aamc virtual medical school fair 2021 - is it happening?

[deleted555445]

i attended the fair last year but i decided not to apply that cycle. based on my emails they've done one every year for the at least past 5 years (when i first took the MCAT in college). does anyone know if there are plans to do one this year? i have a lot of questions now that i'm actually applying lol.

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[KnightDoc]

i attended the fair last year but i decided not to apply that cycle. based on my emails they've done one every year for the at least past 5 years (when i first took the MCAT in college). does anyone know if there are plans to do one this year? i have a lot of questions now that i'm actually applying lol.

For some reason, last year they did 2, only one month apart, in February and March. Most likely due to the onset of the pandemic.

This is definitely the season for it (February-March). The fact is, there is nothing on their schedule, March is over, and AMCAS opens in a little over a month. You can call AAMC and find out for sure, but my bet is it isn't happening this year, certainly not between now and June. If I had to guess, I'd say that's because schools were distracted by the delays in the cycle caused by the massive increase in applications and operational issues caused by having to move the cycle virtual, and they had no interest in planning for or staffing the event while they are still planning interviews and running their cycle.

TBH, as you know since you attended last year, it's really just the same questions, over and over and over again, in each and every school's room, and I didn't see a single question that couldn't be answered by looking on the school's website or asking someone on SDN. I also attended last year (both times) and honestly, after attending, don't feel like I'd be at a disadvantage if I never attended. That's probably because I spend way too much time on SDN, so I see how there could be some value to having a bunch of schools answering questions at one time in one place for people who aren't otherwise plugged in, but I don't think there is any added value for anyone who participates on SDN.

 

[deleted555445]

For some reason, last year they did 2, only one month apart, in February and March. Most likely due to the onset of the pandemic.

This is definitely the season for it (February-March). The fact is, there is nothing on their schedule, March is over, and AMCAS opens in a little over a month. You can call AAMC and find out for sure, but my bet is it isn't happening this year, certainly not between now and June. If I had to guess, I'd say that's because schools were distracted by the delays in the cycle caused by the massive increase in applications and operational issues caused by having to move the cycle virtual, and they had no interest in planning for or staffing the event while they are still planning interviews and running their cycle.

TBH, as you know since you attended last year, it's really just the same questions, over and over and over again, in each and every school's room, and I didn't see a single question that couldn't be answered by looking on the school's website or asking someone on SDN. I also attended last year (both times) and honestly, after attending, don't feel like I'd be at a disadvantage if I never attended. That's probably because I spend way too much time on SDN, so I see how there could be some value to having a bunch of schools answering questions at one time in one place for people who aren't otherwise plugged in, but I don't think there is any added value for anyone who participates on SDN.

mostly i'm just interested in some school-specific questions to help narrow down my list... i can always email/call schools but its nice to have an event dedicated to answering those questions. but i agree, its not looking likely to happen this year.

 

[KnightDoc]

mostly i'm just interested in some school-specific questions to help narrow down my list... i can always email/call schools but its nice to have an event dedicated to answering those questions. but i agree, its not looking likely to happen this year.

Okay, but TBH, if you're looking for info to help you narrow down a list, that's probably not the place. They are actually virtual recruiting events. The people staffing the rooms are super nice and super encouraging. I've never seen them say anything that would discourage anyone from applying, no matter what is asked. The answer is always that the process is holistic, they value all types of candidates and experiences, there are no hard cutoffs (even when we KNOW that there are 🙂), and the only way to know what will happen is to submit an application. 🙂

If you want help narrowing a list, the best thing to do is to post a WAMC, and solicit some tough love from the adcoms on SDN. If I were you though, if money isn't an issue, I'd apply to every school within my stat range, in place I wouldn't mind being, where I wouldn't face really tough odds being OOS.

After applying those filters, most people don't have more than between 20 and 30 schools, and that's around how many schools you should be applying to in order to give yourself a reasonable chance of success. Some people go crazy and apply to more schools, while others just can't swing that many secondaries if they don't have FAP, so they are forced to apply to fewer schools, but that's really the sweet spot to do everything reasonable to avoid being a reapplicant just based on not having a sufficient number of irons in the fire.

 

[deleted555445]

Okay, but TBH, if you're looking for info to help you narrow down a list, that's probably not the place. They are actually virtual recruiting events. The people staffing the rooms are super nice and super encouraging. I've never seen them say anything that would discourage anyone from applying, no matter what is asked. The answer is always that the process is holistic, they value all types of candidates and experiences, there are no hard cutoffs (even when we KNOW that there are 🙂), and the only way to know what will happen is to submit an application. 🙂

If you want help narrowing a list, the best thing to do is to post a WAMC, and solicit some tough love from the adcoms on SDN. If I were you though, if money isn't an issue, I'd apply to every school within my stat range, in place I wouldn't mind being, where I wouldn't face really tough odds being OOS.

After applying those filters, most people don't have more than between 20 and 30 schools, and that's around how many schools you should be applying to in order to give yourself a reasonable chance of success. Some people go crazy and apply to more schools, while others just can't swing that many secondaries if they don't have FAP, so they are forced to apply to fewer schools, but that's really the sweet spot to do everything reasonable to avoid being a reapplicant just based on not having a sufficient number of irons in the fire.

technically i have 0 schools in my range, hence the desire for 1-on-1 communication. i've gotten advice from a WAMC, but i'm left with about 40 schools. while i make solid money, i'm also hoping to not blow $5600 on primaries and secondaries alone, so i'd prefer to get a more reasonable idea of what individual schools are keyed in for.

 

[KnightDoc]

technically i have 0 schools in my range, hence the desire for 1-on-1 communication. i've gotten advice from a WAMC, but i'm left with about 40 schools. while i make solid money, i'm also hoping to not blow $5600 on primaries and secondaries alone, so i'd prefer to get a more reasonable idea of what individual schools are keyed in for.

Sorry, I had no idea. You are 1,000% correct about not pissing away thousands of dollars on a possible lost cause.

In this case, I stand by what I said about you only getting happy talk in a publicly accessible AAMC event (because everyone can see the conversation real-time, they are archived for people to see later, and they don't want to discourage people from applying). In your situation, I'd reach out personally to a sampling of schools to have a one-on-one with an admissions officer to ask for a candid assessment on whether applying would be a waste of time and money.

No guarantees they'll either take the call or be honest, but that's your best shot to get actionable guidance beyond just spending the money and seeing what happens. In any event, 40 just sounds like a lot to me, so I'd save you $2,000 by reducing to the mid-20s. I understand the theory that more is always better, but I personally believe in the law of diminishing returns. I don't think 40 sets of secondaries can possibly each be as good as 25.

 

[Shunsui]

Is there any advantage to attending this if you know your school list already?

 

[deleted555445]

Is there any advantage to rabbit this if you know your school list already?

probably not, unless you have questions about specific programs at different schools you might have to apply for (i.e. curriculum tracks etc)

 

[KnightDoc]

Is there any advantage to rabbit this if you know your school list already?

Nope. I did them last year. It's the same questions you see here every day, over and over and over and over, in every single room. No harm in signing up and popping in to see for yourself, but there is no need to plan on blocking out the day in order to give yourself a huge advantage next cycle. 🙂