Preparing your Application

Plan ahead. Graduate and professional schools often require specific academic preparation for admission, and these must be worked into your undergraduate curriculum in a timely fashion.  Know as early as possible what coursework will be expected of you.  Most schools require standardized tests, which may need to be taken as early as the spring of your junior year.  Be sure to find out when required exams are offered and when your scores need to be submitted. It takes approximately 6 weeks for your test to be scored and reported. Also consider whether a school has rolling admissions and whether you can benefit from getting your application completed early (earlier applicants typically have an advantage).

Assembling all of the materials required to support your application takes time and organization.  Keep a written record of each aspect of the application process you need to complete for every school to which you apply. Pay special attention to deadlines. Whenever possible, send your materials in well ahead of any deadlines. Early decisions and rolling admissions policies are commonplace.

Health professions schools review every aspect of your qualifications, including your personal statement, GPA, transcript, letters of reference and entrance exam scores.  Wherever possible, it is your job to stand out from all other applicants.  Your faculty advisor, pre-health advisor, and the counselors in the Career Development Center are there to help you with every step of the process. Take advantage of them! In particular, make sure they read your personal statement and give you constructive feedback -- it is hard to overemphasize the importance of a well crafted statement.  Remember, it is the total package of information that is being reviewed, not one element.

Many schools in the health professions utilize a Centralized Application Service, which collects all of an applicant’s materials and then sends those materials to the schools the applicant has designated.  See this very useful fact sheet containing names, deadlines, links and other information about the Centralized Application Services.

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