Each year, Canadian medical school hopefuls look across the border for their medical education. While there are obvious challenges (adapting to a different health care system, returning to a Canadian residency, and much higher education costs), the higher acceptance rates at U.S. programs (about 36.2% overall per AAMC, as compared to around 19.6% in Canada)…
Which Allopathic U.S. Medical Schools Prefer Committee Letters?
Collecting letters of recommendation is a stressful part of the medical school application process. To make it easier for you to decide which letters to collect, I did the research! (You’re welcome.) There is an exciting development this year—there are no longer any medical schools that require a pre-health committee letter of recommendation from your…
How To Get Accepted to University of Illinois College of Medicine [Episode 423]
All about the University of Illinois College of Medicine’s admissions process [Show summary] During this episode, Dr. Leila Amiri who is the University of Illinois College of Medicine’s Assistant Dean of Admissions and Recruitment, not only dissects the UI COM admissions process but also provides a wonderful and experienced perspective on the overall medical school…
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…
Allopathic Medical School Interview Styles: From Traditional to New Approaches
Your interview is the next and hopefully final step in your journey to medical school acceptance. Are you ready for it? Before prepping for your interview, you’ll need to know what type of interview you’ll be having. There are four main types of medical school interviews that you can expect at an allopathic med school:…
The Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer)
In 2010, McMaster, the Canadian medical school that created the MMI (multiple mini interview) format, generated a new test, the CASPer (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics). Now, they’re finding that it can more accurately reveal key personal qualities in applicants, like collaboration, problem solving, empathy and ethics. Thirty-seven medical schools in the U.S. request…
