Can you spot the 2014 PSU graduate?  Viktor Tollemar, Premedicine major/ SHC/ University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Announcements du jour  To subscribe to the weekly e-Newletter with key announcements, internships, jobs, etc.:   Saturday, October 17th– the annual fall “Primary Care Day” at Hershey, 8:30 – 3:30 at the medical school – contact in the Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, Ms. Diane Ferron: or call  Friday, November 13 th, Open House/ Medical program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. To register, go to Upcoming Events on the PCOM website. Sign-in for the program starts at 4:00; Program runs until 8:00 P.M. Evans Hall at the PCOM campus, 4170 City Avenue, Philly!

General Considerations on Applying to Professional Schools Things worth your attention and some observations on the 2016 Entering Class application cycle. And planning for 2017 cycle. Medical School as the example this evening.

MCAT bits & pieces See resources on aamc.org  Fee Assistance program: must do before registering for MCAT. See aamc.org/fap  Next test dates: January 2016  The 128 page, free download of the MCAT 2015 PDF content.pdf content.pdf content.pdf  Freebie! khanacademy.org/mcat has 500+ free videos & review questions  Not expensive: The Official Guide to the MCAT Exam (2015); see aamc.org website.  Hotel Discount Program: Check the aamc.org website for details.

Where we are now in the application cycle for the 2016 entering class.  To date, our office has prepared, processed and forwarded over 230 applicant letter sets for medical, dental & optometry schools so far!  Still conducting PSU Committee Interviews. (fyi, Kimmel/Jefferson sometimes interviews candidates into April!) Into July we received from last year applicants matriculating off a “wait lists”!  We hear: “Its getting late and I’ve heard little or nothing!” You can relax…  Q: How many of the planned interviews have been extended?  A: Temple ~20%; Kimmel/Jefferson ~35%; P.C.O.M. ~ 8-10%; Pritzker/ University of Chicago ~40%; Tufts < 25%; Boston University ~60%.  Schools want to see the entire applicant pool!  They could fill the class before the end of August if they wished! So...  Bottomline: It is NOT too late for a good, well-balanced, well-prepared candidacy to be reviewed and pursued by the schools!

Current candidates … after everything is at Admissions Offices…  Updates of germane information are important! MOST schools are receptive/ a few function with closed files after 2 ndary app deadline  E.g., fall grades (Official vs. unofficial set via depends on the school/ ask them if this is okay). Some welcome updates, some will not add them to a file/ candidacy closed at date they set.  E.g. Any awards (Grammy, Nobel, Oscar, Tony, Emmy, Peabody Award, Pulitzer Prize, Heisman Trophy, etc.)?  Research publications and/or presentations.  Noteworthy activities not previously reported.  Plans to retake MCAT? If you say you will then do follow through. Inform schools if your plans on a retake change.  It is important to continue to show interest with the school(s) of greatest interest to you. Just politely “keep in touch”.

UPCOMING candidates for the entering professional class of 2017 – next cycle!  Fall semester 2015:  Get the Committee Interview Packet, on-line at OR hard copy outside room 116/126 Ritenour.  Solicit faculty letters of recommendation! What you should strive for is a set of letters that can provide a broad perspective of you as a candidate by writers who know you. Help your LOR writers know who you are! (next slide!)  MCAT preparations and plan to sign up. Calendar is on aamc.org  Continue gaining relevant experience in healthcare settings, etc.! Attend “Open House” events at schools; meet with representatives from professional schools as opportunities come up! (e.g. Hershey Primary Care Day on Oct. 17 th, 2015)  Spring semester 2016:  Take MCAT (when truly ready- NOT prematurely) and …  FOLLOW-UP with your letter writers on LORs! Do be prepared with one or two alternate letter writers in mind, too!  As best you can, continue gaining related experience in healthcare settings, etc.!

What makes for a good LOR?  The most informative letters are from PSU faculty and other writers who got to know you from class participation, office hour chats, regular class discussions, presentations, group projects, the research lab, the teaching lab and/or student organizations, sometimes through extracurricular activities germane to human services and/or healthcare settings!  A few competencies cited by AAMC -- Can your letter writer comment, for example, on you and these attributes?  Your critical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills, effective written communications and scientific inquiry knowledge & facility  Interpersonal skills/ social skills, cultural awareness -recognizing factors affecting human interactions, having a service orientation & teamwork for common goals  Ethical responsibility to yourself & others, reliability & dependability, resilience & adaptability, striving for improvement

…more for next year’s first time candidates...  Spring/Summer 2016:  Primary application to AMCAS and/or AACOMAS in June/July ideally.  NOTE: the Penn State Committee letter is NOT submitted as part of the primary application. Do NOT delay your primary application waiting for your Committee interview.  You make the call to Schedule Committee Interview (mostly in the summer) when your Biographical sketch, draft personal statement and at least 3 letters are received at our office. We anticipate scheduling will begin around mid-April.  Prep and send out your Secondary Applications. LORs become part of the secondary applications.  Fall 2016:  Monitor status of applications. Caution: Do not confuse deadlines of primary vs. secondary applications! See Schools’ websites or MSAR.  Pay attention to current events, news, etc. pertaining to your career goals. These are predictable topics for interviews at professional schools!

…MCAT awareness for first time candidates, to do this academic year.  Optimize your MCAT prep by whatever study modes work best for you, such as AAMC MCAT Guide, Khan Academy, Kaplan, Examkrackers, Berkeley Review, Princeton Review or whatever else!  Review content areas of the test (see aamc.org) and plan your remaining elective courses so you’re not taking MCAT prematurely.  Strive for best outcome the first time! It is not a test to take lightly or to “see how I’ll do, then really prepare right for the second time.”  All scores are reported & some schools average! E.g., Kimmel/Jefferson averages.

Credible Sets of Letters of Recommendation (LOR) For your planning this year: We ask what schools expect to receive: two core science faculty LORs / one non-science faculty letter.  Q: But my core science classes are so large?  A: yes, but you can still talk to the professor and if she/he is willing, make a short appt. for a conversation regarding your preparations for post-graduate school; provide a resume. Your upper division science courses tend to be smaller with more interaction.  Q: But she/he really doesn’t know me…  A: plan to round out your letter set with other faculty who know you from smaller classes, e.g. upper division specialty courses such as Medical Microbiology; Histology; Advanced Immunology; Biochemistry; Neurobiololgy as examples. A research mentor’s LOR is helpful as a 4 th or 5 th letter. Family member = conflict of interest!  Q: What about non-science classes…they are so large, too ?  A: Your ENGL 15 ( 30 or 137H or 138T ) or 202; CAS 100, PHIL 432 are examples of smaller classes to consider.  Suggestion: Avoid getting multiple letters authored by a “graduate assistant”. A letter co-written with the professor in charge of a course inherently has more credibility.  Suggestion: Since you are applying from Penn State, the Admissions Committees are expecting to receive faculty input by PSU faculty. Beyond the minimum of 3 letters, do consider “other writers” for letters #4 to #6 for the PSU Committee Letter set.

But wait, there’s more on letters…  Q: My professor in xyz is not in the Science College, is that okay?  A: My best advice: strive for at least 2 from core science subjects or other ECoS faculty AND solicit writers from other colleges (if you wish) up to max of six LORs for the Committee Letter set going from Penn State.  Use our Request Form for all solicited letters. Fill out your portions/ date and sign!  We ask two simple things for your letter writers:  1) when available, to do their letter on department “letterhead”;  2) date & sign their letter! Unsigned letters may cause needless delays.  This will make prep of letter sets faster for our staff and helps to legitimize the letter sets being forwarded on your behalf!  At this time we prefer that letters be sent to our office 126 Ritenour with the Request Form – not ed or faxed.  Waive/ do not waive right of access to letters?? We will always urge you to solicit confidential letters of recommendation.  Do give the request form to your letter writer, to be returned to us with their letter.  For now, electronic transmission of letters to our office is not desired. It is suboptimal at this time and creates a layer of prep, processing and follow-ups, i.e. delays!  We plan to continue using VirtualEvals for PSU Committee Letter transmittal next year.  We do not use Interfolio and we can not do on-line, fill-in forms!

…last items on LORs and apps…  NOTE on osteopathic schools – Typically require or strongly recommend a LOR from a D.O. Get to know a D.O. and spend some time with her/him discussing the profession and shadowing!  If you are applying ONLY to osteopathic schools, we like to include this notation in the letter set going from Penn State.  However, if applying to both D.O. and M.D. schools, we encourage you to work with your D.O. letter writer for direct routing to the osteopathic schools. Some candidates use Interfolio for solo letters – see AACOMAS Instructions  ** THIS IS IMPORTANT: PSU “Committee letter” is identified on your primary AMCAS application, but is NOT submitted to AMCAS as part of the primary application.  Don’t delay your Primary App awaiting a PSU Committee Interview and letter if you are committed application cycle!  Per AMCAS definitions, our office facilitates a “Committee Letter”, including the group of additional letters you solicited.  It is not a “Letter Packet”. The accompanying letters are not “Individual Letters,” p , “AMCAS 2016 Instructions.

Biographical Sketch Mania!  We have hundreds of candidates to track. Attach a recent small photo!  Biosketch prepared neatly and readable!  Waive/ not waive access: we recommend “waive”/ sign and date! This tells schools that your materials will be prepared as “confidential”, which is their strong preference!  Draft Personal Statement. It’s your chance to tell a reader who you are and why this is the right career track for you. Get objective readers; Career Services can assist, too! This draft for the PSU Interview stays here.  The Tentative List of schools is just that – tentative and intended to assist advising at the time of our interview.  Q: Must I have my MCAT results before the PSU Committee Interview?  A: No, but it helps so our office to prepare the most informed letter of evaluation on your behalf. IF you plan to retake the MCAT, that is important to state at the interview, too.  If you indicate plans to retake the MCAT, let schools know & follow through.  Be realistic about how your MCAT and GPA fit the profile of previous entering classes at the schools of greatest interest. See MSAR for this information.  General Questions?