Medical School Admissions

There are a few changes for medical school applicants as they complete the 2012 AMCAS.

There are a couple of changes in medical school admissions with regard to the 2102 AMCAS (the med school application). Students must now, for instance, answer questions about childhood family earnings. In the past, the AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) only required this kind of demographic information of applicants who self-designated as underserved but now, all students must share this information.

Additionally, in the work/activities section of the medical school application, students are able to add up to 15 jobs or activities to highlight with a 700 character description allotted for each. For the three most meaningful of those jobs or activities, students are allotted 1,325 characters to share why these experiences have been so important to them.

These answers are in addition to the personal statement and we strongly urge our students to avoid redundancies in the personal statement and the activity / job short answers. It’s also important in medical school admissions to focus on science. Some of your meaningful activities or jobs should reflect your passion for the sciences. You are, after all, applying to medical school.

There are some other changes as well for the 2012 AMCAS. Students must complete a “Certification” in which they attest to the fact that they authored their personal statement and other answers. And many medical schools are requiring students to submit letters of recommendation on official letterhead to disincline students from forging recommendations.