The AMCAS processing fee for the primary application is $160 and it includes one medical school designation. Each additional school designations are $34. Thus if you apply to 20 schools, the primary application alone costs $806. Then each school has a secondary application fee which ranges from $25-100. If you get an interview, you need to pay for each flight and the overnight accommodations. You should anticipate spending at least $3000 on the application process. AAMC has a fee assistance program to help with the costs of applying for eligible students.

Related Resource:

AAMC Fee Assistance Program

No you can apply to medical school before you finish all your required classes. You simply need to finish all your prerequisite classes before you actually start medical school.

After your designated medical schools receive your primary application, each school will send you a secondary application. That means if you applied to 20 schools, you will be filling out 20 separate secondary applications. Most schools automatically send you an application but some schools screen applicants pre-secondary. The questions vary tremendously from school to school. The purpose of the secondary application is to extract more information from the applicant. This is another great opportunity for you, the applicant, to stand out.

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Secondary Application Practical Advice || Secondary Application Q&A || PDr’s Secondary Database

The main sections are:

1. Identifying information
2. Schools attended
3. Biographical information
4. Course Work
5. Work/Activities
6. Letters of Evaluation
7. Medical schools
8. Essay(s)
9. Standardized tests
There are more in-depth descriptions on AAMC.

2023: According to AAMC, the personal statement is an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other applicants. The character limit 5300 characters including spaces. Here are the questions to consider while writing this essay:

• Why have you selected the field of medicine?
• What motivates you to learn more about medicine?
• What do you want medical schools to know about you that has not been disclosed in other sections of the application?

You can include additional information such as:

• Special hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits.
• Commentary on significant fluctuations in your academic record that are not explained elsewhere in your application.

Here are some additional personal statement tips.
If you are applying MD/PhD, two additional essays are required. The MD/PhD essay is used to state reasons for pursuing the combined MD/PhD degree. The character limit is 3000. The significant research experience essay is used to describe any significant research experiences you have had. You must specify your research supervisor’s name and affiliation, the duration of the experience, the nature of the problem studied, and your contributions to the project. The character limit for this essay is 10,000.

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A Sample Personal Statement || Personal Statements and Emotional Topics || The Formula for a Good Personal Statement

You enter your extracurricular activities in the Work/Activities section. For each activity, you will need to fill out:

1. Experience Type
2. Experience Name
3. Experience Dates
4. Average Hours/Week
5. Organization Name
6. Country/City
7. Experience Description

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There are many difficult secondary application questions but here are some common ones:

Why do you want to attend X school?
Describe yourself (autobiographical).
What fields of medicine are you interested in and why?
Describe a personal challenge and how you over came it.
What makes you distinct? How will you add to the diversity of our school?
What challenges do you foresee as you pursue a medical career?
Describe an important experience. Why was it important?
If you are taking time off after college, what are you doing? Why?
What would you do in X situation?
What is your greatest achievement?
What is your greatest non-academic achievement?
How will our school help you achieve your goals?
How do you cope?
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Describe any elements of your application that might be concerning to the Admissions Committee.
Optional information: If this section is given, consider responding by answering the “why our school” question (unless that question is already given). You can also include any significant experiences that you have had since turning in your primary application. It is always best to write something in this section even though it is technically optional.

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Should I Prewrite Secondary Applications? || Three Secondary Essays to Pre-Write || PDr’s Secondary Database

Generally it is best to turn in the secondary at least within two weeks after you received it. If the school gives you a submission deadline, try to submit at least two or three days before that deadline. You can imagine that it is extremely difficult and time-consuming to fill out each secondary application. Balance your time and figure out your priorities. Even though you would like to put forth your best effort for each application, focus more on the schools you really would like to go to. Submitting sooner is good but you do not want to rush this process. Do not sacrifice quality for the sake of turning in your application quickly.

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1. Have a long list of potential interview questions typed out and answers to each of them.

Here are some example questions:
PDr’s must know medical school interview questions
Harvard Med Girl’s practice interview questions

2. Videotape yourself doing a full interview
Pretend like it’s the real thing and do it. You’ll find some interview habits that you may want to change.

3. Do mock interviews and receive feedback
Ask friends, parents, professors, mentors, career counselors, etc. If they are unfamiliar with the process, give them a list of potential questions they can ask.

4. Read about various topics but especially medical
Being well read will help you think on your feet and relate to your interviewer on different levels. Subscribe to the New England Journal of Medicine, read the New York Times, and/or read various books of different subjects. The more you know, the more you can talk about. Keep up with local news and be comfortable with your knowledge base. This will help you be confident which is very crucial.

5. Relax and be humble
You do not want to be really nervous for an interview. The interview is important, but it is not the end of the world. Do your best to prepare properly and the rest is out of your hands. Also, during your interview day, be humble. Arrogance or cockiness will turn off your interviewer. Be teachable and willing to both talk and listen.

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Traditional Interview
This is the typical one-one-one interview. Interviewers are either medical students or faculty. Most schools have you interview with a student and a faculty member for 20-30 minutes each. Nevertheless, interviews can range anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour. Be sure to quickly respond to your interviewers unique style. Some may want to have a casual conversation while others ask question after question. There is a lot of variability in the traditional interview but just be sure you are comfortable talking about yourself.

Group or panel interview
This type of interview usually consists of one (you) to four interviewees and two to four interviewers. Again, the interviewers are either medical students or faculty. If you are the only person interviewing in front of a panel, they will take turns asking you various questions. If you are interviewing with others, the interviewers will take turns asking each of you different questions. Sometimes they may make you work together to figure out a problem. The content of a group interview usually depends on each school and so it can be hard to predict.

Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)
This type of interview, which was originally developed in Canada, is a more recent development. More and more schools are adopting this method because they believe it is fairer and objective. The MMI consists of about eight stations through which the interviewee rotates. You will be given a different scenario or question in each station. You may be asked to role-play with your interviewer or another application or answer a question. Sometimes you are required to work in a team to figure out a problem. You will be given a couple of minutes to read over each exercise and prepare your response. The different scenarios and questions in the MMI are designed to evaluate your personality, communication skills, values, ethics, and your reactions to problems. Once again, each school does the MMI differently and there really isn’t much you can do to prepare for it. Some admissions committee officers say the closest thing to an MMI is speed dating.

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MMI Pitfalls || Multiple Mini Interview Sample Question || The Multiple Mini Interview–What To Know

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