Reaching out to medical schools...could use some advice!

[onlyhope271]

I'm currently in a graduate program, and I intend to apply to medical schools in June. I'm retaking my MCAT in May, I have 3 or 4 LORs so far, and I'm working on my personal statement. A friend of mine told me it would be a good idea to reach out to medical schools I intend to apply to and let them know about my credentials, GPA, and express my interest in applying to that school. I'm hoping I could try to set up a meeting in-person or phone interview to talk about certain areas of my application that I have concerns with. Ultimately, I want to maintain contact with these schools, updating them throughout the process, so that they will "remember me" when they are making decisions.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could go about contacting the medical schools? Should I wait until I my MCAT retake score in June (my old one was bad, so I'd rather not mention it), or should I start emailing schools as soon as possible?

Also, should I be contacting anyone specifically, like the dean or associate dean of admissions, or the admissions coordinator, etc.?

Also, if you have any experiences to share from contacting schools, I would really appreciate it!!

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[candbgirl]

Who told you this? Is your friend in Med School admissions?


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[piii]

Your friend is delusional. These people have jobs to do, they can't keep in contact or remember everyone that tries to establish a relationship with them. You can try but it's not going to really help.

 

[osckey]

In terms of "face value", I think the only option would be to attend events hosted by the schools themselves. However, I doubt that would give you a marked advantage when applying. Also, many schools have a policy where they do not appreciate unsolicited phone calls.

Work hard, do well on the MCAT, and show commitment to medicine through your EC's. That seems to be the winning formula for admission.

 

[danib2k15]

Absolutely do not do this. It's hard enough to find schools that will give feedback to applicants who were not accepted after interviewing let alone before. Get your application together, speak with your pre-med advisors, post on here if you want to identify any weak points. Submit your primary early, pre-write secondaries and submit early, then wait it out. Only send updates to schools if they are worthy (there are plenty of posts here on what is appropriate to send an update). It's a long process but you just have to try to be calm and wait it out. If "enthusiasm" and "persistence" would help, then these poor admissions people would lose their minds.

 

[gyngyn]

I can't imagine any school wants you to "reach out to them."
What on earth would you say?

 

[Goro]

It's not the job of Admissions Deans or their staff to give you counseling in med school admissions. That's what your own advisors are for. Your friend is, sorry to say, woefully ignorant.

I'm currently in a graduate program, and I intend to apply to medical schools in June. I'm retaking my MCAT in May, I have 3 or 4 LORs so far, and I'm working on my personal statement. A friend of mine told me it would be a good idea to reach out to medical schools I intend to apply to and let them know about my credentials, GPA, and express my interest in applying to that school. I'm hoping I could try to set up a meeting in-person or phone interview to talk about certain areas of my application that I have concerns with. Ultimately, I want to maintain contact with these schools, updating them throughout the process, so that they will "remember me" when they are making decisions.

Does anyone have any advice on how I could go about contacting the medical schools? Should I wait until I my MCAT retake score in June (my old one was bad, so I'd rather not mention it), or should I start emailing schools as soon as possible?

Also, should I be contacting anyone specifically, like the dean or associate dean of admissions, or the admissions coordinator, etc.?

Also, if you have any experiences to share from contacting schools, I would really appreciate it!!

 

[piii]

I can't imagine any school wants you to "reach out to them."
What on earth would you say?

Hi, I'm a sophomore premed and I'm really really interested in your school!!! It's my top choice!!! I have a 3.9 GPA all honors and I'm still preparing for my MCAT but I hope to get a top score! - Are you writing this all down? - what's your phone number so we can text? I can send you updates with every grade! I need friends!!

 

[onlyhope271]

Wow...was not expecting this. My friend was speaking from experience...he had contacted a medical school he was interested in applying to but he was worried about his credentials. After emailing the dean of admissions, he was able to set up a phone interview, and it was extremely helpful. He said that keeping in contact with people makes a huge difference, and he was accepted into that very school.

 

[onlyhope271]

Hi, I'm a sophomore premed and I'm really really interested in your school!!! It's my top choice!!! I have a 3.9 GPA all honors and I'm still preparing for my MCAT but I hope to get a top score! - Are you writing this all down? - what's your phone number so we can text? I can send you updates with every grade! I need friends!!

This is almost EXACTLY what I'm thinking of sending to schools. You read my mind completely. Thanks friend!

 

[Lawpy]

Wow...was not expecting this. My friend was speaking from experience...he had contacted a medical school he was interested in applying to but he was worried about his credentials. After emailing the dean of admissions, he was able to set up a phone interview, and it was extremely helpful. He said that keeping in contact with people makes a huge difference, and he was accepted into that very school.

Why have an admissions committee when you can just reach out to the Dean of Admissions?

 

[jojo58]

You'd get more useful feedback if you posted your stats and school list in the WAMC forum. Medical schools get thousands of apps each year so it's unlikely they'll remember you.

 

[candbgirl]

I can't even begin to imagine how the Deans or whoever you want to establish this relationship with could possibly have the time to do this. If your friend is being truthful i think your friend is not telling you the whole story. Maybe his contact is a family friend or someone he knows personally. When schools have thousands of applications to review and consider it is highly doubtful they could do this-what if every applicant decided to do this thing?


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[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Fwiw, I have at least seen a few other people on this site say that they discussed their app with an Admissions Dean prior to applying. My guess is that it's still probably a pretty rare occurrence and something that's more likely to happen if you have some connections at the school. OP, IF you decide to attempt this, I wouldn't go into it with very high expectations. As others have said, Deans and adcoms are insanely busy wading through the thousands of applications they receive each year and it's really not their responsibility to help you craft a solid application. And it's definitely not their responsibility to "maintain contact" with you before the admissions cycle (or even during it, as those of us who applied 8 months ago and still haven't heard anything back can attest...). Contacting a school once may be fine but repeated contact could make you seem annoying and you don't want to annoy the people who will soon decide if you get to be a doctor. You have plenty of other resources at your disposal. Every school you apply to will know that you're interested... because you'll have applied there!