Prehealth Committee

[187]

Is it detrimental to apply to med school without a Pre Health committee letter? Can I still apply without that letter?

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[puffy1]

It depends. If your school has a pre-health committee, med schools prefer that you get a letter from them. If not, then they want you to go through the 3 science, 2 non-science recommendation route.

You can still apply without the committee letter, but they may ask you why you decided not to get one and/or put a hold on your application until you do get one in.

Originally posted by 187:
Is it detrimental to apply to med school without a Pre Health committee letter? Can I still apply without that letter?

 

[WingZero]

187 - I also read your post about the SUNY Buffalo/Syracuse early acceptance programs and if you're thinking about applying to those programs without a committee letter, don't. I tried that stunt a few years ago - they wouldn't take my application even though I had letters from three different faculty members. I was a bit late in the game in terms of the application and basically the Pre Health Committee at my college screwed me over by saying it was too close to the deadline when in fact there was over two weeks... You need that committee letter.

 

[doctorperez]

In many instances the pre-med committees and the obsession of some med schools with their existence serve only to allow the formation of "mafiosos" , to whom you must subdue , on the part of the committee members . (if you know what I mean!)

 

[187]

Thank you very much for your advice. I'm just a bit upset that I lost this opportunity to apply for early assurance, given that if I had been accepted i wouldn't have had to take the mcat exam.

Well, I think I'll concentrate on grades and community service. Thanks again

 

[turtleboard]

My understanding is that med schools will not accept your application if your school DOES HAVE A COMMITTEE and you didn't get a recommendation from them. You CANNOT substitute 3 science/2 non-science letters for a committee letter so long as your school has a committee.

As for the SUNY Buffalo EAP program, it's open to all students in all colleges. You don't even have to be a NYS resident to apply! I don't think it's particularly selective though, but that may be because it's got such a small applicant pool. I know a guy who went to a rinky-dink college, scored just over 1,000 on the SATs, but had a 4.0GPA and got in.

Tim W. of N.Y.C.

 

[gower]

Something to keep in mind about "early assurance." It may be in the fine print, but it requires that the acceptee maintain a given standard of grades, and if MCAT scores are part of the contract, acceptable scores. If not, the "assurance" is void. If a medical school oversubscribes the number of early assurees it is because past experience gives them an idea of how nuch attrition to expect.
All of these kinds of programs are at least in part recruitment tools for the undergraduate college, in part to lock in excellent medical school candidates (although there is usually an escape clause for the student) and in part to cut down on some of the time and expense later in considering and interviewing a larger number of applicants in the general pool.
Buyer beware; read the fine print.