Application Guide
Getting Prepared:
Become familiar with how medical schools operate
Solidify how you will get your experience and activities
Attend medical career fairs
Consider how you will pay for medical school
Taking the MCAT Exam
Spend significant time studying the testable material
Register for the exam
Determine if you need accommodations
Figure out how to receive and send scores
Understanding the Process:
Consider purchasing Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) document from AAMC to help build your school list
Review fee assistance programs
AMCAS Application Guidelines:
AMCAS requires all students to submit a personal statement with a limit of 5300 characters. AAMC allows you to report up to 15 activities and allots 700 characters per activity to explain each one. 3 activities can be marked as being “Most Impactful”. An additional field with a 1325 character limit is added to explain further
AACOMAS Application Guidelines:
AACOMAS application is very similar to AMCAS. The personal statement has the same exact word count although, it does not have the same guidelines for the activities section. There are no chances to list most impactful experiences as well as no mention for character limit. Similar to AMCAS, the application allows you to categorize your activities in several predetermined “activity types”
Applying to Texas Schools:
Texas has its own application service called Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS). This application service has a different character count compared to AMCAS and AACOMAS. TMDSAS has a 5000 character personal statement limit and a Personal Characteristics essay instead of an activities list (2500 character limit). TMDSAS also has one additional optional essay which has a 2500 character limit
Supplemental Requirements and Secondaries
Secondaries are a supplemental application that medical schools send to applicants to better gauge how good of a fit they will be for a particular school. Each school will have a different prompt that relates to their mission statement and their values.
Additionally, Casper and PREview are additional tests that are administered to determine how ready you are for the medical work place.
For more information about these topics, navigate to the information below:
Check which schools on your list require supplemental exams like PREview or Casper. Register below:
Visit the following page to see secondary applications prompts for different medical schools
For a list of the values and mission statements of medical schools, visit the link below:
Visit the following link to see more detailed description of who secondaries are sent to and associated costs: