rec letters

[blackkilo]

Hey guys I have a a couple of questions,

I want to apply as early in the cycle as possible, but I have two problems. One I do not have much clinical experience, as I was hoping to get that this semester, in the form of shadowing and floor volunteering. Another problem is my letters of recommedation are not all in yet. Do you need all letters before you could submit the primary amcas application? Also, would it be smarter of me to wait a month or two to get some more volunteer experience, and apply in july or august or to apply early with limited volunteering experience?

thanks

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[MonkeyNuts!]

Hey guys I have a a couple of questions,

I want to apply as early in the cycle as possible, but I have two problems. One I do not have much clinical experience, as I was hoping to get that this semester, in the form of shadowing and floor volunteering. Another problem is my letters of recommedation are not all in yet. Do you need all letters before you could submit the primary amcas application? Also, would it be smarter of me to wait a month or two to get some more volunteer experience, and apply in july or august or to apply early with limited volunteering experience?

thanks

You don't need all your rec letters submitted to finish your primary application. For your file to be reviewed however, you need them. A month or two volunteer experience won't do jack, if you are serious about it (and if your other stats aren't as good) you are better off taking a whole year. If you are set on applying this cycle, one or two months of volunteering won't do anything. Applying as early as you can is worth much more.

Hard to say what the best path for you would be without knowing the rest of your stats.

 

[twohearted]

Send in AMCAS when you want, though the sooner, the better. Recs are not a part of the primary process. They are turned in later individually to each school, I think with your secondaries, though I believe they can be sent in even later than that. Your file just wont be ready for complete review.

 

[blackkilo]

the rest of my stats are pretty good, i got 34 and have like a 3.8 gpa. I do have research experience, and tutoring and stuff, just no volunteering.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

hmmm lack of clinical experience may raise some eyebrows, basically you will get questions like "why MD and not PhD since you have research" and you may not have an answer since you didn't do clinical...

Your stats are still pretty competitive, I think you can definitely get in without the clinical, and applying early will help you. Still, start volunteering anyway, perhaps by interview time you will have some nice anecdotes.

 

[twohearted]

hmmm lack of clinical experience may raise some eyebrows, basically you will get questions like "why MD and not PhD since you have research" and you may not have an answer since you didn't do clinical...

Your stats are still pretty competitive, I think you can definitely get in without the clinical, and applying early will help you. Still, start volunteering anyway, perhaps by interview time you will have some nice anecdotes.

Yeah, this sound about right.

 

[Anka]

hmmm lack of clinical experience may raise some eyebrows, basically you will get questions like "why MD and not PhD since you have research" and you may not have an answer since you didn't do clinical...

Your stats are still pretty competitive, I think you can definitely get in without the clinical, and applying early will help you. Still, start volunteering anyway, perhaps by interview time you will have some nice anecdotes.

Just want to give another perpsective than the above. With those stats, clinical volunteering is nice and all, but when people say "Why MD not research" you just need to have an answer ("For me, the two are linked. During experience X, I developed a primary focus on direct patient care, but in order to improve that care, I envision a career in academic medicine where research will be an integral part of my practice..." in broad strokes. Of course *you* have to be grammatical when you say it ). I'm sure you have enough experience to be able to describe why you want to be a doctor as well as anyone. The hundredth hour fetching juice for some patient in the ED really doesn't add too much more in the way of perspective. Research is just as valid a 'service to the community' as that.

I wouldn't delay getting your application in. By the time everything gets processed, you'll have your letters (hopefully you're just waiting to get them back, but even if you ask now a month is reasonable, two if you have to nag).

Best of luck with your applications!

Anka