Application Frustration Solutions

Applications are the second hardest part (waiting is the hardest part for me) about the whole med school process in my opinion. There is a ton of information to go through, there is the time crunch and then there is the expenses. We broke down the application process as much as we could and then spread those steps out as much as possible. The good news is, there is A LOT you can do (and should do) before the application even opens. Here is what the application basically breaks down to:

1. Personal Statement: Your personal statement is basically, "why I want to go to med school". If you are applying then I assume you already know the answer to that. You don't need to application so get brainstorming, writing, editing and reediting over Christmas break or spring break or any break when you aren't overwhelmed with school work or applications!

2. Letters of Recommendation: Almost every school requires between 3-6 letters, two science professors and one non-science professor and then your choice for the rest. There are a few schools that have very different requirements but 90% are the same. Make sure you look up the information about each specific school. Again, most of these can be done way ahead of time, you only need to wait on them if you are currently enrolled in their class. I was so glad this year we updated the ones that we needed or got new ones months in advance because last year this really stressed me out. 


3. Transcripts: This is one you have to wait for the application to be open. Take it from us, order the transcript on hard copy. Often the school transcript looks different on paper than it does online. The schools need a hard copy and they need your application to match your transcript EXACTLY. This can throw a major wrench in the works if you just went off the online transcript. Once you have it, it takes a few hours to enter each class in (this is a good thing to do for the husband if you are a perfectionist like me and just to help lighten the load).

4. MCAT: Easy peasy. Not the test, obviously. Luckily once you are done with the test this is done for you. Just make sure you check the application and the score is correct, if it is move on and check this off the list.

5. Work/Volunteer/Experiences: Hopefully you/husband have been tracking all of your volunteer/shadowing/work/patient exposure hours. If not, you have more work to do but you can still do it ahead of time! If you are just starting this process, invest in a good binder and get organized! It is so much easier to track your experiences/hours as you go than to be in the middle of applications trying to remember what you've done.


6. Selecting Schools: This is probably the most time consuming part of applications. There is so much research to be done. Figuring out what schools are good matches for you, your family and your career goals can be a long process. Start reading about the schools (I used the MSAR book) and checking out their websites. We created a spreadsheet that listed each schools GPA, MCAT and out-of-state-admissions to create a guideline. We then created a range of dream schools, schools we were competitive at, and schools we were very qualified for. This took a lot of time but we definately worth it. Other factors we included were faculty, national ratings, location and schools specialties (is the school focused on research, internal medicine, pediatrics, etc.).

Like I said, almost all of these things are finished or can be finished before the application even opens. Our first year we made the mistake of working on too many things during the application period. We learned that all of these things can be worked on between 6-8 months in advance. We did this our second go around and it made life 100x easier and we felt incredibly polished and prepared to submit the application day one.

Lastly, if you are like us the cost of first and secondary applications is a major hit. On my major spreadsheet I also listed the costs of application. I was so grateful that we did this so then we could budget and save accordingly. Sadly, at the end of the process MCAT prep + application + travel you will spend a few thousand dollars. We will talk more about this later on, but definitely make plans for this before your application period.

The jury is out on when you should actually apply. I think that depends a lot on how strong of an applicant you are. But from our experience...apply as early as possible!!! It is frustrating to get invited to an interview to then learn that you are only interviewing for the wait list because the slots are already offered out. If you are in the first batch of applications you have a much better chance of getting an interview and if you get an interview rather than a hold you are obviously much much better off.

Links:
AMCAS: How to Apply
DO Schools
MD Schools