premed committees

[futuremsfdoc]

out of curiosity, how many of y'all have premed committees?

if you do, do they interview you?

if they interview you, how challenging is the interview?

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my school does (state university in missouri) and they gave me a very, very hard interview. hope i answered everything well...

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[akpete]

My school (MN State) has a pre-med committee that interviews you in preparation for your LOR. I haven't had it yet (having a hard time scheduling it ), but I guess it's really casual - more of a "get to know you better" kind of thing.

 

[jazger]

out of curiosity, how many of y'all have premed committees?

if you do, do they interview you?

if they interview you, how challenging is the interview?

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my school does (state university in missouri) and they gave me a very, very hard interview. hope i answered everything well...

My school has a pre-med committee complete with interview. Mine is next Friday, but I have heard they are hard as well.

I'm sure you did great!

 

[JDAWG07]

Penn State's committee requires an interview after you have all of your individual LORs in. It is really easy and casual - they just want to have a face to match to their files and to clarify any questions they may have about your application before they write their letter.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Nothing like that at here, can't afford it.

 

[ShyRem]

No committee here. But we have "advisors" and a "pre-med club". The advisors are OK, but really are just there to make sure that you fulfill all the pre-med requirements. Most of them are biology professors and ask "why aren't you a biology major?" If you know what you're doing and aren't going to cave under the "biology" pressure, then they're pretty good.

The main thing that rather stinks about no committee is you have to ask your professors to send out their letters to ALL THOSE D*** schools that don't screen anymore! So instead of them sending out letters to 5 or 8 schools that are really interested, you have to ask all three professors to send out letters to 20 schools that are just going to say "no thanks" the minute they deposit your check.

 

[47534]

Hopkins won't let anyone use their committe if they don't think the applicant has a good shot of getting in (which is probably why it has such a high success rate for students getting accepted). But basically once you are allowed to use the committee, you interview with a professor, and it's more of a get-to-know-you-better kind of interview. You submit a tedious questionnaire asking you about your life experiences, extracurriculars, interests, reasons for med school, etc., along with an autobiography and your LORs (2 science and 2 non-science profs). All your LORs will be submitted with the committee letter (basically just a cover letter summarizing all the info you gave them), so your committee member, while s/he can't tell you what the letters say, may ask you to get a new letter if one of them is not so flattering. The committee letter is supposed to be positive, so it was definitely a no-stress interview. It's a lot of work with a lot of strict deadlines, but apparently the Hopkins pre-med committee is highly regarded (or so they tell us ).

 

[45408]

My pre-med advisor is the bomb - she does it full-time and sends out information on all kinds of worthwhile endeavors. We've also got a pre-med branch of AMSA that does a variety of things. What exactly are these committees you guys are talking about? Practice interviews?

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

The "committee" interviews each pre-med. For example, I interviewed with two advisors, one of them being the department chair for the Honors College. They ask hard questions about your application to prepare you for the real thing.

But it's not just practice, because they write a summary letter regarding your application and append it to your letters of recommendation. You do not get to read the summary letter, and the summary is, from what I understand, quite frank. If you're "middle of the pack" relative to the other Pre-Meds from your school, they say as much. If you're not as good an applicant, they say as much.

Generally, medical schools expect to receive your letters of recommendation from your pre-med committee, if it is known to exist. The committee will not send your letters of recommendation without conducting an interview and writing their own letter. Thus, it is basically a required additional step.

Bypassing the committee by using a third party service is frowned upon by nearby schools that have acknowledged the credibility of the pre-med committee.

For example, here at Mizzou, if you bypass the committee, you can expect Mizzou, SLU and Wash U to notice since they get so many applicants from here and they acknowledge the value of the committee letter.

 

[BeatArmy]

So instead of them sending out letters to 5 or 8 schools that are really interested, you have to ask all three professors to send out letters to 20 schools that are just going to say "no thanks" the minute they deposit your check.

As someone alluded to, there is another option. There are letter services. Your writers send one letter to the service. They then make the copies and package the letters to send to the myriad of schools. You give them the address and which letters you want sent to a particular school, and they do it.
If your school has a committee, it is better to use them, as was mentioned, because schools will notice if you don't. But if my school didn't have a committee, I would definitely be using a service rather than asking my boss, my teachers, the surgeon I shadowed, etc to send a bunch of letters.

 

[futuremsfdoc]

The "committee" interviews each pre-med. For example, I interviewed with two advisors, one of them being the department chair for the Honors College. They ask hard questions about your application to prepare you for the real thing.

But it's not just practice, because they write a summary letter regarding your application and append it to your letters of recommendation. You do not get to read the summary letter, and the summary is, from what I understand, quite frank. If you're "middle of the pack" relative to the other Pre-Meds from your school, they say as much. If you're not as good an applicant, they say as much.

Generally, medical schools expect to receive your letters of recommendation from your pre-med committee, if it is known to exist. The committee will not send your letters of recommendation without conducting an interview and writing their own letter. Thus, it is basically a required additional step.

Bypassing the committee by using a third party service is frowned upon by nearby schools that have acknowledged the credibility of the pre-med committee.

For example, here at Mizzou, if you bypass the committee, you can expect Mizzou, SLU and Wash U to notice since they get so many applicants from here and they acknowledge the value of the committee letter.

this is exactly what i don't understand. why would a school want to hinder your chances of acceptance to med school? it seems to me that at all the good schools out east, the general attitude is, "if you want to go to med school, we'll get you in." my brother told me that's how it is at duke, and from talking to people who go to these fancy schools it seems the same all around. however, what you mentioned is what i've heard about the committee. in fact, one of the advisors said, and this is a direct quote, "up until the interview we're your champions--we're here to encourage you. after the interview, we realistically evaluate your candidacy and discuss your strengths and weaknesses in the committee letter."

it just seems unfair to me, and that the honors college should be there to get people into med school or to at the very minimum write an regular letter highlighting gpa, mcat, extracurriculars and some excerpts from other letters. they should not say things like, and this is another direct quote, "well compared to most students, john doe is below average on healthcare involvement (they really love their shadowing, which imho is the most ridiculous aspect of the whole premed thing...it's awkward, it doesn't teach compassion, it interferes with patient's and docotor's days)." this letter just makes me so angry.

thanks for listening.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

I view it as being analogous to the +/- grading system. If you're better than average, the committee strongly helps - they have a reputation, the medical schools know they won't "highly recommend" somebody that doesn't deserve it. So if the school sees this in your letter, that increases your chances of admission. Their credibility works to your advantage.

However, if you really are below average, then it works against you. Their credibility becomes a weapon.

I'm not sure whether they view their job as being "to get as many Mizzou students into medical school as possible" or "to make sure that our applicants don't embarass the institution and potentially harm patients". I take it they view themselves as another weed-out layer rather than a champion of your cause.