US medical schools admit students once a year in the Fall.
Applications are submitted 12-15 months before the desired medical school enrollment date. However, the timing depends on when you will complete your degree and the necessary premedical coursework (and successfully take the MCAT). All degrees must be posted to your transcript prior to starting medical school, and the timing is sensitive.
While applying early in the cycle has advantages, the best time for you to apply is when your application is the best it can be.
Medical schools requirements vary from school to school. Research schools early for specific information on their requirements.
Before any submitting application, have people with an unbiased eye go over each entire application to catch any errors. Your PreProfessional advisor is happy to do this for you.
Follow social media of programs of your interest, visit their website, attend webinars, and visit their campus if possible.
Choose schools that are of serious interest to you, but give your list enough variety to maximize your chances for admission.
Always apply to schools that you would actually want to attend! DO YOUR RESEARCH.
On average, students apply to 12- 15 schools. You can find a list of medical schools and their requirement on the AAMC website.
Assess your credentials realistically and give your school selection careful thought. You can also refer to our statistics for MD and DO schools.
The MCAT is administered in January, and March through September. Taking the exam by spring will enable you to apply earlier. September is the last MCAT accepted by many schools for the following Fall’s entering class.
The MCAT is divided into four multiple choice sections:
You can obtain the most updated information on the AAMC website.
Medical schools incorporate a variety of tools in their assessment in order to gather a holistic view of their applicants, to make sure they are not only academically capable but also possess the characteristics of someone who will likely succeed on the job. One such tool that is used by a few medical schools is CASPer®, which is a situational judgement test designed to assess how an individual will behave in certain situations.
CASPer® assesses for 10 characteristics: Collaboration, Communication, Empathy, Equity, Ethics, Motivation, Problem Solving, Professionalism, Resilience, and Self Awareness.
It is a 60-90 minute virtually proctored assessment, made up of 12 sections. Each section contains a video-based or word-based scenario and three open-ended questions. Test takers have five minutes to type their responses to all three questions.
Further information is on the CASPer Website.
Association of American Medical Colleges developed the PREview Exam (formerly SJT) for US medical schools to measure medical school applicants' competencies based on AAMC PreProfessional Competencies.
AAMC PREview is 75 minutes and is scored from 1 (low) – 9 (high).
For more information and preparation resources, visit AAMC PREview.
Primary Applications are processed through a central processing services and are sent to every school affiliated with that service. There are three centralized application services processing primary applications for US medical schools.
These services are very similar, but not identical. They open online in early May each year to allow applicants to start building applications, and begin accepting submissions on or around June 1st. Deadlines vary between services and also by school and range from October-March.
The information you will be asked to provide is very similar, although the way it is organized in different ways. READ ALL INSTRUCTION MANUALS AND DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!
All three application services will require:
NOTE: To help us advise other students, we would appreciate it if you would release your statistical information from your applications to the Health Professions Advisor when prompted. This information will always be kept confidential.
PreMed Application Workshops:
The personal essay is about you and your motivation for pursuing a career as a physician. Remember, why you want to be a physician is different from how you were inspired to become one. Describe your current passion for the field with specific examples from recent experiences. Try to choose a theme rather than random thoughts. The primary application activities section provides a list of accomplishments. Your personal essay is an opportunity to provide additional, more in-depth information.
Remember: your audience is smarter, has more medical knowledge, and knows what is like to be a physician. Don’t try to impress them with your knowledge of the field.
Get feedback! Have 3 or 4 people you can trust to be honest with you (professor, doctor, medical student, parent, advisor, Writing Center, tutor, etc.) read your essay and offer feedback. Do not ask too many people to read it. Having too many opinions can become confusing.
Use our Personal Statement Guide for more information.
DO answer the question “Why do you want to be a physician?”
DO concentrate more on actual experiences rather than speculation about future accomplishments.
DO focus more on what you can give rather than on what you can get by becoming a physician
DO limit the number of “I” statements you use
DO share your background if it is appropriate
DO describe meaningful experiences
DO use all five senses as you tell your story
DO pay careful attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation
DO NOT devote too much space to writing about other people (family, patients, doctor you shadowed)
DO NOT summarize or simply repeat what is on the activity list on your primary application
DO NOT use overly flowery language or words you do not know how to use
DO NOT overuse medical terminology or abbreviations
DO NOT assume everyone knows what you know
DO NOT try to make jokes
DO NOT use foreign language
DO NOT begin your essay with a quote
Letters of recommendation are extremely important for your medical school application! This is one of the few pieces of your application that is out of your control, as you are not the writer. It is critical that you get LORs from people who know you well enough to write not a good letter, but an excellent letter of recommendation. It is not ever about how well you know them. it's about how well they know you!
Build relationships with your faculty, supervisors, mentors, etc. EARLY. Beyond building these relationships, it's also important that you maintain these relationships, because you need to request letters the year that you apply; not the year that you take the class, volunteer, etc.
Requirements for letters vary between schools, so research schools early and know what you need. Most schools require 3 or 4 letters.
Typical letter types that will be requested : science professor (BCPM), non-science professor or 2nd science professor, mentor letter (usually from a supervisor from research, patient exposure, service to the community, or employment). PLAN AHEAD.
The PreProfessional Advising Office does not provide committee letters for students. There are several reasons for this, the primary being that we don’t know students well enough! Applicants should be able to get much stronger letters from those who actually know them well enough to write an excellent letter of recommendation. If a school requires a committee letter, contact them directly to determine an acceptable alternate letter.
We recommend students begin talking to letter writers in the early spring semester of they year the student wishes to apply. Plant the seed early; communicate with your letter writers about your and expectations. Although LORs are due at the time of secondary applications, do not delay. We recommend you consider getting your LORs submitted in early summer.
All three application services have a letter of recommendation service that allow you to submit your letters through them and have them distributed to all schools to which you have applied. However, application services do not share letters: Be sure to plan ahead regarding where to have your letters sent.
Once medical schools receive your Primary Application, they will send out Secondary Applications and request your Letters of Recommendation from the Application Service they use. You will generally have a month to complete them. These are specific to each school, and vary in length and structure, but often require one or more additional essay, or ask you to list certain experiences in a specific format. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY.
Some Schools send Secondary Applications to every student who submitted a Primary Application. Other schools will screen Primary Applications first and only send Secondary Applications to students who make the cut.
Secondary Applications usually have a fee attached, so it is a good idea to reevaluate your list of schools at this point. If you have changed your mind about applying to a school, you do not have to complete their Secondary Application.
The final state of the application process is the interview. If you receive an invitation for an interview, that is an indication that a schools has decided that you are a qualified applicant and they want to get to know you better. Since the COVID pandemic, the vast majority (if not all) medical schools will host their interviews virutally. Your interview day may consist of some or all of the following: interviews, written essays, opportunities to meet students and faculty, and more.
Interviews can take many forms, so it is important to research your schools and be prepared for each kind. The PreProfessional Advising office can help you with preparation tips and practicing your interviewing skills.
The most common types of interviews are:
The PreProfessional Advising Office offers mock interviews for current and former University of Utah students in two ways: traditional one-on-one or mock MMI. We will only offer these services in the fall semester for students who have already been invited to interview (for the mock MMIs, those who have at least submitted their secondary applications will be considered, but preference will be for those with an interview invitation).
PPA offers multiple mock MMIs in the fall semester. Current medical school applicants are highly encouraged to participate in these interviews
Only those who are current or former University of Utah students will be allowed to participate.