Possible to apply SMP without applying to Medical School?

[theCLE]

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Does anyone know if an SMP will accept a student if he/she has not applied to medical school yet, but has an MCAT score. Basically, I would like to apply to an SMP, do well, and get in their medical program later. A few schools, like Toledo and UC offer something (at least I'm pretty sure) where if you do well, you receive an interveiw (toldeo). I believe there are other circumstances for UC.

Is this a possibility? I know it's common to apply to med school while applying to SMPs if you have a gap year (which I have). I would just like to focus my time on taking the MCAT (april) and not have to worry about amcas app.

what do you all think??? thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

The only SMP I know of that requires a med school app cycle is Tulane ACP (you are eligible there only by being on a med school waitlist).

Filling out AMCAS prior to applying to an SMP is a good idea regardless, because then you've organized everything you need for an SMP app. You don't have to submit your app, just fill one out.

You can't bypass doing AMCAS during an SMP, not if you want to go straight into med school after the SMP. They're not going to do off-the-record admissions for you.

Best of luck to you.

 

[theCLE]

AMCAS allows you to submit your LOR to as many schools as possible, right? so your professors, or letter committee uploads the LOR, and those can go right to SMP's as well?

 

[DrMidlife]

AMCAS allows you to submit your LOR to as many schools as possible, right? so your professors, or letter committee uploads the LOR, and those can go right to SMP's as well?

Hmm, that's a tough one. I'm not sure you can use the AMCAS letter service without submitting the app, which costs I think $130. I also think that AMCAS will only send letters to pre-defined med school admissions offices, which are separate from SMP admissions offices.

You could use Interfolio for now - they'll forward letters to AMCAS when you're ready. (I did this last year.) There's a small startup fee and a small per-letter fee, which aren't going to add up to $130 unless you're applying to a dozen SMPs.

 

[theCLE]

How did you submit your letters to your SMPs? excuse my ignorance, but what's the point of having interfolio send your letters to amcas? If I submit the app, then I can use the letter service to send LORs to SMPs?

ps, your MDapp is very interesting, thanks for all your help so far!

 

[deleted248403]

AMCAS doesn't send letters to SMPs - You do

I sent my letters to SMPs the old fashioned way.

 

[DrMidlife]

How did you submit your letters to your SMPs? excuse my ignorance, but what's the point of having interfolio send your letters to amcas? If I submit the app, then I can use the letter service to send LORs to SMPs?

AMCAS's letter service is a new thing, and it's specific to med school admission (which are not SMP admissions). For the last dozen years, letter services called Interfolio and Virtual Evals were the standard, and they're still what I use by default. The whole point of Interfolio & VE is to let your letter writers send just one letter, confidentially, which you can then forward without seeing it, to pretty much anybody you want, for about $5 a pop. That's all they do. A lot of med schools will still take letters from Interfolio or VE as well as from AMCAS.

If (as I suspect) you have to submit AMCAS to get access to the AMCAS letter service, I think that's a really huge hammer hitting a very small nail.

If you submit an AMCAS now, that's a 2011 app. You can't use it for 2012, you have to resubmit. You don't have to fill everything out again, but you have to pay again. And as I mentioned, I don't think you can use AMCAS to send letters to SMP offices.

So I'm recommending that you use Interfolio or VE, and an unsubmitted AMCAS 2011 app to apply to SMPs pretty soon. In May/June, you can start and submit your 2012 AMCAS app for reals, and you can request Interfolio/VE to forward letters so that they are also in the AMCAS system.

If you go to aamc.org and interfolio.com you'll see what's up.

Best of luck to you.

 

[DrMidlife]

Oh wow, I think AMCAS is even more restrictive than I said above. I think AMCAS will only forward letters to MD schools you've applied to. So AMCAS letter service won't work at all for SMP apps.

Anybody see this differently?

 

[deleted248403]

Nope - you are right Midlife

Im baffled as to why this is even a thread. The only place where I could see where you might not need to send a separate thing to an SMP is for the Tulane program.

Other then that, you can't (as far as I know) use AMCAS for SMPs

 

[DrMidlife]

Nope - you are right Midlife

Im baffled as to why this is even a thread. The only place where I could see where you might not need to send a separate thing to an SMP is for the Tulane program.

Other then that, you can't (as far as I know) use AMCAS for SMPs

No, you can't apply using AMCAS as a service, but everything you do in an AMCAS app you have to do in an SMP app. Pretty much.

EVMS asks for your AMCAS report if you have one. IIRC Tulane ACP & Tufts did too. Maybe Cincy.

 

[deleted248403]

Right its the same stuff but you can't use AMCAS to apply to SMPs