When can I start working on my personal statement and medical school application?

[Dhooy7]

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I want to apply to medical school in June. I am studying for MCAT but also gonna devote some time to working on my application. Where do I find the prompt and when can I start working on everything I need for my primary application?

Also, for the MSAR, when is last year's statistics released for 2017?

 

[Siromas]

I want to apply to medical school in June. I am studying for MCAT but also gonna devote some time to working on my application. Where do I find the prompt and when can I start working on everything I need for my primary application?

AMCAS application opens for you to start filling it out in early May (you can also submit your transcripts at this time).

Literally copied directly from AMCAS as the prompt for your personal statement (5300 character limit):

"Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school. *"

Also, for the MSAR, when is last year's statistics released for 2017?

Not sure about MSAR data.

 

[sss1219]

MSAR releases in April I think, AMCAS will open beginning of May for filling out and can be submitted beginning of June

You should begin with your PS and activity descriptions, and then start prewriting secondaries based on the previous cycle's prompts since they hardly ever change. You'll find them on this website under Pre Medical MD -> 17/18 Allopathic School Discussion Threads

 

[frosted2]

MSAR releases in April I think, AMCAS will open beginning of May for filling out and can be submitted beginning of June

You should begin with your PS and activity descriptions, and then start prewriting secondaries based on the previous cycle's prompts since they hardly ever change. You'll find them on this website under Pre Medical MD -> 17/18 Allopathic School Discussion Threads

Thanks! Is there any way you could post these since you have already applied? Thanks!!

 

[altblue]

Unless you have other things going on, there's no reason you can't start now. I've gone through a few drafts of my PS and hopefully I'll get a few secondaries done before May - just enough to get used to the style of writing so I can churn out decent ones faster

 

[frosted2]

Unless you have other things going on, there's no reason you can't start now. I've gone through a few drafts of my PS and hopefully I'll get a few secondaries done before May - just enough to get used to the style of writing so I can churn out decent ones faster

I'm doing the same thing!

 

[altblue]

I'm doing the same thing!

We ahead of the curve

 

[LizzyM]

For the experience section, just start now by collecting and organizing information about your activities since finishing high school: title of the role, name of the organization, start and end date(s), hours worked, contact person, contact information, location, type of activity (volunteer, employment, teaching/tutoring, leadership,research, publication, presentation, conference attended, hobby, athletics, artistic endeavor) and a brief statement about what your experience was. You may list up to 15 experiences on your application. You will also have up to 3 for which you can write more and describe why it was one of the most meaningful for you.

 

[frosted2]

We ahead of the curve

For the experience section, just start now by collecting and organizing information about your activities since finishing high school: title of the role, name of the organization, start and end date(s), hours worked, contact person, contact information, location, type of activity (volunteer, employment, teaching/tutoring, leadership,research, publication, presentation, conference attended, hobby, athletics, artistic endeavor(and a brief statement about what your experience was. You may list up to 15 experiences on your application. You will also have up to 3 for which you can write more and describe why it was one of the most meaningful for you.

Thanks @LizzyM !

 

[Dhooy7]

Pre Medical MD -> 17/18 Allopathic School Discussion Threads

Ok I'll start trying to look at them because I want to be ahead of the game.

If anyone has a direct link to everything or can post things ahead fo time that would be great.

 

[Dhooy7]

I only saw secondaries and not primaries listed

 

[sss1219]

I only saw secondaries and not primaries listed

The primary activity prompts can probably be found on the AMCAS website. There is also an AMCAS Tips/Tricks thread somewhere around here that may have them. You may also be able to find the character counts and specific prompts if you google it/search around threads on here. They are pretty general though, the character counts are really all that you need.

Secondary prompts will be posted in each school-specific thread within the 17/18 Allopathic School Discussion Threads folder.

Thanks! Is there any way you could post these since you have already applied? Thanks!!

You will be hard pressed to find someone to share these for anonymity reasons, but I would be happy to share my thoughts if you write a couple and PM them to me 🙂

 

[Dhooy7]

I'm trying to get as much done now as I can. Thanks! I'd greatly appreciate if you would be willing to review my stuff. Are you referring to personal statements or everything?

 

[MedScat]

Most important things to do before AMCAS opens: Get LORs together early and perfect your personal statement. The rest of the application is easy to fill out. Also, make an extensive resume for yourself as you will essentially be translating it right onto the primary app.

Working on your personal statement early is really important. I thought I had mine done in april and then I had mutliple people tell me it was good. I thought I was done! Then i went to my committee for my interview and they roasted it and I had to start over. Thank god I rewrote it because who knows if I would've made out as well as I did this cycle. Thats why you got the right idea with starting early

 

[sss1219]

I'm trying to get as much done now as I can. Thanks! I'd greatly appreciate if you would be willing to review my stuff. Are you referring to personal statements or everything?

Bad writing due to rushing can break an application so don't rush yourself. A thread for 'personal statement reviewers' pops up around March/April on here and I'm sure a number of us will be happy to look over your work activities/secondaries, so just take it slowly 🙂

 

[Dhooy7]

Plus I'm studying for the MCAT and wanna do well so a little it at a time. What is the max characters for personal statement?

 

[MedScat]

Plus I'm studying for the MCAT and wanna do well so a little it at a time. What is the max characters for personal statement?

5300 characters, spaces and punctuation count as characters. Its about a page on microsoft word not double spaced.

 

[Dhooy7]

I just need to do well on the MCAT and I'd be really happy. I'm not taking before I'm ready. I did very well academically in college, so really trying to do well on MCAT

 

[MedScat]

I just need to do well on the MCAT and I'd be really happy. I'm not taking before I'm ready. I did very well academically in college, so really trying to do well on MCAT

Honestly, my advice is to get through the MCAT before thinking of anything else because the MCAT is more important at this moment.

 

[frosted2]

Most important things to do before AMCAS opens: Get LORs together early and perfect your personal statement. The rest of the application is easy to fill out. Also, make an extensive resume for yourself as you will essentially be translating it right onto the primary app.

Working on your personal statement early is really important. I thought I had mine done in april and then I had mutliple people tell me it was good. I thought I was done! Then i went to my committee for my interview and they roasted it and I had to start over. Thank god I rewrote it because who knows if I would've made out as well as I did this cycle. Thats why you got the right idea with starting early

Thanks! I was wondering how I could best expedite the whole process once the application opens.

 

[MedScat]

Thanks! I was wondering how I could best expedite the whole process once the application opens.

Letters of Recommendation were by far the most annoying. I used Interfolio which is amazing because you can have letters sitting there for a while and then theres a way to send them directly over to AMCAS and AACOMAS. I had someone write me a LOR from a project I worked on in 2015 and I had them do it through Interfolio and it was still there for me to send to AMCAS and I didn't have to reach out to my letter writer again (which can always be awkward). I just transferred it over from Interfolio to AMCAS. SUPER convenient and I highly recommend doing this. Its only like 40 dollars for 3 years or something

 

[frosted2]

Letters of Recommendation were by far the most annoying. I used Interfolio which is amazing because you can have letters sitting there for a while and then theres a way to send them directly over to AMCAS and AACOMAS. I had someone write me a LOR from a project I worked on in 2015 and I had them do it through Interfolio and it was still there for me to send to AMCAS and I didn't have to reach out to my letter writer again (which can always be awkward). I just transferred it over from Interfolio to AMCAS. SUPER convenient and I highly recommend doing this. Its only like 40 dollars for 3 years or something

I have already had 1 letter writer submit a LOR to Interfolio! Will Interfolio attach the ID numbers to each of the letters or is that something that I will have to attach myself?

 

[MedScat]

I have already had 1 letter writer submit a LOR to Interfolio! Will Interfolio attach the ID numbers to each of the letters or is that something that I will have to attach myself?

Interfolio has a specific ID for each letter. I remember it taking me an hour or so to figure out how to transfer it to AMCAS but they were very accessible over the phone and helped me with any question I had. Again, for anyone not using Interfolio, you should! It's really a life saver