Button: Resources for Parents

Career Center Home

TIMELINE FOR ALUMNI ('08 - '12) MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICANTS

Use the list below as a checklist. This will be your own record of your health professions credential file contents. All deadlines for the receipt of materials are firm and must be met in order to ensure that your Health Professions Panel letter will be prepared by August 15, 2013. Keep in mind that you are responsible for monitoring the contents of your file. To check on the status of your file, call 860-685-3367, e-mail ascholar@wesleyan.edu, or visit the CRC and speak with Alice Scholar, Credential Service Coordinator. Credential Service hours are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 7:30am-4:30pm EST.

*Remember: One Wesleyan credit is equivalent to 4.0 semester hours (divide and round off to the nearest tenth accordingly for half and quarter credit course) for those who matriculated after Sept. 2000. For those who matriculated before Sept. 2000, one Wesleyan credit is equivalent to 3.5 semester hours).

DECEMBER

  • Read the relevant portions of the Guide to the Health Professions.
  • Open a Credential Service file at the Career Center.
  • Request letters of recommendation. One letter must be from a Wesleyan faculty or staff member and it is advisable to have at least one letter from faculty member in the sciences.

JANUARY

  • Research medical schools using the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Curriculum Directory, located on the Internet at : http://services.aamc.org/currdir and using the print resources, Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR).  Princeton Review's the Best Medical Schools provides a complementary perspective on individual schools, using information gathered from students. Comparable information for schools of osteopathic http://www.aacom.org, dental http://www.adea.org, and veterinary http://www.avma.org medicine. 
  • After identifying what kind of learning environment is best for you and what you want from your graduate education, look over individual school's websites carefully to identify the ones that interest you the most.  Talk with friends, family and others who attended or are attending medical school and ask them about their educational experience at that school.
  • Begin preparing for the MCAT, DAT, or GRE if you have not yet taken it.

FEBRUARY

You may begin to have materials sent to the Credential Service anytime after February 21, 2013 and up to March 20, 2013.

  • Request official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (including Wesleyan) and have them sent to Alice Scholar at the Credential Service.
  • Update resume and complete "Detail" forms (PDF | MS Word).
  • Complete the "Request for Preparation of a Wesleyan Health Professions Panel Letter" (PDF | MS Word) and the "Document Transmittal" form (PDF | MS Word) and "Request for a Letter of Clearance" form (PDF | MS Word).
  • Draft 2-3 page personal statement for the Wesleyan Health Professions Panel.
  • Continue to prepare for the MCAT, DAT or GRE.
  • Schedule your interview with Health Professions Advisor by contacting Alice Scholar. Interviews for alumni will be conducted between March 25 - April 26, 2013. (All necessary documents must be submitted for interview to take place.)

MARCH

  • In order to be eligible for a panel letter for medical school, register early and take the MCAT by May 30, 2013.  If you do not take the MCAT by May 30, 2013, you will receive a standard cover letter that will accompany your individual letters of recommendation.  If you believe there are circumstances in your case that warrant an exception to this requirement, you may request an exemption.
  • Revise personal statement.
  • Turn in final draft of personal statement, resume and detail forms, and Request for Preparation of a Wesleyan Health Professions Panel Letter, Request for a Letter of Clearance Form, and Document Transmittal forms to Alice Scholar no later than March 20, 2013.

NO REQUESTS FOR A HEALTH PROFESSIONS PANEL LETTER WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER MARCH 20, 2013

APRIL

  • Remind individuals writing letters for you of the May 2, 2013 deadline.
  • Check with the Credential Service to be sure all letters of recommendation are in.
  • If you do not take the MCAT by May 31, 2012, you will receive a standard cover letter that will accompany your individual letters of recommendation.  If you believe there are circumstances that warrant an exception to this requirement, you may request an exemption.  Continue to prepare for, or take, the DAT or GRE.  It is preferable, for many reasons, to have your MCAT, DAT, or GRE scores in hand prior to filing your common applications. 

APRIL 26, 2013: LAST DAY FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS LETTER INTERVIEWS

MAY - AUGUST

MAY 2, 2013: DEADLINE FOR AT LEAST 3 LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

              PLAN TO TAKE THE MCAT BY MAY 30, 2013

  • Access and initiate work on the AMCAS and/or AACOMAS web applications which can be accessed at http://www.aamc.corg/students/amcas/start.htm and http://aacomas.aacom.org/ respectively.  
  • Have official copies of all transcripts sent to the common application service for your health profession as soon as they will accept them.  
  • Notify Alice Scholar of your AAMC, AMCAS letter, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, and/or TMDSAS ID number(s).
  • Complete the common application for your health profession and file by the end of June.
  • Complete applications for all schools that do not use the common application for your health profession. 
  • Complete secondary applications promptly as they come in.
  • Your credential file will only be sent out after you have submitted a written request containing your signature, your AMCAS, AAMC letter, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, and/or TMDSAS ID number(s), your preferred email address, and list of all medical schools to which you are applying to Alice Scholar, Credential Service Coordinator. You may mail or fax your requests to 860-685-2181. As your signature is required, NO TELEPHONE OR E-MAIL REQUESTS WITHOUT SIGNATURE ARE ACCEPTED.