Aoa

[sore eye asses]

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I asked this question in another forum and didn't get a great answer. I'm wondering when/how to add AOA if my school doesn't give it til late sept.

Should I submit ERAS on sept 1st, then update progs if I get AOA?

Or wait til late sept to submit ERAS after I find out my AOA status?

Thanks

 

[sensitive skin]

Wait until late Sept. Derm progs want to see the whole package first time around -- don't want to risk getting the cut prematurely.

 

[Dermguy]

Wait until late Sept. Derm progs want to see the whole package first time around -- don't want to risk getting the cut prematurely.

Amen

 

[sore eye asses]

just found out today that it might not be til mid october that i find out. really, should i wait this long? what about the TY prog I'm also applying to? can i afford to wait til mid oct? and how many progs really decide to eliminate people before oct 1st anyway? I thought many of them waited for MSPE to come out nov. 1st.

 

[dermRus]

Truth is that there are a few programs that will send out interviews earlier because they look at the apps before the Dean's letter is out. Honestly you're probably already at a disadvantage at those programs since your app won't say AOA on it if you submit early. There aren't that many schools that check early though but you have to mentally be prepared (especially if you frequent this forum regularly) when you see people starting to list up the early interviews that they have gotten.

There's no right answer here if we're talking about waiting into the middle of October. You might want to find out the exact date but most programs don't look at your app until the Dean's letter and maybe you're Dean's letter is going to state that you are AOA in it somewhere if you are chosen to be a part of AOA.

So that you know, I submitted in late September and I don't think I was any worse off for it...I actually was probably a little stronger for it. But when you start talking mid October it's a little less clear cut...I would suggest that you post your question to the DIGA forum and see what answers you get from other program directors.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

 

[sore eye asses]

DIGA forum?

 

[dermRus]

DIGA stands for Dermatology Interest Group Association. Google them and it will take you to their forum. The organizers have done a nice job there in giving an opportunity to ask participating derm program directors questions that they then answer.

 

[kralwok]

posting this on diga's forum is a good idea.
i'm not sure i'd wait til mid-october. some programs have deadlines then (e.g. penn). i am pretty sure you can change that part of your application later. so you can first put that aoa is decided senior year. then if you get it, you can update it to say that you were elected. that's what i had planned to do when i initially applied but then didn't end up getting aoa (despite being nominated for both junior and senior aoa and having the grades and extra-curriculars and test scores, but that's a different story -- yeah, i'm a bit bitter but have almost let go of it).

 

[sensitive skin]

It was the last week of September when AOA came out; I was 99% certain that I'd be AOA so I waited because I had the "feeling" that programs would cut if AOA didn't show up the first time.

No problems for me. Received 12 invites, almost all of them on the "first" set of invites to go out. Gosh, I feel inadequate compared to some of the peeps here on SDN. 😉

If you're >90% sure you'll make AOA, you should wait.

 

[Cheebs09]

I wasn't AOA. My school didn't post senior AOA until late so I was able to choose the option "school didn't elect senior AOA yet." I agree that AOA is important, but if you're not AOA it's not the end of the world!, especially if you have other parts of your application to lean on.

I actually submitted a little late (end of Sept) because I was waiting for a publication. This caused no problems for derm interviews (just don't miss any deadlines), but it was a different story for internship interviews. Being relatively late, there were less interview dates to choose from and I had to select some dates in Dec/Jan which was very painful at times working around the derm interview schedule. Not fun. Bottom line, get it in as soon as possible.