In addition to realizing the importance of courses on your transcript (most schools look at both your overall GPA and your "science" GPA), you might want to consider asking for a letter of recommendation when you do particularly well in a course.  If it's a large lecture-style course and you don't know the professor well, the letter probably won't be too helpful.  However, if the professor knows you well enough to include personal details in the letter (because you went to office hours regularly or because the course was fairly small), it could greatly strengthen your application.  You are better off getting letters of recommendation sooner than later (in other words, don't wait until fall of senior year to ask your sophomore chemistry professor for a recommendation).  In addition to the required and recommended coursework, most schools also indicate an interest in applicants who have some "medically-relevant experience".  This can be anything from volunteering in a hospital to doing medical research.

The other thing you should really do before applying to medical school is get to know your pre-med advisor or committee.  Every school wants letters of recommendation from an advisor or from a pre-med committee.  Knowing your advisor will make you feel like you have an ally in the application process, and it is also reassuring to know that he knew you well enough to write a detailed letter.  If you don't have a pre-med advisor or pre-med committee, don't fret over this (the schools are aware that some applicants are in this situation).  If you do have an adviser, it is really in your best interest to make sure that you're not just another face in the crowd as far as he or she is concerned.
 
 
 

AMCAS

Most medical schools require that you use the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) to apply (see below for a list of non-AMCAS schools).

• Start early.  Get your AMCAS application software as soon as possible. The AMCAS application is usually available starting in late spring of your junior year. Get it as soon as possible. The application process will take time for a number of reasons.  It takes a significant amount of time to fill out the AMCAS application and write your personal statement.  It takes time for AMCAS to process your application and forward it to the medical schools you choose.  It then takes even more time to fill out and return the secondary applications the schools will send you.  Since most medical schools do admissions on a rolling basis, it is to your advantage to start the process as early as possible.  This is especially true if you are still a student since the last thing you want is to be filling out secondary applications after school resumes in the fall.

• Get your transcripts in as soon as possible.  Before AMCAS will process your application, they require that you send them an official transcript from every post-secondary institution you have attended.  After they have received all of your transcripts and your application, they will then use your transcripts to verify that all of the information on your application is correct.  This takes time so it is important that all of your transcripts are received by AMCAS as early as possible. Send it in early!
• Send in your application disk. The AMCAS has gone to an electronic form for the application. This makes filling out the form easier for the student. Students no longer have to worry with printing out the application and sending it in. Once the student has filled out the application process, the software will guide you through the process of saving your application to disk. Once saved, all you have to do is send in the disk to AMCAS.
• Verify that everything has been received by AMCAS.  Before you even mail your application to AMCAS, call them and make sure that your transcripts and MCAT scores have been received.  If you sent a transcript and they haven't received it, send another.  You don't want to risk delaying the whole application process.  After you send your application, call AMCAS to make sure they have received it. Unfortunately, calling AMCAS is not as easy as it sounds.  Every medical applicant in the country will be trying to call AMCAS, so expect a lot of busy signals.
• AMCAS is expensive.  It will cost $105 just to have AMCAS process your application and send copies of it to these two schools (this does NOT include the secondary application fees that you might have to pay to the schools directly).

Unfortunately, AMCAS is only the beginning.  After you have sent your application to AMCAS (along with all your transcripts and a substantial amount of money), AMCAS will process the application (which takes around four weeks) and then forward copies of the application to the schools you choose.  Each school will then send you a secondary application.  In addition to completing the secondary application, you will be asked for more money.  Some schools have secondary applications that require you to write additional essays.  However, a significant number of secondary applications only ask for some simple information that you already wrote on your AMCAS application.

Non-AMCAS Schools

There are a number of schools that do not participate in AMCAS.  To apply to these schools, you need to contact the admissions offices directly and request an application. One of the advantages of this system is that you tend to save money by paying only one application fee.  However, the non-AMCAS applications tend to be a bit lengthy and contain more essays than the secondary applications of most AMCAS schools.

Below is a list of non-AMCAS schools from 2000 (Note: osteopathic, podiatric, and veterinary schools are not included, but these are also non-AMCAS):

• Baylor College of Medicine
• Brown University Program in Medicine
• Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Harvard Medical School
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
• New York University School of Medicine
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine
• Texas A&M University College of Medicine
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
• University of Texas System
• University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine
• Yale University School of Medicine

January - February of Junior Year

• Set up a time to interview with your school’s pre-med interview committee.
• Attend your pre-med interview. They will write your letters of recommendation.
• Prep courses for the April MCAT begin now.
• Pick up MCAT registration materials (mid-February).
• Start researching schools using Web information.

• If you're taking the April MCAT, mail the registration materials no later than mid-March.
• Pick up an AMCAS application, or download the material from the AAMC website (www.aamc.org).
• Request the most recent bulletins of the schools you are considering, as well as application materials from any that are not AMCAS participants.
• Work on your AMCAS essay and ask for comments and suggestions from anyone you believe will be helpful.
• Take the April MCAT.

• When your semester grades are in, request a student copy of your transcript from the Registrar (if you've taken courses at any other college in the U.S. or Canada, request that transcript as well. Medical schools require an official transcript from every U.S. or Canadian college a candidate has attended, even if only for one summer course).
• Work on the AMCAS application and plan to have it completed and sent before the end of June (it may be sent any time beginning June 1). Do the same with applications to non-AMCAS schools.
• If you took the April MCAT, you should receive the scores by about the third week in June.
• Prep courses for the August MCAT begin in June. If you're taking the August MCAT, mail the registration materials no later than mid-July.
• If you were prompt in sending your AMCAS and other initial application materials, you’ll be receiving secondary materials now. Complete and return them as soon as possible.
• Take the August MCAT.

• If you took the April MCAT and were prompt in completing your application materials, you may begin to hear about interviews shortly after Labor Day. All interview invitations should receive a reply as soon as possible.
• If you took the August MCAT, you should receive your scores by about mid-October. If your application materials are otherwise complete, you may begin to hear about interviews before the end of October. Interviewing usually concludes in late April - early May.
• Remember to send brief thank-you notes to interviewers.
• Some schools send out their first acceptance letters in October. If you're accepted, you will not be expected to make a final decision; all any school wants to know at this stage is whether you wish to hold a place. No deposits are required at this point.
• Read up on financial aid policies and procedures at the schools that invite you for interviews. Keep very careful track of deadlines for financial aid applications.