Compiled by Prof. Stephen George , Chair, Health Professions Committee, and Dean Carolyn Bassett, Health Professions Advisor, December, 2006
This is the first page of Part II of the Guide. At the end of the page are navigation buttons to help you get to other parts of the Guide and the Health Professions page.
This Guide was prepared with students and graduates of Amherst College in mind. Some of the advice given here is specific to practices at Amherst, and may not apply to everyone interested in entering medical school. This web version of the Guide is similar to the printed version available in the Career Center or the Biology Department Office.
Assuming you have followed the advice in Part I of the Guide about such things as required coursework and recommended medically-related experience, you are now ready to apply to medical school.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part II: The Medical School Application Process
Applying to medical school is a complex, demanding, competitive process. Almost all applicants to college can be accepted somewhere, but the majority of medical school applicants are destined to be rejected everywhere. That's because there are only 17,000 places in first-year medical school classes for the more than 30,000 - 40,000 applicants each year. This part of the Amherst College Guide for Premedical Students aims to place you among the successful 17,000. To be successful, you need to pay attention to all kinds of details and deadlines!
By now you will have read and followed the advice in Part I of this Guide. By this coming May, you will have completed the basic admission requirements of 8 lab science courses plus two English courses. You will take the MCAT exam by the end of June if you haven’t already taken it. In addition to following the advice in this Guide, visit the Amherst health professions web page for useful links and information.
Our most important advice is to apply only when your record is good enough to have a decent chance of success, and when you are committed to devote enough time and energy to apply successfully.
What kind of record is good enough, and what resources do you need to devote to the application? You could look at it as a question of "risk factors." Someone who has one risk factor for heart attacks (e.g. high cholesterol) may well never have a heart attack. However, as the number of risk factors goes up (no exercise, overweight, family history, etc.), the chances of a heart attack increase.
In the same way, some applicants get in even though they have of one or more risk factors for rejection. But as the risk factors pile up, so do the chances of rejection. If you are just starting the process, some items in the list below may not mean much to you, and you may have no way of knowing about some, e.g. MCAT score if you haven't taken the test yet. But you will learn more as you read this Guide and go further on the path towards applying.
Here, then, are risk factors that we see every year among Amherst applicants that reduce their chances of being accepted:
The first three factors listed above, referring to MCAT scores and grades, are very important in determining success in medical school admissions. Even the most sterling personal qualities usually won't substitute for low MCAT scores and science grades. To avoid the first three risk factors, you need to have
In recent years, 90% of Amherst applicants who met the above criteria were accepted on their first try, but only 40% of those who didn't meet one or both of the criteria were accepted. Read all about it in "What are my chances?", including outcomes for those who reapplied when not accepted the first time.
Although not a risk factor for everyone, applying at the end of junior year for admission right after college graduation, rather than a year or more later, is sometimes a weakness. Students who apply at the end of senior year or later almost always have a stronger record, having graduated from Amherst, probably with honors, often also with departmental distinction, usually with a higher GPA and more accomplishments and experience. The average age of first-year medical students in the U.S. is 25, and those 25-year-olds and up haven't been sitting on a beach since graduating from college! Many have been working in labs or hospitals or showing other medically-related accomplishments that make them more attractive to medical schools than someone who "only" has a good academic record and some summer experiences. Many Amherst students with strong record are successful when they apply at the end of junior year for admission immediately after graduating from Amherst. However, some who were rejected, and others who were accepted but not to the schools they were hoping for, would have done well to apply a year or two later.
One other point about timing: we advise against applying with the intention of requesting a year's deferment after being accepted. Applying with the intention to defer is not the best plan for three reasons. First, you will almost certainly be a stronger applicant in terms of grades, honors, and experience at the end of the additional year, so it's better to apply later rather than sooner. Second, some medical schools don't permit deferments, or allow them only under conditions you may not meet. Third, most schools don't allow deferment for applicants admitted from their waiting list, and it's not uncommon to be admitted to one's top choice (i.e. most selective) school from a waiting list.
Then, once you have decided to apply, don't apply halfheartedly! We cringe when we hear a student say, "I guess I'll apply to a couple of schools this year to see if I get in, even though my record is weak, and if I don't make it this time I'll really go for it next time around." This is a recipe for frustration and failure in a process that requires a great deal on the part of the student and his or her family, as well as on the part of those at Amherst who are supporting the applications.
What often happens in this situation is that the applicant lives in hope all through the cycle, having not heard from some schools at all, or maybe being on a waiting list, until a final rejection in the late spring or early summer. By then it's too late to do anything to remedy the weaknesses in the person's record in time for the next application cycle. The student then either must delay applying again until another year has passed so grades or MCATs can be improved, or submit a rushed, late application with weak credentials a second time, which of course is a recipe for another failed attempt.
Applying wholeheartedly rather than halfheartedly means applying early in the cycle, applying to the right schools for you, and devoting the same full attention and energy to the process that you expect the Health Professions Advisor, the Health Professions Committee, and the Health Professions Secretary to devote to it. Then may the first time you apply be the only time you have to apply!
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("What You Need to Do, and When; Your Amherst Recommendation") |
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