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For MIT Premedical Students: Academics at Cambridge > Before You Go |
MCATS
Recommendations
Application
Personal Statement
Contact with Advisor and Recommenders
Shadowing Physicians and Volunteering
If you are a premedical student who plans to participate in the Cambridge-MIT Exchange, there are a few extra factors to consider before departing. A special information session will be offered for all CME students planning to apply to medical school. Below is a list of some steps you should take, but please note that this list does not include all the steps to be undertaken in the premed process.
For a variety of reasons, you would be wise to take them in August of the summer between your sophomore and junior years. While the MCATS can be taken abroad (there are testing sites in England and Paris, for example), it is best to complete them prior to your departure for the year abroad. This falls into the "one less thing to worry about while abroad" category. Furthermore, it allows you to take a refresher course, if need be, during the summer in which you would be taking the MCATS. If you plan to defer applying until late Spring of your senior year, of course, you would probably take the MCATS in August of the summer following your return to the U.S.
Speak to your recommenders before leaving and give them explanatory letters and waiver forms. You can jog their memories from abroad but they should at least be aware before you depart that you are counting on them for recommendations. The MIT Careers Office will expect to receive all of your recommendations by the end of May in the Spring in which you are applying, so that they may be sent to your Premedical Advisor by June 1. Your Premedical Advisor's letter is due to the MIT Careers Office by the third week in July.
Since you may also wish to seek recommendations from some faculty members/research supervisors at the university or program abroad, be sure to take additional waiver forms and letters with you.
Most students complete the on-line AMCAS application during the late spring/early summer of their junior year. Those of you returning in June of the junior year will apply then.
Start working on your personal statement while abroad so that you will be able to e-mail a draft to your advisor and other recommenders or give it to them immediately upon your return. Your advisor and recommenders should have both your personal statement and resume in-hand when they sit down to write their letters. E-mailing your advisor and recommenders the draft personal statement and resume will also remind them that you are expecting a letter from them.
Since you will not be physically present on campus, keeping in contact with your advisor and recommenders is essential. Let them know what youâre doing and what your experiences have been, as well as your anticipated date of return.
Medical schools will expect you to have both shadowed physicians and volunteered in a clinical setting before you arrive for interviews. Ideally you will have done this before going abroad, but if not, do look into shadowing and volunteering during your year away. It would provide you with an excellent opportunity to learn about other medical systems.
Taking advantage of the CME opportunity to study or work abroad will be very favorably viewed by any medical school to which you apply. Make the most of the experience!