if you're applying to a lot of schools." Prompts don't generally change from year to year, and you can find schools' previous secondary questions by looking at the "School-Specific Discussions" forum. I applied to 30 schools and wish I had pre-written some of my essays. It feels great to receive secondaries, but it kind of sucks when you start receiving like 2-3 secondaries a day.

Most of my applications had essay prompts. Imagine me, 36 schools with 36 essay prompt (no pre-writes).

Geology? It's listed under Natural sciences tho...

Originally Posted by Maxine450

Geology? It's listed under Natural sciences tho...

Then it is Natural Sciences and not BCPM

Originally Posted by Ismet

You don't enter 4.0 or 3.0, you enter the letter grade you received. So if you got a 91 but your transcript just says "A," you write A and you'll get a 4.0 for that. Schools that do +/- grades will be different (I believe X.7 for a - and X.3 for a +). The only exception is an A+: you do not get a 4.3 for an A+, it's just a 4.0.

Thanks Doctor!

Originally Posted by CityLights

Does your school also list the percentage you got on your transcript? If it awards you an A for anything >90%, then yes, that's still a 4.0 for AMCAS. Likewise, an 89% would be a 3.0.

Nope. Just the letter grade itself.