so confused about application process

[AppleseedCast]

I was wondering if someone who has gone through this process could give some details on it. For example, do LORS go wiht secondaries or primaries? when does one fill out primaries, what do they involve? can this form be filled out before the june application system opening? little things like this? When do interviews typically occur? etc. thanks all!

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[Tired Pigeon]

I was wondering if someone who has gone through this process could give some details on it. For example, do LORS go wiht secondaries or primaries? when does one fill out primaries, what do they involve? can this form be filled out before the june application system opening? little things like this? When do interviews typically occur? etc. thanks all!

LORs are generally requested as part of secondary applications.
Primary applications are the standardized AMCAS (except for TX) - I think you can't submit it before June.
Interviews usually start in the fall.

 

[psipsina]

I was wondering if someone who has gone through this process could give some details on it. For example, do LORS go wiht secondaries or primaries? when does one fill out primaries, what do they involve? can this form be filled out before the june application system opening? little things like this? When do interviews typically occur? etc. thanks all!

LOR are sent by your school usually concurrent with the primary application submission. You can check out the AMCAS website and it will give you more details about the specifics of the primary application. You should definitely be writing your personal statement ahead of time so you can go thru alot of drafts and you can see the character limit and prompt on the AMCAS website. Schools will send you secondaries either when they recieve your primary from amcas, or after reviewing your primary if they screen before they invite people to do secondaries. You will then write more essays and send them money, often to never hear from them until May or be immediately rejected, it feels awful but it happens to everyone. I think the earliest interviews are within the weird alternate universe of the texas schools, which have their own seperate primary application and a match system. My earliest interview was in late August and I saw a poster who got an interview invite today so apparently they can go all the way thru April. You can hold multiple acceptances until May 15th at which point you have to withdraw from all but one acceptance (and usually make a deposit to that one school), though you can still hold waitlists until you actually matriculate (as in your but is in a seat during orientation).

 

[YourGoldTeeth]

If your university has a premed advisor, make an appointment. They generally handle the LOR's, or will handle the committee letter (depending on your institution).

 

[AppleseedCast]

so do pre-med committee letters get sent in way past the june date of when AMCAS opens up the application (i.e. with teh secondaries?)

do you guys know if its possible to fill out the AMCAS ahead of time and just hit submit when JUNE 1 rolls around?

 

[mongrel]

I was wondering regarding fall interviews -- do they usually fall on weekends? How much class did you have to miss over the course of your traveling/interviewing?

 

[psipsina]

I was wondering regarding fall interviews -- do they usually fall on weekends? How much class did you have to miss over the course of your traveling/interviewing?

Interviews are usually on weekdays because thats when the adcomms, proffessors and students are there. I usually took 2 days for each interview, one day to travel and one day to interview and fly back if possible. You can sometimes consolidate more than one interview into a single trip which can be helpful timewise. I didn't apply while in UG but I had plenty of friends who did and everything was fine, perhaps a bit more stressful.

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

so do pre-med committee letters get sent in way past the june date of when AMCAS opens up the application (i.e. with teh secondaries?)

do you guys know if its possible to fill out the AMCAS ahead of time and just hit submit when JUNE 1 rolls around?

Yes, I believe the 2008 AMCAS is available May 3rd, so you can fill it out in May and submit June 1. Definitely go to www.amcas.org because it'll give you all the info you need.

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

I was wondering regarding fall interviews -- do they usually fall on weekends? How much class did you have to miss over the course of your traveling/interviewing?

Always on weekdays.

I had 7 interviews, so I missed about 11 days of school (some were local so I didn't take off days to travel). The key is just to be organized and plan things out. Get a calendar and mark all your school stuff on it (as well as other important dates), and then use this when you're scheduling your interviews. Profs will generally be cool about this, but you need to be on the ball. You need to let them know ahead of time, and if there's no way to avoid missing something important in class, you need to work it out in advance in way that makes the prof's life easier.

Just be organized, plan ahead, and you'll have no problem.

 

[QuakerPreMed]

Just be organized, plan ahead, and you'll have no problem.

This man/woman speaks the truth. Tell your professors upfront what's going on. Also, this may appear obvious, but try to schedule interviews at nearby schools (ie all the schools in NYC) around the same time, to cut down on travel cost and time. I hit two NY schools back to back on one trip and it saved me $300 in plane tickets. I did a similar thing with Boston schools.

Depending on your undergraduate school, see if you can schedule interviews around holidays. For example, I interviewed at one school when my school was out for Thanksgiving Break (the Monday before Thanksgiving; we get a whole week off). Also, the beginning of winter break, or the very end of break after New Years, are good times as well.

 

[baylormed]

I was wondering regarding fall interviews -- do they usually fall on weekends? How much class did you have to miss over the course of your traveling/interviewing?

Almost always on weekdays, although I did have one school that interviewed on Saturdays.

Try to schedule as few classes, and especially few labs, as possible, since labs you are usually not allowed to miss and have to end up rescheduling pretty often. Also, ask around to see if the professors are okay with absences or not.

 

[Dr.Detroit]

Last fall I stacked up my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Worked well.

 

[63768]

time you miss from class/work depends on how many interviews you receive.