Getting ready to apply to medical school? This can be a hectic time as you try to stay on top of everything. Here are ten tips to help you hit the ground running: Get cozy with the AMCAS/AACOMAS. These two services – the American Medical Colleges Application Service (AMCAS) and the Association of American Colleges…
Here’s How to Match Your Values to the Medical School Mission Statement
While every U.S. medical school offers you an education that will prepare you for a career as a successful physician, the social mission of each school vary greatly, and you should understand these nuances before you apply. Successful applicants will not only have the essential qualifications a particular school wants, but will also have proven…
Activity Descriptions for Med School: 4 Questions That Will Make Yours Awesome
Having worked in admissions for over a decade, I have probably read thousands of activity descriptions for medical school and related healthcare fields by now. While this part of the application may not seem very important, it can actually be the component that makes or breaks your chance of acceptance. It can be quite damaging…
Five Tips for Completing AACOMAS Secondary Applications
Looking for the best osteopathic med school admissions advice out there? Ace those AACOMAS apps by reading our osteopathic application tips series – each post, another set of 5 expert tips that will help you get accepted. Once you file the AACOMAS application and choose your schools, the process is not yet over. You will…
Five Tips for Perfecting Your AACOMAS Personal Statement
The AACOMAS requires one personal statement that is a maximum of 5,300 characters long. Below are five tips to help make your AACOMAS personal statement shine. Perfecting your personal statement Show, don’t tellThe first axiom of the personal statement is to “show, don’t tell.” Honest, compassionate, caring, dedicated – you want to show all of…
Five Ways to Stand Out in the AACOMAS Experience and Achievements Sections
The Experiences section in the AACOMAS application asks you to list your non-academic work, including healthcare-related work, non-healthcare work, volunteer work, and extracurricular activities. The Achievements section is the space for you to include academic honors, awards and scholarships. Below are five tips for completing this section of the AACOMAS. Categorize your activity by type.The…
Five Tips for Requesting an AACOMAS Letter of Recommendation (Evaluation)
If you are planning to apply to osteopathic medical schools, the AACOMAS allows you to upload up to six letters of recommendation. You can’t upload different letters for different schools, so make sure that your recommenders know that they should write general letters of recommendation. You should request your letters through AACOMAS, which sends an…
Reapplying to Med School: Your Primary Application
The previous posts have focused on identifying problem areas in your application and offering ideas to help you address them. You might be feeling a bit fragile after such a critical review – if so, then you’re doing it right. This exercise demands that you be ruthless and identify every potential flaw. Your ego might…
Retaking Classes For Med School: What Every Premed Needs to Know
If you have retaken classes in the past or will need to retake a class in the future, this post will tell you what you need to know—both in general and tailored to either the AMCAS application or the AACOMAS application. All grades earned are calculated into the cumulative GPA.While your college campus may offer…
5 Dont’s for Your Medical School Personal Statement
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…
Ace Your Med School Application 2020 Webinar is Live
We had a wonderful turnout for our recent live session, Ace Your Med School Application: A Live Q&A with 3 Med School Experts. It was packed with important information, and the attendees asked our panel great questions. If you couldn’t join us, you don’t have to miss out on all that valuable insight. The session…
Overcoming The Odds: A Story Of Med School Inspiration
Think a low MCAT score means medical school is out of the picture? Not for Student Dr. Diva. Listen to our conversation with the pink and glitter-loving tomboy with determination and resilience that is nothing short of awe-inspiring. If you are a pre-med, current student, graduate, or even none of the above, you won’t want…
Med School Admissions Veteran Shares Her Experience: How to Get In [Episode 314]
Accepted admissions consultant Cydney Foote sheds light on the medical school application process [Show Summary] Are you not quite ready to submit your AMCAS application? Don’t panic. We’ve got the advice you need to polish off your personal statement, MMEs, and activity descriptions. Listen to the podcast for answers to “How many schools should you…
What NOT to Do on the Medical School Coursework Section
This part of the medical school application can be time consuming since you will have to enter in the title, units, and grade as well as classification for every college level class you’ve ever taken. It’s easy to make mistakes here since there are so many to list. Besides entering in the basic information about…
Medical School Application Strategy: MD vs. DO Programs
Before you decide whether you want to apply to allopathic (MD) and/or osteopathic (DO) medical schools, I recommend that you shadow both types of doctors. They each represent dramatically different approaches to health and healing. Gaining exposure to both forms of medicine will help you make an informed decision about what types of treatment options you…
AACOMAS Changing Their Grade Forgiveness Policy
As of May 1, 2017, AACOMAS will be calculating all grades into their standard GPA calculation for all applicants. This means that if you received an F or D in a course and retook it for a higher grade, AACOMAS will include all attempts in your GPA. In the past, they would only calculate the…
Preparing for Your AACOMAS Application? Read On!
If you are applying to an osteopathic program, you should already know the type of student these schools are looking for: one who is concerned about other people and society in addition to being an excellent student and eager learner. But how can you ensure that your application presents these qualities? And what can you…
Do You Measure Up to the DO Applicants Who Got Accepted Last Year?
In reviewing the matriculation data for the 2016-17 cycle from AACOMAS, there are several trends that can inform your application strategy and increase your chances of acceptance. Last cycle, 185,602 applications were submitted by 20,720 applicants, and 6,778 were accepted. In other words, 32.7% of applicants matriculated at DO school. Let’s take a look at…