Applying to Health Schools 101

Bethany Heaney Author

06/19/2024 Added

2 Plays

Description

This workshop covers information about the application process for health schools and what you can do now to prepare to submit your best application. *This workshop will not cover information about applying to nursing school, radiology programs, or dental hygiene programs.

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[00:00:06.180]Bethany Heaney: Welcome everyone my name is Bethany Heaney. I'm an Academic Advisor at the Explore Center. Glad to have you all here today! Just a heads up, I am recording this presentation. We'll post that on our website later. We're going to jump in here.
[00:00:28.890]Bethany Heaney: As I'm still talking feel free to raise your hand if you have any questions as we're going through. I hope that this gives you some good information.
[00:00:43.800]Bethany Heaney: Alright, so welcome to Applying to Health Schools. 101.
[00:00:48.190]Bethany Heaney: Today we are going to be kind of overviewing the application process to health programs. The goal of today is going to be to give you, an idea of kind of what to think about and how to be planning for those applications.
[00:01:07.990]Bethany Heaney: And there's a lot of details involved. As you know, we may not be able to cover absolutely every single thing, especially specific to your particular application. So if I don't get to something today, feel free to come, ask me afterwards, or meet with an Explore Center advisor.
[00:01:28.880]Bethany Heaney: Alright.
[00:01:30.030]Bethany Heaney: So, we've got our health school application timeline. So, these cover the many steps that there are to applying to health schools. During your sophomore year. Do we have any sophomores in the room? Okay, a couple of sophomores. So, this year right now is a good year to be starting on researching the schools that you're going to be applying to.
[00:01:53.530]Bethany Heaney: And then, how many juniors do we have in the room? Couple of juniors. This is where we're going to start practicing and preparing for entrance exams. Do we have any seniors in the room. Couple of seniors. Okay, we'll get to submitting the application in a minute. Do we have any freshman here? Okay a couple Freshman. You guys are starting even ahead. That's awesome.
[00:02:17.220]Bethany Heaney: So, sophomore year, and even freshman year start researching schools. We can talk a little bit more about that, too. But one way to do that would just be going to websites. Even the Explore Center has professional school visitors that come to the Explore Center to meet with students to learn more about their programs. That could be something that you could look into.
[00:02:40.460]Bethany Heaney: And then Junior year, we've got a lot of steps. So, we're going to be practicing and preparing for the entrance exams for your particular program. Going to take that entrance exam. We're going to get that letter of recommendation.
[00:02:54.270]Bethany Heaney: Kind of start that application. This one's kind of small print. But it says, order transcripts.
[00:02:59.520]Bethany Heaney: There's gonna be an essay process for most applications as well. This is kind of just an overview. But an essay process where you're going to be kind of explaining why you want to go into that particular health field. And then you'll get your scores back kind of have essays and applications reviewed by advisors in the Explore Center.
[00:03:24.300]Bethany Heaney: And then you're approaching your senior year, where you're going to submit your application. Sometimes it's that summer between your junior and senior year and then processing, finalizing applications, interviews, and then hopefully, admission to health schools.
[00:03:42.040]Bethany Heaney: Okay?
[00:03:43.920]Bethany Heaney: So, let's start off with researching schools. So, we're going to want to think about are you competitive for the schools that you are researching? Are you getting all of the pre-requisites that you need for those schools? A lot of times, schools on their websites will list out the exact pre-requisites that
[00:04:09.090]Bethany Heaney: they need for that particular program. Making sure that your GPA is within a range that is competitive for that particular school's program. Getting that research, shadowing, volunteering experience, all of that. Another thing to keep in mind as you're researching schools is going to be location. So, do you want to stay in Nebraska? Maybe you're from here and you want to stay here. Or maybe you want to take an adventure and go somewhere else in the country.
[00:04:37.380]Bethany Heaney: Thinking about location preferences. Or or maybe it doesn't matter to you. Maybe there are other things that are more important. As far as the school goes, and location, but that would just be something to consider. Tuition is going to be another thing to consider as well. How much it's going to cost. We also recommend asking schools if there are scholarships or financial aid offered for those particular programs.
[00:05:03.560]Bethany Heaney: And then making sure that you're checking any other requirements like "Are there a certain number of hours of shadowing that we need or are there certain number of Letters of Recommendation that I need for this program?" And then "What are the fees for applying?"
[00:05:21.370]Bethany Heaney: I do think it's good to check out the acceptance rates as well, making sure that, does a certain school more likely accept residents of that state versus a nonresident or
[00:05:33.610]Bethany Heaney: a school might be a public versus private school could have different rates with that as well. Any questions on this slide?
[00:05:44.490]Bethany Heaney: Alright.
[00:05:47.220]Bethany Heaney: I already mentioned this, but here's the link to be able to visit with professional school visitors. These are admissions representatives that come to the Explore Center. So just downstairs in Love Library
[00:06:02.350]Bethany Heaney: 127. That is where I work, in 127, but you can come and visit with admissions representatives to learn more about those particular programs. Ask any questions that you have, have them review your transcripts, make sure that you're on track for application.
[00:06:22.890]Bethany Heaney: It also would be important to know your competitiveness as you are researching schools. So for UNMC, College of Medicine. Do we have any Pre-Med students in the room? Couple of Pre-Med? Okay, so we are going to be wanting a GPA of about a 3.84 with your science courses, and then a 3.94 for non-science. And then PA. Do we have any PA in the room?
[00:06:49.270]Bethany Heaney: Okay, PA, you're going to be looking for about like a 3.53 science and a 3.68 non science. And then, we have dentistry at all? A few dentistry. So 3.66, and then 3.74 for those there, and I know this is not all the pre-health fields. But kind of just to give you an idea, for most, as we kind of can see, about a 3.7, 3.8 is pretty competitive for most pre-health programs.
[00:07:17.440]Bethany Heaney: Specifically, like programs like UNMC.
[00:07:20.530]Bethany Heaney: This was for like the fall of 2023 metrics. So just keep in mind that these can vary year to year, depending on the class, either a little higher, a little lower, and depending on the applicant pool.
[00:07:36.690]Bethany Heaney: Alright. So how are we going to be practicing and preparing for entrance exam? So, this is going to be things like the MCAT, for example, or the DAT, or whatever entrance exam your school may require, or your pathway may require.
[00:07:52.670]Bethany Heaney: In about January, about 6 months before the exam...so most of these exams are going to be taken like June or so between your junior and senior year. So we're thinking about 6 months beforehand. You're going to want to know what's on the exam.
[00:08:10.810]Bethany Heaney: Science material, and then any non-science material. You're going to want to make sure that you've completed all the required coursework before that exam, so that when you take it you are ready to be tested on that knowledge. We recommend studying for a few hours a week for those exams. There's some options kind of for some study materials here depending on what you are
[00:08:35.470]Bethany Heaney: going to be studying for: GRE, DAT, MCAT. We recommend taking a few full length practice tests as well.
[00:08:45.970]Bethany Heaney: And this will help you get a good idea for where you're at with kind of your average score. So, I actually recommend taking a full-length practice test before you even start studying for the exam at all, just to kind of help you know "Where am I really strong out with this material?" Or "What do I need to study more of?"
[00:09:08.150]Bethany Heaney: And then you can plan your study plan from that.
[00:09:12.930]Bethany Heaney: And then we also recommend attending club meetings and workshops to learn more about entrance exams specific to your health area. The Explore Center offers some of those.
[00:09:24.550]Bethany Heaney: Okay.
[00:09:25.670]Bethany Heaney: Also, we have prep courses available. Not "we." But there are prep courses available out there for some of these exams. Kaplan, Examkrackers. Kind of an example cost for like a Kaplan prep course. They are pretty expensive. They can be from five hundred to a couple thousand dollars.
[00:09:46.710]Bethany Heaney: So just keeping that in mind. There are some out there that are available for free. The Explore Center would probably recommend that you meet with an advisor to try to look for the free ones first and try to kind of get as much
[00:10:05.200]Bethany Heaney: prep materials without cost as possible. But there are students out there that prefer the ones that you pay for, and that's totally okay as well. I think my opinion is, you may be able to get most of the material available for free, if you're willing to kind of dig for it a little bit. But if the convenience of having it in one place is worth it to you, those are available as well. So, there's definitely some options for preparation for you.
[00:10:33.070]Bethany Heaney: Oh, the PCAT actually shouldn't even be on there. That's going away.
[00:10:38.210]Bethany Heaney: Or, has gone away. Alright. Other exams that you might be required to take would be a CASper, kind of depends on the program. But this is like an ethics exam.
[00:10:49.870]Bethany Heaney: PREview is for medical schools only.
[00:10:54.230]Bethany Heaney: It would probably be good as you're researching schools just to kind of see what kind of exams they require, just to make sure that you are 100% prepared for those things and and ask them how the scores for those exams are gonna be like, how do they kind of impact the admissions decision? Some schools may put more weight on those scores than others.
[00:11:19.950]Bethany Heaney: So, questions like, "Do they use it during, or to screen for interviews? Is it looked at during the decision point? Can it only help and not hurt? Or is there a possibility that if I don't do well, this could hurt my admissions decision?" So those would be some important things, to
[00:11:36.140]Bethany Heaney: be looking at.
[00:11:39.110]Bethany Heaney: April through June you're going to want to be considering how much prep time. Especially as school might be ending a little bit, and then you're getting ready to take the exam.
[00:11:58.180]Bethany Heaney: And then, application preferred deadlines, score release dates. This would just be, again, as you're looking into schools, making sure that you know when those programs prefer to have your score back. And then also, when you're going to be getting the score back. So usually, you can find the score release dates on the website for the particular test that you're taking for the particular exam.
[00:12:24.740]Bethany Heaney: And you want to make sure that you're going to have that back in time. By the time that you would need to to have it submitted.
[00:12:30.880]Bethany Heaney: And the goal, I've heard some students say like, "Oh, I'm going to go take the MCAT, like I'm going just take it for fun in April or something, and then I'll plan to take it again in June. And kind of like
[00:12:46.130]Bethany Heaney: base, you know, hope that the June one is better. It's not the best practice to kind of plan a practice. Taking practice MCATs or practice DATs, like actual practice ones. Those are okay, but like paying for a real exam and using it as a practice, we would not recommend doing that because schools are most likely probably going to see all of the
[00:13:11.110]Bethany Heaney: scores that you get and that could impact their decision. Also a ton of money to just use something for kind of a practice thing. If you need an extra, you need to redo it, that is okay. But we kind of we don't recommend planning on that.
[00:13:28.300]Bethany Heaney: So "one and done" is your goal with that. Keep in mind things like registration, opening dates, testing center regulations, how the check in process works, you know what items you can bring into the exam room, and during breaks, how long is the exam? You want to make sure that you've practiced under the same time constraints with that, too, that you know that you can sit there for that long of a time to be able to take
[00:13:56.150]Bethany Heaney: your exam.
[00:14:00.580]Bethany Heaney: Alright, letters of recommendation. So, the best people to ask for these are often going to be faculty
[00:14:08.500]Bethany Heaney: that you have taken classes from or worked with like, maybe in research or something. So if you haven't already, I recommend, right now is a great time to start utilizing office hours getting to know some of your professors,
[00:14:22.640]Bethany Heaney: making sure that they really know you well and can give you a detailed letter. You don't want them just to pull up their basic word document and fill in the blanks with your name and "enjoyed having them in class. I recommend them." You don't want that. You want specific things of: "This student asked me a lot of questions in class. I always, you know, appreciated their
[00:14:46.260]Bethany Heaney: their hard work on all of the assignments or when I did research with them," you know, something specific that they can write about you in the letter will be helpful to your application.
[00:14:59.840]Bethany Heaney: So, these would be people that have seen you in action like Research Supervisor professor in class. You also are probably able to use at least one letter for a work supervisor at the job that you're at
[00:15:13.010]Bethany Heaney: or even maybe a health professional that you've either worked with or shadowed as well. But you will need, most likely at least one, sometimes 2 faculty letters
[00:15:24.750]Bethany Heaney: in addition to one of these other options.
[00:15:28.340]Bethany Heaney: We definitely want to avoid family, friends, or even friends of your family. And then celebrities is kind of in quotes like, sometimes I think students are tempted to maybe ask someone who has a really good reputation in the field, but they don't they don't know them personally. You don't want to
[00:15:53.160]Bethany Heaney: have someone that doesn't know you well, then, just kind of use them like for the name that they have. That's what celebrities mean. And then family, friends, and friends of the family. Those are not the best to use, just because those letters could be biased because they know you and they want you to get into whatever the program is. You want to make sure you have a professional
[00:16:17.450]Bethany Heaney: reference.
[00:16:20.900]Bethany Heaney: Alright, you are going to want to request these letters in probably April or May, if not sooner. A lot of your professors once school ends, they're kind of off for the summer, and you're going to be needing to be submitting your application, probably in August of
[00:16:38.910]Bethany Heaney: the year you're submitting it. So, I would recommend asking probably honestly, in April or even March, if possible. So that the faculty has some time to think about, if this is something they would be able to do for you. And yeah, be able to plan for that.
[00:16:55.790]Bethany Heaney: So we recommend starting to build those relationships now, making sure you have a good understanding of what kind of letters your school is looking for. You may see on some, as you're doing some research, there's something called a "Pre-Health Committee letter." This is something that UNL does not have. So just you're aware of that.
[00:17:19.829]Bethany Heaney: But give your letter writers plenty of time to write the letters. And you know, asking in advance. It's also possible that...I mean, we would hope not. But you want to make sure you also have enough time that if someone were to say "No" to being able to write a letter, that you'd have enough time to ask someone else as well.
[00:17:40.660]Bethany Heaney: And then it's important to ask if they can write you a positive letter. You don't want, like, I said, just a basic letter. You certainly wouldn't want a negative letter. So making sure that you kind of get that clarity that they can write a positive letter for you. And then provide your letter writers, we recommend, with your resume. So showing the work experience that you have showing different...
[00:18:06.690]Bethany Heaney: well, mostly the work experience, but could be even awards or different things that you would include on your resume, just so that they get a bigger picture of who you are as a student. They know you from your class, but they may not know about
[00:18:19.910]Bethany Heaney: the experience you had, you know, working as a CNA somewhere, and they could maybe reflect on that
[00:18:27.970]Bethany Heaney: in the letter, so, want to have your resume. And then, if you have a draft of your like essay for admission, your application essay, that can also be helpful for them as well to kind of know where you're headed, and know how to how to write their letter in a way that is best for your application.
[00:18:51.890]Bethany Heaney: ...
[00:18:52.880]Bethany Heaney: If you don't have a draft of that application, you could also just kind of write a couple of paragraphs about why you are pursuing this field, and that would be okay as well.
[00:19:10.240]Bethany Heaney: Alright, summer before your senior year. These are going to be the application, the centralized application systems that these particular fields
[00:19:20.770]Bethany Heaney: are going to be using. So those are the acronyms for those. But yeah, you can just like Google the acronym to to find those application systems or, yeah, those would be where you need to go. Most of those application websites to
[00:19:44.440]Bethany Heaney: Yeah, they're gonna have information on there to even like help you with at least some questions with like how to fill out the application. Explore Center Advisors, too, are happy to help you with specific questions too. If you have questions as you're filling that out, feel free to make an appointment with us. We're happy to help troubleshoot some things or students will come in and ask questions about like,
[00:20:10.070]Bethany Heaney: "What should I put in this category for this particular question on the application?" Or "How do I fill this out?" And we're more than happy to help with those specific questions.
[00:20:25.850]Bethany Heaney: Alright. So, you're going to start on the application...the centralized application system for your particular health field with the primary application. So this is
[00:20:40.920]Bethany Heaney: the beginning part where you're going to be applying to multiple schools with that single application. So you're going to put things like, your name, your address and all that stuff. But then you're going to have, depending on exactly which field you're going into, but a box to describe your shadowing experiences. And another section about your volunteering experiences, and
[00:21:05.020]Bethany Heaney: You'll be entering in your grades from your transcript, and then all of that goes together, and that'll go out to the various schools that you would select for it to go to. You'll
[00:21:19.230]Bethany Heaney: have the option to have your letters of recommendation submitted, and your application and site. To go to the schools if you're choosing.
[00:21:28.870]Bethany Heaney: Some schools have what we call the secondary applications.
[00:21:33.770]Bethany Heaney: They may ask you like under the essays, question there, to respond to something a little bit more in depth, like maybe a school has a particular value and they want to see if you kind of align with that
[00:21:50.240]Bethany Heaney: and they may send you some more questions to kind of expand upon. So, those are like school specific applications. So those would not go to like all of the other schools that you've applied to just certain schools may want to know more about their applicants. With those essay questions.
[00:22:09.480]Bethany Heaney: There could be additional fees. There could maybe be like I don't know another letter of recommendation that they would be looking for so just kind of keep an eye on that but just make sure you complete it in a timely manner. As soon as you you get that because, yeah, there could be some schools that won't open the like
[00:22:32.630]Bethany Heaney: initial part of your application. If the second part isn't complete.
[00:22:37.870]Bethany Heaney: Any questions about that?
[00:22:43.090]Bethany Heaney: Okay.
[00:22:46.160]Bethany Heaney: Application services open usually like in late spring or early summer. Depending on the specific application. You can find the dates for those, but you can usually start submitting your completed applications about a month later. So hypothetically, you could go in the day that it opens, and start filling out your information and then have it ready to go to submit. A month later. I would recommend starting that application process as soon as you can, once you get the notification or
[00:23:15.250]Bethany Heaney: or not notification, I guess, but once you that day comes along that your application is opening. I would recommend going there and starting the process.
[00:23:25.270]Bethany Heaney: So just kind of keep in mind when does your application open so that you can. And when is as soon as that you can submit it? You don't have to submit it at the very soonest date. But it's always best to start as early as you can on these kinds of things.
[00:23:41.550]Bethany Heaney: Something to be aware of is a lot of schools are going to have rolling admissions. Which means that they're going to start reviewing those applications as they come in.
[00:23:55.220]Bethany Heaney: So that's why earlier rather than later is often best. Because they may start giving acceptances to people as they kind of are coming in. Earlier is better than later.
[00:24:09.850]Bethany Heaney: There are some programs out there that offer early decision. So this would be where you would apply to the program before kind of most people. Then you would also hear back from the program earlier than most people. So, it kind of gets you ahead with that application process.
[00:24:32.830]Bethany Heaney: However, usually you can only do this for one school. So, it's kind of a "if you know if you let me in, I'm going to come to your school kind of thing", and then if it doesn't work out, then you would need to probably wait another application. So, application cycle. So, this is helpful for students who know for sure that they only want to go to
[00:24:58.770]Bethany Heaney: UNMC or some other school. If you are really wanting to apply to like a ton, it would just be something to ask about. If you do early decision,
[00:25:14.990]Bethany Heaney: I recommend talking to the admissions representatives about that process. Just to make sure that you understand what you need to do, when you need to have deadlines for those. Or when you need to have your application in, and to meet those deadlines.
[00:25:33.900]Bethany Heaney: And deadlines do vary by school, so don't wait to submit at the deadline. You might see that you hypothetically could submit an application pretty late into the application process. But
[00:25:47.130]Bethany Heaney: for a lot of professional programs. You are going to want to have those submitted by like August first is kind of our deadline. Maybe like sometime into August would be okay. But I usually say August first is like a whole year in advance to when you're hoping to start that program. So that is what you need to do
[00:26:09.500]Bethany Heaney: Current.
[00:26:11.760]Bethany Heaney: Depending on the program. There may be fee assistance programs available. So, this is available for most health profession applications. This would help you not have to pay for tests like the MCAT or maybe get some kind of assistance with that at least.
[00:26:35.710]Bethany Heaney: I'm sorry, not to take the MCAT, to apply.
[00:26:43.550]Bethany Heaney: Be looking into those. See if those are available for your application. And make sure that you kind of review the eligibility before applying for these assistance programs. Just make sure that you're eligible for that. But yeah, can definitely help you with getting some assistance with the application process. You have to apply for it before signing up usually.
[00:27:15.680]Bethany Heaney: Application costs
[00:27:21.220]Bethany Heaney: So, if you were to do like a prep class. And we did that for about
[00:27:30.010]Bethany Heaney: 2,000 or so dollars. And MCAT is going to cost you about $330. AMCAS is the application for medical schools. You're going to pay like $175 kind of base line. And then additional schools is going to cost another about 270
[00:27:55.670]Bethany Heaney: or so and then secondary applications could be, kind of depends maybe around $500. It really just depends. And then, depending on where the interviews are and what it kind of takes for you to get there and maybe stay overnight or travel, you know, you could be paying up to $2,000 for that.
[00:28:19.130]Bethany Heaney: and then deposits at a certain number of schools, gonna be a couple of $100. So you know, you are looking at potentially around like 5 or $6,000.
[00:28:30.090]Bethany Heaney: Kind of depending on what options you choose for. I would say, especially like what options you might choose for your prep for the exam that you need. So definitely something to be keeping in mind right now. And thinking about, how you're going to budget for that and what your plan is to be able to cover that. We do offer a workshop about
[00:28:54.970]financing and budgeting for health school. So, if that's a concern for you, feel free to check out that workshop.
[00:29:02.990]Bethany Heaney: So yeah, just something to keep in mind.
[00:29:06.590]Bethany Heaney: And then May or June, or immediately after starting your application. You'll have to request transcripts is what that is saying. So, every school, whether it's, UNL, SCC, you did dual enrollment in high school. Wherever, you are going to need to be requesting those transcripts to be sent to
[00:29:33.990]Bethany Heaney: The schools that you're applying to.
[00:29:38.190]Bethany Heaney: You can usually do that through the application system that you are working on and then if you studied abroad, making sure the credit that you maybe got for that course is posted on your transcript.
[00:29:52.280]Bethany Heaney: Then it'll be especially important to get your transcripts as soon as possible if you're doing early decision. Because again, that's kind of earlier deadline and your final grades at UNL are usually posted sometime in mid-May, or so. So as soon as you kind of get those grades finalized and have your official transcripts. Yes.
[00:30:15.470]Bethany Heaney: Right. Your official transcript. Yes, thank you for verifying. Your official transcript will need to be sent. But wait until you have all the grades on there because sometimes you might be done with class. But your professor hasn't posted those grades yet.
[00:30:35.260]Bethany Heaney: Make sure that those are ready.
[00:30:40.070]Bethany Heaney: Alright. And then for working on essays this is going to be in May or June could even be earlier if you want to start it earlier. So, May or June of the year that you're applying. I'm sorry I made somewhat of mistake on this one with the ordering transcripts. You'll have to order them again when you do graduate. So, this is like between your application you need to send
[00:31:09.180]Bethany Heaney: sorry, between your junior and senior year you need to send what you have done so far, but then you will have to send them like official one again after you graduate, so that they can see that you've completely and successfully completed everything else. Does that make sense? Yes. [Student asks about dual enrollment]
[00:31:26.720]Bethany Heaney: That would be a good question, I would say, to ask your schools, but probably not because that's completed. It's more that they want to see that your UNL credit that has kind of been in progress. Yeah, it's completed. So, I don't think they normally ask for something if they already have it. Basically, to make sure you didn't
[00:31:48.080]Bethany Heaney: not past the classes that you still needed your senior year. That makes sense?
[00:31:53.530]Bethany Heaney: Other questions on that before I go back?
[00:31:57.070]Okay.
[00:31:59.520]Bethany Heaney: Alright, so working on your
[00:32:02.600]Bethany Heaney: essay for the schools that you're applying to. So, you want to make sure you're clearly answering the prompts, starting your draft early, and allow time for feedback. All the advisors at the Explore Center are trained on how to review application essays. So, we are more than happy to review draft one, draft two. However, we can help with that.
[00:32:29.140]Bethany Heaney: Just make sure that you give us enough time to maybe review that, and meet with you, and then, if you want to take our feedback, and up to you, but implement that or not, that you have time to do that.
[00:32:43.960]Bethany Heaney: You can also work with us to brainstorm ideas for how to start the essay. These essays are usually a lot more personal than things that you've been working on in your English class or even history class or other classes that you've had to write papers for. These are not academic papers.
[00:33:03.460]Bethany Heaney: They are personal statements. So, they're going to be a little bit more narrative style. So, telling more stories. They really should answer the how and the why for, "how did you get to the place that you're at today. And why do you want to pursue this particular profession?"
[00:33:26.720]Bethany Heaney: So yeah, we can help you with that.
[00:33:30.790]Bethany Heaney: Don't rehash your resume. It's okay, I would say, if it includes a couple of things that are on your resume. I mean, that's your life, right? But you wouldn't want your essay to basically just be your resume written in narrative form. It needs to include specific stories, specific experiences that may not be on your resume.
[00:33:58.980]Bethany Heaney: We have an essay workshop that the Explore Center offers if you have interest in that. Something to ask schools about is if there's a pandemic related essay.
[00:34:17.900]Bethany Heaney: It could be part of something that schools might be looking for, would be to ask, how 2020 affected
[00:34:27.590]Bethany Heaney: you, and maybe how it affected your academics, potentially, or just how it affected you being able to get experiences, or those kinds of things. Just something to keep in mind. We're probably getting further away from that but just something to keep in mind with that
[00:34:52.290]Bethany Heaney: And then, you're going to receive your entrance exam scores. So, it's a summer, kind of helps you decide where to apply. How competitive are you? GPA, entrance exam scores, qualitative information. As you are getting your exam scores back, kind of just making sure that you're still on a competitive range
[00:35:16.880]Bethany Heaney: for those applications. Making sure that your GPA is also still competitive. Qualitative information would just be, "Do I have a good application as a whole, too?" "Have I been doing everything we need to do?"
[00:35:34.140]Bethany Heaney: So
[00:35:36.620]Bethany Heaney: Summer, early fall. Submitting early is definitely going to save you worry of doing it. During the academic year if you're able to do it before school starts. That's helpful. Can be helpful with rolling admission, like, I shared a lot of schools start looking at those applications as they start coming in, and then it also will give you more time to work on any secondary application. So, lots of pros for
[00:36:00.780]Bethany Heaney: submitting early. Just to keep in mind. I know everybody wants to know as soon as possible. Sometimes these application processes just take so long, but it can take 4 to 6 weeks to process your initial application before the secondary application. So, it does take a while, but just be patient with the process.
[00:36:24.260]Bethany Heaney: August, this is when you're going to start thinking about interviewing, is what we are transitioning to right now. So, in August. You are going to want to start practicing possible questions. Maybe that's something you could be doing on your own or we also offer mock interviews during the fall as well. So, you could schedule something with an advisor. To kind of get some practice with interviewing
[00:36:56.230]Bethany Heaney: Practice going through the process of a mock interview. And definitely receive feedback on interviewing skills. I say, it's helpful to do more than one practice. Just the first time you practice an interview, you're just getting used to what it's like. And then the second time you can implement some of those skills that maybe you learned. So, something to consider. We're also offering mock interviews
[00:37:21.170]Bethany Heaney: this spring like right now what we're doing them. So many of you want to practice that sooner rather than later. You are welcome to sign up for that through the Explore Center.
[00:37:34.110]Bethany Heaney: August through January. This is going to be, again, more interviews. The purpose of the interview is going to be assessment of your interpersonal skills. And are you really the person that is presented in your application? So, they're going to ask you questions more about
[00:37:59.870]Bethany Heaney: who you are and why you are pursuing this field. They're probably asking questions about your experiences, and they might ask you questions about you know, how would you handle such and such situation in this field? And those kinds of things. It's also your chance to assess the program kind of based on like comfort and fit. I think a lot of times when we go in for interviews. It kind of feels like,
[00:38:25.540]Bethany Heaney: you know "All eyes are on me, I got to make sure I do." Well, which is true. But you're also interviewing that program, right? By like asking questions. There are some schools that do zoom interviews. But if you have an in-person interview, being at the school, seeing if this is going to be a good fit, meeting other students that are in the program already, and kind of assessing if this is somewhere that you would want to be so keep that in mind.
[00:38:54.760]Bethany Heaney: Definitely plan ahead for interviews. With finances. I mean, it's expensive to travel
[00:39:01.260]Bethany Heaney: to different places for interviews. Making sure that you have the best attire for an interview, needs to be professional attire. Most of these interviews are going to take place while you're in school still, so kind of planning around that and travel time and all this
[00:39:32.020]Bethany Heaney: Also, the whole day is an interview. It's not just the time that you're sitting, being asked those questions. They're going to be watching how you interact with other people. It's not just that interview time. It's the whole day. So just keeping that in mind.
[00:39:56.220]Bethany Heaney: Notification times definitely vary. But usually, we'll know by the end of the spring semester if you were accepted, waitlisted, or not accepted.
[00:40:05.760]Bethany Heaney: If you are not accepted, we do recommend following up with the school to ask "Might be interested in applying in the future. What are some things you'd recommend that I could improve on with my application?"
[00:40:23.260]Bethany Heaney: Can schools see names or numbers of other schools you apply to? It depends on the program and the timing. It says, Medical Schools can have access to see which of their accepted applicants have acceptances from other schools in February.
[00:40:39.520]Bethany Heaney: Another thing to be asking programs about if you are concerned about that.
[00:40:47.360]Bethany Heaney: participants.
[00:40:50.140]Bethany Heaney: Alright. Next steps,
[00:40:52.710]Bethany Heaney: would be to work on whatever next steps that you have kind of identified that you need to be working on wherever you're at in your timeline. I always say, continue shadowing, volunteering, getting research experience, etc. Working with Explore Center advisors. We are all familiar with all the pre-health tracks. So definitely come in and ask us any questions that you have.
[00:41:22.000]Bethany Heaney: We are more than happy to help. We have other workshops available as well.
[00:41:26.680]Bethany Heaney: or those professional school visits. Professional school visits. I highly recommend them. They're not interviews. You should still treat it as a
[00:41:39.430]Bethany Heaney: a meeting that is important and professional. But you have some more freedom to ask the questions you really want to ask and even have those admissions representatives review your transcripts or help you with questions that come up with applications and that kind of thing.
[00:42:02.820]Bethany Heaney: Alright. And that kind of concludes what we have. So, the Explore Center information is here. We can get appointments with us through Student Success Hub. If you guys have a minute before you leave, if you could scan the QR code for me. It takes about 2 min or so. Just a little survey on today. We would appreciate it, and I will be sticking around. If you guys have any questions.
[00:42:31.140]Bethany Heaney: Thank you all for coming.

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Applying to Health Schools 101

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