Beloit College Health Professions Advisory Committee

Applying to medical school. 

1)  Please start to assemble letters of recommendation by the end of your second year, and get them all to the Health Professions Committee by May before you apply.  This will help the premed committee to prepare "committee letters".  You should have letters of recommendation sent to your HPAC advisor from at least 3 science professors and another outside professor.  In addition, I'll need a resume with some other information about who you are and what sort of things you've done here at Beloit and in the summers. 

2)Take the MCATS.  Make sure you prepare well.  Study, take practice exams and more practice exams.  Exam prep courses help too, because they expose you to the nature of the questions and to the exhaustion of the process. 

3) Get your application completed as soon as possible. Applications open June 1st.  It is to your advantage to send it in as soon as applications are open.

4) Write personal statement that lets them know how special you are and why.

            Don't ever say "I want to be a doctor because I like to help people"  rather show how you are driven/ motivated through actions you discuss in your essay.  Your essay is the way that they distinguish you from all the other honors students who apply.

5) Send your essay to premed advisors to critique at least 3 weeks before you put it in your application.  Plan to write and rewrite.  We will be very critical.  Think about who you are and what you want them to know about you.

6) Make sure that the essay is great, and without ANY errors.  Proofread and reproof read and proof again.

7) All medical schools you apply to will ask you to submit secondary

applications.  This process will take a lot of time during the fall of the year.

8)  If you are asked for an interview, it's important.  Of people who

interview, 50% will be accepted.  If you get asked to come for an interview, reply as soon as possible.  Interviews are at your expense. When you go for an interview, wear a business suit. Get a haircut.  Write thank you notes. 

9) Many medical schools have rolling admissions, so it is actually to your benefit to apply as soon as they begin accepting applications.

10)  Sometimes medical schools lose things. Sometimes references don’t get your letters done as swiftly as necessary. It's OK to call or email the medical schools to check that they have received your materials.  If you don't hear from everyone about a secondary application, call about that , too.

11) If you are applying to osteopathic medical schools, read up on how osteopathic school and osteopathic medicine differ from regular “allopathic” medical schools and medical practice.  Shadow an osteopathic physician and ask them about their career.  They will want to know why you want to be an osteopath.  The answer, “Because its easier to get into an osteopathic school” does not win friends or acceptance letters.

Remember, the professors on HPAC are there to help you get in.

Also, you can get books on applying to medical school from all the good bookstores.  It wouldn’t hurt to buy one.

Resources:

Letters of Recommendation, Reviewer Guidelines

For more information, contact hpac@beloit.edu