<p>We’re out here. My DS is applying and is currently studying abroad, so it’s a complete holding pattern here. He’s going to be BUSY when he returns getting his LOR’s and committee interview (which he does have scheduled). Then it’s on to applications. He has an overloaded summer so he’s going to have to stay on top of things–he’s a procrastinator too, so we’ll see how much he’s proactive with and how much he wants to stress himself out! Yikes!</p>
<p>D’s school does not have a committee so she’s been gathering LOR’s the past several weeks. One little step in the app process started :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! The suit arrived today, so I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I had done my part. He has a week to get the pants hemmed. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if universities that have med schools use the committee interview to screen applicants for their own program?</p>
<p>The health profession committee for the undergrad is completely separate from the med school admission committee. </p>
<p>Health professions committee is usually made up of career/academic counselors from the UG, while med school admission committee members are med school faculty and medical professionals.</p>
<p>Members of the respectively committee probably don’t know each other except by reputation/name.</p>
<p>(So, no there’s no ‘fast-tracking’ for an II to the school’s own SOM.)</p>
<p>Even receiving the health profession committee highest endorsement is no guarantee that the student will even get an II from the med school. It all depends on the rest of the applicant pool and the mission & needs of the specific school.</p>
<p>My S took his MCAT on Jan 25th. I really hope his score is good enough to be done… </p>
<p>@iwannabebrown:</p>
<p>I was asked about current events related to health care during my committee interview and at the interview for the med school I currently attend. Both were pretty open ended–“What’s one critique you have of the ACA?” and “If the President of the US called you today and asked for your input about what would improve health care in the US, what would you say? Why?”</p>
<p>@hellom, how did your son do with his MCAT? I heard scores are reported today. Sending you my best wishes.</p>
<p>@limabeans, Thank you. My son did very well. He is done with MCAT. Thank GOD… </p>
<p>In 12 interviews, D was never asked anything about the ACA or anything related to the politics of healthcare. </p>
<p>Talked to S2 about his committee interview. He felt it went very well – which, we know, doesn’t mean much, but is better than feeling as if it went very poorly! He was asked many of the “typical” med school interview questions that he found listed online, but was not asked any questions about the current healthcare environment or his opinion of it. Interestingly, his interviewer was a 4th year med school student who has also been involved in interviewing med school applicants and has participated in the decision-making meetings. So it appears that at some schools there is some cross-over between the “committee interview crew” and the “med school interview crew”. Not that it will have any effect on his chances of getting an II at his school, but I did find it interesting.</p>
<p>It’s good for him to have that behind him. Now he’s fine-tuning his personal statement and needs to work on making his list. I know that the US News subscription has been mentioned before. Just to be sure that I recommend the right thing to him…is it the US News Medical School Compass that he should subscribe to?</p>
<p>The new US News ranking and info was released today so it is a decent time to subscribe and get access to that information to make a list (not the ranking, but the other info they include).</p>
<p>Thanks, camomof3! Is it called the Medical School Compass? That’s what I found when I searched, but I want to make sure it’s the right thing.</p>
<p>Yes-- if you click to see additional information, that button comes up to pay and subscribe. </p>
<p>Great! Thanks! I’ll pass that along to my son.</p>
<p>Talked to D yesterday and a question came up. She’s taking the MCAT in May. Wants to proceed with the application only if the MCAT is “good enough”. MCAT score won’t come back until mid June. Can she go ahead, fill in the AMCAS application and get verified before the MCAT score is in? She doesn’t want to apply to any school until she has seen the score, but if she can get a jump on the verification process, that would help. </p>
<p>You can fill out/submit but I don’t think it will be verified until the score is in. Mid June submission is totally fine though.</p>
<p>@arisamp</p>
<p>Whenever you have a question about the AMCAS, go to their website and look over the faq. It’s very likely any question you have has been asked before. Also, as soon as the application packet becomes available, read the instructions. When you sign the application, you are actually affirming that you did. </p>
<p><a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/171618/can_i_submit_my_amcas_application_without_my_mcat_scores.html”>https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/171618/can_i_submit_my_amcas_application_without_my_mcat_scores.html</a></p>
<p>You will probably only want to apply to one school( your in state public? ) until you receive your MCAT score. You can add other schools later. </p>
<p>Agree with IWBB, unsure of whether they will verify without a score. Agree with you–good idea to get a jump on all the rest of the stuff so that even if she “has to wait” until mid-June to submit, at that point all she’ll have to do is hit the button.</p>
<p>I personally would not be worried about a mid-June submission. I didn’t submit until mid-July and had interviews in Nov and Dec with a Dec acceptance. I would arbitrarily define a “late” submission of AMCAS as one in August, and I would be concerned about the likelihood of getting interviews with a submission of September or later. But that’s just me. </p>
<p>@plumazul - thanks for the link. I looked at the instructions for this year’s applicants - a 90 page manual - wow!</p>
<p>You mentioned that she should probably apply to the state public before the scores come in and add other schools later. Is this a must? ie., do you have to have one school listed before you submit the app? U Mass is her state school and has fairly high median MCAT scores (34).</p>
<p>You must list at least one school in order for AMCAS to process your application. </p>
<p>Most people list their home state school since they will likely apply to it anyway, but you can list any school you want.</p>