10: Should I Meet with Admissions Committees Before I Apply? - a podcast by Ryan Gray

Session 10 In this episode, I'm discussing whether or not you should reach out to the medical school admissions committees before you apply or while you're applying?
Yes, you should.I'm not saying you shotgun email all of the, say, 50 schools you applied to. You shouldn't email every school on your list just because you wanted to say hello.
[00:53]Which Schools Should You Send Email To Find the schools that you are most interested in. Find the ones that if you got acceptance to that school, you're going to be so excited. Whether it's because of location and education. Find those top few schools and look at their requirements, prereqs, letter of recommendation requirements, the MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirement) or the College Information Book (for DO schools). Look at those resources and see if there's anything in there that you can ask a question about.
[01:35]What Should Be in Your Email If for instance, you're a nontraditional student, and the school wants a letter of recommendation from two non-science professors and you've never had non-science in ten years. What are you going to do?
So you call the school or email the school. Tell them you're a nontraditional student. You're applying next cycle and you're really interested in going to the school. Then explain your situation and ask if an exception can be made for you. Ask if you can instead, give a letter of recommendation from a volunteer supervisor or work supervisor, or research supervisor, or whatever it is."You're opening a door to a conversation and you are asking them a very specific question that pertains to you."This being said, don't ask a question that you can easily go and find the information for. Ask a question that is going to allow you to reach out to that school and to ask a very pointed question. This will allow you to show them who you are.
You can also ask other specific questions you have with the classes you're taking, with your grades or your GPA. etc. For instance, ask for their recommendations to helpfully make you more competitive. Again, this is very pointed. This is specific to your situation.
[04:18]Start the Conversations Early"The key to all of this is you need to start these conversations early. You can't do them a month before you apply."There's really nothing you can do to fix things if they have certain recommendations that may require time. So you really need to start the conversations as early as a year to two years earlier. Ask for help because they are there to help you.
Moreover, once you cross over into the applicant pool, then the help they can give you is completely different.Before you're an applicant, a lot of them will help you as much as they can. But once you're an applicant, they can't help you as much because you're now in the pool of students. They don't want to seem like they're helping some students who are applying.
[05:34]Build Relationships Build those relationships. Relationships in this world are everything. Not by emailing those 50 schools general questions. But by emailing your top choice schools. Figure out where you want to go to school. Figure out how you can reach out to them and ask for help with whatever it is you need help with. Ask for help and they will be there to help you.
By the way, the episodes in this podcast are recordings of our Facebook Live that we do at 3pm Eastern on most weekdays. Check out our https://www.facebook.com/MedicalSchoolHQ/ (Facebook page) and like the page to be notified. Also, listen to our other podcasts on MedEd Media. If you have any questions, call me at 617-410-6747.Links: MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirement)
College Information Bookhttps://medicalschoolhq.net/meded-media/ (MedEd Media)
https://www.facebook.com/MedicalSchoolHQ/ (Medical School HQ Facebook page)https://www.youtube.com/user/MedicalSchoolHQ (Medical School HQ YouTube channel)

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