Primary and Secondary Applications
Most applications to health professions schools have two parts, or stages. First comes the primary application, filled out through the centralized application service. Then, once your primary application has been verified and sent to your chosen schools, individual schools will request that you complete their secondary applications. Some schools may invite you to complete a secondary application as soon as you submit the primary application. A few schools use the initial application as a screening tool and send secondary applications only to those applicants who are deemed competitive.
A Note about Entering Grades and GPAs
When completing your primary application, you will need to complete an “academic record” section. This will require you to enter course numbers, titles and grades for all college courses you have taken, at the ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é and elsewhere. Don't trust your memory when you complete this section; have copies of your records (an ACCESS printout is fine) in front of you. The schools may check the application against the transcripts, and an entirely innocent lapse of memory could be perceived as intentional misrepresentation.
Many application services will calculate your GPA and variations (such as your science GPA) from the data you provide.
Activities and Experiences
Most primary applications have a space for you to list activities you have engaged in since high school (often in summary/resume form), and then comment on those activities. Make the best use of this space to establish the quality, depth and breadth of your experiences and qualifications. The Health Professions Questionnaire, required to request the Health Committee Letter will help you begin to organize your experiences and accomplishments. Be careful and strategic in how you use all available space in your application to present the best and most complete picture of yourself as a good candidate for admission to your chosen programs.
Secondary Applications
These can vary from as simple an instruction as “pay the fee,” to ambitious undertakings involving several essays. Many schools will give you a limited time window to complete your secondary application, and students who apply to an excessive number of schools can easily by overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do in a short amount of time.