Preprofessional Studies

A SPECIAL NOTE HERE FOR THE PRE-MEDICAL STUDENT

Any professional school admission demands a rigorous pre-professional program. For example, included in the pre-medical program are the four years of pre-med study, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the scores demanded of the applicants. In recent years, the grade point average (GPA) for successful applicants at Indiana University School of Medicine has been close to 3.70, with MCAT scores of 9.7, with a writing score of O. For the 1997 entering class, the average GPA was 3.67, with a science GPA of 3.62 and a non-science GPA of 3.72. The MCAT average was 9.7. The MCAT verbal and science areas are normally scored from 1 to 15. The national average has been 8. The writing sample is scored by letters, J-T, with a national average of O. Grading scales differ on each standardized exam. One standard feature of standardized exams has been questions, whether factual or problem-solving, being asked after reading a 250-500 word passage. A student may be required to read 10 such passages and answer a total of 77 questions within a 100 minute timed period. It is easily seen that reading speed and comprehension are extremely important for this type test. Regardless of which professional school is being looked at, a GPA below 3.1, and below average standardized test scores, almost insures non-admittance to any health professional program.

The MCAT includes four sections. They are: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample and Biological Sciences. The Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT is designed to assess the examinee's ability to understand, evaluate, and apply information and arguments presented in prose texts. The MCAT Physical Sciences section is composed of multiple-choice questions that assess an examinee's reasoning skills in general chemistry and physics. By requiring candidates to develop and present ideas in a cohesive manner, the MCAT Writing Sample offers medical school admissions committees evidence of applicants' writing and analytical skills. The format of the MCAT Biological Sciences section is similar to that of the Physical Sciences section, with multiple-choice questions testing reasoning in biology and organic chemistry. Students should prepare well for taking this exam.

Re-taking the exam, according to MCAT statistics, only raises the grade by 0.2 points if the exam is repeated in the Fall after the Spring exam. Re-taking the exam in the Spring (new cycle for exams) after the Fall exam does not raise the grade or, quite possibly, lowers the grade. If the exam is re-taken, medical schools will see all grades, or at least be aware that the exam was repeated. A point that is not talked about is that all grades for every person who took the MCAT for any given test are printed in book form for the medical schools. Therefore, it is very easy for any medical school to check on past scores. MCAT will allow people to take the exam three times. Beyond this, letters from the undergraduate school are required for permission to repeat the exam.

MCAT applications are usually available about February 1st of each year for the April and August test dates. AMCAS applications for applying to medical school are usually available in late March although AMCAS does not accept applications until June 15th. Applications must be submitted to AMCAS before December 15th to be looked at for the entering class for the following August.

For the Indiana University School of Medicine, applicants from out-of-state must have a minimum GPA and minimum MCAT average equal to that of the previous class average. For example, applicants who wish to enter medical school in 1998 must have a minimum GPA of 3.8 and a minimum MCAT average of 30 if there are no "Hoosier connections". With "Hoosier connections", the minimum GPA is 3.6 and the minimum MCAT is 27. If the closest the applicant has been to Indiana was in a plane flying over the state, their application will not get anywhere with the Admissions Committee unless they have the listed minimum scores. If, however, the family has had to move from Indiana due to job considerations, etc., that applicant will be looked at more closely. If the applicant has the necessary GPA and MCAT scores, the applicant may then be interviewed. Final decision rests with the admissions personnel. In-state applicants get every consideration from the School of Medicine, as the school does get considerable state support. In-state applicants with a GPA of 3.2 and a MCAT score of 20 will be granted an interview. Applicants are urged to take advantage of this interview as, every once in a while, someone with this type background will be accepted into the program, although this is not the norm.

Some students may wish to try the Early Decision Program at the Indiana University School of Medicine. If accepted, they will be notified early in the Fall of their senior year. Students accepted as early decision applicants are virtually guaranteed their choice of campus. A student may only apply to one school for this program. For an Indiana resident to be considered at Indiana University Medical School, the applicant must have a minimum GPA of 3.6, a MCAT total of 28, with no numerical score lower than an 8, and a writing sample score of N or better. In 1996, 40-50 people applied for early decision and 21 were accepted into Indiana. If not accepted into the early decision round, applicants must then start the application process again from the beginning.

As was stated earlier, the application process takes about a year. Applicants would apply in June, 1997, to be considered for the August, 1998, entering class. At the Indiana University School of Medicine, in-state applicants will have their interviews set up when their secondary applications are received. Following the interview, if all of the paperwork including letters of evaluation, etc., have been received, the applicant will receive a card stating that their application is now "complete". Now the Admissions Committee will be aware that an application has been received. At Indiana, the Admissions Committee is made up of 35 individuals, 1/3 of which come from the basic medical sciences and the remaining 2/3 from clinical practice. The Committee has three choices--accept, not accept (reject) or to put the application back into the applications received for future consideration. Admission simply reflects a majority vote of the Committee members present. At another medical school, the admissions committee uses the "Olympic" style of admissions policy. Each applicant is rated 1-10. The high and low scores are thrown out and the remaining averaged. An average of 7 may grant acceptance in November but an average of 8 may be needed by March. At Indiana, it remains a simple majority vote of the committee members present the day the application is reviewed for the entire application year cycle.

Letters of non-acceptance may be received at any time. Acceptance letters are mailed out on the 15th of the month, starting in October. Letters are not sent out in January, due to the holidays. Acceptance letters are interesting, as it is clearly stated that the acceptance letter is "tentative". If an applicant gets "senioritis" and starts pulling grades of "C", a later letter withdrawing acceptance will probably be received. Dr. Stabler knows of several such instances, although none of these letters have been received at IUN, so far.

If the applicant has been accepted prior to March, the applicant will get a letter in March requesting that the applicant list the nine medical campuses in order that the applicant wishes to attend. The nine campuses of Indiana University School of Medicine where students may do the first two years of medical school include

• Gary (IUN)
• South Bend (Notre Dame)
• Ft. Wayne (IUPUI)
• Lafayette (Purdue)
• Muncie (Ball State)
• Indianapolis (IUPUI)
• Terre Haute (Indiana State)
• Bloomington (IU)
• Evansville (University of Evansville).

The Indiana University School of Medicine Admissions Office now has an Email site at: inmedadm@iupui.edu. From one of the earlier medical school sites, an Email address was listed for applicants to get onto. If an applicant wants to get onto such a net, one goes to listserv@listserv.indiana.edu and types in "SUB MED-STUDENTS-L" followed by the applicant's name on the same line. This listing does not have a "digest" function so one may receive 20-30 messages per day. Applicants are cautioned that this Email net gets many topics listed that applicants think important which, in reality, have little to do with the application process. For example, Dr. Stabler got on this net for three days. During that time, the major topics were what role does God play in the life of a physician, how do Canadian medical schools run their programs and are there any "real-Greek" pre-med students (as opposed to the fraternity-sorority greek types)? In the same time period there was one question raised as to what to put in the "personal statement" in the AMCAS application. The individual may have gotten an answer, but none was seen on the net. Similar nets for other pre-professional students may exist but their presence is unknown at this time.

Pre-medical people may also be interested in a magazine which is available at Barnes & Noble. This is the "Journal of Pre-Med Studies". Articles in this magazine appear to be about 50-50 on allopathic and osteopathic medicine. The magazine sells for about $4 an issue. Subscriptions for the four issues per year are $12.95 and are available from the Journal of Pre Med Studies, P.O. Box 3029, Garden City, NY 11531. Their Email address is: delbroc@ibm.net. In the Spring, 1997 issue, the contents included articles on undergraduate training for a future in medicine, cancer, a medical school profile (Stanford), careers for the D.O. and comments on the MCAT exam from a Kaplan representative. Again, this is mentioned to make people aware of the availability of such a magazine and is not meant as any sort of endorsement.

Minority Applicants: According to the AAMC, applicants who are Afro-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (Indians) and people born and raised in Puerto Rico are considered "minority applicants". These applicants are invited to contact Mr. Russell C. Vertner, Associate Director of Admission and Minority Medical School Advisor at the IU School of Medicine regarding their applications. During the 1997 Pre-Medical Advisors Meeting, held at the School of Medicine, it was pointed out that the Medical School wants all minority applicants to do their entire medical school work at Indianapolis as it is felt the minority students will "bond together" better. From personal experience on this campus, it is known that this can be appealed as a minority applicant from IU-Northwest did start at the Northwest Center for Medical Education. The Medical School, however, does have a mandatory "Prematriculation Program" for successful minority applicants for the two weeks in the summer prior to the start of medical school. Classes and exams are given to acquaint students with what is expected of them in medical school. It is felt this program helps to "jump start" the minority applicants. For minority and disadvantaged applicants not accepted, but who seem to have the potential for a medical career, students may be offered space in the "Postbaccalaureate Program/Master's Degree in Medical Sciences". Students who complete the first year of this program and are successful in getting into medical school simply complete their Master's degree with courses taken during the first year of medical school.