Applicants to Medical and Dental Schools – 2014 Cycle

1. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Applicants to Medical and Dental Schools – 2014 Cycle David Verrier, Ph.D., Director Ana Droscoski, J.D., Associate Director Ellen Snydman, M.S., Assistant Director Katie Cruit, M.S., Assistant Director Office of Pre-Professional Programs & Advising Garland Hall, 3rd Floor Phone: 516-4140 Website: http://web.jhu.edu/prepro

2. Purpose and Overview Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Provide an overview of applying to medical and dental school • Discuss where your credentials and experiences should be to be competitive for “Entry Year 2014” (same as “Application Year 2014”) • Discuss how to select recommenders, request and secure letters of recommendation, and use veCollect • Review Health Professions Committee Process (the “internal process”) • Discuss how to complete the Health Professions Committee Application (HPCA) • Provide the direction you need to get started with the application process

3. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising To Insure Communication with Pre-Prof. During the Application Process… • You must be on the Listserv: medclass2014(no spaces) • To self-subscribe, send an email to: sympa@lists.johnshopkins.edu • Type in the Subject Line:subscribe medclass2014 • If currently on medclass2013, move to medclass2014 • You must utilize the applicant website: http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/applicants.html (all up to date materials will be included in this menu)

4. Will you be ready to apply this cycle? Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Have you met with an advisor yet? Will at least one advisor in the office recognize you as an applicant? • Will your numbers be sufficiently strong? • Will your medically-related experiences be sufficiently strong? • Will you be able to share “clinical” interactions and express your ability and passion for clinical care? • Do you have experience relating to others in significantly different life circumstances? • Are you in a position to have assembled a complete set of recommendations by June 2013? ARE YOU APPLYING AT YOUR STRONGEST POINT?

5. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Personal Competencies • Competency: “… ability to use communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection…” • Central to success in medical education and physician practice • Need to be evident in personal statements, letters of recommendation, reflections on experiences, and interviews • Integrity and ethics • Reliability and dependability • Service orientation • Social, interpersonal, and teamwork skills • Desire to learn • Resilience and adaptability • Cultural Competence • Oral Communication

6. Recent Stats… Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising

7. Applying to Medical and Dental School –The Internal Process at JHU Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Attend all meetings! Read all applicant email!! • Create paper and electronic folders--be organized!!! • Complete Health Professions Committee Application (HPCA) and prepare for the deadline—no exceptions • Participate in a Committee Interview (handle professionally) • Open veCollect account • Gather letters of recommendation • Submit additional required materials: (to be reviewed later in this presentation)

8. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising 2014 Application Cycle TimelineInternal Process– Nov. 2012 to Summer 2013 May Dec. Jan. Feb. March April June Nov. Committee Application Available Online Committee Interviews Students Request Letters of Recommendation via veCollect • November: Applicant Kick Off; veCollect and begin letters of rec • December: HPCA available • January – March: Work on HPCA • April 1: HPCA deadline at 4 pm • April – June: Committee interviews • May: Applications open • June: Begin submitting applications (apply early!!) • Mid-June: 4 to 6 letters of rec submitted to veCollect

9. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising HPCA Due Monday, April 1, 2013 By 4 pm **Submit earlier if possible!**

10. Letters of Recommendation Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising

11. veCollect Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Web-based system for collecting letters of rec • Writer(s) submit letters electronically • You log in throughout the process and view icons of the letters that have been received • You sign a Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) statement for each letter • If you have not, create your account now! • web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/letters.html

12. Letters of Recommendation Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • You are responsible for monitoring all aspects of requesting and collecting recommendations. • An ideal: • 2 science faculty (preferred) • 1-2 non-science faculty • 1-2 outside of academics (e.g., supervisor, coach, PI) • Who should you ask? Who should you not ask? Choose your recommenders carefully! • What if you don’t have enough faculty recs? • Your goal: To have all 4-6 letters submitted via veCollect by early-June 2013.

13. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Requesting Letters of Recommendation • Make an appointment to meet in person if at all possible.  • Allow the person the option of saying NO. • Give plenty of advance notice and time to write a good LOR (at least one month). • Provide appropriate materials (resume, veCollect instructions, brief cover, transcript—optional). • Be professional about reminders. • Write a thank you noteto each recommender. • Follow up with outcomes and thank them again for their assistance and support.  Theme: Be Professional

14. HP Committee Process Overview Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Visit:(web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/Applicants/committee_process.html) Topics Include: • What is the Health Professions Committee Process? • What is the Health Professions Committee Application (HPCA)? • What is the Committee Interview? • What is in the Committee Letter? • What does each section of the Committee Letter focus on/highlight? • How does the Committee Letter get sent to medical schools?

15. The Health Professions Committee Process Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising The Health Professions Committee Process is how Johns Hopkins University formally presents you as a candidate to medical or dental school. Your strengths and attributes as an applicant are summarized in a "Committee Letter" of evaluation which accompanies the individual letters of recommendation that are forwarded to medical and dental schools.

16. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising HPCA Sections • Applicant Status • Personal Data • Academic Background • Test Score Information • Candidate Introduction • Academic Accomplishments • Work and Activities (and Most Meaningful) • Additional Information • MD/PhD Applicants Only: Becoming a Physician Scientist • Dental Applicants Only: Evidence of Manual Dexterity • Application Certification • Waiver of Access to Committee Evaluation • Institutional Action • Appendix • Calculating an Estimated BCPM GPA

17. Committee Interviews Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Once you submit your application, you will be assigned a committee member for 1:1 interview; that individual is provided your HPCA and transcript in advance of your interview. • Your interviews will be scheduled sometime between April 2013 to June 2013. • Your committee member provides summary comments to the Pre-Prof. Office to contribute to your letter. Don’t forget: Write a thank you note!

18. Committee Letter Sections (1) Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Candidate Introduction - Describes your upbringing, formative experiences, educational background, and factors influencing decision to pursue a medical career. • Academic Accomplishment - Looks beyond GPA alone to include the breadth of your academic interests, academic trends, investment in academics, and love of learning. • Research and Inquiry - Assesses your engagement with and contributions to research. (optional) • Medically-Related Experience - Examines your clinical exposure to medicine and patient care, including experiences spent shadowing, working in clinics, and other settings. Direct patient interaction is emphasized.

19. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Committee Letter Sections (2) • Community and Public Service -Includes both on and off campus engagement in the community. • Additional Experiences- Highlights your leadership skills, special talents, and long-term commitments that do not fall in any one of areas above. • Closing Comments – Provides a summary of your strengths as a candidate and further insight into your application. • Enclosures -All of your individual rec. letter writers are listed; we send all of your individual letters with your committee letter.

20. In the Spring... (1) Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Submit Electronically (to preprofessional @jhu.edu) by April 1: 1. HPCA 2. Resume 3. Unofficial transcript 4. Electronic photo (clear headshot; no larger than 3” by 4”) **$60 due on or before April 1! • All electronic submissions must have your last name in the document name. • Write “First Name Last Name 2014 HPCA Application” in Subject Line. • Name documents as follows: • “Jane Smith HPCA” • “Jane Smith RESUME” • Documents should be in Word format (.doc or .docx)

21. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising In the Summer… (2) Following submission of your AMCAS, AACOMAS, and/or AADSAS application (typically in June or July), submit electronically (to preprofessional@jhu.edu) the following: • AMCAS Letter Request Form (allopathic applicants only) • Copy of Unverified AMCAS, AACOMAS, and/or AADSAS Application (unverified) • Notification of Recommendations “Quiver” • Notification of Schools Applied List

22. Applying to Health Professions School –The External Process Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Complete and submit AMCAS/AADSAS/AACOMAS application • Complete secondary applications • Interview at schools • Receive acceptances/ waitlists/rejections (to be covered at a spring applicant workshop)

23. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising 2014 Application Cycle TimelineExternal Process – May 2013 to August 2014 Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July August May June July Aug. AMCAS/AADSAS/AACOMAS Medical School Interviews Acceptances Acceptances off of Waitlists • First week of May: Applications open • First week of June: Begin submitting applications (apply early!) • July: Begin secondaries; complete them thoroughly, accurately, but quickly (within a few weeks of receiving) • September: Interviews begin • October 15: First acceptances sent by medical schools with rolling admissions; AMCAS deadline for many medical schools • March: Most interviews end • May 15: Last date to hold multiple acceptances • March – August: Offers from medical/dental school waitlists • August: Medical/dental school begins

24. Cost of Applying Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • MCAT fee = $270 • AMCAS fee = $160 for first school; • $34 for each additional school (average is 14 nationally) • Secondary application fees = $60 – $120 per school • Traveling to interviews = can be $500-$1,000+ • Total = $3,000 +++ • Plan now! Are you eligible for the AMCAS Fee Assistance Program? Go to: http://www.aamc.org/students/applying/fap/start.htm

25. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising ESSENTIALS Medical School Admissions Requirements Osteopathic Medical College Information Book ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools

26. Suggestions for the next 6 months… Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • Maintain your strong academic performance. • Continue your medically-related and volunteer experiences. • Keep a journal and reflect upon what you have learned through your experiences. • Carefully consider how your experiences speak to your motivations for the career. • Carefully consider how your experiences reflect the competencies important to success in medical practice. • Meet your deadlines; take advantage of resources.

27. Website Resources For Applicantshttp://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health/applicants.html Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • The MCAT - This section features Q & A about the MCAT covering topics such as when to take the MCAT, what types of questions are on the exam, what is a good score, can you take it more than once, and others. • AMCAS Application - The AMCAS serves as one of the longer elements of the application process and should be completed thoroughly and carefully.  This page features some of the key points and questions related to the AMCAS. (currently being updated) • Health Professions Committee Process - Hopkins candidates have the benefit of going through a Committee Process, which results in a Committee Letter that becomes part of his/her application.  This section outlines the process. • Letters of Recommendation - Developing and maintaining strong relationships is an important part of preparing for the application process.  This page addresses elements related to requesting and submitting letters of recommendation. • Personal Statement - This is where you get to move beyond your numbers (GPA and MCAT) and show your passion for the health professions.  This section offers helpful tips to aid you in your writing. • Interviewing - Many students spend hours on their application and then do not spend time preparing for interviews.  Make sure to devote plenty of time to preparing!  This section gives an overview of the process and examines common interview myths.

28. Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising Resume Workshop Tuesday, November 27, 2012 5:30pm – 6:30pm Merganthaler 111 You will learn how to create a resume appropriate for medical school applications Find out what experiences to highlight and how to present yourself professionally

29. Support throughout the Process Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising • One-on-one advising appointments • Programs on completing the AMCAS application • Additional workshops (personal statement, etc.) • Email support/tips, listserv updates, website info. • Personal statement sessions (with the Writing Center) • Mock Interview Program KATIE

30. Questions? Office of Pre-Professional Programs and Advising