The personal statement is the only place in the AMCAS, AACOMAS and TMDSAS primary applications where you get to present yourself directly to the admissions committee. Here, you can persuade them to give you an interview, or – if you’re not careful – unknowingly reveal red flags that undermine your entire application. Since it plays…
3 Tips for Writing the Optional Essay in Medical School Secondary Applications
Many medical schools include an optional essay in their secondary applications. Obviously, this “optional” essay is not required, and the essay prompt sometimes emphasizes this point. Often, the question will include the stipulation that you cannot include anything that was already mentioned in your primary application or other essays. Some schools even state that most…
How Does the Med School Adcom View Multiple MCAT Scores?
In 2007, the MCAT was first offered electronically. Prior to this technological shift, the MCAT was only offered a limited number of times a year – as a paper and pencil exam. AAMC also restricted the number of times you could take the exam in one year as well as in your lifetime. Now that…
4 Tips for Applying as an Underrepresented Applicant in Medicine
The ethnicities that are considered Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) include: Latino, African American, Native American, Laotian and Hmong, as well as a few other groups. If you are from one of these groups, it would help your application to demonstrate your connection to these communities and your fluency in the languages which are most sought…
How to Write the Statement of Disadvantage
If you have experienced any form of social, economic or educational disadvantage—at any time in your life—you can apply to medical school as a disadvantaged applicant. To receive this designation means that you will need to complete an additional essay on the AMCAS application. The character limit for this short essay is 1,325. Examples of…
What to Include in the Activities Section of the TMDSAS Application
Similar to the AMCAS application, the TMDSAS has an activities section for you to list all experiences since your high school graduation. They have nine sub-sections that include: Academic Recognition, Non-Academic Recognition, Leadership, Employment, Research Activities, Healthcare Activities, Community Service, Extracurricular and Leisure Activities, and Planned Activities. Unlike the AMCAS application, you are expected to…
Writing Your Essays for the TMDSAS (Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service)
The Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS) has its own application process. You can begin filling out their electronic application by May 1 and the deadline to submit their application is October 30. The timeline is similar to the AMCAS application, but a little earlier. On the TMDSAS application there are two required…
5 Tips for Submitting Your TMDSAS Secondaries
When you apply to TMDSAS, you can select from thirteen medical schools in Texas to submit your application to. Twelve of these schools require secondaries. The secondary essays are due when you submit your primary application. You submit these essays directly to the schools, at the same time that you submit your primary application on…
Collecting Letters of Evaluation for the TMDSAS
There are two options when submitting letters of evaluation to TMDSAS. They request either a committee letter or three individual letters of recommendation. For the committee letter, they will accept three different formats: a committee letter that introduces and includes an unlimited number of letters, a committee letter that includes quotes and excerpts from the…
How to Get Into Dental School
So, you want to be a dentist? This post will guide you through the dental school admissions process and how to get accepted. To become a dentist, you will need to obtain either a doctor of dental surgery or doctor of dental medicine degree. It’s the same curriculum. The school that you attend will determine…
UCSD School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips [2020 – 2021]
The UCSD School of Medicine prefers applicants with extensive research experience. If you have not described your research experience in your personal statement, include a description in the secondary application’s autobiographical essay. They offer a PRIME-HEq Program with training in treating medically underserved communities. For students interested in global health, five students from each class…
How to Approach VITA, AAMC’s New Video Interview
To address the novel challenges the pandemic has created, the AAMC will be using a video recording in place of in-person interviews. They are calling it the AAMC Video Interview Tool for Admissions (AAMC VITA). It is being offered at no cost to applicants since it is a pilot program and will be available from…
How to Prepare for a PA School Interview
Physician Assistant program interviews are similar to medical school interviews. There are three possible interview formats: traditional, MMI (multiple mini interview) or a hybrid of these two. Traditional interviews involve any combination of students and interviewers, with up to 3 students being interviewed by up to 3 interviewers. If a school uses a traditional one-on-one…
Which One is Right for Me? PA vs. NP vs. Medical School
Why do you want to become a Physician Assistant (PA)? Why not a nurse practitioner or physician? To help you answer this question, what follows is a direct comparison of these three educational and professional options, focusing on three specific programs. Using information from the top ranked programs from U.S. News and World Report for…
Why Should You Consider Becoming a PA?
Most of the clients I work with are dead set on becoming doctors. I believe this mindset exists because doctors have such a visible role in patient care historically, and are represented in the media as being at the very top of the healthcare hierarchy. The physician assistant (PAs) profession is a relatively new member…
What to Look for When Selecting a Physician Assistant (PA) Program
One of the keys to choosing the right physician assistant (PA) program for you is program data, including information on the programs’ matriculants. Unfortunately that’s more difficult to come by for PA applicants since the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) does not provide data on applicants or matriculants for individual PA programs, but…
5 Qualities to Highlight in Your Physician Assistant Program Application
In addition to identifying students with academic promise, physician assistant programs are looking for students who have a wide range of specific personal characteristics. Based on the criteria for the most competitive PA programs, there are five general areas in which students are evaluated. What character traits make for a stand-out physician assistant applicant? Academic…
How to Get Accepted to Physician Assistant (PA) Programs
Physician assistants (PAs) are similar to doctors in many ways and serve as important members of any healthcare team: They improve the ease and speed with which patients are able to see a healthcare provider; they take on most of the same activities as doctors in patient care; they see patients to diagnose, treat, and…
Tips for Getting Into Medical School When Your Parent is a Doctor
There has been an interesting shift in medical school admissions for applicants whose parents are doctors. In 1989, these applicants were 15% more likely to get into medical school. When I first became involved in admissions over ten years ago, students who had a physician for a parent were still more likely to get accepted…
The Anatomy of a Post-Interview Thank You Email
After your medical school interview, it is appropriate to send thank you notes to all of the people who helped you throughout the day. These days it is rare to receive a thank you card. You can easily set yourself apart by sending out handwritten notes. If, like most people, you only have time to…
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