Could you explain to me the application process to medical school?

[Barcu]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I have a few questions:
-How do you approach the committee? Do you just ask, then you go through the long process in order to get your LOR from them?
-Can you just send the other 3-4 LOR's when AMCAS opens so it will be early or do you have to include them with your committee letter.

-The only thing that bothers me is that everyone talks about using interfolio etc, but in reality you can just try to get a committee letter than they will send all your LOR's plus a committee letter themselves right? So you can basically can just sit back, while they send everything?

So if there is no committee, you do everything basically yourself right? Such as using interfolio and sending your LOR's to AMCAS while on the other hand, the committee sends all your LOR's+letter

Oh, the committee should be a well-established thing, and there should be set deadlines and guidelines. If your school has a committee letter process, you should know about it and know about it well in advance. If you don't know if your school has one, it most likely does not. Well, this was the case at my school, I guess I can't vouch for every school. Talk to your premed adviser specifically about it.

You cannot send the letters early before the committee letter as far as I know. If you look at many school websites under LORs, they all pretty much say X amounts of these letters OR a committee letter. As I understand it, a committee letter actually fulfills the requirements of pretty much every school (aka you do not need to worry about the LOR requirements from each individual school, a committee letter will suffice anywhere).

If you do a committee letter, you just turn everything into them. They write the letter and send it off for you.

Without a committee, I would assume you need to do a bit more work. Though, I bet even a pretty minimalist premed advising office would be able to help you use interfolio. I haven't done it, but it doesn't seem like a real complicated thing.

 

[deleted357625]

Oh, the committee should be a well-established thing, and there should be set deadlines and guidelines. If your school has a committee letter process, you should know about it and know about it well in advance. If you don't know if your school has one, it most likely does not. Well, this was the case at my school, I guess I can't vouch for every school. Talk to your premed adviser specifically about it.

You cannot send the letters early before the committee letter as far as I know. If you look at many school websites under LORs, they all pretty much say X amounts of these letters OR a committee letter. As I understand it, a committee letter actually fulfills the requirements of pretty much every school (aka you do not need to worry about the LOR requirements from each individual school, a committee letter will suffice anywhere).

If you do a committee letter, you just turn everything into them. They write the letter and send it off for you.

Without a committee, I would assume you need to do a bit more work. Though, I bet even a pretty minimalist premed advising office would be able to help you use interfolio. I haven't done it, but it doesn't seem like a real complicated thing.

Dang so it's sort of like a substitution for 3-4 LOR's


Yea interfolio is pretty easy, I mean i find it pretty easy just to get 4-5 LOR's then upload them on interfolio then send it, sounds so much easier. But i guess a committee letter is recommended

But thank you for clarifying.

 

[Barcu]

Dang so it's sort of like a substitution for 3-4 LOR's


Yea interfolio is pretty easy, I mean i find it pretty easy just to get 4-5 LOR's then upload them on interfolio then send it, sounds so much easier. But i guess a committee letter is recommended

But thank you for clarifying.

It is a substitution for the LORs. And again, I don't actually know the consequences, but from what I have heard through hearsay, you better have a darn good reason if your school offers a committee letter and you don't do it.

Med schools prefer them.

 

[CougarMD]

It is a substitution for the LORs. And again, I don't actually know the consequences, but from what I have heard through hearsay, you better have a darn good reason if your school offers a committee letter and you don't do it.

Med schools prefer them.

This. That was what I was trying to say but you said it so much better🙂 Thanks

 

[Doc of the Walk]

So let me get this straight, this is the basic outline of your average pre-med med school application process

1. 1st Year
   • Get good grades
   • Do EC's
   • Get Letters of Rec.
2. 2nd Year
   • Basically same as 1st Year
3. 3rd Year
   • Take MCAT
   • At the end of spring is when the AMCAS opens up, complete that as early as possible
   • Send off apps
4. 4th Year
   • Go to any interview invites that you want to
   • Recieve acceptances
   • Drink copious amounts of alcohol

Yes? No? Maybe so?

 

[CougarMD]

So let me get this straight, this is the basic outline of your average pre-med med school application process

1. 1st Year
   • Get good grades
   • Do EC's
   • Get Letters of Rec.
2. 2nd Year
   • Basically same as 1st Year
3. 3rd Year
   • Take MCAT
   • At the end of spring is when the AMCAS opens up, complete that as early as possible
   • Send off apps
4. 4th Year
   • Go to any interview invites that you want to
   • Recieve acceptances
   • Drink copious amounts of alcohol

Yes? No? Maybe so?

I was trying to figure out what to do tonight........looks like the decision was made for me. Thanks, universe.



Also...keep doing ECs and getting good grades 3rd and 4th year😉

 

[Barcu]

So let me get this straight, this is the basic outline of your average pre-med med school application process

1. 1st Year
   • Get good grades
   • Do EC's
   • Get Letters of Rec.
2. 2nd Year
   • Basically same as 1st Year
3. 3rd Year
   • Take MCAT
   • At the end of spring is when the AMCAS opens up, complete that as early as possible
   • Send off apps
4. 4th Year
   • Go to any interview invites that you want to
   • Recieve acceptances
   • Drink copious amounts of alcohol

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Pretty good. For the first two years, the number one priority should be grades. The second would be starting ECs.

Third and fourth year are about maintaining grades and ECs, as well as taking the MCAT (I took it fourth year).

LORs can be a bit tricky and certainly depends when you apply. LORs from the first two years may be a bit old by the time you apply (I don't think it's a huge problem but something I've thought about). As well, I went to a large state school, so I was in no position to get recs from those professors since I had 500 people in my class and I never went to office hours. I guess always be on the lookout for LORs but don't feel like you need to get them at a certain time. It's good to have them early though because delayed LORs is the number one thing I've seen that delays apps.

 

[CougarMD]

Also.....be a real human. Don't do an EC because it looks like what you should be doing.

I was talking to the head of volunteer services at the hospital I work at and we had a VERY lengthy talk about all of the premeds she sees. She said that the come in, they're not engaged, they are checking some box....and that is it. A lot of them don't end up getting into med school and it is because they are just there to be there. They are not there to learn or to make someone's day better.

So....pick something you will enjoy and learn from. And GO there to learn. Be active about it. Ask questions when appropriate and keep your mouth shut when appropriate. Go home and look up things you heard that day.

Doing an EC just to do an EC is lame, and when you write secondaries or talk in an interview....they will be able to tell.

 

[Doc of the Walk]

I was trying to figure out what to do tonight........looks like the decision was made for me. Thanks, universe.



Also...keep doing ECs and getting good grades 3rd and 4th year😉

Your welcome 🙂

Also.....be a real human. Don't do an EC because it looks like what you should be doing.

I was talking to the head of volunteer services at the hospital I work at and we had a VERY lengthy talk about all of the premeds she sees. She said that the come in, they're not engaged, they are checking some box....and that is it. A lot of them don't end up getting into med school and it is because they are just there to be there. They are not there to learn or to make someone's day better.

So....pick something you will enjoy and learn from. And GO there to learn. Be active about it. Ask questions when appropriate and keep your mouth shut when appropriate. Go home and look up things you heard that day.

Doing an EC just to do an EC is lame, and when you write secondaries or talk in an interview....they will be able to tell.

Ohhh yeah, I definitely learn my lesson from high school. Come end of junior/senior year, I realized I really didn't join that many clubs so I decided to join a couple just to have some filler. In the end it was a total waste of time.

 

[noshie]

I have a few questions:
-How do you approach the committee? Do you just ask, then you go through the long process in order to get your LOR from them?
-Can you just send the other 3-4 LOR's when AMCAS opens so it will be early or do you have to include them with your committee letter.

-The only thing that bothers me is that everyone talks about using interfolio etc, but in reality you can just try to get a committee letter than they will send all your LOR's plus a committee letter themselves right? So you can basically can just sit back, while they send everything?

So if there is no committee, you do everything basically yourself right? Such as using interfolio and sending your LOR's to AMCAS while on the other hand, the committee sends all your LOR's+letter

Your pre-health advisor at school should be able to tell you all about your schools committee, if your school even has one. Most schools have them. If you don’t have one, then just assemble your letters through interfolio and have them sent yourself. It’s a bit of a long process through the committee, but adcoms love the packet so it is well worth it.

The letters have to come with your committee letter, you can’t send them yourself and then have them wait for the committee letter too. If you don’t want to use the committee, you don’t have to. But again, it is best to do so.

Some committees use Interfolio or Virtual Evals. Its not like you sit back and wait for them to do everything, you have to constantly be in contact with your committee people (usually the pre-health advisor is the head of the committee) to make sure it all gets sent and that all of your professors have turned in their letters and stuff.

 

[noshie]

So let me get this straight, this is the basic outline of your average pre-med med school application process

1. 1st Year
   • Get good grades
   • Do EC's
   • Get Letters of Rec.
2. 2nd Year
   • Basically same as 1st Year
3. 3rd Year
   • Take MCAT
   • At the end of spring is when the AMCAS opens up, complete that as early as possible
   • Send off apps
4. 4th Year
   • Go to any interview invites that you want to
   • Recieve acceptances
   • Drink copious amounts of alcohol

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Wrong on getting the letters of rec... Most adcoms want to see letters that are less than a year old. This timeline would make the letter about 3 years old. Also, those letters from freshman year will not be good letters at all. You need to get the letters in the Spring semester before the Summer that you apply in. Build relationships with your professors and with people that you have ECs with. This will lay the groundwork for getting quality letters. Its all about quality when it comes to LORs...