Getting ready to apply to medical school?

For students who are preparing to apply to medical schools (MD or DO programs)

The OSU pre-medical committee exists to serve our students along their journey to becoming a physician. Please read through the following steps to guide you through your preparation. Most of this information is for students who are graduating by the end of the current academic year and/or who are planning to apply to medical school in the upcoming medical school cycle. (Medical school applications are submitted in the early summer). OSU alumni are also welcome to use our services. Please note that dates and timelines are usually updated by mid-fall term in preparation for the next cycle. All students must adhere to the OSU Procedures and Deadlines for applying to medical school for the current cycle.

Important dates:

June 1: Meet for pre-intake meeting with advisor
June 5: Attend group intake session
June 21: Receive all regular letters in PrivateFolio
June 23: MCAT score must be received
July 1: Students must complete Appeal Form and/or Committee Letter Form
- Notify advisor and Assoc. Director of Health Professions Advising if letters are expected to be late for a valid reason.
Advisors will aim to complete committee letters by the end of July/early August, pending students have met all of their deadlines and all letters have been received on time.

Review the general application timeline

Review Oregon State's procedures and deadlines

Step 1: Letters of evaluation

Students applying for medical school may create a profile page on PrivateFolio to collect letters of evaluation electronically at any time in your college career. (Be sure to use this link to connect your account to OSU). There is an annual subscription fee for using PrivateFolio. By using PrivateFolio and the Premed Committee Services, you agree that the letters collected on your behalf are confidential. You will not have access to view the letters directly. These letters will only be used for the purpose of your medical school application, and other related needs with your consent (such as medical scholarship applications).

Please confirm with your letter writers that they are willing to write you a strong and positive letter before adding them to this system. Letters on your behalf can be submitted at any time, and we will keep them on file. Regular letters (non-committee letters) should be submitted PrivateFolio by June 21 of the year you are applying to medical school.

Sign up for PrivateFolio

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College of Health Resources

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Letters of evaluation

Guidelines for letter writers

Guidelines

Once added, an email is automatically sent to that letter writer with your letter request and a link to upload a letter directly to your PrivateFolio account. You may share the Letter Writer Guidelines with your letter writers to help them know the qualities that are valuable to be expressed in letters.

Minimum requirements

Most medical schools minimally require to have at least 2 letters for recommendation from science faculty and one from a physician. The OSU pre-medical committee requires this minimum in order to use the committee letter system. You should have a minimum of four letters of evaluation total. Other letters can come from supervisors, employers, volunteer coordinators, or other faculty.

Please be sure to monitor your letters as they arrive in your PrivateFolio.

Notify the pre-med committee coordinators (premed-committee@oregonstate.edu) once all of your letters have been received.

Committee letter

A committee letter is written by a student's primary advisor (usually the major advisor). The committee letter is a cover letter that gives an overview of your application, adding insight and additional information (that is why it is SO important for you to stay in touch with your pre-med advisor). Medical schools value committee letters. It serves to provide highlights and context to the student's letter package submitted as part of the medical school application. The committee letter file includes the committee letter and all of your other letters of evaluation from doctors, faculty, employers, etc.

To be eligible for a committee letter, you must have the minimal letter requirements stated above, and also meet the following criteria:

Overall GPA of 3.2 or higher
Science GPA of 3.0 or higher
MCAT score of 501 or higher
MCAT score released by June 23
1 full year+ of healthcare experience (shadowing, working, volunteering)
- A minimum of 200 hours is advised for total healthcare experience.
- At least one of your experiences should span at least 9 months.
Confirmed 4+ letters of recommendation (at least 2 letters from science faculty and 1 from a physician)
Taken at least 45 credits of prerequisite courses at OSU.
Taken the following courses or equivalents: Principles of Biology (BI 221Z series), General Chemistry (CH 221Z/227Z series), Organic Chemistry (CH 331 or 334 series), Physics (PH 20x or 21x series), BB 450, Math up to one term of calculus, and at least one course in statistics.
Be sure to also check individual medical schools’ admissions protocols to see if they specify other in-person or other course requirements.

Take additional time to improve your application if...

Overall GPA is lower than 3.0
Science GPA is lower than 2.85
MCAT score is less than 497
You have less than 1 year of healthcare experience
You've taken more than 3 MCAT attempts with scores lower than 501
If you have less than 4 regular letters of recommendation, or if you have less than 2 letters from science faculty and none from a physician.

Please be sure to tell the Associate Director of Health Professions Advising who your committee letter writer is, but do not add them on your own. The Associate Director of Health Professions Advising will do that for you as part of their process. Please also note that writing your committee letter is at the discretion of your advisor.

Appeal Process

Students must meet all but one of the full-eligibility criteria listed above to appeal for a committee letter, and cannot have anything lower than the criteria outlined in the “take additional time to improve” list, pending that the advisor would be willing to write a committee letter. Email premed-committee@oregonstate.edu to ask about or request to do the appeal process.

To be eligible for a committee letter, students must also meet all posted deadlines and attend med school application workshops (or get access to materials in a timely manner). Application workshops are advertised on the premed listserv.

Signature page

Students who go through the OSU system to assist with collecting and submitting letters of recommendation for medical school applications will need to complete a signature page for the Statement of Understanding to allow the release/discussion of your information and Statement of Confidentiality indicating that you understand and agree to the fact that the letters of evaluation on your behalf are confidential. Students will receive this form when they meet with a pre-medical committee coordinator to review their application status and open their "pre-med file" (see Step 3 below).

Summary of letters of evaluation requirements:

Minimum of two science faculty letters
Minimum of one physician letter
Minimum of four letters total
Meet the prerequisite science course requirements as outlined above in order to receive a committee letter
Must have 501 MCAT and 3.2 GPA minimums to receive a committee letter or be approved via the appeal process

Step 2: Should I apply to medical school now?

You may review the General application timeline for the timeline for applying to medical school.

Are you ready to apply to medical school? Please complete this initial, quick self-assessment to help you determine your readiness for applying to medical school. Review your self-assessment with your academic advisor. Think about how you have developed the core competencies that medical schools look for in applicants.

In order to be able to use the OSU Pre-Medical Committee letter system, you will need to have a minimum 501 MCAT score and 3.2 cumulative GPA. Please consider these metrics when thinking about if you are a viable candidate. Students may appeal for the ability to receive a committee letter if they have below either or both a 3.2 GPA or 501 MCAT. For the appeal process, the student must first connect with their academic advisor to confirm if they would be willing to write a committee letter for them should they be approved through the appeal process. If they advisor agrees, then the student must contact the premed committee coordinators at premed-committee@oregonstate.edu to request an appeal form and to set up meetings with the two coordinators to review the student’s case.

Review the AAMC's Anatomy of an Applicant page to see where you stand on your core competencies and to view their more in-depth self-assessment guide.

Step 3: Opening your pre-medical file

Students who plan on using the committee letter writing services at OSU must open their pre-medical file with the Associate Director of Health Professions Advising. You will do this in the winter or early spring term of the year that you plan on applying to medical school. Students who are not applying to med school until a year or more after they graduate can still use our services, including PrivateFolio, and should inform their major advisors and the Associate Director of Health Professions Advising of their plans.

Procedures and deadlines

Review the OSU procedures and deadlines for applying to medical school for applying to medical school for the current cycle

Application seminars

The application seminars offered during Fall and late Winter or early Spring terms each year will be the most accurate and current source of information and advice about the application process, obtained directly from the medical schools and application services. They are announced on the pre-med listserv. To join the listserv, lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/premedclub. Be sure to select the "No" option next to the question "Would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily digest?" to be able to access links within the emails.

Opening your file

Students must open their pre-medical file beginning in January and by June 7 of the year they intend to apply to medical school. Steps to open your pre-medical file:

To get started, create an account to start collecting letters of evaluation in PrivateFolio.
Complete an intake form to share more about your academic metrics, experiences, and drafts of your written application materials. (coming soon)
Schedule an Application Intake meeting via Handshake (for current students and those one year out from graduating from the College of Science) or Bookings (non-College of Science students and other alumni).
Once your intake form is submitted, the Associate Director of Health Professions Advising will follow up with you after an initial review of your pre-medical file form to set up a meeting.
In order to be eligible to use the pre-med committee letter service, you must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and a 501 MCAT Score. You must also have completed at least 45 credits of pre-medical prerequisite courses at OSU. Prerequisite science lab courses must have been taken in person (with exceptions for courses only offered online due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The chemistry series must be the 200-level at OSU or equivalent.
Students must obtain at least 2 letters of recommendation from science faculty and at least one letter from a physician. Students should obtain between 4 to 9 regular letters of evaluation (not including the committee letter).
Agreement of an advisor to compose a committee letter on behalf of a student is at the discretion of the advisor.
If you do not meet the minimum 3.2 GPA and 501 MCAT, you may submit an appeal for a committee letter. See details in the Appeal Process section of Step 1 above. Please contact the Associate Director of Health Professions Advising about submitting an appeal.
For any questions regarding the medical school application process, please email premed-committee@oregonstate.edu.

Step 4: After you submit your applications

Let us know whether or not you have been accepted

Send an email to premed-committee@oregonstate.edu

Prepare for interviews

Reapplying to medical school

If you are re-applying, please complete the information sheet for re-applicants and email premed-committee@oregonstate.edu. You must also adhere to the same procedures and deadlines as first-time applicants.

Reapplicants should refer to the AAMC frequently asked questions and tips from admissions officers for reapplying.

Learn about medical scribing as a gap year opportunity

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