Episode 27. Common Medical School Application Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
In this episode, Katie and Rebecca discuss common application mistakes that applicants should avoid when completing medical school applications.
Explore all Hidden Curricula Episodes
Transcript for Hidden Curricula Episode 27
Common Medical School Application Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Rebecca: Welcome to Hidden Curricula, a podcast exploring aspects of preparation for professional schools that may not be obvious or common knowledge. We will delve into topics of concern for undergraduates and discuss questions that relate to professional school applications. My name is Rebecca Curtin.
Katie: And I'm Katie Wang.
Rebecca: We are two of four pre professional advisors at Stanford University. Our group works with students who are interested in professional fields such as law, education, business, and medicine.
Katie: This podcast is not meant to be advice, like we might give to our students, but rather to shed some light on how an advisor might approach various situations and level the playing field for all applicants.
Rebecca: Today we're planning to share some advice that is very specific to the medical school application process. We hope those of you out there preparing medical school applications might listen to this episode, take a pause in your application process, and consider whether you might just need to double check a few pieces before hitting that submit button.
Katie: We try to encourage applicants to be methodical and deliberate and take the time they need to submit an application they feel good about. We've noticed some common mistakes that we'd like to warn future applicants about, as it's far easier to correct an error before you submit an application than after. And even easier if you are just getting going on preparing your application materials.
Rebecca: So true, Katie. Our plan for this episode is to throw some common mistakes out there and give advice on how to avoid them. These mistakes appear in no particular order. We literally wrote them down as they came to us. So let's just dive right in. Katie, you start.
Katie: Okay, so mistake number one, completing or starting the previous year's application. This is for those of you out there who were chomping at the bit to get started. Sometimes professional school application websites will have overlapping cycles and therefore two applications may be available, especially early on in the cycle when early applicants are starting to apply. So please make sure before you begin an application that it is the correct application and the application for that year's cycle.
Rebecca: Very important thing to look out for. Okay, mistake number two: rushing ahead without reading the instructions. The medical school application comes with very detailed instructions. These may be embedded in the application itself, or come in the form of an applicant guide. Take a breath and read these over so you know exactly what to do. Or when a question comes up for you as you're filling out the application, don't just guess, check the instructions before proceeding. It may seem like an unnecessary step to take when you're excited to start filling in the text boxes with information, but it can be a real time saver in the long run to check that you're appropriately following any instructions given. So just have a copy of them in front of you that you can easily access as you're filling the application out. And check the instructions before reaching out to an advisor. We're happy to help when things are unclear, but check that guide first.
Katie: So mistake number three: we could probably summarize this one as entering incorrect information. This may seem obvious, but we see it all the time. This mistake has a few variations based on what type or portion of the application we're talking about. So I've broken this into two parts. There's mistake 3a, which is entering the wrong information on the medical school work and activities section. This might be the wrong number of hours, that is too many or too few hours worked. The number doesn't have to reflect a time in time out stamped number. So it doesn't have to be an exact to the single digit number, but it should be a close estimate, and definitely should not be an order of magnitude off of the actual number of hours worked. So you want to be as accurate as you can be for the number of hours worked.
Katie: Mistake number three part b is wrong information entered into a contact or supervisor field. So please check those contacts, make sure there aren't mistakes. You want to make sure that the email and the name are spelled correctly. I would caution against using a placeholder name, because sometimes we know applicants might do that so they can continue on with the application and then forget to update that information or that field at the time that they submit. This is a section that you cannot change once you submit the application, so please check and double check each entry.
Rebecca: Great. Okay. Mistake number four: mis-assigning letters of recommendation to specific programs. This goes along with following instructions carefully. You want to check to make sure that the number, type, and actual letters you send to a professional school are the correct ones. Some schools may want three letters. Some may accept four or more. Make sure you give recommenders the correct submission information, too. You may not be able to undo a letter assignment once it's been made. For AMCAS applicants, you do not want to assign a letter ID to a school if the letter has not yet been received, just in case it doesn't come in. Wait for the letter to arrive, then assign it to the programs you want to receive it.
Katie: And that is one of the most common mistakes so please do wait until the letters arrive into the portal. And at that point, you can assign them to the schools that you want to.
Rebecca: And check school websites too, to make sure that you're following what their instructions are. Because if a school only wants three letters and you assign six. to that school. They may only just read the first three that they receive, and you want to be able, this is for Stanford students in particular, you want to be able to tailor your list to the different programs and make sure you're following their instructions.
Katie: Yeah. Absolutely. All right. So mistake five: not sending all official transcripts that are needed. So you want to check the relevant applicant guide or instruction sheet to see what's needed and make sure you send all necessary documents along with the completed application itself with plenty of time. So check the instructions at different schools, including ordering instructions and wait times for transcript sending. So don't put this off until the very last minute when your application is otherwise ready. You want to look into which transcripts you might need to send and how you might send them so that they arrive at the same time, or sometimes even before your completed application.
Rebecca: I think it's worth noting, too, that for some students, they may have taken community college courses while in high school or been a part of a dual-enrollment program, so they should be aware that if they took a college level course while in high school and there is a transcript available from that institution, you are responsible for sending that transcript to AMCAS along with the standard ones you might be thinking about from your undergraduate years.
Katie: And don't forget any classes that you might have taken during a summer.
Rebecca: Yeah.
Katie: Sometimes even a post baccalaureate class. Those may all come with separate transcripts and you want to make sure that you're including them all.
Katie: Mistake number six: okay, so not printing a hard copy of the completed application to proofread before you submit. This can help you see it differently and catch any typos. Sometimes special characters might be introduced inadvertently, and you want to make sure that you're able to see what might be the finalized application before you actually submit it. So consider printing a hard copy of the completed application.
Rebecca: Oh, I love that one. You'll be surprised what you can catch in a hard copy that would have been hard to see on a computer screen, especially when your eyes are really tired. So along similar lines, mistake number seven is not checking your processed application to ensure it's as you expect it to be. So once you submit your AMCAS application, it will go through a process of verification or processing, and at the end of that time you should be able to download a copy of your processed application. So do that, and review that process application. And if you do see a mistake or a problem, it may be possible to request a change or amendment post processing. So something to keep in mind.
Katie: All right. Mistake number eight: not updating your contact information. There is some information that can and should be updated throughout the application cycle. You want to make sure you're getting any important correspondence, so make sure that the email address you're using is correct. You want to check that spam or clutter folder in case important correspondence happens to go there. This is most relevant for students who begin an application cycle while they're still enrolled in school and maybe they would use their school assigned email address. If they happen to graduate during the course of that year-long cycle, then once they've graduated, they may not check that email or they may lose access to that school email address altogether. So if you don't update the contact information that you provide with the application, you might not receive important information. You definitely don't want to miss an interview invitation if that invitation happened to go to your spam folder.
Rebecca: Mistake number nine: for school specific essays, not naming the correct program. So perhaps it's obvious that for the personal statement and the AMCAS application, you wouldn't want to name a particular school that you're applying to, but then you'll have a series of secondary essays. While some pieces of these essays may be used for more than one program, double, no, triple check that you aren't mixing up school names. That's not a good look. I cannot tell you how many admissions officers say they read essays with the wrong school name listed. They are not impressed. Pro tip, you may not even need to directly mention the school name in your essays, and certainly not all of your essays, so another plug for closely reading instructions and essay prompts.
Katie: Okay, mistake number 10: withdrawing the application to start over. So this may not always be the case with every medical school application, but for many medical school applications, including AMCAS, once you withdraw that application, that step is usually final for that cycle. So don't withdraw that application unless you are absolutely no longer interested in applying that cycle.
Rebecca: Definitely, and worth noting that there are some things you can continue to edit after an application has been submitted. So as Katie mentioned earlier, the contact information, you can also add additional letters of recommendation or additional schools. And then you technically press a button that says resubmit your application, but you're not actually resubmitting it. You're just updating it. So don't withdraw an application to make those sorts of changes. Okay, mistake number 11. We are past 10. Using a school specific essay for multiple schools without considering the unique questions at the other programs. School's admissions officers know the questions their peer institutions ask. Just using an essay you wrote for a specific prompt at one school as a response to a different question at another school without revisions and tailoring to the wording of that school's unique prompt is obvious to admissions folks. And, again, they are not impressed.
Katie: So, consider tailoring every response to every individual school's questions. So let's round this out at a dozen. Mistake number 12: not seeking advice. Whether it's feedback on essays from your school's writing center, advice from a pre professional advisor, or attending an information session with a school, you want to make sure that you're using your resources to make the best application you can. Many times we meet with reapplicants who did not seek advice on their first application and are looking to change things for their next try. They may be strong applicants, but they just didn't know something important about the application or the application process. Or maybe there was a weakness that they could have addressed before applying the first time. So check in with somebody before you apply. It's not a guarantee of success, but it sure can help.
Rebecca: So Katie, I'm going to make this a baker's dozen: applying when you're not ready, whether it's because you're wanting to defer, not always an option for medical school programs, or maybe there are some external pressures to apply even if you're not feeling ready, pay attention to these feelings that you're having. A good application is one that is composed when you are feeling that this is the right time to apply. When you're excited and eager to embark on this next step. When in doubt, check with somebody to get feedback. Ask them, “Is now the right time for me to apply?” It will always be your decision, but it can be helpful to get feedback before you decide.
Katie: All right, 13 mistakes. That's quite the list. And do you think we got them all, Rebecca?
Rebecca: Probably not, but I think that's enough for today. We got all the ones that were top of our minds.
Katie: Yes, and it can be a mistake from a pre professional advisor's side to overload with too much information. So perhaps this is a topic to be revisited in the future.
Rebecca: So we hope this list was helpful to you listeners as you prepare to apply to professional school. The general gist is take your time, be methodical, and proofread.
Katie: Yes, always proofread.
Rebecca: And with that, we hope to see you again for the next episode of Hidden Curricula.