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Applying to Programs

Fall Semester Two Years Prior  |  Winter Break Two Years Prior  |  Spring Semester A Year and a Half Prior  |  Summer a Year Prior  |  Fall a Year Prior Through the Summer Before Matriculating  |  Application Materials  |  Health Professions Graudation Program Application Services  |  Primary Applications  |  Personal Statements  |  Secondary Applications  |  Situational Judgement Tests  |  Financing  |  Standardized Testing

Overview & General Timeline

Students applying to dental, medical (M.D. and D.O programs), optometry, physician assistant, and veterinary medicine programs go through the HPAC Interview Process detailed below. Students applying to programs outside of the  health professions mentioned (e.g., nursing, PT, OT, etc.), please discuss with your HPAC advisor.

Recent acceptance statistics of Skidmore students into programs and where they have attended after graduating college are on the HPAC website under Current Student Information.

To determine your HPAC Interview and Application timeline use the linked Excel Spreadsheet. When using the spreadsheet, enter the year you want to start the program and it update the other dates in the form. In addition, there are example timelines depending if you take a gap/glide year or not.

Useful Links:

What does the HPAC interview entail?

  • HPAC members will review your submitted materials along with your letters of recommendation. One HPAC member will serve as the lead for your HPAC interview and will typically be your HPAC advisor. An additional 2-4 members of the committee will also be part of the interview. The typical schedule:
    Introductions
  • Two starting questions asked of all candidates:
    • Why do you want to go into your field of interest (e.g., medicine, denistry, veterinary medicine)?
    • What makes you a good candidate for the field?
  • Follow-up questions to your responses and submitted materials.
  • Feedback from HPAC members on your interview, submitted materials, and application.
  • Your questions for HPAC.

Your responses to the first two questions should be substantive. Think about the narrative of why you want to go into the particular field. Reflect on key events and experiences that help highlight your motivation and the narrative that connects them together. Like with your personal statement, you want to show not tell. For example, a memorable patient experience highlights A) you had the experience, B) your interpersonall skills, C) your empathy & care for patients and their families, and D) you understand what the profession is. For what makes you a good candidate, the interview is not a time to be overly modest. It isn't easy to talk about yourself in positive terms. While you don't want to boast, you do want to highlight your strengths and what you are brining to the field. Do not put down others - stay positive and focussed on you. You want to be your professional authentic self.

Given the substance, you don't want short answers (<2 minutes per question, <4 minutes total for both). However, you don't want to overwhelm the interviewers. You want a combined response to be 7-12 minutes total of the 20 minutes of the interview. It means you want to prepare and think ahead of time how to respond to those two questions with clear, concise, substantive, and authentic answers. Talk with your HPAC advisor along with seeing Rachel Chase in the Career Development Center. Practice your responses to those two questions. Preparing ahead of time will also help with your nerves. The interviewers will have your personal statement. You should be going beyond what is in your statement, enriching what you stated.

Overall, the interview will be about 30-35 minutes in length.

General timeline HPAC Interview & Application Process (Note Two-Year Process)

Fall Semester Two Years Prior

Junior year if applying to start Fall after graduating, Senior Year if planning to take a Gap Year

  • September-November – Review the AAMC Anatomy Applicant Guide (or equivalent) and work on competencies & experience worksheet.
  • September-November – Reflect ahead of writing your Personal Statement and read the Approaching the Personal Statement for additional details.
  • September-November – Sign-up for relevant entrance exams (e.g., MCAT, DAT, OAT, or PCAT). Standardized tests
  • September-November – Study for relevant entrance exams e.g., MCAT, DAT, OAT, or PCAT).
  • September-October – Create a target list of schools you are interested in applying to. Check their requirements. Note there may be courses and other requirements that need to be completed by the time you apply and others that need to be completed by the time you matriculate.
  • October-November – When registering for Spring courses, be mindful of courses you need to complete before applying to the programs you are interested in as well as for studying for entrance exams. You are responsible for making sure those requirements are fulfilled.
  • October/November – Discuss who you are going to ask write letters of recommendation on your behalf with your HPAC advisor. Also, start discussing statements that need to be written and start outlining.
  • Please use the writing prompts from the recent application cycle that can be found in the applicant guides from AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, or VMCAS and include in the top of your document, along with your name. Please note any character limits.
  • Early December, submit your HPAC Interview Application Form to Tracy DeRocher or upload to Box.com.

Winter Break Two Years Prior

  • December-January – Watch the prerecorded webinar on writing a personal statement, offered through Robertson Premedical Consulting (See detailed HPAC Interview Timeline for link).
  • December-January – Write drafts of your CV and personal statement and upload to your Box folder.
  • Please use the writing prompts from the recent application cycle that can be found in the applicant guides from AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, or VMCAS and include in the top of your document, along with your name. Please note any character limits.
  • January – Submit your transcripts to your Box.com folder once Fall grades are available.
  • January – Schedule an appointment with Shannon Rodriguez (Career Development Center) to discuss your materials including feedback on your statement.
  • January – Continue to update and revise your competencies & experiences worksheet.

Spring Semester A Year and a Half Prior

  • February through May - Refine and finalize list of schools you will be applying to. Double check requirements and if you need to take any additional classes before matricualting. Check to see if you need to take the CASPER and AAMC PREview assessments. Prepare for them as well if need be.
  • February-early May – If possible, take relevant entrance exam (e.g., MCAT)
  • February – Request your letters of recommendation. Give the HPAC letter of recommendation cover sheet to all letter writers. Letters need to be on letterhead and include a signature, and they should be sent directly from your letter writer to Tracy DeRocher. Please review guidelines for letters of recommendation.
  • Recommendation Letter Guidelines Med/Dental/Vet Students
  • Recommendation Letter Guidelines Other Health Professions
  • February – Make an appointment with your HPAC advisor to review competencies & experiences worksheet and other materials. Revise and refine as needed.
  • February – Continue drafting personal statement (should be on at least second major draft with multiple revisions)
  • February-March – Schedule an appointment with Rachel Chase in the Career Development Center to discuss your materials including feedback on your statement.
  • March – Continue drafting personal statement personal statement (should be on at least third major draft with multiple revisions) and have it critiqued by one of the following: The Writing Center, HPAC Advisor, and or Industry Expert (i.e., a physician, veterinarian, or dentist). Integrate feedback and finalize document for submission to HPAC.
  • March - May, MD/DO Only – Begin writing secondary essays based on themes identified from last year’s prompts:  https://www.prospectivedoctor.com/medical-school-secondary-essay-prompts-database/
  • March - May, finalize competencies & experiences worksheet and resume/CV as well as other materials for submission to HPAC.
  • March - May, if MD/DO and using your competencies & experiences worksheet, start drafting your key activities/experiences for your primary application (can have up to 15) and your meaningful experiences (up to three).
  • Early April – Submit final versions of resume, competencies & experiences worksheet, and personal statement to Box folder. Confirm with Tracy DeRocher that your letters of recommendation have arrived. If not, follow-up with your letter writers to remind them of the deadline.
  • April – Prepare for HPAC interview. Discuss with your HPAC advisor.
  • Early to mid-May – HPAC interview.
  • May – Revise and refine materials, taking in feedback from your HPAC interview.

Summer a Year Prior

  • By May-June – Take the CASPER and AAMC PREview assessments if you haven't already as required or recommended for the schools you are applying.
  • May-June – Request your HPAC Committee Letter (it takes up to three-four weeks from the request to the letter to being submitted).
  • June – Submit primary common application. Please see your competencies & experiences worksheet to assist you with the 15 signficant experiences.
  • June-August – Revise and refine responses to secondary application requests and submit.

Fall a Year Prior Through the Summer Before Matriculating

Application Materials

For those going through the HPAC Interview Process (those applying to dental, medical (M.D. and D.O programs), optometry, physician assistant, and veterinary medicine programs), the following need to be completed (see Detailed HPAC Interview Timeline for specific dates):

  • HPAC Interview Application (typically due in December prior to your HPAC interview in May)
  • Competencies & experiences worksheet (submit by early April to your Box.com folder)
  • Unofficial Transcript(s) (submit by early April to your Box.com folder)
  • Resume/CV (submit by early April to your Box.com folder)
  • Personal Statement (submit by early April to your Box.com folder) – Should go through multiple drafts and edits. It should be read by multiple people including Rachel Chase in the Career Development Center, your HPAC advisor, and others (e.g., someone in the field, Writing Center, etc.).
  • Letters of recommendation submitted on your behalf (3-5) to HPAC through Tracy DeRocher (early April)

Health Professions Graduate Program Application Services

Medical

Dental

Physician Assistant (PA)

Podiatric Medicine

Public Health

Veterinary

Primary Applications

  • Biographical data
  • College courses & grades including where taken
  • Key Activities (see your competencies & experiences worksheet) and meaningful experiences
  • Personal statement/entrance essay
  • List of schools applying to
  • Standardized test scores
  • Letters of recommendation - If going through HPAC for dental, medical, optometry, and PA, HPAC uploads with the committee letter. Veterinary medicine programs typically don’t have committee letters, so individual letter writers will upload. 

Personal Statements

Secondary Applications

After submitting your primary application, you will have secondary application (supplemental applications). The specific questions asked vary by school as they are trying to determine your fit for their program. Some schools request secondary materials from all applicants, while others it will be a subset. Start looking at prompts the spring before you apply (March-May). You can expect to be spending a significant amount of time June-August after you submit your primary application working on secondary applications. The more you can do in advance the better. You want to be sure to provide high quality responses that are well written in a timely manner.

Useful links:

Situational Judgement Tests

A growing number of schools are using use situational judgement tests (SJTs) to better understand your interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, and how you make ethical decisions. CASPER and AAMCPREview are the two commonly used systems.

Financing resources

Health Professionals Advisory Committee Contact

PHONE

518-580-8349

MAIL

HPAC
Skidmore College
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Contacts

Prof. Kelly Sheppard
ksheppar@skidmore.edu 

 

Tracy Broderson
tbroders@skidmore.edu
CIS 147