UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Information about application procedures.

  1. Where should you apply?

    First, and foremost, you should apply to all (or most) medical schools in your state of residence (or which give preference to residents of your state) since public and some private medical schools give preference to state residents. For similar reasons, African American students may want to consider applying to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry College School of Medicine, and the School of Medicine at Morehouse College. Members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church may want to consider Loma Linda University.

    You should choose additional schools based on your chances of being accepted, the curriculum, location, cost etc. To evaluate your chances of being accepted, you can consult the Medical School Admission Requirements book and the Iserson book mentioned. These include average scores for successful applicants to each school, and also the number of applicants and the numbers of in-state and out-of-state residents accepted. Studies carried out by the Association of American Medical Colleges have revealed that submitting more a dozen applications rarely increases your chance of gaining admission.

    Students from CWRU matriculated in the following medical schools in 1998

    • George Washington
    • Case Western Reserve University
    • Emory
    • Ohio at Toledo
    • Loyola Stritch
    • Wright State
    • Indiana
    • Pittsburgh
    • Harvard
    • Temple
    • Massachusetts
    • MCP Hahnemann
    • U Michigan
    • Vermont
    • Michigan State
    • Rochester
    • North Carolina
    • Cincinnati
    • Ohio State

  2. The AMCAS application service

    The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) allows you to apply to any of 112 U.S. medical schools with one application; and the only way to apply to these AMCAS schools is via AMCAS. To apply to non-AMCAS schools you must contact the school to get an application and submit it directly to the school. (The non-AMCAS schools are: Yale, Johns Hopkins, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, New York Univ., Univ. of Rochester, Univ. of North Dakota, Brown, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and the Univ. of Texas System). Names and addresses of all AMCAS and non-AMCAS schools are listed in the AMCAS application booklet, and also in the Medical School Admission Requirements book.

    The AMCAS fee depends on the number of schools to which you are applying. It is $55 for one school, with increments for adding more schools. (For 6 schools, for example, the total cost is $255.) Fees are higher for adding additional schools after the AMCAS application has been submitted. In certain financial circumstances you may obtain a fee waiver which allows you to apply to up to 10 schools free. An application for a fee waiver form is included in the AMCAS application packet or may be downloaded from the web.

    You may obtain AMCAS application materials from Baker 102 starting in mid April, or you can write to:

    American Medical College Application Service
    Association of American Medical Colleges, Section for Student Services
    2450 N Street, NW, Suite 102
    Washington, DC 20037-1131
    (202) 828-0600

    You can also request AMCAS applications via the AAMC web site. The full address for the AMCAS application request site is: http://www.aamc.org/stuapps/admiss/amcasreq/start.htm

    AMCAS-E, the electronic version of the AMCAS application can be obtained as above or it can be downloaded from the AAMC web site:

    http://www.aamc.org/stuapps/admiss/amcasreq/download.htm

    The electronic form is much, MUCH easier to work with! You answer questions in an interview format, and all calculations and conversions are done automatically. You then save the filled out version to a disk and send it in to AMCAS with your check.

    You will also need to arrange to have copies of transcripts sent to AMCAS from all colleges where you have been enrolled, including any colleges where you took courses when you were a high school student or where you took summer courses (even if you failed the courses). If, by any chance, you did not request that your MCAT scores be sent to AMCAS when you took the MCAT test, you will need to send in a form to get the scores sent.

    AMCAS begins to accept applications June 1 of the year before entry. Final deadlines for receipt of all materials by AMCAS vary with the school. It may be as early as October 15 (e.g. CWRU Medical School); but is commonly November 1, November 15, December 1, or December 15. Consult Medical School Admission Requirements or the AMCAS instruction booklet, to determine the deadlines for the schools you are considering. Early is best!

    (There is a similar application service for colleges of osteopathic medicine - AACOMAS. You can learn more about osteopathic medicine as well as gain access to the electronic version of their application at the web site: http://www.aacom.org. or by calling (301) 468-2037.)

  3. What happens next?

    After you have sent your application to AMCAS and AMCAS people have verified the grades, etc., they will send it out to the medical schools you have chosen. Then you will hear from the medical schools directly. If your grades, scores etc. fall below some minimum, they may simply turn you down at that point. If you pass their initial screening, you will be asked to submit further documents - often a secondary application, recommendations, and an application fee.

  4. Letters of recommendation

    You should start a file of letters of recommendation at The Office of Career Planning and Placement, well before you need the letters - a good time would be in the spring of your Junior year. You should ask people who know you as more than a name on a class list to write letters for you. These should generally include two science teachers, one non-science teacher, and the premedical adviser. We do not have a premedical committee, but this assortment is an acceptable substitute. You may also ask for letters from a research sponsor, volunteer supervisor or employer. (You may not need to send all the letters to every medical school, since some schools have specific requests.)

    You should make an appointment to see each person who is writing you a letter of recommendation, and take an up-to-date resume with you. The resume should include your major and expected graduation date, honors, any research experience (including what, where and with whom), extracurricular activities, volunteer work, medical experiences, employment (including responsibilities), and any other special interests or accomplishments. If the person is one of your professors, pencil in the courses you took from him/her, and the dates when you took those courses, so the professor can easily look up your grades or class standing. During your appointment you can discuss further some of the items on your resume, share some of your background and reasons for wanting a medical career, and just generally let the person get to know what a mature, caring and interesting person you are!

    The recommendations may be written on Career Planning and Placement's yellow form or simply on a department letterhead. (Some medical schools do prefer that you sign the waiver of your right to read the recommendation that is on the yellow form.) Ask the person writing the recommendation to send it to Career Planning and Placement. Check in a couple of weeks to make sure CP&P has received the letter, since there is always a chance that campus mail might lose it or a professor might forget to write it.

  5. Then the INTERVIEW!

    After your application at a particular school is complete (including secondary application, recommendations, etc.), if the admissions people are seriously interested in you, they will invite you for an interview. Usually you must get to the school (and pay your own way), though occasionally schools will do regional interviews so you can be interviewed closer to CWRU. The format for the interview, and the identity and number of people who will interview you may vary. Anyone you meet may have some input to the admissions decision, so keep that in mind. Feedback from students who have had interviews at various medical schools is available through one of the "hot links" at the AMSA web site.

    Pointers for a successful interview:

    • 1. Give some thought as to why you want a career in medicine and how this desire evolved. Be sure you can say more than "I want to help people" or "I like science."
    • 2. Keep up to date on current medical issues and events. You do not need to pore over medical journals, but do read Time or Newsweek and the newspaper to see what recent discoveries have been made, what ethical or social issues are being debated etc.
    • 3. Learn about the school and the community in advance and formulate some questions. You will impress the interviewer with your interest in the school, and you will learn what you want to know. Arrange to go on a tour and talk to current students as well. (If your interview is not at the medical school, and you are accepted, be sure to arrange a visit before you make your final decision.)
    • 4. Don't be afraid to express, explain or defend your own views or values (calmly). An interviewer might purposely take a viewpoint opposite from yours to see how well you can defend a position or how you deal with conflict.
    • 5. Check the interview reviews in one of the "Hot Links" from the AMSA web page to see what kinds of questions other students have been asked, and what the atmosphere was like.

  6. What about applying early decision?

    If you have a very strong preference for one particular medical school, and you have a strong chance of being accepted there, you might want to apply to that school "early decision." When applying early decision, you are allowed to apply to only one school, and you must get your application to AMCAS by August 1. You then supply any additional materials to the medical school by September 1, an interview will be scheduled in a timely fashion, and the school will let you know of their decision by October 1. The advantages are that you can relax and enjoy your senior year, and you can save money on application fees and travel for interviews.

    Keep in mind that if you have sent an early decision application to a particular school, and the school accepts you, then if you are to attend medical school, you must attend that school. If the school turns you down, then and only then are you allowed to send out additional applications. You will generally also be included in the normal admissions procedure at the school where you applied early decision.

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