Advising Services—Health Professions

Timetable for Medical School Application Process

January - February 2013

Attend an information session at Academic Support to learn about the health professions questionnaire and begin the process to request a Health Committee Letter.

Consider opening an account at http://www.interfolio.com to store your letters of recommendation. Interfolio is an on-line credentials services that allows you to request, store, and then send letters that remain confidential. There are good help pages at the Interfolio site that explain how the service works.

Read through the instructions included with the Health Professions Questionnaire to learn if you will be required to open an Interfolio account.

Begin to request letters of recommendation (3 to 4 in addition to the Health Committee letter).

Check out MCAT registration materials online at www.aamc.org/mcat.

Check out DAT registration materials online at www.ada.org.

Start researching schools using printed directories (available in the Career Library and Academic Support) and Web information.

Registration for the June and July MCAT tests opens in January 2013.

March - April 2013

Download the AMCAS application material from the AAMC website ( www.aamc.org) - available towards the end of April/early May.

Request the most recent bulletins of the schools you are considering, as well as application materials from any that are not AMCAS (allopathic medical school application service), AACOMAS (osteopathic medical school application service) or AADSAS (dental school application service) participants.

Turn in your completed health professions questionnaire to begin the Health Committee letter request process by March 22, 2013. If the HPQ is submitted by the March 22 deadline, and you complete your schedule HPAC Interview you may expect your HC letter to be ready no later than August 15, 2013. All individuals applying to vet school must submit their HPQ at this time to be in accordance with VMCAS deadlines. Applicants applying to dental school are strongly encouraged to submit their HPQ by this deadline to allow for AADSAS processing time.

Work on your AMCAS/AACOMAS/AADSAS essay and ask for comments and suggestions from anyone you believe will be helpful, particularly the College Writing Fellows.

Registration for the August and September MCAT tests open in April 2013.

May 2013

When your spring semester grades are in, request a copy of your transcript from the Registrar. (If you've taken courses at any other college in the U.S. or Canada, request that transcript as well. Medical schools require an official transcript from every U.S. or Canadian college a candidate has attended, even if only for one summer course.) You will need it for reference when completing applications, and you'll want to check it for accuracy before having it sent out. If you find any errors, discrepancies or oddities, contact the Registrar or Academic Support. It is essential that your transcript be error-free before you have it sent.

For medical school:

Once you're satisfied that your transcript is in order, print out the AMCAS Transcript Request Form from AMCAS. Bring the completed AMCAS form to the Registrar and attach this form to a completed UR Transcript request form. Please note that you will need both forms to request a UR transcript be sent to AMCAS and any non-AMCAS schools to which you plan to apply. PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMITTING BOTH FORMS, the AMCAS transcript request form and the UR form, will expedite how the application service processes your request.

AACOMAS has a similar form and process.

For dental school:

Once you're satisfied that your transcript is in order, print out the AADSAS Transcript Request Form from AADSAS. Bring the completed AADSAS form to the Registrar and attach this form to a completed UR Transcript request form. PLEASE NOTE THAT SUBMITTING BOTH FORMS, the AADSAS transcript request form and the UR form, will expedite how the application service processes your request.

Applicants who submit their HPQ by March 22, 2013 must attend an HPQ interview to complete the process.

The AACOMAS and AADSAS application materials become available in mid-May.

Work on the AMCAS application and plan to have it completed and sent before the end of June
(It may be submitted in the beginning of June). Do the same with applications to non-AMCAS schools.)

If you need assistance in interpreting your MCAT test scores or are wondering whether you should repeat the test one of the Health Professions Advisers in CCAS. Don't send the AMCAS application or other initial applications till you have your MCAT scores; the scores may alter your choice of schools, and if you plan to take the test again you'll want to indicate that on the application.

Be sure to provide CCAS with a Letter of Recommendation Request from the centralized application service you are using (AMCAS, AADSAS etc.) or from Interfolio. This may be done electronically in your HPQ online form. If you are applying to any programs or schools that do not participate in a centralized application service with a letters of recommendation service, you will need to use Interfolio. Your health committee letter cannot be delivered for you without a Recommendation Request.

June - July 2013

June 1 is the LAST OPPORTUNITY to submit the completed Health Professions Questionnaire to request a Health Committee letter. A late fee of $25 will be charged for questionnaires submitted between March 23 and June 1. Letters will not be written if the late fee is not paid. The HPQ will not be accepted without the signed expectation sheet. If your HPQ is submitted by the June 1 deadline, you may expect your HC letter to be ready no later than the last week of November 2013.

Applicants who submit their HPQ by June 1, 2013 must meet with a Health Professions Adviser by June 1, 2013.

August 2013

If you were prompt in sending your AMCAS and other initial application materials, you'll be receiving secondary materials now. Complete and return them as soon as possible.

September 2013 - Spring 2014

If you took the MCAT in spring and were prompt in completing your application materials, you may begin to hear about interviews shortly after Labor Day. All interview invitations should receive a reply as soon as possible. On a less cheerful note, rejections may also come through at this time. Interviewing usually concludes in late April/early May.

Remember to send brief thank-you notes to interviewers.

Some schools send out their first acceptance letters in October. If you're accepted, you will not be expected to make a final decision; all any school wants to know at this stage is whether you wish to hold a place. No deposits are required at this point.

Read up on financial aid policies and procedures at the schools that invite you for interviews. Keep very careful track of deadlines for financial aid applications.

Information related to the AMCAS, AACOMAS, and AADSAS applications are subject to change. Consult the Web sites below periodically for the most up-to-date information.