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While there are some premeds who apply to medical school following a gap year, approximately 90 percent of students apply for a coveted seat in some school’s first-year class toward the end of their junior year in college, according to data from the American Association of Medical Colleges. With that stated, this year may be your most important year yet! Here are a few things you should be doing if you’re a junior in college and plan on applying to medical school.
FAMILIARIZING YOURSELF WITH AMCAS.
If you don’t already know what the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), it is the common application for medical school which will allow you to fill out a single profile and submit it to all of the schools you choose. With the exception of a few schools, AMCAS is the primary method for applying to medical schools across the United States. As you will soon come to know, the medical school application process can for some be a long, arduous, and gruesome time, but there’s no way around it. So here’s the deal: the AMCAS is the first chance you’ll get to show medical schools who you are, so it is in your best interest to know what you’re getting yourself into well ahead of time. If you’re ready to get started, the first thing you are going to want to do is visit the AMCAS Application Website. While it may seem like a ways away, when the summer rolls around you’ll know what you’ll be up against and be in the best position to knock out your applications with a little more confidence than if you would have never did your research.
DECIDING ON THE BEST TIME TO TAKE THE MCAT.
The general rule of thumb is that you take the MCAT in the year before you plan to start medical school. And if you find yourself stuck trying to decide if you should take the MCAT early in the year or later on, the AAMC says you should ask yourself the following questions: 1.) Will I take the exam just once or is there a possibility I may want to take it again and 2.) Have I mastered the material or do I need additional coursework or study? Registration information for the MCAT is available at www.aamc.org. Then, think about how you will prepare for the test and give yourself at least three or four months to study.
SCOPING OUT POTENTIAL LETTER WRITERS.
Although data have shown that letters of recommendation aren’t the most important factor when it comes to medical school admission, a handful of admission officers do say that to them poor letters are the biggest application killer. There’s no way around them and they are very much a required part of your medical school application. So, if you can gain an extra edge, even if it only counts a little bit, a strong, high-quality letter might just do the trick. Now is the time to reflect on what you have done with the last two years of your premed life and the people you have met and hopefully developed relationships with. Sit down and make your go-to list of people who you would like to write your letters for medical school.
STRATEGIZE YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICATION TIMELINE.
As many premeds make plans to head to medical school immediately after graduating college, a growing number of applicants take a year off instead. When you begin to think about your medical school application timeline, you’ll need to think about your strategy for getting everything you need to do done – personal statement, requesting and receiving letters of evaluation, completing AMCAS – and focus on some critical choices. For starters, the first choice you’ll need to think about is when you’ll actually apply to medical school. Then once you decide if you’ll apply right after graduation or if you’ll take some time off, you can begin to organize your remaining courses, activities, and other elements of your premed life.
REVIEWING SPECIFIC ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS.
While most medical schools generally require the same basic science courses (biology, chemistry, physics) some schools may have additional requirements. At this point, you should have a slight idea about which schools you may ultimately apply to so go ahead and check out their website to find out what courses you’ll need to have in order to apply. This way, you can plan the remainder of your courses accordingly so as to not get caught at the last minute without the courses you’ll need. In addition, each medical school has its own set of rules on which courses they will and will not accept. The first business of order is checking out the current edition of the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) to learn what the school-specific requirements for your school of choice.