Apply Pre-Health

Reviewers on admissions committees are looking for many qualities and items on your application. Your ability to address the following elements are very important in you standing out, and finding the best fit as an applicant. 

• You understand the profession you wish to enter
• You are going to do well in this selected profession (Professional schools don't like taking risks on students who may or may not be successful).
• You are a good fit for their school. Schools have their own identities, preferences, missions, etc. It's important that you research the identity of the schools you might be interested.
• The school is a good fit for you. Just as schools are looking for a student who fits their identity, you should feel the same. If you are interested in research, for example, it would be important to find a school which emphasizes completing research and/or progressing into research positions in future work.

The vast majority of applications to health professional schools are managed by centralized application service companies. You are welcome to use the links below to access the application portals. Some schools will ask for you to fill out a separate secondary application, either through the portal, or maintained by the school itself and through its website. Keep this in mind!

• Allopathic Medicine Schools (MD): AMCAS
• Osteopathic Medicine Schools (DO): AACOMAS
• Dentistry Schools: AADSAS
• Physician Assistant Schools: CASPA
• Pharmacy Schools: PharmCAS
• Optometry Schools: OPTOMCAS
• Physical Therapy Schools: PTCAS
• Occupational Therapy Schools: OTCAS
• Speech-Language Pathology Schools: CSDCAS
• Nursing Schools: NursingCAS
• Veterinary Medicine Schools: VMCAS

Personal Statements

Nearly every application will require a personal statement, additionally, some schools will have secondary statements specific to their program. Explore the following resources when considering and preparing your personal statement:

• University of Minnesota's Personal Statements for a Health Program Online Workshop
  This is a free and incredible resource, which guides you through each of the components of a personal statement. ​
• American Dental Education Association Blog: Engage in Storytelling- A Fresh Approach for Your Personal Statement ​
  This blog post was written by one of the creators of the University of Montana's Online workshop. It's an abbreviation of the workshop above. Though it's posted on a dental association website, this is applicable to all students! ​
• Mapping Out The Personal Statement; A Visual Thinking Strategy for Students
  This mapping exercise built for student groups in a workshop by Eileen Tom is a wonderful activity to get your ideas flowing. ​

You are likely to need multiple letters of recommendation for entry to a health professional school. Careful attention to the process is important, as many students fall into the trap of last minute requests for letters. To begin, developing a relationship with various faculty and professional staff, healthcare providers, and community leaders is arguably the most important step in acquiring a strong letter of recommendation. Though a challenging task for someone unexposed to the process, consider the following strategies when building a relationship with a faculty member on campus:

• Visit their office hours. Like it or not, we faculty really enjoy getting to know you during our office hours. It's a great chance for some undivided time.
• Learn more about the interests, research interests, and roles of the faculty member, and ask about work with them.
• Participate frequently in their classes and ask questions. Just being present and doing well in the course does not mean you are engaging.
• Take additional courses that the faculty offer, especially those with fewer students.

After spending time in the relationship building environment, now it's time to ask the big question. Consider this: "Can this person write me an EXCELLENT or STRONG letter of recommendation? If not, revert to the previous section on relationship building. If you feel the identified party CAN write you a strong or excellent letter, ask them just that, "Can you write me an excellent letter of recommendation?"

Here are a few resources for you on the process of requesting letters, and for your identified letter writers should they ask for resources:

• For the student
• For the letter writer

From Tips from an admissions officer on interviewing for medical school:

• Be the expert on you. Know what experiences you included in your application and your supplemental answers, because everything you chose to include in your application is fair game for the interviewer. Not being able to robustly answer a question about your own application is a major flaw. If you included research, know the hypothesis. If you worked for a nonprofit, know the mission. If you volunteered to help people enroll for health care under the Affordable Care Act, know the basics of the Affordable Care Act. If the interviewer asks about a specific experience, do not repeat what you already wrote in your application. Add depth to your written application and reflect on the experience during the interview with greater detail and insight.

• Convey your motivation for medicine and your interest in the school. At the end of an interview, I evaluate a candidate across several domains. One of those is motivation and passion for medicine. If I cannot recall why the applicant is interested in a medical career, I usually score them lower. I also give lower scores for very bland answers like, “I like people and I like science.” Please personalize that answer! You are there to testify as to why medicine is right for you and why you are right for medicine. Your motivation and passion must leave an impression. Convey your interest in the school by stating why you feel it is a good fit for you and what programs it has that you are interested in, and ask questions to further explore fit. Research the school’s programs and opportunities in advance so you can have a productive conversation.

• Prepare, don’t rehearse. I see several interview reports a year where a committee member writes that an applicant was “too rehearsed” or “too scripted.” The compulsion to memorize and practice answers sometimes leads to too much pivoting in the interview where an applicant doesn’t answer the question asked but gives the answer they prepared instead. This is not only frustrating, but shows a lack of communication skills, which is something I am assessing in the interview. The best interviews are conversational and allow me to explore your experiences, motivations, and reflections, but also your personality. I have had great interviews where the conversation evolved to all sorts of topics not listed in the application that enabled me to see an applicant’s critical thinking skills, analytical skills, and personality.

• Be a storyteller. Stories are powerful and memorable ways to convey your ideas. Consider your areas of growth, your accomplishments, your past failures, and your motivation for medicine. Think about instances of teamwork, failure, disappointment, goal setting, or resilience. Catalog stories in your mind that relate to these areas so you can easily recall an example with a story if asked a related question. Reflect on growth and meaning as much as possible. How did you change? What did you learn? What would you do differently next time?