Questions about MCW's secondary

[md2be06]

Ok, MCW's secondary is confusing me. They say they want us to input all of our pre-requisites. For example, they require 8 hours of biology, including 2 hrs of lab. I have 4 bio courses, 2 lectures and 2 labs. However, their application only has enough fields for 3 bio courses. This is causing me a problem when trying to enter my gen chem and physics courses as well. Anyone know how we're supposed to enter it? Also, what exactly do they mean by "letter writing service?" My school has a centralized office where students request the professors to send their letters. This office then sends the letter of recommendation file to the individuals schools. Is that what they mean or should I just give the names of the individual professors? Thanks.

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[md2be06]

Also, I noticed they state that they don't take AP credit in order to satisfy their pre-requisites, but do they make any exceptions? I decided to use my AP credit to get out of gen chem lab my first semester. Would they really reject my application because of 1 AP credit? Thanks.

 

[Scooby Doo]

At my college we don't even need a full year of General inorganic chemistry. I went to the pre med advisors and they told me just to get a letter from them saying it is okay to pass out and the medical schools won't mind. Might be different at your area.
MCW doesn't have a supplemental essay do they?
woohoo!

 

[md2be06]

No, they don't have an essay. The secondary is pretty straightforward in terms of what they're asking, the format just makes it more difficult than it needs to be. Still haven't figured out how to input 4 courses into 3 fields and that whole letter of rec deal has me confused.

 

[bubbaap]

Hey all. Is MCW's secondary app up online? If it is, could you post the site? Thanks!

 

[EricOH]

Hey md2be06,

I have the same exact questions regarding the secondary. I too have more than 3 courses to satisfy the required credit hours. And regarding the letters of rec, I'm from UCSD, they too have a centralized office where they gather all the letters and then send them out to the schools. ARGH...I thought that MCW was going to be simple. Anyhow, please help anybody thanks! The website for their secondary is:
www.mcw.edu/acad/admission/secondapp.htm

ON THEIR LETTER THEY STATED acad/admissions/
but it should be admission

Good luck all, talk to you later!

 

[pre-hawkdoc]

I haven't seen the app, but i'm guessing that they're gunning for the most basic bio classes that all pre-meds take regardless of major. obviously a bio major has numerous bio classes, but only bio I&II(at most schools, i think) are actually used to satisfy the med-requirement.
Just my opinion. Like I said, I haven't seen the app yet, nor am I on a first name basis with the pre-med gods, but I'm willing to guess that introductory bio classes would be sufficient (on the other hand, if you've taken advanced bio, you've probably taken the intro stuff, so...)

 

[md2be06]

I can put in BIO 1 and 2, but then they want both labs as well, and there's only 1 space left for 2 classes. It doesn't work. Also, they need to clarify the whole "letter writing service" deal. Anyone have any idea if they'll accept my 1 AP credit for chem lab? Thanks

 

[Scooby Doo]

They will be getting our transcript. They will see that it was a lab/lecture course. Just put the name of the course that you took. If it was an adjunct lab or something I would just put
Biology
and then for course # put "1A and 1ALab"
or something to that effect.
I mean, how much of A$$holes could they really be. They know everyone is going to put different $hit in there so oh well. Just put what you think is good.
Hell, my english courses are titled "poetry for the people" and "german fairy tales" ...I really don't think they are going to mind too much b/c once they get my transcript it will explain what I designated at "english" courses.

 

[mcwmark]

Don't stress out!

Just put whatever you can in that secondary form for the classes--it's just to see if you've filled the prereq classes, of course they will take a look at the transcript to verify the information. Realize that this is one of those pages that gets stuck in the file, and rarely gets looked at, so it's no big deal.

The letter writing service refers to the many schools that have to consolidate recommendation letters into one "cover" letter. Many schools (not just MCW) require that if your school has that pre-med committee, the letter must come from them.

Just put "University of California at LA Pre-medical Committee" or whatever. They'll know what you mean.

 

[md2be06]

Alright thanks. I guess I'll just put it into the same field. Also, my letters of recommendation aren't being consolidated into one big letter. The service we have just collects our letters, usually 2 science and 1 non-science, and forwards them to the schools we indicate. So I guess I need to input the individual names of my professors right?

 

[Smurfette]

What I did when I applied last year (having far more classes than they alloted for) is I filled out the space they provided for the classes. Then I wrote underneath "see attached page for additional classes". And I typed up all the "overflow" classes in a list. I did this for each category I had additional classes for.

I'm pretty sure that somewhere in last year's app it said to do this. Double check all the directions, etc. on this year's. If no mention of this is made, believe me, MCW would not penalize you for doing this--I think they'd appreciate the thoroughness over your omitting something.

For the person with the AP credit, MCW is serious about their policy. They wanted me to take 8 english credits b/c I tested out of english as an undergrad. Call up the admissions office and ask Sharon Carpenter for clarification. She will tell you what typically happens with people in your specific situation.

Hope this helps.

 

[Smurfette]

Oops, I need to further clarify on that AP credit subject for MD2Be.

MCW will NOT reject your application b/c of AP, CLEP or other advanced standing. However, if your classes do not fulfill their requirements as they want them, in your acceptance letter, it will say that your admission is contingent upon taking [x] number of credits in [subject] before you matriculate. There are some exceptions, but you need to talk to Sharon Carpenter in order to really find out about your situation and what you need to do to qualify for an exception.

Hopefully this answers your question...

 

[Scooby Doo]

I talked to Sharon Carpenter today a couple times. She was very nice and informative of what to put on the application. Basically, she informed me that we should just put Lecture and Lab if there was a course that included both of them. There were a few other things I asked her that slipped my mind...ask me questions if you need any answers...i might know them

 

[md2be06]

Thanks Smurfette. I appreciate the info. I would attach an additional sheet with my secondary, but it must be submitted online so that makes it kinda tough. Anyways, I'll give Sharon Carpenter a call to see what she wants me to do. I e-mailed her yesterday, but haven't heard anything as of yet.

 

[md2be06]

Just spoke with the admissions office. They told me to go ahead and apply, but if I'm accepted, I have to take the lab for credit. Not great, but I guess it's a compromise. That's about all I can ask for at this point. They also said they don't know when they'll be receiving stuff from AMCAS. Looks like AMCAS's goal of transmission by 7-15 wasn't accomplished. Can't say I'm surprised.

 

[Dylann FMD]

Ok, a couple probably "dumb" questions about the MCW secondary.

Is the AMCAS ID the same as the AAMC ID? On the AMCAS app, they always call it the latter, but the MCW app asks for the former.

At my undergrad, they do not have separate lab courses for bio, meaning BIO 312 is worth 4 credits, with 3 lecture and 1 lab. How do I fill that out in their spots to show that I do in fact have lab coursework?

 

[mcwmark]

Originally posted by Dylann FMD:
•Ok, a couple probably "dumb" questions about the MCW secondary.

Is the AMCAS ID the same as the AAMC ID? On the AMCAS app, they always call it the latter, but the MCW app asks for the former.

At my undergrad, they do not have separate lab courses for bio, meaning BIO 312 is worth 4 credits, with 3 lecture and 1 lab. How do I fill that out in their spots to show that I do in fact have lab coursework?•

I believe you are right about the AAMC ID. Go ahead and put that number.

For your second question, just type "with Lab" at the end of the class description. If there are any questions, they'll email you.

 

[mcwmark]

Originally posted by md2be06:
[QB]Just spoke with the admissions office. They told me to go ahead and apply, but if I'm accepted, I have to take the lab for credit. [QB]

When you are accepted, you have the option to defer for a year--so taking any additional courses will not be constrained by time.

 

[Dylann FMD]

Two more quick questions:

When it asks for "Biology total credit hours", should I enter the total hours I have in bio (30), total hours minus AP credit (26), or just the courses listed (8 or 12).

When it asks for the math requirement, does anything beyond HS algebra suffice (like Calculus), or should I specifically put HS alg?

Does filling out each course work section look good, or repetitive? Like if two courses fill up the 8 credits/two labs, should I add another just for good measure? Along that line, is analytical chem considered inorganic?

Okay that is 3+ questions, but thanks for any help.