Do you have questions? We’ve got answers!
Question: How did your experience as a scribe contribute/come up in your interview process for a scribe supervisor position; perhaps you were able to answer a difficult question based on your experience as a scribe?
EPPA Scribe: Though my scribe experience wasn’t directly asked about, it was a primary source to draw from when answering MMI questions. The scenarios themselves were answered independently, but many points could be supported by an example either from a patient or type of patient I’d seen in the past either through scribing or volunteering.
Question: How did you decide on what schools to apply to?
EPPA Scribe: I used the MSAR initially and sorted schools both by MCAT score and GPA. I made a list of all schools where my stats fell within their 10 and 90th percentiles. I also used something called a “LizzyM” score from studentdoctor.net, which essentially combined both scores to give an overall look. This narrowed down the schools to maybe 40-60 total. From there, I reviewed the missions and general descriptions of each school both on their own websites and on various forums. I was particularly looking for soft volunteer hour cutoffs, and residency requirements or preference. I was able to get rid of about 10-15 schools because I either did not have enough volunteer hours to have a good shot at “service” focused schools, or the school required or favored students from a state I am not a resident of. I then went back to MSAR and school websites to find each school’s total number of applicants, total interviewed, and total matriculated. This gave me an idea of the “yield” of each school. I made it a point to get rid of as many low yield schools as I could. I defined low yield as a school with a much higher number of applications per interview than the U of MN which I used as a reference. In building the list, I looked for 15 target schools, where my stats fell well within one standard deviation of their mean accepted/matriculated student. I had about 5 reach schools, where my stats did not fall within this standard deviation or it is simply a much more competitive program. I then had about 5 safety schools, where my stats were above their median, some above one standard deviation of the median.
Question: How did you find resources/what kind of resources did you use when applying to schools?
EPPA Scribe: I used the MSAR primarily for statistical information. I used studentdoctor.net and reddit.com primarily for applicant/ADCOM information regarding schools. Finally, the school websites themselves were referenced multiple times as well.
Question: Advice for students starting their application process?
EPPA Scribe: Studentdoctor.net has threads from previous application years which list the schools secondary application questions. Some schools are known to use pretty much the exact same questions each year. For these schools I pre-wrote the secondary so that I could submit it almost immediately on its receipt. I also wrote more standard essays, one for diversity, overcoming a challenge, why medicine, and a “why this school” template. These allowed all my secondaries to be turned in within less than 1-2 weeks at most, despite applying to 25 schools. If you’re a re-applicant, have an essay detailing how your app has changed. If it hasn’t changed much at all, reconsider applying this cycle.
Submit your AMCAS application day 1, as there is not much of a reason not to be able to do this. As soon as it opens to edit in May, get your drafting in there and work through it. Send for transcripts months in advance if you’ve already graduated, as soon as you can if waiting for spring grades.
If you’re still finalizing your school list, submit your AMCAS with just 1 school to get it in the queue to be verified. You can add schools later. If you aren’t sure you want to apply this year, add 1 school you know you don’t want to apply to get verification started in case you decide to move forward. You’ll only be a reapplicant to schools you’ve previously completed an AMCAS application for. The verification process starts to bog down as soon as a couple weeks into June. Submitting June 20 may mean it’s verified July 20 or even August.
Question: How did your experience as a scribe contribute/come up in your interview process; perhaps you were able to answer a difficult question based on your experience as a scribe?
EPPA Scribe: My scribe experience wasn’t directly asked about but was a primary source to draw from when answering MMI questions. The scenarios themselves were answered independently, but many points could be supported by an example either from a patient or type of patient I’d seen in the past either through scribing or volunteering.
Question: How did you decide on what schools to apply to?
EPPA Scribe: I used the MSAR initially and sorted schools both by MCAT score and GPA. I made a list of all schools where my stats fell within their 10 and 90th percentiles. I also used something called a “LizzyM” score from studentdoctor.net, which essentially combined both scores to give an overall look. This narrowed down the schools to maybe 40-60 total. From there, I reviewed the missions and general descriptions of each school both on their own websites and on various forums. I was particularly looking for soft volunteer hour cutoffs and residency requirements or preference. I was able to get rid of about 10-15 schools because I either did not have enough volunteer hours to have a good shot at “service” focused schools, or the school required or favored students from a state I am not a resident of. I then went back to MSAR and school websites to find each school’s total number of applicants, total interviewed, and total matriculated. This gave me an idea of the “yield” of each school. I made it a point to get rid of as many low yield schools as I could. I defined low yield as a school with a much higher number of applications per interview than the U of MN which I used as a reference. In building the list, I looked for 15 target schools, where my stats fell well within one standard deviation of their mean accepted/matriculated student. I had about 5 reach schools, where my stats did not fall within this standard deviation or it is simply a much more competitive program. I then had about 5 safety schools, where my stats were above their median, some above one standard deviation of the median.
Question: How did you find resources/what kind of resources did you use when applying to schools?
EPPA Scribe: I used the MSAR primarily for statistical information. I used studentdoctor.net and reddit.com primarily for applicant/ADCOM information regarding schools. Finally, the school websites themselves were referenced multiple times as well.
Question: Advice for students starting their application process?
EPPA Scribe: Studentdoctor.net has threads from previous application years which list the schools secondary application questions. Some schools are known to use pretty much the exact same questions each year. For these schools I pre-wrote the secondary so that I could submit it almost immediately on its receipt. I also wrote more standard essays, one for diversity, overcoming a challenge, why medicine, and a why this school template. These allowed all my secondaries to be turned in within less than 1-2 weeks at most, despite applying to 25 schools. If you’re a reapplicant, have an essay detailing how your app has changed. If it hasn’t changed much at all, reconsider applying this cycle.
Submit your AMCAS application day 1, there’s not much of a reason not to be able to do this. As soon as it opens to edit in May get your drafting in there and work through it. Send for transcripts months in advance if you’ve already graduated, as soon as you can if waiting for spring grades.
If you’re still finalizing your school list, submit your AMCAS with just 1 school to get it in the queue to be verified. You can add schools later. If you aren’t sure you want to apply this year, add 1 school you know you don’t want to apply to get verification started in case you decide to move forward. You’ll only be a reapplicant to schools you’ve previously completed an AMCAS application for. The verification process starts to bog down as soon as a couple weeks into June. Submitting June 20 may mean it’s verified July 20 or even August.