While you generally won’t have access to your reference letters, and thus won’t know their content, you can think about who wrote for you and whether these were the best letter-writers for your application. At that point my time was largely devoured by my involvement in 3 different projects, so I didn’t submit my final secondary until the end of September. not any of those medical schools higher up in your preference ranking). When you get into medical school and continue to residency and practice, time will be your most precious commodity, and there won’t be much to go around! Check out all our other podcasts on the MedEd Media Network include The MCAT Podcast, the OldPreMeds Podcast, the MCAT CARS Podcast, and soon - the Board Rounds Podcast. While it’s certainly possible to get a medical school interview invitation after December, particularly for AMCAS and AACOMAS applicants, you will still want to start taking stock and doing a thorough and honest evaluation of your application if you haven’t heard back at this time. As a group, your letters should complement each other, demonstrating different aspects of your personality, dedication, and suitability for the profession. If, on the other hand, December arrives and you have submitted a secondary application, there are a couple of things you can do to try to make the case for your suitability for the program and profession. Scenario-based questions usually involve critical thinking and some sort of ethical or moral dilemma. Finally, during this time you should keep up any volunteering, clinical work, shadowing, and other related activities, staying connected to medical community. In this entry, I include statements that I heard from upperclassmen/peers before I applied and how the experience actually shook out for me. Of course, there are some not-so-friendly interviewers out there, so it’s not all butterflies and rainbows (but that’s life, right?). For example, Dalhousie generally has a late-July deadline for primary applications (with interview invites often coming out in October), and Quebec schools vary widely in their application due dates. And the response time post interview is different for each school. Around the mid-point of the medical school interview invitation timeline. If you get waitlisted you could theoretically get a … Essentially, you’re in a race to beat over 50,000 students and get your application to the top of the admissions committee’s review pile. Students can expect the same style of questions one would see in a traditional interview, so prepare for it in the same way. Again, though, interviews run through the late summer and fall, with a pause over the winter break, with a few interviews resuming from early-to-mid-January. It will help you make good use of the time, and it’s great stress relief. Date of Application and Applying Strategically. The med school application timeline is nearly set in stone. 3.) Rather, it should instead prompt you to examine what went wrong and what you can do to submit a stronger application for the next cycle. By the time December rolled around and I still had not gotten an acceptance (only a waitlist and an interview left to do), I looked back at my medical school application to highlight what I could improve if I did reapply. Download our mobile app and take Picmonic on the go! In general, most of the interview invitations in Canada come out in January and February, with interviews taking place between February and April. Here are some general parameters for the med school interview invitation timeline, but – again – these vary by school, and there is no standardized timeline for medical school interview invitations. how to select the best verifiers and referees for your med school applications, Military Doctor: The Definitive 2021 Guide, Medical School Personal Statement Examples: 20 Best in 2021, How To Answer The Med School Personal Statement & Interview Question: "Why Do You Want To Be A Doctor? You can check with individual schools to see what their timeline for medical school interview invitations is, as these vary from institution to institution. So remain optimistic and tell yourself “I WILL be a doctor”. This is a standardized, recorded video interview you may complete on your own. Keep calm because 80% of the interview battle is preparation. And if you’re gap yearing (like I did), lots of your internships and activities will pick up pace by August. Week commencing 8 February 2021 We reserve the right to alter these dates if necessary. Keep up with Aimen’s journey as a first year medical student by following her on Instagram @lil_waimen. Again, you can review admissions statistics on school websites or through MSAR, and you should apply first and foremost based on where you have realistic chances of getting in. You can refer to this blog to learn how to select the best verifiers and referees for your med school applications. I experienced this during my first interview, right after listening to one of my fellow students tell me his interviewer took him on a scenic walk and called him “buddy”. Interview invites can pop into your inbox as late as April and you can get an acceptance as late as July! Each individual should be able to speak to much more than just your academic performance; they need to be someone with whom you’ve interacted, who can speak to your strengths and qualities. If you’re one of the lucky few who gets an invitation at the very beginning of the process (especially in the U.S.), that’s awesome, but go ahead and prepare to settle in and wait it out. You should NEVER become stagnant because as a med student, resident, and doctor, you will always be piled high with work and challenges; it’s a good idea to make a habit of being hardworking now! Overview of Osteopathic Medical School interviews DO interviews typically take place from September through April once the institution has gone through your AACOMAS and secondary applications. Think about it – to get to the point where you’re able to apply to med school (and expect reasonably good responses), you had to put in. Overall, in the U.S., the majority of candidates hear back from medical schools for interviews between October and January, but there’s variation even in that wide spread of time. Personal questions revolve around your values and personality and can usually be answered using activities listed on your AMCAS. Again, did you consider possible letter-writers strategically, or did you simply reach out to your favorite professors or whomever said “yes” the fastest? It will help orient you towards the school culture and also remind you what made you stand out. This is pretty rare – most schools are open to receiving such information. That said, it’s still going to be a considerable wait between application and interview invitation, as many Canadian medical schools have an early-October deadline for application submission. Don’t get me wrong, I knew applying early was important. And because medical schools interview a limited number of applicants, you may be automatically rejected if there are no interview spots remaining. Confirm deadline dates for AMCAS and medical schools. Quite frankly, the bare minimum just isn’t enough for medical school. Like the typical medical student, I applied to quite a few medical schools. The good news is that this means much less uncertainty, which might result in less stress and turmoil. That said, each school has its own timeline for application review, too, and medical schools don’t always necessarily review applications as they come in, so you shouldn’t fret if you submitted your application on the earliest possible date and you haven’t received any interview invitations in the earliest months indicated above – it all just depends on the school. Also, remember that once the interview is over, it’s over! Again, refer to the end of this post for further discussion of how to strategize and move forward, if you find yourself anxious and waiting at this stage in the medical school interview invitation timeline. Make final decisions on which medical schools to apply to and submit the primary application. If you’re distracted by the stress of waiting to hear back from medical schools for interviews, it’s going to impact your productivity, your performance, and your engagements with others in your volunteering, clinical work, and other valuable roles where you should be gaining experience and undergoing the process of professionalization. Finally, U.S. Osteopathic programs using AACOMAS report the earliest interviews generally taking place in late-August, running through the fall, pausing in mid-to-late December, and then resuming from January to early-March. If you tell yourself that it’s unlikely that you’ll hear anything prior to, say, January 1 in the U.S. and U.K. or mid-February in Canada, then you’ll save yourself some sleepless nights in the interim (and if you do happen to hear before that time, then it’s a happy surprise!). That is, in the U.S., those who apply first often have their applications reviewed earliest. Again, you need to be brutally honest – this isn’t the time for excuses, it’s the time for stark reality. Similarly, did you choose the best verifiers for your work and activities (for those applications that require verifiers)? Check out this video on how to receive outstanding letters of recommendation for your med school application: Look over your list of work and activities. Know the medical curriculum and physician competencies. I would say that one of the most anxiety-provoking times when applying to medical school is waiting for a response after your interview (ignorance is NOT bliss in this situation). In other words, schools want candidates with demonstrated potential in each of the CanMEDS competencies. At the end of this post, we’ll discuss some ways to get through this time and make the most of it, so focus on that rather than obsessing over where your application is in the evaluation process (easier said than done, I know!). I received a total of 3 interview invites when applying to medical school (which, considering I applied way later than you’re supposed to, blew my mind). Once again, as long as you prepare ahead of time you’ll be totally fine! You can do this one of two times during the application season. In the time between submitting the application and the early medical school interview invitation timeline, there really isn’t much you can do to impact your chances of getting that invitation. So, here are some things you can do instead of worrying, at various stages of the med school interview invitation timeline. The medical school interview time frame varies a lot by school- some schools may give you an answer in October, while some might not have a decision for you until April. As well, at this late stage in the process, it’s time to start doing an honest and thorough evaluation of your application materials and your education, work, and activities to this point. Finally, consider your application itself, particularly your personal statement, secondaries, or other essays you had to write. When your interviews do start rolling in, you’ll either be assigned a date or get to choose your own. 10 December - 18 December 2020 2. There’s no need for that though because an MMI is pretty similar to a traditional interview, just with more interviewers. Which brings me to…. Applying to medical school is dotted with various milestones that students need to reach by certain (made up but effective) deadlines. This will make your life easier in many ways: 1.) Another exception is the University of Bristol, which sometimes begins sending medical school interview invitations a bit earlier, in mid-October. Whether it’s a traditional interview or an MMI, a lot of resources online say you cannot prepare for your medical school interviews. (If you’ve ever given a job interview, then you’ll have a good idea of what to expect.) Of course, this is great for professional development and continuing to refine your knowledge and experiences, but if you ultimately aren’t accepted to medical school this cycle, these experiences will help when you reapply. Be sure you review our blog, how to prepare for med school interview, so you're ready to go next time around. The Medicine interview season can start as early as November and will run to March. Because Canada doesn’t have rolling admissions like the U.S., that means that most medical school interview invites tend to come out around the same time, and interviews happen over a much shorter span of time, as well. I was invited to my first interview at the end of September, to take place the following month. This could even be one of your letter-writers, particularly if they are scholars or part of the academic establishment. If not, you may want to consider taking it again and if so, review our blog to find out when to start preparing for MCAT. From my experience, I’ve found that the majority of med school interview questions fall into 2 categories: personal questions and scenario-based questions. AMCAS begins transmitting applicant information to schools starting July 1st, at the earliest, at which point secondary applications are sent to those who have completed the primary application by this time. Waiting for medical school interview invites can be mentally (and physically) exhausting- and no one really knows exactly when to expect interview invitations for medical school. How you respond to events during the application cycle is totally in your control. In this blog, we’ll give you some insights into the timeline for interview invitations in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., and offer some ideas for getting through this difficult period and using the waiting time wisely. 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