Applicant Email 7-27-09

 

Dear Med School applicants,


I am writing to you with several pieces of info and one main point.


If you have not yet pushed the button for AMCAS, do it tonight or wait until next year. It is now LATE – yes, late – as our handbook, all our emails, and all general med school advice publications will tell you. You have lost the early advantage so it makes more sense to save your time and money now and devote it to being a strong applicant next year.

Info on


  • optional questions
  • English requirement
  • Dean’s certifications/Good Standing letters


OPTIONAL QUESTIONS

A fair number of secondary applications will offer you the opportunity to tell them about anything else you want to discuss. This is always an optional question and very open-ended. People have been asking us whether they should do this question, and what they should write about.

I am assuming that there are some things about yourself – your interests, your background, your values, etc. that you have not been able to discuss within the limitations of the AMCAS and specific secondary questions. This is a golden opportunity. If you really feel you have to stretch to find something to discuss, then leave it blank. But it’s hard to imagine that all you learned from living in a foreign country, or the pleasure you get from playing the piano, or the impact your grandmother and her views have had on your life, or the fear you overcame in doing your first rock climb, etc. would not be something you want to tell them about.


ENGLISH REQUIREMENT

As you know, many medical schools require two semesters of English. Many of you do not have two actual English courses on a college transcript with grades, but have fulfilled Tufts’ two semester writing requirement. After talking with Shirley, we have decided to add a form letter to each packet explaining the Tufts requirements and the various ways that students can fulfill it (including AP, the Phil 1 course, etc). We are hoping this takes care of at least some the questions you will get from medical schools. You can just refer to the packet.


DEAN’S CERTIFICATIONS AND MORE

There is a small number of medical schools – e.g. Wash U. – that want a specific certification regarding a student’s probationary history. DROP THOSE AT UNDERGRAD ED FOR ME. I take care of that.

If you have been on probation of any sort, you need to report that in the AMCAS. It makes sense to speak with us (me, Shirley, or your HPRC interviewer) so we can include an explanation in your composite letter.




Regards,

Carol





 
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