· prepare yourself mentally by
recognizing that you are facing a lengthy, stressful
period in which you will, by necessity, be
competing against other able applicants
for a place in a freshman medical school
class.
· carefully review all the potential
issues that you can anticipate and plan how you
might possibly respond to them in a constructive
manner, in order to overcome
any difficulties.
How to Apply
Traditional Application
There are currently two means of
applying--directly to the school and indirectly
through the American Medical College Application
Service (AMCAS).
Non-AMCAS Schools
The direct approach involves submitting a
separate application to any school that is
not a member of AMCAS. The application for each
of these schools should be returned
with a check covering the fee, which varies in
amount from school to school. Table 6.1
in Chapter 6 gives the application fee for each
of the non-AMCAS schools. The non-
AMCAS schools requiring separate applications
are
Baylor
Brown
*Texas A&M
*Texas--Galveston
*Texas--Houston
*Texas--San Antonio
*Texas--Southwest
*Texas Tech.
University of Missouri–Kansas
University of North Dakota
As is indicated by an asterisk (*), six
non-AMCAS schools receive their applica-
tions through the University of Texas Medical
System and Dental Application Center.
For further information check the Web site
www.system.edu/tmdsas.
AMCAS Schools
Most premedical students quite properly apply
to a considerable number of medical
schools. Originally it was necessary to apply
to each institution individually, a time-con-
suming, costly, and cumbersome process. To
expedite matters, the Section for Student
Services of the American Association of Medical
Colleges (AAMC) developed a booklet
containing a lengthy standardized application
form. Upon its completion, it had to be sent,
along with relevant fees, to The American
Medical Colleges Application Services
(AMCAS), 2501 M Street, NW, Lobby 26,
Washington, DC 20037, Phone: (202) 828-0600,
mcas@aamc.org. The application, along with
supporting transcript(s) and MCAT scores,
was then duplicated and transmitted to all
schools designated by the applicant. The cost to
apply was determined by the number of
applications submitted to AMCAS-linked schools.
Currently, 115 out of 125 U.S. medical schools
are affiliated with AMCAS.
The paper application system, while convenient,
worked very efficiently for a long
period of time. In the late 1990s AMCAS
introduced an alternative electronic medical
school application process. Starting in 2001,
however, AMCAS mandated exclusive
use of a Web-based application, hoping to be
more efficient than the traditional format.
Unfortunately, this new approach was plagued by
serious difficulties. There were very
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