Announcements du jour

1
Announcements du jour

• Saturday, September 29th Dr. Eliav Barr, PSU
  Alum (PMM Program) VP, Infectious Disease Project
  and Pipeline Lead at MERCK Res. Lab. Informal
  meet up with students interested in medical
  school /or clinical research. Where / Time
  ROOM 9 Life Science Bldg., 130 230
• Wednesday, November 7th, Open House/ Medical
  program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic
  Medicine. Registration 400 530 p.m. Program
  530 800. Where? Evans Hall at the PCOM
  campus, 4170 City Avenue, Philly!
• Saturday, November 10th the annual Primary
  Care Day at Hershey, 830 330 at the medical
  school contact in the Dept. of Family and
  Community Medicine, Ms. D. Ferron
  dferron_at_hmc.psu.edu This happens
  every fall in case you miss out this year.
• MCAT 2105 heads up first year students! Begins
  in January 2015 go to AAMC.org to see the four
  sections/ topics/ etc. In 2013, new section
  piloting as an option at the end of the current
  MCAT.

2
General Considerations on Applying to
Professional Schools

• Things worth your attention and some observations
  on the 2013 Entering Class application cycle.
• And planning for 2014 cycle.
• Medical School as the example this evening.

3
Where we are now in the application cycle for the
2013 entering class.

• Again this year, more candidates. In 2011
  entering class, acceptance rates nationally were
  43.8 of just lt44K allopathic applicants and
  36.6 of just gt14K osteopathic applicants. You
  can review data at amcas and aacomas websites.
  There were 24,400 seats combined.
• To date, our office has prepared, processed and
  forwarded over 200 applicant letter sets for
  medical and dental schools so far!
• Still conducting PSU Committee Interviews. (fyi,
  Jefferson sometimes interviews candidates into
  April!) In mid-August, 2012, we received email
  from last year applicants matriculating off a
  wait lists!
• Last year, of 260 PSU applicants through 213
  Whitmore 212 matriculated to a D.O. or M.D.
  school. Thats gt80 acceptance rate for 2011!
• BUT you say Its getting late and Ive heard
  little or nothing!
• Relax! As of 9/17/12 Jefferson has only extended
  25 of their planned interview invitations.
  Hershey has extended 18 of their planned
  850-900. Schools want to see their whole pool of
  applicants!
• They could fill the class before the end of July,
  if they wished! So ...
• Bottomline It is NOT too late for a good
  candidacy to be seen and pursued by the schools!

4
What to be doing this year if applying for the
entering professional class of 2014 (current
applicants, sit tight).

• Fall semester 2012
• Get the Committee Interview Packet, on-line at
  www.science.psu.edu/premed/ OR hard copy at 213
  Whitmore.
• Solicit faculty letters of recommendation! What
  you should strive for is a set of letters that
  can provide a broad perspective of you as a
  candidate by writers who know you.
• MCAT preparations and plan to sign up. Calendar
  is on aamc.org
• Continue gaining relevant experience in
  healthcare settings, etc.! Attend Open House
  events at schools meet with representatives from
  professional schools as opportunities come up!
  (e.g. Hershey Primary Care Day on 11/10/12)
• Spring semester 2013
• Take MCAT (when truly ready- NOT prematurely) and
  
• FOLLOW-UP with your letter writers on LORs! Do
  have an alternate letter writer in mind, too!
• As best you can, continue gaining related
  experience in healthcare settings, etc.!
• Spring/Summer 2013
• Primary application to AAMCA and/or AACOMAS in
  June/July ideally.
• NOTE the Penn State Committee letter is NOT
  submitted as part of the primary application. Do
  NOT delay your primary application waiting for
  your Committee interview.
• You make the call to Schedule Committee Interview
  (mostly in the summer) when your Biographical
  sketch, draft personal statement and at least 3
  letters are received at our office. We
  anticipate scheduling will begin around
  mid-April.
• You prep and send out Secondary Applications.
  LORs become part of the secondary applications
• Fall 2013
• Monitor status of applications. Caution Do not
  confuse deadlines of primary vs. secondary
  applications! See Schools websites or MSAR.

5
First time candidates to do in AY 2012-2013

• Optimize your MCAT prep by whatever study modes
  work best for you, such as Kaplan, Examkrackers,
  Berkeley Review, Princeton Review or whatever
  else! Many preparation aides e.g. the low cost
  AAMC.org Official Guide to the MCAT Exam.
• Review content areas of the test and plan your
  remaining elective courses so youre not taking
  MCAT prematurely.
• Strive for best outcome the first time! It is
  not a test to take lightly or to see how Ill
  do, then really prepare right for the second
  time.
• All scores are reported some schools average!
  E.g., Jefferson averages.

6
Letters of Recommendation (LOR)We strive to
mirror what schools expect to receive two core
science/ one non-science faculty letters.

• Q But my core science classes are so large?
• A yes, but you can still talk to the professor
  and if she/he is willing, make a short appt. for
  a conversation regarding your preparations for
  post-graduate school provide a resume. Your
  upper division science courses tend to be smaller
  with more interaction.
• Q But she/he really doesnt know me
• A plan to round out your letter set with other
  faculty who know you from smaller classes, e.g.
  upper division specialty courses such as Medical
  Microbiology Histology Advanced Immunology
  Physical Chemistry as examples. A research
  mentors LOR is helpful as a 4th or 5th letter.
  Family member conflict of interest!
• Q What about non-science classesthey are so
  large, too?
• A Your ENGL 15 (30 or 137H or 138T) or 202 CAS
  100 are examples of smaller classes to consider.
• Suggestion Avoid getting letters solely by a
  graduate assistant. A letter co-written with
  the professor in charge of a course inherently
  has more credibility.
• Suggestion Since you are applying from Penn
  State, the Admissions Committees are expecting
  most (if not all) of the faculty inputs to be PSU
  faculty. Beyond the minimum of 3 letters, do
  consider other writers for letters 4 to 6 for
  the PSU Committee Letter set.

7
But wait, theres more on letters

• Q My professor in xyz is not in the Science
  College, is that okay?
• A My best advice is to try for at least 2 from
  core science subjects or other ECoS faculty AND
  solicit writers from other colleges (if you wish)
  up to max of six LORs for the Committee Letter
  set going from Penn State.
• Use our Request Form for all solicited letters.
  Fill out your portions/ date and sign!
• We ask two simple things for your letter writers
• 1) do their letter on letterhead
• 2) date sign their letter! Unsigned letters
  may cause needless delays.
• This will make prep of letter sets faster for our
  staff and helps to legitimize the letter sets
  being forwarded on your behalf!
• At this time we prefer that letters be sent to
  our office not emailed or faxed.
• Waive/ do not waive right of access to letters??
  We will always urge you to solicit confidential
  letters of recommendation.
• Do give the request form to your letter writer,
  to be returned to us with their letter.
• For now, electronic transmission of letters to
  our office is not desired. It is suboptimal at
  this time and creates a layer of prep, processing
  and follow-ups, i.e. delays!
• We plan to continue using VirtualEvals for PSU
  Committee Letter transmittal next year.
• We do not use Interfolio and we can not do
  on-line, fill-in forms!

8
Even more on LOR and apps

• NOTE on osteopathic schools They typically
  require or strongly recommend a LOR from a D.O.
  Get to know a D.O. and spend some time with
  her/him discussing the profession and shadowing!
  There are three D.O.s on staff at UHS.
• - If you are applying ONLY to osteopathic
  schools, we like to include this notation in the
  letter set going from the Premed office.
• - However, if applying to both D.O. and M.D.
  schools, we encourage you to provide your D.O.
  letter writer with addressed, stamped envelopes
  for direct mailing to the osteopathic schools.
• Special Forms You need to also provide any
  special letter request form that some schools
  have, e.g., Michigan State University Osteopathic
  School has this in their secondary application
  and they are very particular about the LOR
  process!
• THIS IS IMPORTANT PSU Committee letter is
  identified on your primary AMCAS application, but
  is NOT submitted to AMCAS as part of the primary
  application. Dont delay your Primary App
  awaiting a PSU Committee Interview and letter!
• Per AMCAS definitions, p. 59, 2013
  Instructions, our office facilitates a
  Committee Letter, including the set of
  additional letters. It is not a Letter Packet.
• Again, do NOT delay submitting your primary
  application by waiting for your Committee
  Interview. Get the primary application (and ALL
  college transcripts) submitted to AMCAS and
  AACOMAS as soon as you commit to the application
  cycle!

9
Biographical Sketch Mania!

• We have hundreds of candidates to track. Attach
  a recent small photo!
• Biosketch prepared neatly and readable!! This
  reflects on your professionalism. It stays at our
  local office.
• Waive/ not waive access we recommend waive/
  sign and date! This tells schools that your
  materials will be prepared as confidential,
  which is their strong preference!
• Draft Personal Statement. Its your chance to
  tell a reader who you are and why this is the
  right career track for you. Get objective
  readers! This draft stays local.
• The Tentative List of schools is just that
  tentative and intended to assist advising at the
  time of our interview.
• Q Must I have my MCAT results before the PSU
  Committee Interview?
• A It helps to have MCAT scores for our office
  to prepare the most informed letter of evaluation
  on your behalf. IF you plan to retake the MCAT,
  that is important to state at the interview, too.
  
• If you indicate plans to retake the MCAT when
  corresponding to schools, let them know if you
  change your mind. Creating MCAT confusion can
  delay your applications review.
• Be realistic about how your MCAT and GPA fit the
  profile of previous entering classes at the
  schools of greatest interest.

10
After everything is in their hands (attn 2013
cycle candidates!)

• Updates of germane information are important!
• E.g., fall grades (Official vs. unofficial set
  via email depends on the school/ ask them if this
  is okay). Some welcome updates, some will not
  add them to a file.
• E.g. Any awards (Grammy, Nobel, Oscar, Emmy,
  Peabody Award, Pulitzer Prize, Heisman Trophy,
  Nissen-Emery Award, etc.)??
• Research publications and/or presentations.
• Noteworthy activities not previously reported.
• Plans to retake MCAT? Do follow through.
• It is important to continue to show interest with
  the school(s) of greatest interest to you.
• General Questions?