The Application Process

Generally, the process of applying to health profession school begins approximately eighteen months prior to your intended entry date. If you want to go to your intended health professions program immediately after graduating, you begin the application process in the winter of your junior year. A mandatory Health Professions Essential Meeting to explain the details of the admissions process is conducted by the Health Profession Advisor, usually on the second Monday in October of each year. You may check Handshake for the details of the meeting regarding location and time. After you attend the meeting, you should open your committee letter file and begin soliciting individual letters of recommendation which will support the committee letter written on behalf of the Wesleyan Health Professions Panel. After filing the necessary documents, turn in your request for a committee letter of recommendation from the Wesleyan Health Professions Panel. Plan to take the MCAT, DAT, GRE, OAT, or PCAT exam in the spring semester or when you feel confidently prepared.

It is not necessary, and sometimes not advisable, to go directly to medical or any other health professions graduate school. Many Wesleyan graduates take one to three years of Growth and Professional experience between graduation and health professions school matriculation. These GAP years serve to provide applicants “education in the healthcare field,” gaining valuable experience in health-related settings, such as community health centers, academic medical centers, or hospitals. Graduates also work in consulting firms, biotech companies, academic, clinical, or public health research, patient care (if certified as an EMT, CNA, or medical assistant), medical scribes (ScribeAmerica), teaching, or non-profits such as Teach for America or Americorps. Alumni within five years of graduation are eligible for the same services from the Gordon Career Center as current students, including a committee letter, career advising, assistance with applications, and mock interviews.

THE CENTRALIZED APPLICATION SERVICE: AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS

AMCAS is the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) application service that sends the information you file with them in a standardized format to the medical schools to which you wish to apply. This standardized preliminary application consists of descriptions of your courses and standardization of your grades, transcripts from all institutions at which you took courses, and a blank page for “Personal Comments.” The application itself must be completed electronically. The AMCAS service will cost a flat fee that includes the cost of application to one school and $40 for each additional school. Many medical schools subscribe to the AMCAS service, but some do not (e.g. Texas and schools of osteopathic medicine). To access the AMCAS For AMCAS on this webpage. It is essential to find out which of the schools you are interested in do not use the AMCAS service given that you will need to request an application directly from the school or the service they use. The Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR), available on the AAMC website for a fee, is an important resource to make use of when you are thinking about where to apply.

Schools of osteopathic medicine (D.O. schools) use the AACOMAS application service. Detailed information about D.O. schools and their application service may be found here. Download a free copy of the Osteopathic Medical College Information Book (CIB) here. The AADSAS is the centralized application for dental schools (The Guide to Dental School is very helpful) and VMCAS is the centralized application for veterinary medicine schools.

Find information on Fee Application Assistance Programs: MD Programs, Osteopathic Medicine, and Dental Medicine Programs.

SECONDARY APPLICATIONS

When a health professions school receives your AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, or VMCAS application, they review it and decide if you meet their general requirements. If the school wishes to consider your application further, they will send you a secondary application. Secondary applications need to be completed promptly and submitted as soon as possible, along with the individual medical schools application fee (usually between $75 to $150). It is usually only after receiving your secondary application that a school will download your letters of recommendation.

After the completed application file has been reviewed, the medical school admissions committee will decide whether or not to invite selected applicants for an interview. Interviews are crucial for acceptance. Be sure to prepare for interviews: sign up for a mock medical interview at the Gordon Career Center; look carefully at the medical school’s web site; talk to alumni who attend the school; and think carefully about how you would respond to typical interview questions. The Gordon Career Center has a brochure developed by the National Association of Advisors in the Health Professions (NAAHP) that specifically addresses health professions graduate school interviews. Ask us for a copy when you receive your first invitation.

The final step in the process is receiving acceptances. Some students may receive acceptances as early as October, but most students will hear back from schools beginning in mid-winter and into early spring.

EARLY DECISION

Early decision is an option ONLY for very strong applicants who want to take their best shot at their most desired school. The student applies to ONLY that school very early in the admission cycle, and then must wait to hear from that school before applying anywhere else. For these applicants, the medical school promises a decision usually in early October. The great benefit of this is that the application process is shortened and the applicant saves the expense and energy required for making many applications. The risk is that, unless you are a superb applicant, you lose the advantage of being an early applicant in other schools’ admissions cycles.

EARLY ADMISSION AND DEFERRALS

Medical school policies on deferrals vary. The reasons considered valid for deferral and the length of deferral permitted without requiring re-application changes from school to school. Most schools are willing to grant deferrals to students whom they believe have good reasons to postpone matriculation for one year, i.e., a life-changing experience or opportunity that could not have been anticipated at the time of application. This is an issue that you should research carefully if you think you will need to defer and talk over with your academic advisor or the Health Professions Advisor.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York offers a special early admission program called FlexMed with the goal of training “physicians who are self-directed in their learning, thrive on a culture of academic rigor and mentorship, and have a strong appreciation of human rights and social justice.” This option offers sophomore students majoring in any discipline the opportunity to apply and be accepted to medical school early, without having taken the usual prerequisite courses or the MCAT. Prior to application, a student needs to have taken only two semesters of biology, physics or chemistry. Accepted students then take some additional courses prior to graduation or matriculation at Mount Sinai. For details about this program and admissions expectations, go to the FlexMed website.

A few other institutions, such as SUNY Buffalo, and SUNY Upstate (Syracuse), also offer options for early admission. Go to these schools websites to learn more about these programs.

POST-BACCALAUREATE PREMEDICAL PROGRAMS

Many applicants do not complete the required premedical courses during their undergraduate years. One option for those wanting to complete these required courses is to take them individually at a four-year college or university while working. Another option is to enroll part- or full-time in a post-baccalaureate premedical program, which is set up as a concentrated program of study. There are many post-baccalaureate programs around the country. These programs can take between one and two years, depending on what courses one still needs to take to fulfill the medical school admission requirements and whether one attends full- or part-time. Some programs are eligible for Federal Stafford Loans.

For applicants that feel that their academic performance makes them less competitive applicants, there are also post-baccalaureate programs that are structured to help individuals enhance their academic record. A listing of post-baccalaureate programs can be found at AAMC Post-Baccalaureate List.

MD/PHD & OTHER JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS

Medical schools make it possible to complete more than one degree in less time than it would take to do them separately. Combinations such as the MD/PhD, MD/MPH, or even MD/JD are not uncommon. The most common for Wesleyan graduates is the MD/PhD, which is a path one might choose in preparation for a position in academic medicine, combining clinical practice with teaching and/or research in health care. For an MD/PhD in the sciences, a strong science background and the support of professors who have supervised undergraduate research activity are expected. Sometimes, there is one admission committee for both programs; at other schools you have to apply separately, then interview separately, for joint programs. In some cases, MD/PhD students have all tuition waived and receive a stipend for living expenses. There are a number of schools that also allow for or encourage the MD/PhD in the Humanities or social sciences.

STAYING IN TOUCH

As you proceed through the admission process, we hope that you will stay in touch with the Gordon Career Center. Both our personal interest in your application and our professional interest in how Wesleyan students are received at medical schools make us eager to know how you are doing. Whether you are off campus or on, please telephone, drop in, or send an email. Once you have finalized your plans, please update your information in Wesleyan’s alumni directory.

The applicant who has received no invitations to interview, or who is not successful in gaining admission to medical school after interviewing, should consult with the Health Professions Advisor about the next steps. As a general rule, it is not advisable to reapply right away.