RECENT FAQs
If your schools require a separate letter of recommendation form be completed (this often includes sections where your faculty rank your abilities in different categories), you can have your recommenders send these directly. We will upload your committee packet separately. You can bring all Dean's certification forms to our office to be processed.
You will need to send AMCAS a letter with the Letter Request Form noting that they will not receive this letter. Rather, it is under my name. Then you should create the correct entry in your AMCAS application generating a new letter request form so they'll have the correct letter ID when inputting in VE. Send the new form to us. Please note that you will have to assign that new letter to the medical schools of choice and you need to resubmit so the information will save.
Designate them as semester courses (41, etc.) rather than quarters. AMCAS has made changes to several students' applications who listed the courses as quarters. You can code Public Health courses as Semester Courses and put HEAL under the Course classification.
For AP credits, you want to list the year when you were a freshman. In this case, you would list 2004-2005.
We normally do not advise applicants to retake the MCAT immediately following a test taking.
In most cases, some distance — both in time and psychologically — from the initial sitting is a much better approach. You want to do all you can do to make sure that the second time is the last time you take the test. Taking the test in August can be done ... but it certainly means that you are not applying from a position of strength,with an MCAT complete early in the summer. If you apply and take the test in July or August, we definitely recommend that you do not wait until after your receive your scores to submit your AMCAS. You have to make an intelligent guesstimate as to how you will do.
Unfortunately, you cannot change your application after it has been submitted. You will have the opportunity to bring up any new experiences on secondaries and at interviews.
Unfortunately it would only apply if you were a permanent resident and had a green card.
List the program for the one summer and if you cannot enter it for another summer, indicate in the description that you did the program in subsequent summers.
Yes, identify any S/U course as pass/fail.
This will be handled by our office. You will submit the letter request form that has your Letter ID on it to us and then once your committee letter and other letters are ready, we will upload them to the medical schools and AMCAS.
The 2009 AMCAS is now available online. The first date you are able to submit the AMCAS is on or about June 1, 2008. Aim to submit your AMCAS this summer…do not wait until late August/early September! For those of you taking the MCAT in June or July, it is up to you whether you want to wait and submit your AMCAS after seeing your scores or submit it prior to getting your scores back.
You will be asked to input every course you have taken here at Hopkins as well as at any other institution(s) you have attended. During this process, you must code courses as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, English, etc. When in doubt about how to code a particular course, keep the following guideline in mind. If 60% or more of the course material was on a specific subject (for example, Biology), then you can code the course as that subject. If AMCAS disagrees when they review your transcript, you have a 10 day window in which you can protest their decision and provide evidence supporting your claim (syllabus, other documentation). You do not want to take a risk that will result in an audit from AMCAS.
Twenty one schools are participating in a pilot program for a new way for letters of recommendation to be submitted to them. There will be a section of the AMCAS where you identify which letters AMCAS will receive. Since we collect letters from writers and send them as a packet, you would enter "Committee Letter" and enter Dr. David Verrier as the primary author/contact. You do not have to enter any other authors' names; only Dr. Verrier. You then will submit a Letter Request Form to us that will have your AMCAS letter ID on it. We will then upload your packet (which includes your Committee Letter and your individual letters of recommendation) to medical schools using our VirtualEvals system.
TMDSAS is now open for you to begin completing if you are applying to
any of the following medical schools:
UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas
Texas A&M University Health Science Center College of Medicine
UT Medical Branch at Galveston
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
UT School of Medicine at San Antonio
University of North Texas- Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
UT Health Science Center in Houston
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center - Paul L. Foster School of
Medicine at El Paso
For more information about the TMDSAS, visit
http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/tmdsas.html
First, we recommend that you visit the special page we created on the
PreProf website:
http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/choosing_schools.html
The Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) is the primary
resource you should use as you begin to research and select your target
schools. The MSAR includes information on:
? Application procedures and deadlines
? Selection factors such as MCAT & GPA data
? Ranges of MCAT & GPA at specific schools
? Medical school class profiles
? Costs and financial aid packages
? MD/PhD and other combined degrees
? Graduates' specialty choices
? Updated USMLE Policies
While we have multiple copies available in our library, you also have the option of ordering a copy for $25 from the Association of American
Medical Colleges. To do so, visit
https://services.aamc.org/Publications/index.cfm?
fuseaction=Product.displayForm&prd_id=226.
The Writing Center and the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising are sponsoring personal statement support sessions between May 27 and June 27. Tentatively, individual sessions will be set up for pre-health students on Mondays and Wednesdays afternoons and on Tuesdays and Thursdays evenings. This is a great opportunity to make sure that you are presenting yourself in the best light possible in your
application to health professions schools. To schedule an appointment please visit the Writing Center web site at
http://web.jhu.edu/writingcenter/about.html and click on the "Make an Appointment" link. Appointments for the summer session can be booked online beginning the week of May 21. Due to the high demand for these consultations students will be limited to two appointments each, so plan your visits accordingly.
PLEASE NOTIFY US
For the purpose of assessing waivers of the $65 processing fee charged by the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising, please let us know if you participated in the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) for the MCAT or for AMCAS. Please know that you are not required to share this information with me, and your disclosure will be kept confidential.
As you know from previous correspondence, we will do our best to assign you to a Committee member as soon as possible and leave you time to schedule the interview prior to your leaving Baltimore. Time is of the essence at this point and you must notify us immediately.
No. There is no relationship between the submission of your AMCAS application and your Committee interview process. Some of you will have your Committee interview following the submission of your AMCAS application. This will not hold up the application processing as, once verification of your transcripts and application are complete at AMCAS, they will make your application accessible to the medical schools to which you have applied. Furthermore, medical schools will not wait for the receipt of your Committee package (including the Committee letter and individual letters of recommendation) to send secondary applications to you.
A student's behavioral violation must be reported to the professional schools by the applicant. Certain violations are minor in nature and are worked out within the Residence Hall system and, in most cases, will not be reported.
A student must report any academic dishonesty that results in a grade change. In most cases this grade change is an aberration on the academic transcript and is best openly explained by the applicant.
As you all know, you are required to forward a "Dean's Report" form to Dean Sheppard in the Dean of Students Office which she completes and returns to Pre-Professional Programs and Advising. If you have questions, you should check your situation with one of us or with Dean Sheppard in Levering Room 102. Also see the AMCAS 2009 Instruction Manual.
WORKING WITH THE PRE-PROFESSIONAL OFFICE
Your advisors from the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising through your entire application process will be Dr. Verrier and Ms. Kirby. Administrative aspects of your application will be handled by one of the Administrative Coordinators in the office depending upon where your last name falls in the alphabet – Mrs. Harding (A-G), Mrs. Krause (H-O), or Mrs. Sanders (P-Z).
If you are applying to health professions school outside of allopathic or osteopathic medicine, including dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, etc., please notify us. You will be provided with guidance, support, and instructions that should be helpful through the application process.
THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE PROCESS
The Health Professions Committee Packet includes the Committee Letter and copies of individual letters of recommendation. It is written for current students and alumni applying to programs in the health professions who complete the Health Professions Committee process. It is a comprehensive accumulation of letters that, in many respects, distinguishes applicants from Johns Hopkins.
Most professional school admissions committees, including all medical schools, place a fair amount of emphasis on these receiving a Committee letter with individual letters of recommendation. The Admissions Committees are very interested in learning more about you as a person and this evaluation can help frame some of your experiences. It is designed to be a comprehensive picture of you as an applicant. The letter is an important part of your applicant file. The Committee Packet may hold more or less weight depending on the type of professional school to which you apply.
The first step is to attend the mandatory Applicant Meeting in November. Following this meeting, you must schedule a meeting with an advisor in Pre-Professional Programs and Advising to review your Credential Review Worksheet and your Application Profile Self-Assessment.
In order to request a Committee Interview, Pre-Professional Programs and Advising need full information about your academics, extracurricular activities, work experiences, etc. You provide this information to us primarily through thoroughly completing your Health Professions Committee Application. Students must submit all of the following in order to have a complete application:
- Health Professions Committee Application (to Preprofessional@jhu.edu)
- Transcript (to the Office)*
- Personal resume (to Preprofessional@jhu.edu)
- Committee Letter Waiver (to the Office)*
- Deans Report (submit to Dorothy Sheppard, Assistant Dean of Students)
- One recent photo (to the Office)*
*All should be submitted at the same time.
Students who submit their completed Health Professions Committee Application (HPCA) and associated forms can expect to be assigned to a Committee member within a month after submitting their application. In general, the following guidelines apply:
- Students who complete the HPCA and submit prior to the end of March will be assigned a Committee Member and have an interview during April (providing that slots are available). Students who need to be assigned an early interview due to summer commitments substantially far away from campus (e.g., Texas, West Coast, India) will be assigned a committee interview before they leave and, in most cases, must submit their application prior to the end of March.
- Students who complete the HPCA and submit during April will be assigned a Committee Member and have an interview during May or June.
- Students who complete the HPCA and submit during May will be eligible to have a Committee Member assigned during June or July.
- Students who complete the HPCA and submit during June will be eligible to have a Committee Member assigned during July or August.
Following your interview, your Committee Member will write the four sections of your letter, focusing on the following:
- an “introduction” to the candidate, outlining salient aspects of his/her background, early influences on his/her pursuit of the career, and general sense of current standing and “readiness”
- the academic strengths of the candidate as they relate to a career in healthcare
- the strengths and relevance of the candidate’s experiences as they relate to a career in healthcare
- general conclusions regarding the student’s candidacy based on the interview, the submitted materials, and your knowledge of the process
Advisors in the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising or your interviewer will begin to integrate quotes letters of recommendation into Committee Letters for all interviewed students as soon as all letters of recommendation have been received.
The Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising will not delay the Committee Interview of an applicant due to missing letters. All letters of recommendation are integrated into the final Committee Letter. It is your responsibility to keep in contact with your assigned Administrative Coordinator in the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising to inquire as to the status of your letters. You are responsible for contacting the faculty or others who agreed to write for you and ask in a polite manner for them to submit the letter in a timely manner. Please remind them to submit an electronic copy of your letter as a Microsoft Word document via the instructions on the waiver form; this aids the Committee Member in writing your Committee Letter. If you are having difficulties securing a particular recommendation, you should contact your administrative coordinator for advice.
Typically a Committee Member will need three weeks to write your letter. However, some Committee Members will not complete the letter until all of the recommendations have arrived and have been forwarded to them. It is to your advantage to have your interview in the spring or early summer so that your letter written and ready to mail by July.
This “interview” will, in many respects, be different than an interview at a medical or dental school. I would suggest that you review your autobiography, your personal statement, and your responses to questions on the Health Professions Committee Application. The Committee member is trying to do his/her best job to represent you as a candidate for your chosen profession. They have lots of information about you and now want to have a chance to get to know you in person.
We are going to do our very best in the Office to assign students to Committee Members as expeditiously as possible. If you need to be assigned very early in the process (e.g., during the spring semester), you will need to submit your Health Professions Committee Application and associated materials very early in the process.
No. We cannot accommodate requests for you to be assigned a particular faculty member, physician, or senior administrator on the Committee. We have to take into account a number of factors in assigning applicants to Committee Members and cannot accommodate students’ requests.
Choosing whether or not to waive your rights is a personal decision that you must make on your own. It is important for you to be aware that you make the choice regarding waiving your rights and that it is a voluntary decision. A range of sources reviewed regarding this issue appears to favor that you waive the right, the assumption being that the letter may be more candid and that you had confidence in your selection of your recommenders.
No. You can, for instance, submit your AMCAS or AACOMAS application in early June and have your Committee Interview in late June or July.
If you are currently a junior and are planning to apply following your senior year, you should go through this process next year. If you are a junior or a senior and are planning to apply for entry two or more years following graduation, you should go through this process as a senior. It is important to request letters of recommendation from faculty and mentors at Johns Hopkins during the final phase of your Hopkins education. It is advised that you have your Committee Interview during this cycle and have the letter in your file. Pre-Professional Programs and Advising will insure that the letter is current when you apply and reflects all of your achievements and experiences. Alumni are always encouraged to come back and access the services of the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising.
INTERSESSION BEFORE YOU APPLY
Now that you have your Health Professions Committee Application (HPCA), it makes sense for you to start working on it, even if you are just starting on your experience descriptions. Working on this application takes precedence over beginning your personal statement. Your answers to questions on the HPCA will impact how you think about the process of writing your personal statement.
Some of you are taking the MCAT in January and preparation for the test will take total precedence during intersession.
By the end of the fall semester you should have approached all individuals who you are 100% sure you will be requesting letters of recommendation. Be sure to provide them with proper materials as described on the Applicant pages of the Pre-Prof website (see below). It is to your benefit to request any letters that you can prior to the end of the fall semester. Key portions of the website that deal with letters of recommendation are at: http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/application_faq.html#letters
As you know, the deadline for all of your recommendations to be received at the Pre-Prof Office is June 19, 2009. Therefore, you can ask a professor you have for a class during the spring semester for a letter, as long as you do so by middle of May and give them AT LEAST a month to write the letter. However, by the middle of the spring semester you should know the compliment of individuals who will be writing letters for you. Remember, you are responsible for providing all of your recommenders with the appropriate materials (e.g., resume, waiver form) and following up with them to insure that your letters are submitted by the June 19 deadline.
Ms. Kirby and Dr. Verrier are more than willing to talk with you about your recommendations, both in terms of composition and strategies for making and following up on your requests. As you know, it is most important to have individuals write for you who know you well enough to be able to comment on whether or not they feel you would be a credit to the medical profession.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
• Choose your recommenders carefully. A person who knows you well can write a more substantial and helpful letter than someone who hardly knows you. In choosing between a person who taught you in a small class versus someone with a famous name or title but who cannot write a personal letter, choose the former. It is required to have at least one recommendation from someone who has taught you in the sciences (2 recommended), and it is recommended to have one from a faculty in the humanities or social sciences. Others who may write useful letters include research advisors, administrators, faculty advisors, athletic coaches, supervisors of campus or summer jobs, and those who have known you in volunteer positions. Letters from graduate student instructors are acceptable.
• When asking for the letter, make an appointment to meet in person if at all possible. Take your resume and transcript and papers which you have written for the instructor (preferably the copies which contain their comments) with you and be prepared to talk about your future goals and past achievements. If an individual agrees to write on your behalf, present him/her with the Instructions to Writers of Letters of Recommendation and the Recommendation Waiver Form. If the person is off campus, it is also helpful to provide the writer with a stamped envelope addressed to the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising.
• Make sure that you allow the person the option of saying NO. You want to have strong letters and if a person is somewhat uncomfortable writing for you or doesn’t have enough time, it is likely that the result will be short and weak. It is much better to have someone be honest with you at the start, so that you can find another referee who will be more enthusiastic. You can determine this by asking the person if s/he feels comfortable writing a strong letter on your behalf.
• Give your referees plenty of advance notice and time to write a good letter of recommendation (a month or even two). Make sure that your referees know that we need to have your letters sometime in the spring or early summer, and that there is a June 1st deadline. If your letters are not received by June 1st, it may delay the processing of your Committee Packet.
• Be sure to give your referees friendly reminders about your letter, but do not pester them. Remember they will be writing a letter reflecting on many aspects of you—which includes behavior and interpersonal interactions!
• Inform your writers when you have decided where you will be attending school and thank them again for their assistance and support.
The Waiver Form is a document provided by the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising that will allow you to waive your right to inspect the contents of letters of recommendation written on your behalf. You must complete this form and provide it to each of your recommenders. Waiving your ‘right to access’ means that your letters will remain confidential, and you will not be privy to their contents. Admissions officials may give more credence to the content of a letter that is confidential. If you choose NOT to waive your right, you will have access to the contents of the recommendation.
It is fine for the letter to go into two pages. However, much more than a page and ½ is viewed as too long for a medical school letter of rec.
While it is possible to wait a few more weeks, we recommend requesting letters of recommendation about a month before our deadline of June 1.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
We strongly encourage you to utilize the services of the Writing Center in the coming weeks prior to the end of exams. That is the period of time with the least amount of traffic, and you will get the most attention. During the month of June, the Writing Center expects to see many of you as you go through the final stages of writing your statement. To schedule an appointment please visit the Writing Center web site at http://web.jhu.edu/writingcenter/about.html and click on the "Make an Appointment" link.
SUBMISSION OF COMMITTEE PACKETS
Committee Packets will not be officially released to health professions schools until the student submits materials to the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising. Please note the following caveats:
- Hand deliver or email a copy of your AMCAS/AACOMAS, your Master Schools list, and your $65 fee to the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising.
- Please note that the Health Professions Committee Letter and packet can only be used for the purposes of application to health professional schools.
- We submit letters to most medical schools using Virtual Evaluations, a secure, web-based system through which health professions advisors can transmit letters of evaluation to health professions schools.
Complete the Master List of Schools checking all the medical schools and/or MD/PhD programs to which you are applying. Add schools to the master list if they do not use the virtual evaluation system. See mailing request section for instructions to have recommendations mailed to the school(s).
For students using the Health Professions Committee, there is a flat $65.00 processing fee to cover costs associated with this process. The fee must be paid before any mailing requests are completed.
If you have any recommendations that you want Express Mailed, Federal Expressed, etc., you are responsible for obtaining the envelope(s) and paying the post office directly for postage. The addressed stamped envelope(s) should then be brought to our office with the completed mailing request (see Mailing Request section for instructions on mailing requests). If you request recommendations to be faxed, there is a $10 fee for each recommendation packet.
Envelopes will be provided by the Pre-Professional Office and you will address one envelope for each school on your Master List of Schools. There are labels and addresses available in the Pre-Professional Office for most programs. If you are out of town and are mailing in your fee and master list of schools, you should include mailing labels for each school on your list. We will affix the labels on the envelopes for you.
M.D./Ph.D. applicants should use the addresses noted on the M.D./Ph.D. application. These applicants may need to send to schools not using Virtual Evals. In many cases this address differs from the medical school admissions office address.
Once your Committee Letter is completed and a copy of your AMCAS/AACOMAS ID is in your file, your recommendation packet will be sent to all schools listed on your Master List of Schools. However, Mayo Medical School, University of California-Los Angeles, University of California-San Francisco, University of California-San Diego, University of California-Irvine, and the University of Hawaii require that your secondary must be completed prior to mailing your recommendation packet. Therefore, you must inform us and submit a written request for us to mail your letters to these medical schools, after you have completed your secondary application. You must add to your Master List any additional schools not originally checked off on your master list. If you are not available to be here to add it yourself, you must submit a request in writing, and we will add it for you.
Please make your request to mail your recommendation packet in writing. If you are out of town, requests must still be made in writing. You may fax or e-mail your requests. Please follow-up by calling the Office to confirm that your request has been received.
Portions of this document modeled off of Health Professions Advisory Application, Office of Pre-Professional Advising, Columbia University, 2007
The preferred method deliver of your recommendations – both the Committee letter and your letters of recommendation – is called “VirtualEvals.”
Dr. Verrier. As an example, Johns Hopkins Medical School supplemental application asks for "Pre Medical committee/advisor information," asking for advisor's name. Please put “Dr. David Verrier.”
It’s time to come to the office to provide us with a copy of your AMCAS, your completed Master List of schools to which you are applying, and the $65 payment. If you are far away from Baltimore this summer, you can arrange with your Administrative Coordinator to have these delivered.
Correct. For the purpose of assessing waivers of the $80 processing fee charged by the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising, please let us know if you participated in the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) for the MCAT or for AMCAS. If this applies to you, please send Dr. Verrier an email.
THE MCAT
For a large number of you, knowledge of your MCAT results will be in hand at the time you apply. Hopefully you will be making a smart decision about applying in light of your MCAT. If you are wondering about the impact of your MCAT score on your application, we encourage you to set up an appointment to speak with Ms. Kirby or Dr. Verrier. We strongly encourage you to consult the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) to reference the 10th to 90th percentage MCAT range for your schools of interest. If your overall MCAT score falls below the 10th percentage MCAT range for a majority of your schools of interest, we strongly encourage you to retake the MCAT.
Some of you are taking the MCAT or in the position of having to retake the MCAT during summer and are contemplating whether to take the June or the July MCAT. In contemplating this decision, it is important that you give yourself the time you need to prepare properly. (You do not want to be in the position of having to take the MCAT for a third time.) Although it is not ideal, a July MCAT will allow your MCAT scores to catch up with the remainder of your applications at the medical schools by the latter part of August, still a relatively early point in the application process.
It is common that students are not pleased with their MCAT scores. Sometimes the scores may be slightly below the average score you were scoring on practice tests. If your score continues to fall between the 10th to 90th percentage MCAT range for your schools of interest, however, we encourage you NOT to retake the MCAT. On the other hand, if your overall MCAT score falls below the 10th percentage MCAT range for a majority of your schools of interest, we suggest you consider retaking the MCAT.
We strongly suggest that there be at least three to four months between an initial and a second MCAT. The impulsive decision of retaking the MCAT immediately can seriously backfire. Developing a revised strategy for retaking the MCAT and concentrating your study in a well-devised manner requires a span of time. The evidence of students receiving the same or a lower MCAT when retaking the test in the first available testing period following the receipt of results is definitive. For a number of you, taking a second MCAT would result in signing up for an August or September administration of the exam. If this is the case, we STRONGLY recommend that you delay applying for one year since you will totally lose the advantages associated with applying early in the application cycle.
In general, you are advised to apply to medical school without the knowing your MCAT scores if you are waiting for scores from a June or July MCAT. This is because ALL of you are strongly encouraged to apply to medical school during the month of June to facilitating an early processing of your application by AMCAS. If you make the decision to apply and are taking an August or September MCAT (which we DO NOT recommend, by the way), we definitely encourage to you submit your AMCAS without knowledge of your MCAT. In selecting schools, you should make reasonable prediction of your MCAT scores based on how you scored on practice tests. AMCAS will verify your application and forward to the schools to which you applied. Schools will facilitate secondary applications despite the fact that they are waiting for your original or new MCAT scores.
Your first score will be reported — you have no choice. If you take it again, you will likely want to apply before you receive the scores (e.g., you apply in June but take the July MCAT and don't get your scores till the beginning of August).
COMPLETING THE AMCAS APPLICATION
Be certain to download and read the AMCAS 2008 instruction manual in its entirety! This manual will address many of the questions that will arise as you fill out your AMCAS application. Additionally, when you submit your AMCAS application, you certify that you have read this document! The FAQ section on the AMCAS website is also a source of helpful information. Here are some additional questions and answers that should help you complete the AMCAS application:
Biographical Information
An alternate ID number is any ID number that appears on a transcript that is associated with your AMCAS application. That is, it is any ID number that could be used to link a transcript with your application. You do not need to enter alternate ID numbers that do not appear on any of your transcripts.
Study Abroad
Follow these guidelines for determining what transcripts you need to obtain regarding your study abroad:
1. If applying through AMCAS, and the program was sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian Institution, the applicant should:
a. list the U.S. or Canadian Institution sponsoring the study abroad program, and on whose official transcript the coursework will appear
b. have the sponsoring institution send an official transcript to AMCAS
2. If the program was not sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian Institution, but the credits were transferred to a U.S. or Canadian Institution, the applicant should:
a. list the U.S. or Canadian Institution that the credit will be transferred to
b. list the foreign school under the "schools attended" section of the application;
i. Indicate that AMCAS does not require a transcript
ii. Select an exception reason of "Foreign College – Independent attendance –credits transferred to a U.S. or Canadian Institution."
iii. Indicate that credit was transferred to another institution
iv. Select from the pre-populated drop down menu the U.S. or Canadian Institution sponsoring the study abroad program
v. Enter all required course data under the name of the foreign school, but as it appears on the transcript on which the transferred credits appear.
c. have the U.S. or Canadian Institution in which the credit was transferred to send an official transcript to AMCAS
3. If the program was not sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian Institution, and the credits were not transferred to a U.S. or Canadian Institution, the applicant should:
a. List the foreign school under the "schools attended" section of the application;
i. Indicate that AMCAS does not require a transcript
ii. Select an exception reason of "Foreign College – Independent attendance – no credits transferred to a U.S. or Canadian Institution."
iii. Indicate that credit was not transferred to another institution
b. Enter all required course data, except credit hours attempted, as taken at the foreign school
Entering Course Work
Enter course names on your AMCAS application EXACTLY as they appear on your transcript. If the exact course name does not fit into the designated field, enter a logical abbreviation.
You should not convert your JHU GPA. AMCAS will make the conversion for you.
The AMCAS application provides a GPA for freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year and a cumulative GPA for all four of them. The Graduate GPA is separate.
Do not assign graduate status to graduate-level courses applied towards an undergraduate degree. Assign the appropriate undergraduate status (e.g., junior, senior, etc.) to these courses according to the guidelines on page 42 of the AMCAS Instruction Manual.
Enter the courses on your AMCAS application as they appear on the transcript from the school where you ORIGINALLY attempted the courses, not as they appear on your JHU transcript. Do not enter courses twice. List courses under the school at which you originally took the courses.
Assign high school status to college-level courses taken while you were in high school.
Yes. You must enter every course you have attempted, even if no credits were earned.
Do not enter the actual grades you earned during the first semester of your freshman year when your grades are “covered.” Enter either S or U.
No.
YES. You should include any +/- modifiers to your letter grades.
JHU’s semester description is 4-1-4. (4 months in the Fall, 1 month during the winter break, and 4 months in the Spring)
No! You must enter the grades you earned in both attempts of a repeated course! Failure to do so will result in your application being returned to you!
To claim AP credit, the credit hours must be listed on your transcript. If a course number is not listed on your transcript for the courses for which you earned AP credit, then leave this field blank. Do not enter the course number for the JHU course for which you earned AP credit.
You should put "Freshman" as the school year as you received AP credit for that year. You should also list the number of credit hours you received. For the year, list the year you were a freshman. At the time of admissions, you must have received a letter from the Academic Advising office indicating the number of units JHU gave you. You can also find that information on your transcript.
Your BCPM GPA is composed of courses that are considered by AMCAS to be Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics courses.
Biology courses include: anatomy, biology, biophysics, biotechnology, botany, cell biology, ecology, entomology, genetics, histology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, physiology.
Chemistry courses include: biochemistry, chemistry, physical chemistry, thermodynamics.
Mathematics courses include: applied mathematics, mathematics, statistics.
Physics courses include: upper-level astronomy, physics.
Your engineering courses will not be included in the BCPM GPA unless you classify your engineering courses as biology, chemistry, physics, or math courses. If you are attempting to count some of your engineering courses towards fulfillment of the pre-requisites (e.g., using Physiological Foundations in fulfillment of the biology requirement), then you must classify your engineering courses accordingly. See the next question and answer for guidelines on determining how a course should be classified.
AMCAS requires that each applicant determine the correct course classification based on each course's primary content. Determining the correct course classification can be tricky depending on the course (for instance, public health courses). To make these determinations, refer to the syllabus for the course. Generally speaking, the course should be classified as the discipline from which 50% or greater of its subject matter comes. AMCAS typically refrains from changing these classifications if the applicant's selection appears to be reasonable. Your application will not be returned to you for a reasonable classification error (e.g., a public health course that you classify as "Biology" but that AMCAS classifies as "Behavioral and Social Sciences"). In the event that AMCAS does change the classification, and you believe the change is incorrect, you can file an Academic Change Request and provide AMCAS with a copy of (or a link to) the syllabus. Please note that you have only 10 days after your application processing is complete in which to file an Academic Change Request.
Don’t worry about it. AMCAS will standardize your GPA for you.
List courses in which you are currently enrolled and the classes you expect to enroll in prior to entering medical school. Indicate "Current/Future" as the course type. Do not request a transcript exception if the future classes will be at JHU. Only request a transcript exception if the future class will be taken at a different institution that you have not attended in the past.
A number of you who are participating in 5 year BS/MS and BA/MS combined degree programs have raised questions concerning whether you should create two separate entries in the Schools Attended section or one Johns Hopkins entry including both the bachelors degree and the masters degree. Furthermore, it has been unclear how you should enter your coursework (as you know, since these programs are a combined 5-years, Hopkins doesn't clearly differentiate which courses count towards the BA or BS and which courses count towards the MS). The word on this from AMCAS is not definitive. One option is to list JHU twice, one for your bachelors and the other for your masters. In this case you would list the first four years of coursework under the undergraduate degree and the last year of courses under the graduate degree. The other option is to list both degrees under a single JHU entry. If you use this option, you simply list the courses in order of semester enrolled.
MCAT Scores
AMCAS will process your application without an MCAT score if you do not have an MCAT score at the time of processing. When submitting your application, you will be asked, “Have you taken, or do you plan to take the MCAT in calendar year 2008 from May through September?” If you select, “Yes,” a drop down menu will appear with all of the MCAT dates from May through September 2008. Select the date on which you plan to take the MCAT. This information will be provided to your designated medical schools.
After you have submitted your AMCAS application, if you decide to take the MCAT on a different date, you can change the test date designated on your AMCAS application. It is imperative that you keep your projected MCAT date accurate on your AMCAS application!
If processing of your AMCAS application is completed prior to receipt of your MCAT score, then AMCAS will release your application to medical schools without an MCAT score. Your MCAT score will automatically be sent to your designated medical schools once it is reported.
When submitting your application, you will be asked, “Have you taken, or do you plan to take the MCAT in calendar year 2008 from May through September?” If you select, “Yes,” a drop down menu will appear with all of the MCAT dates from May through September 2008. Select the date on which you plan to take the MCAT. This information will be provided to your designated medical schools.
After you have submitted your AMCAS application, if you decide to NOT take the MCAT again, you must update your AMCAS application, indicating that you are NOT planning to take the MCAT during May through September, 2008 – otherwise, medical schools may not evaluate your application because they are waiting for the receipt of your subsequent MCAT scores!
AMCAS will show all MCAT scores released to AMCAS that are up to three years old. The cut off is at three years because there is concern that scores older than that would have limited utility. The number of scores available was increased from only two to all of the released ones in the past three years, which is a maximum of six, in response to the schools' request to see earlier attempts.
Experience Descriptions
Yes. Select a logical date that allows you to enter these activities in your AMCAS application. For instance, select the date that you were elected to a leadership position in a club or that you were notified that you were selected for a TA position for the upcoming fall semester. Then, in the "description” section, indicate the dates that you will hold the position; e.g., "I will be the TA for the course XXXXX during the fall 2008 semester. I was awarded this position in April 2008. My duties will include..."
My Personal Statement
Regarding your personal statement, you really should ask yourself some key questions before you submit it:
a) Is the theme recognizable and evident to the reader?
b) Have you made it clear the one or two aspects of your application that you want the reader to remember?
Remember that there is no need to feel like you have to reiterate aspects of all of your activities and involvements as they appear in your Experience Descriptions. Personal statements that come across as narrative resumes are generally ineffective.
Institutional Action
When applying to medical schools, you will be asked the following by AMCAS: "Were you ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college or medical school for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violation?" Medical schools require you to answer this question accurately and provide all relevant information. Full disclosure will enable the medical schools to more effectively evaluate this information within the context of your credentials. If your behavior resulted in you being placed on probation, suspension, or expulsion, you will be required to answer yes to this question.
Browser Issues
Unfortunately, you must use either Internet Explorer or Netscape as your web browser – you cannot use Safari or the Mac version of Firefox.
Many PC users experience difficulties using Netscape. Try using Internet Explorer, and be certain you are using the most recent version of Internet Explorer.
When you place text from your personal statement and experience descriptions into AMCAS, we recommend that you change the text to a "text format" to be sure that it is void of all formatting.
Misc. Questions
The AMCAS fee is $160 for the first school, and $30 for each additional school. When your AMCAS is processed, most schools will request "supplementary" information, and filing this will cost an additional $60-$125. The AACOMAS fee is practically the same, and the cost for filing supplementary materials at osteopathic medical schools is also anywhere from $60 to $125. Add in costs for the MCAT, flying to schools for interviews, hotels, and other expenses, and the total application cost can rise into the thousands of dollars depending on how many schools you apply to.
First, remember that your submission of an application through an application service is a completely different process than this Office’s submission of your Committee Letter and individual letters of recommendation. Following the date of your Committee interview, your Committee package (Committee letter and letters of recommendation) will be sent approximately one month later. In 95% of the cases, the Committee package will arrive prior to the student’s submission of secondary materials.
Most medical schools do accept Canadian citizens to the four-year regular MD program, Canadian citizens must complete a Financial Certificate at the time of interview showing sufficient funds to pay for your educational expenses. The process to obtain a student visa from a US consulate abroad usually takes at least 3-4 months.
SECONDARY APPLICATIONS
“Optional” essays are important opportunities to give medical schools additional information on which to evaluate your candidacy. Don’t pass up this opportunity.
This is a question you must attempt to answer. It is an opportunity to write about one of your interests, an experience(s) that you found meaningful, your summer plans or plans for the upcoming year, an influence on your interest in medicine that you did not go into great detail on your primary application, etc.
It is important that you invest the time necessary to complete the essays well. Within reason, the secondary essays should be on par with the quality of your personal statement. You should rely on friends/peers to review you secondary essays.
All Dean’s Certification Forms should be brought to the Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising and not to Dean Sheppard’s office. These forms, which are provided by the schools, are different than the Health Professions Dean’s Report that is generated out of this office.
Johns Hopkins has a long history of utilizing a Committee Letter (as you know, individual letters of recommendation are attached to the composite). We do not send individual recommendations to schools for applicants who utilize the Committee process. The Committee Letter is sent to medical schools through a service called Virtual Evals within approximately three weeks of the Committee interview. Due to security concerns, we do not transmit any Committee letters or individual letters of recommendation through the service called "Interfolio".
Don’t worry about it. All of your schools will receive the same supplementary materials from this office.
If you complete and return secondary applications prior to the arrival of your Committee Letter from this office, it is not a problem. For those of you who completed your Committee interview in May and June, your Committee Letter will be sent and arrive at the schools you designate by the end of July. For those of you who have your Committee interview during the month of July, your Committee Letter will be sent and arrive at the schools you designate by the end of August. It is very rare that students interview before the end of August. Those of you who are invited for early interview are most likely those who had the Committee interview in May/June and your Committee Letter will be submitted to schools (by mid-July).
The expectations of returning secondaries are not that tight. Work to complete them in a timely manner but do not worry about completing them prior to or during your trip.
THE TIMING OF YOUR APPLICATION AND THE GLIDE YEAR
The most important advice we offer is to apply to professional schools when you are ready to present your strongest application possible. Someof you are simply going to be significantly stronger - whether academically and/or in other aspects of your application -- at the endof your senior year as opposed to the end of your junior year.
Taking time off can be a very positive step on your way to becoming a health professional. In fact, the median age for first year medical students is now nearly 25! Of course, what you do with that time should be meaningful and perhaps science, health or service related; working in a research lab or a hospital; teaching; completing a fellowship or service program, or perhaps even traveling and exposing yourself to medical care in the places you visit. The added experience can enhance your qualifications and show your commitment to a career in the health professions. For many students, it may be an advantage to wait until after graduation to apply. It gives you extra time to raise your GPA, study for entrance exams, refresh, and gain additional related experiences. Taking time off is definitely something to consider.
Medical schools' deferral policies very greatly. Some will only allow you to defer if you are pursuing a significant opportunity (Rhodes, Fulbright) whereas others have a more relaxed policy. In the words of one medical school admissions dean, "When applicants approach me to ask whether they should apply one particular year but with the intention of deferring, my advice is to say, don't do it."
Deciding when to apply to health professions school is one of the more important decisions that you may face as an applicant. Only about 40% of Johns Hopkins applicants currently planning to apply for 09 are from the Class of 2009 - everyone else is taking or has taken some time off before matriculating. Every student whom I have talked with who has taken time has benefited from it. They have all found something productive to do in their time off, and may be more attractive to admissions committees because of this new experience as well as the maturity that you gain from being in the real world for awhile. For those of you on the fence, here are a few reasons why it may not hurt to wait:
1. You need more time to study for the MCAT. Applying for 10 means you could spend all summer studying MCAT, and still have time to retake it if necessary before applying.
2. You have a borderline GPA. The numbers part of your applicant profile almost always improves in your senior year if you're a junior, because you have more control over the courses you take, and you're just more acclimated to the college environment. Also, if you're a senior, you may want to enroll in an academic record enhancer post-bac program to improve your GPA during the year you are applying.
3. You don't think you'll have strong letters of rec. Again, if you're a junior, your classes are likely to get smaller next year, and you'll have more opportunity to forge relationships with your faculty. You'll also have this summer to work on getting a letter from a supervisor or volunteer coordinator in your summer activity.
4. You don't have time to focus on the preparations required to apply. You have essays to write, letters of recommendations to gather, standardized tests to study for, schools to research, as well as the rest of real life and figuring out what to do this summer. If you can't spend the time you need on application prep now (and secondary essay writing this summer for MD/DO applicants), it might be better to start getting organized this year, but focus on applying next year.
5. You have no experience with what working in medicine, and with patients, might entail. Without having participated in some activities that allow you to serve the community, and build the skills you need to be a physician, it will be hard to convince schools that you have a realistic understanding of what youre about to undertake.
6. You just aren't sure about medicine yet or you can't articulate your motivation well on paper and in conversation. If you need more experiences to back up your "gut feeling" that you "must" be a doctor or dentist or vet, then by all means, take the time to find those experiences.
7. There are other things that you want to experience before taking the next step to health professions school. Once you get to medical school, it becomes more difficult to take time off -- you're more likely to have financial concerns, family concerns, and a professional schedule that will keep you from, say, traveling to Africa for six months, or learning to skydive, or going to culinary school. Health professions school (and the support Hopkins provides in working with you to get there) will still be there for you if you go and do these things and return to the application process later.
Alumni from Hopkins who went to medical school report that there are many ways to spend time after graduation and before enrolling in medical school. Their reasons vary from needing time for a break, for clarifying career goals, for pursuing an activity of interest, or for improving credentials. In all cases they report positive results from the decision to take time off. During the glide year you will be filling out secondary applications, going to interviews, and wondering what you will be doing next year. You also need to keep your foot in the door of the medical field in order to show your continued interest and dedication. You do not need to do all of the following, but you should consider doing at least two of them in addition to applying to medical school:
1. Take additional courses in upper division biology and/or chemistry.
2. Get a job in order to support yourself, pay for application fees, finance travel to interviews, and pay off educational debts. If you can find work in a clinical health care area, or biological/medical research environment you may strengthen your medical school application.
3. If you are fortunate enough not to need to work, additional volunteer work in healthcare or research could also strengthen your application. A useful listing of "post-graduate opportunities" is compiled by the Career Services Office. Go to http://www.jhu.edu/careers/handouts/post_grad_opps.pdf
4. If you receive MCAT scores of 9 or lower you may need to retake the MCAT. This means that some of your time during the glide year should go toward studying for the MCAT or taking a review course. Please call to set up an appointment with one of the advisors to determine a course of action.
We have had several students successfully navigate the challenges of being abroad during their glide year. Here are some tips from one of these students:
*APPLY EARLY!!*
The most important piece of advice is to turn in everything as early as possible. Although this is the general advice for everyone, I cannot stress this enough for those with restricted schedules. This enables medical schools to notify you with interviews earlier, during a time when they are still flexible in scheduling them.
*SEND LETTER*
In addition, I also sent out a seperate letter of explanation as to when I would be in the country and available to interview. I also stated my schedule restrictions in any space provided in the secondary applications.
*TWO TIME SLOTS*
Also, I tried to make my schedule as flexible as possible. Instead of only coming back to the U.S. once for interviews, I chose the months of October and January to be available to interview. These months worked out perfectly for me, as I did not miss any interviews due to my year abroad. If an applicant applies early enough, he/she should be able to hear back from schools between late August through early October - perfect for round one: the October interviews. I chose January as a backup for those schools who reviewed my file for a second time before offering me an interview or for those schools who didn't start interviewing until November. That way, I guarded both my "early" and "safety" bases.
*SCHEDULE EARLY / ASK FOR EARLIER CHOICES*
Most schools allow applicants to select the interview date. If the options do not match with the applicant's schedule, he/she can call the school to explain his/her situation and location abroad. Most schools will recognize their abroad experience as worthy of being flexible to change their interview date. Applicants should check their emails often (daily) and schedule an interview as soon as possible before optimal slots are taken. Even if a school indicates that it cannot change the interview date once it's set, it doesn't hurt to call and ask. I was able to push up my final interview by 3 weeks and return to China that much earlier because I asked a school (who initially indicated interview dates were final) to change my interview date. Finally, there is always the possibilty that an interviewee canceled on a particular date, allowing you to squeeze into an earlier spot. Applicants can call schools to see if there have been any cancellations, allowing them to interview and return abroad earlier.
If you have additional questions, please speak with one of the pre-professional advisors.
