transfer students eligible for AOA?

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zpdoc

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Does anyone know what happens with transfer students and AOA? If a student transfers after their second year, are they still eligible for AOA, and if so, how is AOA selection based for that student? Does their new school give equal weight to their 1st and 2nd year grades from their previous school?

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Transfers at Downstate are eligible to be elected to AOA.

Critera for election into AOA are different for each of the 125 US medical schools, so I doubt anyone can really comment on what kinds of grades you'd need or what the process would be. Our institution keeps the AOA stuff under wraps, and I doubt anyone except those in the group really know how they were selected.

Oh well... *I* certainly couldn't tell ya. :)
 
Sorry for sounding a bit ignorant, but what is AOA? :confused: I hear med students and residents talking about it every once in a while.
 
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Originally posted by lady bug
Sorry for sounding a bit ignorant, but what is AOA? :confused: I hear med students and residents talking about it every once in a while.
AOA=Alpha Omega Alpha; Medical School Honor Society (akin to Phi Beta Kappa in undergrad). Requirements vary; you can be elected in either 3rd or 4th year. *Most* US medical schools have chapters. Supposedly looks good on CVs.
 
And for the high school student who's about to ask "What's Phi Beta Kappa?" AOA is like Phi Beta Kappa which is a lot like high school honor societies such as "Arista," "Beta Club," or "Key Club."

As for AOA in med schools, I should modify my original statement. Not all 125 medical schools have a chapter of AOA. AOA policies at schools in terms of selection are different. AOA policies in terms of announcing who's who and who's not are equally different.

1. SOME schools will not announce which of their students are AOA until AFTER the all-important Dean's Letter is released.

2. SOME schools will not even announce who is AOA until AFTER the Match.

3. Then, of course, there are OTHERS who will announce AOA TWICE -- once in the middle of third year and then again right before the application/interview season for residency starts -- for some rather obvious benefit to the ultra-elite and just the regular elite, respectively. :)

In terms of AOA's importance on residency applications, for most of the competitive specialties and the choosy programs in the relatively non-competitive specialties, it's quite important. Heck, there's even a section on the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) form that asks about a student's AOA status.

A final note: Alpha Omega Alpha is only found in US Allopathic Med Schools. The Osteopathic Schools have their own version of AOA. I don't know how important the DO equivalent of AOA is in terms of application. Being an MD student who's a member of the American Osteopathic Association (also reduced to "AOA") does not warrant the checking of the AOA box on the ERAS form. :)
 
How does the whole process of transferring work? What does the school you are interested in transferring to look at? Just interested.
 
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