Rice Premed Student Guide 2012

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Premedical Student Guide // Page 1

Premedical Student Guide

How to Get into Medical School

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Publishing Information

This book is published under the Creative Commons Deed Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported

You are free:

• to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions:

• Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specifi ed by the

author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

• Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Under no circumstances may this book be published for profi t.

• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.

The views and opinions expressed in this book are strictly those of the contributing authors. The contents of this publication have not been reviewed or approved by Rice University. The Premedical Student Guide is a student-run project and unaffi liated with Rice University.

The Premedical Student Guide was fi rst published in the 2006-2007 academic year in Houston, Texas. Brian Schwab initially created the project, but many other writers (primarily those from

the Will Rice class of 2007) were essential contributors. After several updates, the project also owes much of its content to the Rice University Class of 2012. If you would like to request further copies of this text in physical or electronic form, please email [email protected]. Thank you for reading and good luck.

Page design by Josiah DePaoli Book design by Brian Schwab Sixth Edition: May 2012

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To the mentors

who give everything they have

without thoughts of receiving

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Acknowledgments

We created this book with the help of many students from Rice University. We deeply appreciate the generosity of the contributing applicants and medical school students who have by now assuredly become successful residents and doctors. Several nonmedical people were essential, as well, and we are thankful for their invaluable assistance. What follows is a list of contributors and the year they began helping with the project (in chronological order):

2006 2012

Brian Schwab Sarah Ho

Mike Mathews Ruchi Srivastava Diane Shao Louise Gliga

Marina Post Raymond Verm Somala Muhammed Ari Berlin Jean Bao Mohini Dasari Audrey Nath Kareem Ayoub Matt Mino Kevin Shen Sylvia Szafarczyk Simone Elder Sanjay Maniar Kara Calhoun

Faroukh Mehkri

Harry Han

2007 Austin Potter

Dana McDowelle Eman Bahrani Virginia Dzul-Church Michael Torre

Tiffany Lin Tina Munjal Tyler Coyle Vinita Israni Andrew Wong Julie Linton Ted John Josiah DePaoli Joe Figueroa Zong Law Paul Whiting Natalia Khalaf 2008 Mihir Shah Brandon Allport Elizabeth Gleeson 2011 Layla Abu-Shamat Ted Fan Nicky Mehtani Shumalia Sharfani

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Foreword

Applying to medical school is a long, diffi cult process. Some students already knew that they wanted to be doctors even before coming to Orientation Week. Others jump from Chemical Engineering to Asian Studies in a winding path of self-discovery that eventually leads to a passion for medicine. Some students have already been accepted to medical school while they were still in high school (e.g. Rice-Baylor). Whatever your case may be, getting into medical school could at fi rst seem complicated, hard, or even futile. Even if you know what to do, the incredible magnitude of required work might deter some from even trying. Just remember, though, that it’s worth it.

My personal journey towards medical school started when I sat down at a table in Baker College during O-Week and studied a brochure outlining the pre-med timetable for my four years at Rice. Scared, I wondered whether I would ever be able to manage the seemingly busy and strict schedule of things to do. Nevertheless, with joy, I can say that I have persisted, worked my way through the arduous process, and been accepted to medical school. I am quite thankful for the people that have helped me. Upperclassmen, friends, family, advisors, and others have helped me more than I could have ever imagined. I wish to dedicate this book to these amazing people, with a special thanks to Ted John (WRC ’06, University of Michigan). The tremendous help that I received from countless individuals was the impetus for my attempt at assisting other premeds in their paths toward medical school.

I began writing a book for Rice pre-meds in December of 2006. Really, the idea just randomly popped into my head. I was hoping to give back to the community that had helped me so much during my personal path towards medical school, and I believed (and still believe) that the best help available is from your network of older peers. Therefore, I started writing a book, asking friends for help, and contacting medical school students for further input. The purpose of this book is to help Rice pre-medical students get into the best possible medical schools that they can. The main authors are a number of pre-meds in the Will Rice class of 2007, and we have provided

contact information if you have further questions. I trust that your medical career, including your application to medical school, will yield great success. Don’t get scared; get prepared.

Best of Luck,

Brian Schwab

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Using This Guide

This guide has a lot of things to read. Where to start? It is hard to tell, for each of you has a unique set of questions and considerations. If you are hesitant, it might be wise to contact a Health Professions Advisor in the Rice Offi ce of Academic Advising. In general, depending upon what year of school you are in, the following should point you in the right direction:

Freshmen

Your biggest questions probably have to do with prerequisite courses, the general timeline of things to do, and extracurricular activities/clinical exposure/research. Try starting with the “Getting Started,” “Getting into Medical School,” and “The Overall Premed Timeline” sections.

Especially helpful might also be the “General Advice” section.

Sophomores

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is big for you. By taking the MCAT the summer after your sophomore year, you will have the entire summer to study. Along with fi guring out your MCAT situation, you probably need to think about what to do with your summer. Look at the “MCAT” section and follow with the “Getting Started,” “Getting into Medical School,” and “The Overall Pre-med Timeline” sections. Also, look at “General Advice.”

Juniors

It is almost time to apply. Get excited! The MCAT is hopefully over, your prerequisites are done, and now you need to begin the process as outlined in the “Applying” section. Look over the “Overall Pre-med Timeline” section briefl y and then focus on “Applying” and the rest of what the book covers. Huge for you will be the following three sections: “Applying,” “AMCAS/ TMDSAS,” and “Personal Statement.”

Seniors

Hmmm, you are probably in a unique situation. You should be the one helping write this book, not reading it. If you are confused about the process, you will need to contact the Offi ce of Academic Advising. The only possible sections that might help an average senior pre-med are

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Getting Started

The best resources to help you understand the application process are the students who have done it before you. Each residential college is equipped with Peer Academic Advisors who have been specially trained to help you through your pre-med experience at Rice as well as the application process. Additional resources follow:

Websites

MD Applicants (www.mdapplicants.com). This site is useful in terms of seeing what schools people have applied to and understanding the timeline for each. This site is best for rising seniors because it helps you fi gure out where to apply and see how long it takes for the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) to process your application. For example, click the “Search Profi les” button and click Application Status > Received an Interview > Johns Hopkins > Unclick the “Exclude Incomplete Profi les.” This gives you all the profi les of the people on the site who have interviewed at Johns Hopkins. Then you can see that, “Oh, so someone applying to Johns Hopkins might also apply to Columbia” or whatever. It helps you fi gure out what schools might be ones to apply to as well as the strength of the competition. Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR). Available only online at www.aamc.org/ students/applying/requirements/msar/ . MSAR has the admissions requirements and details for every school in the nation. It is good for just researching individual schools and seeing average MCAT/GPAs, among other things.

Medical Schools in USA (www.medicalschoolsinusa.com). This resource gives an idea of the number of people the school interviews and accepts with breakdown by state and gender, as well as the average GPA and MCAT scores for accepted students. Basically, if you do not want to buy the MSAR, this is a cheap, if slightly outdated, alternative.

Pre-Med Guide (www.premedguide.com). This website is useful to get a general idea of how competitive your MCAT and GPA are compared to the school’s average statistics. However, take it with a grain of salt. Click on the ‘get details’ for schools you’re interested in to get more detailed information. If you are seriously interested in a school, always go to the school’s website and look up the requirements; do not depend solely on this website. Even if your “competitive score” is a large negative number, DO NOT let this deter you from applying to a school that you really want to go to.

Student Doctor (www.studentdoctor.net). The most well-known and frequently visited website for pre-meds, Student Doctor is one of the most valuable tools on the internet. Checkout these especially:

Forums > Pre-medical Forums

Great resource, but take it with a grain of salt. These are opinions, not facts. This is most useful for seeing what past questions students have had for the school regarding the admissions process.

Articles & Interviews > Interview Feedback.

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opinions and statistics for each school as well as past interview questions.

Staying Organized

Staying organized throughout the process is critical. There are many ways to do this, but several students choose to create an Excel document with usernames, passwords, application fees, and deadlines to ensure no school accidentally falls through the cracks.

Getting Into Medical School

“What are med schools looking for? How can I get into medical school?” Great questions. In a sense, applying to medical school is analogous (or perhaps homologous?) to applying to college. You will be evaluated on your GPA, activities, experiences, test scores, and interviewing ability. In high school, you were judged on your GPA. Same thing applies here. In high school, it was the SAT/ACT. Now, it is the MCAT. Before, you included a mix of extracurricular activities. Same thing for med school. This section describes how to become a competitive applicant for medical school. It is provided by the Student Doctor Network Wiki under the Creative Commons Licensing Agreement, but numerous additions and edits have been made.

Becoming a Competitive Applicant

To get into a medical school of your choice, you will naturally have to be a competitive applicant when compared to everyone else. The sections that follow are typically understood to be quite important:

• GPA, cumulative and science GPA (aka BCMP, biology, chemistry, math, physics) • MCAT • Letters of Evaluation • Research • Volunteering • Clinical Experience • Leadership • Other Extracurriculars

GPA

Realize that your GPA is not directly proportional to the strength of medical school to which you will necessarily be accepted. Obviously, you will need a decently high GPA, but it’s not like a 3.89 has an incredible advantage over a 3.85. MSAR is a good reference to see what the average GPA medians and GPA ranges are for accepted students. Here is a random sampling:

• Baylor’s accepted student GPA is 3.86 • UT Houston is a 3.83

• UTSA is 3.74

• UT Southwestern 3.85 • Johns Hopkins 3.89 • UCSF 3.84

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Firstly, note that the application procedure separates Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math GPA’s from Overall GPA. It’s kind of interesting what counts as “Science” GPA, and you have some control over which is which. One thing for all Rice students to note: an A+ is not considered a 4.3, but rather a 4.0. See the “AMCAS / TMDSAS” section for more details.

Secondly, note that medical schools would rather see a steady increase in GPA over semesters (i.e., 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, etc.) than a steady decline (i.e., 3.6, 3.4, 3.2, etc.). The former scenario shows that you

are serious about your studies. The latter demonstrates that either the upper-division courses are too diffi cult for you, or that you are getting too involved with your extracurricular activities as time goes on.

Thirdly, note that medical schools will see your GPA with A’s as the maximum grade through AMCAS and TMDSAS. Therefore, your AMCAS/TMDSAS GPAs will probably be lower than what you see on your Rice transcript using Esther (because Esther allows A+’s).

The MCAT

The MCAT is the exam that may be one of the more signifi cant factors as to whether or not you get a second look from an admissions committee. It is offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the same organization that controls the application process. To register for the exam, you must use the AAMC’s website: www.aamc.org. For further information, please see the “MCAT” section later in this book.

What is Competitive?

One of the fi rst steps is assuredly seeing how your MCAT and GPA stack up to the competition. One method is called the Competitive Score, which is derived as follows:

Competitive Score = (GPA * 10) + (MCAT Composite)

AMCAS allows for a maximum GPA of 4.0. This formula, while very crude, is a good indication of what statistics the schools are looking for when they initially glance at your application. Using your Competitive Score, the following table gives you an idea of what might be a competitive tier. The competitive tiers give your relative strength in the applicant pool. Competitive Tier 1 indicates that your GPA and MCAT will be strongly competitive, and Competitive Tier 5 indicates that your GPA

and MCAT will be less competitive.

Competitive Score Competitive Tier 70–85 1 65–70 2 60–65 3, 4 55–60 5

This table gives a rough idea of your competitive advantage vis-à-vis other applicants. There are certainly many people who get accepted to higher tiered schools than expected every year, just as there are people who get rejected from lower tiered schools than would be expected from their competitive scores. However, this method is by far the quickest indicator available to compare yourself with everyone else.

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The Rest of the Competition

The GPA mean for medical school matriculants in 2011 was as follows: 3.67 ± 0.26 (Non-science 3.74 ± 0.32, Science 3.61 ± 0.32)

The MCAT means for medical school matriculants in 2010 were as follows: VR = 9.8 ± 1.7, PS = 10.4 ± 1.9, BS = 10.8 ± 1.6, WS = Q

OVERALL ≈ 31.1Q Age of average applicant = 24 Applicants overall = 43,919 Texan applicants = 3,613 Texas matriculants = 1,554

Matriculants into medical school = 19,230 * These statistics are from aamc.org for 2011.

What to Pick as a Major

A common source of anxiety for many entering freshmen is picking the right major. While many premeds are in chemistry or biology-related fields, bear in mind that your major really does not matter. Most people go into these areas because the premed requirements make up the required courses for microbiology and biochemistry. However, at Rice the Biochemistry & Cell Biology minor covers the majority of these requirements, leaving you room to major in something non-science related. Also, applicants try to impress admissions committees with diffi cult or medically-oriented majors such as biotechnology or health professions. The AAMC publishes statistics every year about the majors with the highest acceptance rates and highest MCAT scores (visit www. aamc.org). As of this writing, while most medical students did ch emistry and biology as their undergraduate majors, these were not the fi elds with the highest acceptance rates. The take home message is that your major really does not matter. Pick something that you enjoy. Any unique background will give you a different perspective to practicing as a physician. While you should major in whatever interests you, just keep in mind that you should have a backup plan should you not get accepted to medical school.

Do you feel that majoring in a non-science related fi eld has hindered or helped you in medical school? I am very glad to have majored in a non-science. I majored in Anthropology because the social sciences is pretty prominent in my family and it is an area of study that I have always been attracted to. I was also very interested in Medical Anthropology, which combined both of my interests. It is becoming more accepted that anthropology is a very important piece to the medical profession and providing culturally competent care to diverse populations. Majoring in a non-science allowed me to delve into subject matter other than science (although I pushed myself to take many upper level science classes and biochemistry classes/labs in order to get a good science background, which I recommend) and get an interesting perspective on medicine. I am a strong proponent to pursuing any interests one might have, especially in college, because this is the time where you can take classes in subjects that most likely will never be at your fi ngertips again! Take advantage of that. If you are interested in a non-science, please don’t not pursue it because you think you’ll be a weaker applicant! THAT IS NOT THE CASE! In fact, many times it is a big plus because you are unique to the higher proportion of science major applicants. Don’t deny your interests and go full steam ahead.

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Double Majors

Remember, your major is unimportant. Therefore, you can well imagine that a double major would be a colossal waste of time if you pursued two degrees only for the sake of impressing an admissions committee. If you are going to double major or add on a minor, you must be genuinely interested and truly passionate in both areas. Keep in mind that you can always take classes within another fi eld that interests you without majoring in that fi eld.

Required Courses

This section is very hard to write because each and every school is different. For example, Baylor requires GenChem, Orgo, Bio, and English; Johns Hopkins requires GenChem, Orgo, Bio, Biochem, 24 semesters of humanities, social, and behavior sciences, math, and physics; and UPenn has no actual course requirements other than “requisite knowledge.” It is really hard to tell you all the different requirements for all the schools. As a generalization, medical schools require completion of the following subjects, which each should be taken for a letter grade: General Medical School Requirements

English (One year)

Biology (One year, plus lab) Mathematics (One year)

General Chemistry (One year, plus lab) Organic Chemistry (One year, plus lab) Physics (One y ear, plus lab) Statistics (One semester) Biochemistry (One semester)

How do I fulf ill the English requirement?

You can either use HUMA 101/102, COMM 103, a FWIS course (not including FWIS 100) or two actual English classes for this requirement. All these options will work. The reason why is that AMCAS has you indicate course “designations.” The AMCAS instruction booklet has the following:

“Each course must be assigned a course classifi cation based entirely on the primary content of the course. See the listing of course classifi cation examples below for guidance in selecting Course Classifi cations...You are responsible for selecting the correct Course Classifi cation.

“Course Classifi cations, in addition to describing the courses you enter, are used in the calculation of your AMCAS GPA...The BCPM GPA is comprised of courses, which are considered to be Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics courses. Course Classifi cations that are not followed by “BCPM” indicate that courses for which you choose this Course Classifi cation will be calculated in your AO (All Other) GPA.”

Here is a screenshot of an actual example AMCAS printout where the applicant chose to classify HUMA 101 as English (or “ENGL 101”):

Rice Courses For These Requirements HUM A 101/102 or ENGL XXX/XXX BIOC 201/202 + 211 MATH 1 01/102 CHEM 121/122 or CHEM 151/152 CHEM 211/212 + 215 PHYS 101/102 or 111/112 or 125/126 STAT 280 or 305 BIOC 301

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Using AP Credits for Premed Requirements

A note of caution for those of you who took Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school: While AP credits are great for getting requirements out of the way for college, some medical schools do not accept AP classes as a legitimate completion of the pre-med core courses. This is particularly true for California and New York schools. In other words, you might be required to take these classes a second time or supplement them with a year of advanced coursework. This can be challenging to fi gure out and should be done on a case-by-case basis. Be sure to carefully check the admissions requirements at your preferred schools to make sure that your classes meet their stipulations. If you are confused, email the admission offi ce for the school. An example of how crazy this is can be illustrated by the Johns Hopkins’ requirements (these requirements were copied directly from Johns Hopkins’ Medical School Website 2012):

College Biology with Lab, one year (8 semester hours)

Credit for advanced placement is not acceptable as a substitute. General College Chemistry with Lab, one year (8 semester hours)

Applicants with acceptable advanced placement credit in general chemistry can receive 4 semester hours of credit toward this requirement. An additional 4 semester hours in advanced chemistry will be necessary.

The take home message is that it is tough to write this AP section because it is ambiguous for many schools. Pay close attention to this issue if you used AP credits for the required pre-med courses, for it might require researching or contacting individual schools.

If you have a burning desire to both use your APs and still apply to these AP-hating schools, feel free to call the offi ce of admissions. Many schools are willing to make exceptions for students - they just want students to show initiative fi rst.

Letters of Recommendation

The process of letter writing at Rice typically begins when you open a fi le with the Offi ce of Aca-demic Advising during your junior year. There, you will receive waivers to be given to the people who will be writing your letters.

• Number: 3-5; typical breakdown: o 2 Science Teachers; o Non-science Teacher; and

o Advisor of some kind (volunteer, research, etc.). • When?

o End of fall semester junior year or

o Beginning of spring semester junior year. • Committee Letter:

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committee will read over your application, your interview and your other letters and write a “committee letter.” This is called the Health Professions Advising Committee Letter.

o For many schools, this “committee” letter satisfi es ALL letter requirements. • Sending the letters to schools:

o First, you have your letter writers send your letters to Rice’s Offi ce of Academic Advising.

o Later, the Health Professions Advising Coordinator sends all your letters in a packet using an electronic system.

• Waiver:

o Given to each letter writer.

o You should waive your right to see the letters.

Medical schools typically require 3-5 letters. At a minimum, one will be required from a science professor and one will be required from someone who knows you outside of the classroom (usually an advisor of some kind). Because each school has its own nuances of how many letters it wants, you should get one letter from a non-science teacher, two from a science teachers, one from an

activity advisor, etc. Make sure you pick someone who not only knows you well, but is a good writer and can make you look good in words.

Assuming you apply to medical school during the summer after your junior year, you should ask your letter writers for their recommendations at the beginning of the spring semester. They will

need enough time to begin work on writing those stellar essays—so ask early.

Make writing a letter as easy as possible for your reviewers. First, schedule an appointment to come in and talk with your teachers about getting a letter. Second, bring a folder with your résumé, unoffi cial transcripts, personal statement or other clarifying information, waiver, and envelope. Put your name on the outside of the folder along with the words “Letter of Recommendation” so that if your professor loses the folder, it will be easy to fi nd later.

Next, the waiting begins. You will need to check in with your recommendation writers about once a month to make sure that they actually fi nish the letter. Once you have confi rmation that the letter is fi nished, you should send a thank-you note. Finally, tell your writer where you were accepted to, rejected from, or if you decide to withdraw from applying altogether. Keep in mind that your writer has a vested interest in seeing you succeed. They deserve to know what happened.

Rice uses a committee letter, written by the Health Professions Advising Committee. In the end, the school will receive this committee letter as well as your other letters that you have sent to Rice’s Offi ce of Academic Advising in one big packet.

According to the Education and Family Privacy Act of 1974, you are legally allowed to read anything that a school has in your application folder, including your letters of recommendation. However, you should waive your right to access the information covered by the act. When you open your fi le, the Offi ce of Academic Advising will give you a waiver for each letter where you can check “I waive my right to read this letter” that you give to each letter writer. By waiving your right, the writer is able to write more freely in giving his or her true feelings.

Research

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Volunteering

Doctors hold many titles—researcher, teacher, philosopher—but the most important title is that of humanitarian. Physicians are expected to dedicate their whole lives to working with others. If you want to get accepted to medical school, you must show that you care about others. The only tried and true method of serving others is to take up volunteering.

You do not have to volunteer in a medical fi eld. You could work with Habitat for Humanity, the Boy Scouts, or any other group that has interests similar to yours. You are not expected to save the world or commit to a thousand hours each semester. Simply fi nd something you enjoy doing and spend one afternoon a week doing it and stay committed for a signifi cant period of time.

Many pre-meds volunteer in hospitals thinking that they will gain some kind of clinical work experience. Many hospitals do not support their volunteers well. For example, in some hospitals, your job could consist of handing out lollipops, fi ling paper work, and pushing wheel chairs.

Volunteering can be medically-related or have nothing to do with medicine. Many applicants tend to have done both types. I feel that it has helped me to have put a lot of time and leadership in my non-medical volunteering, principally ESL (English Second Language) tutoring, as well as volunteering in the medical fi eld. My medically-related volunteering has mostly been interpreting (Spanish-English) in the hospital and clinical settings. In interviews I have been asked about other volunteering outside of medicine. In that case, it was nice to be able to talk about the ways I have improved the ESL Tutoring program as a coordinator and director. I believe that volunteering mainly shows that you are compassionate person to prospective schools. There is no magic formula in how to volunteer. Go with your interests; be sure to convey your enthusiasm for helping disadvantaged members of society when you apply, and your volunteering will be a valuable asset.

– Marina Post (WRC ’07, Baylor)

Clinical Experience

One thing that will show medical schools that you are interested in becoming a doctor is if you gain some kind of experience working with patients. Most pre-meds are duped into thinking that volunteering in a hospital will give them insight into the diffi culties of becoming a physician. A more effective way to get this kind of knowledge is to shadow a doctor regularly - we suggest a minimum of 40 hours. Shadowing in more than one fi eld if possible may be a good idea. Many physicians are willing to pass the torch by allowing undergraduates to follow them around the offi ce as they conduct physicals and consultations. If you want to gain genuine clinical experience, you could become licensed as a nursing assistant, medical assistant, or an EMT. Under no circumstances is this necessary for entrance into medical school. This is just another option for exposure to the health profession. However, if you choose to gain clinical experience this way, you should be prepared for the question “Well if you liked being a nursing assistant/medical assistant/EMT so much, why don’t you do that?” during interviews. Whatever you do, clinical experience is generally a straight-forward way of gaining exposure to

medicine and showing medical schools your interest.

As far as gaining clinical/medical experiences goes—apply for everything! Everything! Everything! It’s so hard to get any of these internships, so apply for everything! Then you can most likely at least have one or may even be able to pick and choose which ones you can do after you’ve heard back from places. Search medical school websites, go to those Rice biosciences internship fairs, ask professors for

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Premedical Student Guide // Page 17 research opportunities, search hospital websites for their volunteer departments and contact individuals.

If you can’t do something medical/clinical with your breaks, that’s totally fi ne—do something else! Study abroad or work in a non-medical fi eld or travel and do humanitarian work, there’s plenty to do, just don’t spend your whole entire summer doing nothing but TV-watching!

– Somala Muhammed (WRC ’07, Harvard Medical School)

Leadership

In addition to being scientists and humanitarians, doctors are expected to be community leaders. Though not absolutely required, many medical schools would like to see you take some kind of leadership role. You do not have to be president of your college or become a senator of your student government, but you are expected to take some kind of role in organizing and planning events. Given that you are about to be given a lot of power as a physician, schools have an obligation to fi nd out if you know how to use that power wisely. Find something that you have a passion for doing and demonstrate your leadership abilities.

Other Extracurricular Activities

At the very bottom of the list of “Becoming a Competitive Applicant” are the miscellaneous extracurricular activities that do not fi t in anywhere else. Most jobs, sports and campus organizations do not matter all that much to medical schools unless you specifi cally played a major role and made an impact through the group. Unless you had a large role or title, the med schools do not typically notice or ask—that is unless you put it in your personal statement (see “Personal Statement” section).

What I found out during interviews is that even though I was involved with the College Assistance Peer Program (CAPP) and Campus Crusade (CRU) at Rice for four years, not one of my 18+ interviewers asked me about these in any detail. However, I was almost always asked about the things I wrote about in my personal statement (see “Personal Statement” section for more help on this). I found it interesting that so many interviewers asked me questions regarding College President, a position I have only held for under a year, compared to zero questions about CAPP or CRU, though these have been signifi cant commitments in my life. I think the take-home message is that an admissions committee will be more interested in things you write about in your personal statement more than your AMCAS activities.

– Brian Schwab (WRC ’07, Duke Medical School)

Emergency Medical Services Technicians

Faroukh Mehkri (Martel ‘12, UNTHSC)

EMS. Three letters that have defi ned a grand chunk of my college life. I started my career in EMS during my freshmen year of college, taking the EMT-basic course to be trained as an emergency medical technician my Spring semester, and from there I was hooked. I joined Rice EMS then took an Advanced EMT course, volunteered for a year and applied to become an EMS-In-Charge. From then till now my senior yearI have dedicated upwards of 2,000 volunteer hours to this service and all that it encompasses.

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EMS has given me opportunities I never dreamed of, like volunteering in a Level 1 Trauma Hospital in the Texas Medical Center next to my boss. Working in the shock rooms of this trauma center to refi ne my skills and improve my abilities. It has given me the opportunity to ride out on ambulances all over Houston helping treat heart attacks, allergic reactions, and gun shot wounds. It has taught me to stomach almost anything and be prepared for the unknown, to be a beacon of reliability in an otherwise chaotic scene. Finally, it has allowed me to be there for my friends when they call EMS on campus for whatever emergency they might have. It truly has shaped my college career by forcing me to walk the line between being a college student and a professional health care provider.

When people ask me why I think I am are right for medical school, I can respond with concrete examples of how I have helped shape the future of the organization, educate a new crop of leaders, manage chaos in an EMS realm, and all while attending college like my peers. This is an experience I truly feel no other organization during your college career can provide. It is an opportunity to be more than you ever thought possible, and to dig deep into your being and pull out everything you have to offer because the situation calls for it.

Now for the fl ipside of the coin. In order to reap the plethora of opportunities you have to be willing to dedicate the better part of your free time to the organization. Rice EMS is what you make of it. Individuals have decided that they don’t want the responsibilities of this or that, and as such elect to give the minimum volunteer amounts each month, which it absolutely fi ne. There are more things in life than just this. However there are those of us who are known to the general public as “that ems guy/girl” and these members are the ones that truly give up almost everything else in order to excel to their full potential with the organization.

EMS is a slippery slope, the deeper you delve into the pit, the harder it is to give up. With every amazing opportunity or story comes countless hours of service and effort put forth by the individual. I cannot count the number of assignments I have turned in late, the nights I haven’t slept, the classes I’ve missed, but I regret none of it. It has made me who I am today, and given me a concrete understanding of what I want to become. This is a fair warning and disclaimer to those reading this, EMS is not easy and it will require you to sacrifi ce.

If there is one thing I would like to convey to those reading, it is that EMS is not something that one does to help them “get into medical school” and it is not something you do to “improve your resume.” It is a service that calls out to a select few, who from the very fi rst steps can say “ I want to be the best.” If you are doing it to improve your resume, you will very soon fi nd out it is not the best way to do that, and you will fail. However, if you join the organization with the intent to better yourself, and it, and the members of the community you serve through excellent health care, education, and camaraderie I sincerely believe there is nothing that will make you stand out more, feel more confi dent, and evolve into a leader you never could have imagined. Now that you know how to become the best applicant possible, it is time to understand how to apply to medical school.

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The Overall Premed Timeline

Freshman Year

Fall Semester Spring Semester • Join Rice Pre-Medical Society • Visit the Center for Career

Development • Attend one of the information

sessions for freshman.

• Think about a course of study and major.

• Visit CIC/RSVP to identify volunteer programs of interest.

• Identify and contact a physician mentor in your fi eld of interest. • Look up pre-requisite courses for

medical schools you are interested in. Find out AP credit policies.

• Begin (or continue) volunteering. • Identify summer programs/job

opportunities. Apply over Winter Break.

• Make arrangements to conduct research during the next academic year Sophomore Year

Fall Semester Spring Semester • Attend one of the information

sessions for sophomores

• Declare a major. Get to know your professors really well. Take classes with the same professor if possible.

• Plan the intellectual focus of your curriculum; narrow choices for a major

• Begin preparation for standardized tests: independent review, Kaplan, Examkrackers, Princeton, etc. • Visit International Programs offi ce

for study abroad opportunities for junior/senior year

•Register for appropriate standardized test(s)

• Get involved in some type of

clinical experience! • Continue volunteer work, if applicable • Attend Rice Career Expo

sponsored by the Center for Career Development

• Continue research, if applicable • Identify summer opportunities that

support your career interests and apply.

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Junior Year

Fall Semester Spring Semester • See OAA website for dates of

junior information sessions

• Check Medical/Dental/Vet School admission requirements again; research institutions of interest and generate list of schools for application

• Open fi le with Offi ce of Academic Advising before December.

• Make appointment for informational Health Professions Advising interview. • Request letters of recommendation

by mid-December (use your best discretion here; ask when it is most appropriate)

• Begin completion of web-based common applications to professional schools (AMCAS, TMDSAS,

AADSAS, VMCAS, SOPHA) • Submit a draft of your personal

statement and CV before January 15 of spring semester

• For specifi c questions, visit a Health Professions Advisor

• Register for standardized test(s) if

necessary • Have a back up plan • Schedule a mock interview for

spring semester with the CCD

[EARLY-SUMMER: update CV and fi nal draft of personal statement; submit to Offi ce of Academic Advising]

Senior Year

Fall Semester Spring Semester • Finish all premed/dent/vet

requirements that remain • Finish degree requirements • Continue progress toward

completion of major requirements

• Complete exit survey for Health Professions Advising

• Finish applications in a timely manner (if not yet submitted)

•Inform OAA of where you are accepted • Research the programs at

individual institutions before your

interview! _{• Graduation!!!} • Inform OAA of interview offers &

interview at individual institutions

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Sample Timeline

Freshmen – Sophomore Year:

Completed prerequisite courses, research, extracurriculars Junior Year:

January/February: Asked teachers for letters of recommendation March 10: Health Professions Advising Committee Interview End of May: Requested transcript to be sent to AMCAS

June 7: Submitted AMCAS June 14: AMCAS Verifi ed

June 28: Secondary invitation from Baylor and Wash U. July 10: Secondary invitation from Dartmouth, UPenn July 11: Secondary invitation UCSD

July 12: Secondary invitation from Cornell July 20: Secondary invitation from Brown July 27: Submitted Baylor secondary July 28: Secondary invitation from Harvard July 31: Submitted Cornell secondary July 31: Submitted Michigan secondary August 1: Submitted Harvard secondary August 7: Submitted Brown secondary August 11: Submitted UCSD secondary

August 15: Submitted Johns Hopkins secondary (no invite) August 13: Interview invitation Baylor

August 21: Submitted Columbia secondary Senior Year:

August 28: Classes at Rice started September 1: Submitted UNC secondary September 21: Interview invitation UPenn September 22: Interview invitation Columbia September 22: Interviewed with Baylor …

January 2: Acceptance to OHSU Notes:

• You can see other applicants’ timelines on mdapplicants.com.

“You can submit many of your secondary applications before school starts if you apply early enough. This will help more than you can imagine.” – Brian Schwab (WRC ’07, Duke Medical School)

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Applying

The actual application process for medical school includes three main components: AMCAS (and TMDSAS), secondary applications (called “secondaries”), and interviews.

After completing your prerequisite classes, taking the MCAT, and getting your letters of recommendation in, you need to interview with the OAA. This interview is typically done during the spring of your junior year. In the summer after your junior year, you actually start applying. To begin, you fi ll out the AMCAS/TMDSAS applications through their respective websites. You can submit TMDSAS on May 1st and AMCAS on June 1st (if there aren’t any delays), or you can wait as long as you like to submit each respective application through late fall. Realize, however, that your chances of getting into a medical school greatly diminish if you submit past the end of August. It is also always better to emphasize completeness and accuracy over an early submission date. Submitting AMCAS requires that you pay a fee based on the number of schools you apply to. Your application will then be verifi ed. The “verifi cation” process is where AMCAS checks your offi cial transcript against what you put down in their standardized web form. The earliest the registrar can send your transcript to AMCAS is after your fi nal grades are posted. After you have submitted your application and your transcript has been received, verifi cation can still take weeks while you wait in the queue. After your AMCAS application is verifi ed, it will automatically be sent to the schools you designated beforehand.

Schools, after receiving your AMCAS application, can take however long they want to send a secondary application to you or make the secondary available on a website. This stage begins the possibility for rejection. The secondary application is not common for all schools. Some secondaries have essay questions, some have background information, some want you to reproduce your entire transcript, or anything else under the sun. It really depends on the school. For example, Penn and Harvard do not have essay questions on their secondaries. Duke has six unlimited-length essays required. The average secondary application has a fee and two essays (each requiring a paragraph or two of writing).

Interviews occur thereafter. By this stage, you can tell what your pool of schools looks like. For a given interview, you pay to fl y to the school, stay for a night, and interview during the day. Interview days vary, as well. Some have many information sessions while others have none. Some have multiple mini interviews while others have only one. It depends.

After that, you wait. Then, hopefully, you are accepted. Then, you start your health professions education! For AMCAS schools, you can hold as many acceptances as you want until May 15th. After May 15th, you can only be holding one acceptance, but you can remain on waitlists. For TMDSAS schools and Texas residents, you can hold as many acceptances as you want until January 15th because there is a match process (see “After You Get In” section for more information). Non-Texas residents do not participate in this match process and hear back from the schools as they would from an AMCAS school.

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MCAT

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) has been a part of the medical school admission process for over 60 years. Today, all US and most Canadian medical schools require applicants to submit recent MCAT scores. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in cooperation with its member U.S. medical schools, develops and administers the MCAT. The MCAT has been a fully computerized exam since January 2007.

The overall length of the test day is approximately fi ve and one-half hours, including breaks; however, because the exam is self-paced, and individual check-in times vary, you may fi nish earlier or later than other examinees.

TEST SECTION TIME Non-Dislosure _{10 minutes} Tutorial (optional) Examinee Agreement 10 minutes Physical Sciences 70 minutes 52 Questions

Break (optional) 10 minutes Verbal Reasoning

60 minutes 40 Questions

Break (optional) 10 minutes Writing Sample

60 minutes 2 Essays

Break (optional) 10 minutes Biological Sciences

70 minutes 52 Questions

Void Question 5 minutes Survey (Optional) 10 minutes Total Content Time 4 hours, 25 minutes

Total “Seat” Time 5 hours, 25 minutes

* Information in this section directly from www.aamc.org (2012).

MCAT Sections

N.B.: The MCAT is set to drastically change in 2015; a Behavioral Sciences Section will be added, and the Writing section will be dropped in 2013.

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MCAT Scoring System

Four separate scores are derived from the MCAT exam, one for each of the four test sections: Physical Sciences (0-15), Verbal Reasoning (0-15), Biological Sciences (0-15), and the Writing Sample (J-T). Therefore, the highest possible score is 45T, lowest is a 0J. There is no penalty for guessing. When people talk about their scores, they usually refer to a composite sum total such as “31Q,” which is the national accepted student average MCAT score for 2011.

Writing Sample essays are rated by a group of trained readers. Your raw score on the Writing Sample is the sum of four individual scores. Two readers each score your fi rst essay, and two different readers each score your second essay. Each individual score is on a scale of 1 to 6.

Your total raw score is converted to an alphabetic scale ranging from J (lowest) to T (highest). The same alphabetic score can result from different combinations of individual scores. For example, a candidate whose individual scores are 4 and 5 on the fi rst topic and 4 and 4 on the second—for a raw score of 17—would receive the same alphabetic score as a student who scored 3 and 3 on the fi rst topic and 5 and 6 on the second.

MCAT Registration

The best recommendation for choosing a test date is to allow adequate preparation time. It is often recommended that you take the MCAT the summer after your sophomore year so that you can study an entire summer (e.g. May through August). Taking the MCAT the same summer you are applying to AMCAS might be disadvantageous because schools typically require your MCAT scores before proceeding to secondaries and you do not want to stress about delays and because the test material might not be as fresh in your mind. The only way to register for the MCAT is online. You will be able to access the Web registration site approximately 12 weeks prior to each test date. Payment must be in the form of a credit card, and regular registration costs $240.

The Physical Sciences section is designed to assess problem solving in general chemistry and physics. The Biological Sciences section is designed to assess problem solving in biology, biochemistry, and organic chemistry. Each of these sections contains 7 to 9 passage-based sets of questions, and approximately 10 independent questions. For passage-based sets, each passage is about 250 words in length, and each set consists of 4 to 7 questions.

Both the passage-based questions and the independent questions assess knowledge of basic physical and biological science concepts and your facility at problem solving at using these concepts.

The Verbal Reasoning section assesses your ability to understand, evaluate, and apply arguments presented in prose texts. The test consists of seven passages. Each passage is about 600 words long, taken from the humanities and social and natural sciences. Each passage-based set consists of 5 to 7 questions. Test questions do not cover a specifi c set of topics. All the information you need to answer each question is in the accompanying passage.

The MCAT Writing Sample consists of two 30-minute essays. Each Writing Sample item provides a specifi c topic that requires an expository response. The Writing Sample assesses skill in the following areas:

• Developing a central idea, • Synthesizing concepts and ideas,

• Presenting ideas cohesively and logically, and

• Writing clearly, following accepted practices of grammar, syntax, and punctuation consistent with timed, fi rst-draft composition.

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MCAT Resources

M-Prep Portal: www.mcatquestion.com

This free resource has different MCAT questions available on it each day as a more fun, laid-back way to prepare for the dreaded exam.

mcatalyst prep: http://mcatalystprep.com/

This video-conference format class allows you to set your own schedule, topics, and pace as you study for the MCAT. Using this comparatively cheap resource, you can study when and wherever you want for as long as you want.

Kaplan

This paid resource offers taught classes, online classes, and individual books. The books are easy to read and fairly comprehensive; the online classes allow you to learn the MCAT material at your own pace and makes it much easier to study during the school year if need be.

Princeton Review

Similar to Kaplan, the Princeton review offers online courses, self-study textbooks, and classes for those who wish for help studying for the MCAT. The books are dense, but defi nitely comprehensive, and they will make you confi dent that you have learned all the material.

Examkrackers

Examkrackers has the most condensed MCAT books you’ll fi nd. With some of the other test prep books, they can be as big as a textbook. Not the case with Examkrackers. Their classes are also structured differently - 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of a practice test, and 1 hour going over the practice test. It’s nice because lectures are really easy to tune out, but not so much with practice tests.

Doing Well on the MCAT

Part 1 updated by Ari Berlin (Baker ’12, 99.9th percentile MCAT Total Score)

Do not underestimate the importance of this exam and your preparations for it. A high MCAT score opens doors; with one, you will likely get more interviews (and earlier ones), putting you at a signifi cant advantage compared to other applicants. At the same time, a high MCAT score is not an end-all-be-all in the admissions game: it will not save a weak application, and a lower score will not necessarily end a medical career. That said, you should prepare diligently for this exam.

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Through testing year 2015, the MCAT serves as a sort of comprehensive fi nal exam to all the basic science prerequisites (excluding biochemistry). Thus, it is in your best interest to take it as soon as possible after fi nishing organic, physics, biology, and chemistry. It is also in your best interest to study for the exam when you don’t have other courses requiring your attention (READ: SUMMER). For many Rice students, this means taking the MCAT towards the end of a low-key summer after sophomore year. This is doubly advantageous in that a) Junior year can be focused on strengthening the rest of your application, and b) taking the MCAT this “early” allows you to retake if necessary.

To rock the MCAT, you need to practice (and there’s no way around it). You need to practice A LOT. The exam is less about having an in-depth understanding of the tested material and more about knowing how to take the MCAT itself. This means being familiar with AAMC style questions, optimizing your time management, understanding how content will appear in the test setting, and, most importantly, developing an unshakeable self-confi dence that will carry you through even the roughest of MCAT administrations on test day.

Suffi cient preparation requires ample practice materials. By the end of the summer, I had reviewed the books from the Princeton Review Hyperlearning Course (their workbook and science reviews are golden), the Examcracker Course set (including 101 Verbal Passages), one Kaplan MCAT comprehensive review (the least useful of the bunch), and The Berkeley Review’s books for physics and biology (these have to be purchased through their website).

In retrospect, I would have been fi ne with only the Princeton Review Hyperlearning materials (with, perhaps Examcracker’s 101 Verbal Passages for additional verbal practice) IN COMBINATION with the ten AAMC offi cial full-length practice exams. These were critical in guiding my exam preparation: each week’s test served as a diagnostic of sorts, identifying areas of potential weakness and allowing me to refocus my studying for the coming week.

I studied for 15-20 hours a week for 12 straight weeks, beginning in May and taking the test in August. My general philosophy for studying was to do a passage a day at the very least. I generally studied two to three hours a day Sunday through Friday (incorporating content review with practice questions, verbal passages, etc.), reserving Saturday mornings for full-length practice exams. Realize, however, that everyone has a limit of time each day he or she can realistically devote to studying. Studying beyond this limit for the sake of racking up hours is usually unproductive and can lead to burnout. Stay healthy- mentally, physically, and socially- to maximize your score on this test.

This regimen eventually turned the MCAT material into mere work—it was no longer new, exciting, or challenging. It’s almost as if it turned into busywork. I had seen the passage types so many times that I just did the job and went on my way. That way, on test day, the MCAT became an “Oh, this again” feeling instead of something scary. If you’re doing a practice passage and think to yourself, “Hmmm, haven’t I seen this passage before?” then you’re where you need to be. Also, you need to realize that your hard work will pay off in the end. My fi rst practice test was 10 points below my fi nal score. My highest practice test score was two weeks before the MCAT, and it turned out to be the same as my actual score. The reason I’m saying this is that a 10 point jump in scores was through practice. While part of it was through learning more material, learning how to take the MCAT was just as important.

This sentence is worthy of being its own paragraph: The AAMC sells practice MCATs online, and those are the most accurate and best practice tests on the market.

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It depends on the person. There are two reasons to take the course: (1) if you are not very self-motivated or (2) if you have not taken Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or Organic Chemistry in college. Self-motivation is critical for studying on your own. Knowledge of the material is a little variable because everybody has forgotten some things, but that’s what studying is for. If you feel like you will need to actually learn the material for the fi rst time because you AP’d out of something, then a course may be helpful. The material, though, is very basic and relatively easy to grasp with the right materials (see above). The MCAT does not test much specifi c knowledge—few questions ask you to regurgitate facts or equations. Instead, it is reading passages and using what you know to answer new questions about the passage.

Not taking a course can save you hundreds of dollars, and you might be able to do better without it. I feel like a course would have held me back. This is because programs like Kaplan are designed to teach you all of the material at a certain pace, fi nishing the material shortly before your test date. The motivated learner can fi nish ALL of the material TWICE (or more) in this time. Consequently, the motivated learner who uses a course could be wasting thousands of dollars on classes that hold him/her back. Practicing is what it’s all about, and the big test companies do have tools to help you practice.

In closing, I would say that doing well on the MCAT comes down to practice, and you need to decide for yourself if enrolling in a course is necessary.

Part 2 by Mohini Darasi (McMurtry ‘12, 98th percentile MCAT Total Score)

Arguably the most debated question when people begin preparing to take the MCAT is: should I take a prep course or not? Sadly there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to this decision; it truly depends on the individual, their study habits and comfort with the different subjects.

People can do just fi ne on the MCAT without taking a course. Many of my friends did not take formal prep courses, such as Kaplan or Princeton Review, and still scored well. The key to doing well on the MCAT is simple: having the personal motivation to do so. If you have the drive to study hard and take practice tests regularly, it is possible to score well regardless of whether or not you take a course. Personally, I wanted to take a class because, since MCAT is such a critical and expensive endeavor in the life of a pre-med, I didn’t want the possibility of looking back and wishing that I had taken a course.

For me, the main benefi t from taking the course was that it helped me stick to a timeline for studying and covering all the material. The class time itself was not extremely helpful, because the instructors mainly just go over material that is already outlined in the chapters, and do a few practice questions at the end of each class. Especially for a section like verbal reasoning, there is no better way to study than to just keep doing as many practice sections as possible on your own time and getting used to question types and completing the section under the time limit. But the course is scheduled such that you cover a certain chunk of material for each subject per week, and just having that schedule defi nitely helped because I had to keep myself accountable for sticking to it.

Another important advantage I found from taking the course was having online access to 9 practice

Princeton Review MCAT tests and 7 real AAMC MCAT tests from previous years. I took one practice exam each week, starting off with the Princeton Review tests, and then switching to the AAMC old tests as my test date approached. I found that the Princeton Review ones were harder, so it was nice to have taken them fi rst because I got used to the slightly more diffi cult questions (not to say the AAMC ones are easy!) before I switched over to the AAMC ones in the weeks leading up to the test.

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One thing I will stress about taking the practice exams is that it is very important to simulate the actual test environment as much as possible while taking them: utilize the assigned breaks, eat snacks, stay hydrated, and avoid distractions (listening to music, taking the test on your bed, etc.) or take breaks that are not assigned. The MCAT is an endurance test in many ways, and it’s important to know that you can sit through the whole thing, as your performance will certainly change depending on the distractions you do or do not allow yourself. So, it’s best to simulate the actual test setting as much as possible right from the onset, even during the practice tests.

To sum it up, there are defi nitely benefi ts to taking a prep course (access to practice tests and study

materials), but the classes defi nitely aren’t necessary to do well. If I were to do it again, I would still have taken the course because it did make me feel more prepared and it helped me stick to a schedule for

studying all the subject material. However, with the right study habits and motivation (doing lots of practice tests), one should be able to get a good score regardless of whether one takes a prep course or not.

AMCAS/TMDSAS

AMCAS and TMDSAS have few material differences, so only AMCAS is covered in great detail in this section.

AMCAS is the primary application, the “common app,” for schools outside of Texas (and Baylor). The website is www.aamc.org. After creating a username and login, the main screen appears:

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As you can see from the fi gure, there are eight main sections. A majority of these sections are rather straight-forward and easy to fi gure out; nevertheless, some of the confusing parts are explained here:

1. Section one asks for your legal name, social security number, and other obvious information.

2. The only tricky thing about section two is that there is a “Transcripts” section where you print a form to give to the Rice Registrar so that Rice can send the transcript to the correct place. This form is also available in the main menu under “Print Transcript Request Form.” 3. Section three has two things to note:

a. Preferred address is typically your Rice address whereas permanent address is your home address.

b. You can indicate here that you are applying URM (under-represented minority), which is labeled as “disadvantaged status.”

4. The Course Work section is one of the more complicated sections. If you have AP credits, for example, things could be different because you must designate “First semester” and year, etc. Mostly it is just tedious entering your entire transcript into web form. Just print off your academic transcript from Esther and do your best clicking around on the AMCAS form.

A couple more notes: First, the maximum grade on the AMCAS scale is an “A” (not an “A+”). Second, one of the most confusing things is “Course Classifi cation,” which has you indicate one of the following classifi cations:

ARTS Fine Arts

BESS Behavioral & Social Sciences BIOL Biology

BUSI Business CHEM Chemistry COMM Communications

COMP Computer Science/Technology EDUC Education

ENGI Engineering

ENGL English Language & Literature FLAN Foreign Languages & Literature GOVT Government/Political Science/Law HEAL Health Sciences

HIST History MATH Math NPSC Natural/Physical Sciences OTHR Other PHIL Philosophy/Religion PHYS Physics

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This is especially important because Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathemeatics (BCPM) grades are calculated separately and shown to medical schools as follows:

Where BCPM is composed only of those courses explicitly designated as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. This matters a little bit because let us say you got an “A” in an engineering physiology class. Well, technically, that can be counted as BIOL and infl ate your BCPM GPA.

The following classifi cation guide is published in the AMCAS instruction booklet: Behavioral & Social Sciences (BESS)

• Anthropology • Economics • Family Studies • Psychology • Sociology Biology (BIOL) - BCPM • Anatomy • Biology • Biophysics • Biotechnology • Botany • Cell Biology • Ecology • Entomology • Genetics • Histology • Immunology • Microbiology • Molecular Biology • Neuroscience • Physiology Business (BUSI) • Accounting • Business • Finance

• Human Resource Studies • Management • Organizational Studies • Marketing Chemistry (CHEM) - BCPM • Biochemistry • Chemistry • Physical Chemistry • Thermodynamics Communications (COMM) • Journalism

• Media Production & Studies • TV, Video, & Audio

Computer Science/Technology (COMP) • Computer Science

• Computer Engineering • Information Systems • Telecommunications

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Education (EDUC)

• Counseling & Personnel Services • Curriculum & Instruction

• Educational Policy • Educational Administration • Health Education • Human Development Engineering (ENGI) • Aerospace Engineering • Biomedical Engineering • Chemical Engineering • Civil Engineering • Electrical Engineering • Engineering • Environmental Engineering • Mechanical Engineering • Nuclear Engineering

English Language & Literature (ENGL) • English Composition & Rhetoric • English Creative Writing

• English Language & Literature Fine Arts (ARTS)

• Art • Art History • Dance • Fine Arts • Music • Photography • Theatre

Foreign Languages/Linguistics/Lit. (FLAN) • American Sign Language

• Comparative Literature • Linguistics

• Foreign Language(s) & Literature Government/Political Sci/Law (GOVT) • Criminology & Criminal Justice • Government

• International Relations & Studies • Law/Legal Studies

• Political Science • Public Affairs & Policy • Urban Policy & Planning

Health Sciences (HEAL) • Allied Health

• Chiropractic • Dentistry

• Hearing & Speech Sciences • Hospital Administration • Kinesiology

• Medical Technology • Medicine

• Nursing

• Nutrition & Food Sciences • Occupational Therapy • Optometry • Osteopathy • Physical Therapy • Physician Assistant • Public Health

• Pharmacology & Pharmacy • Sports Medicine • Veterinary Medicine History (HIST) • History Math (MATH) - BCPM • Applied Mathematics • Mathematics • Statistics Natural/Physical Sciences (NPSC) • Agriculture

• Animal and Avian Sciences • Forestry • Geography • Geology • Horticulture • Landscape Architecture • Meteorology • Natural Resources • Oceanography