Hello everyone,
I hope that the following advice will help you with your applications.
I hope that the following advice will help you with your applications.
- Please do not rush to complete/edit your personal statement and activities session in a slipshod manner just to get your AMCAS submitted early. It did open today, but if you don't get it in today, that's perfectly ok. Anything to early July will give you a similar advantage as would submitting immediately. After that, you'll see some declines, but if you are submitting before then, take your time and don't edit frantically; it will probably diminish the quality of your writing.
- Please do not exaggerate or inflate your hours. Medical schools can and will follow up with supervisors to verify what you actually say.
- Do your research on the medical schools before you start writing your secondaries (which will likely not go out until July). A moving secondary application is great, but one that also reflects values and missions that align with the particular school will benefit you as well. Don't write a sappy love letter in your secondary applications ("X school was meant for me!"). Instead, thoughtfully show the school why you are a good fit for them and why they are a good fit for you.
- For those of you submitting many applications, don't rush the secondaries either. They should be polished and thoughtful. Like the primary, a rushed one will probably be worse off than one that is submitted after some time spent with quality work.
- Don't submit your first or second secondaries right away! You will find that as you write one, then two, then three, then four, etc. all with similar (or different!) prompts that you'll have come up with new ways of phrasing things or new ideas to write about that you didn't have for the first secondary. Wait so that several of your secondaries have "ripened".
- Be mindful of your social media presence. If you say offensive or rude things on a public platform like Facebook, admissions committee members will be able to find out. Even if your privacy settings are strong or even if you are posting in a private chat/group, all it takes is one "friend" to screenshot it, send it to X medical school, and you'll be rejected. Life lesson in general.
- Practice interviews with medical students, faculty, mentors, etc.
- If you are going to provide updates, make sure they are meaningful. Admissions committees don't want to be spammed with insignificant things.
