Health Professional School Applications

Application Preparation

Medical, Dentistry, Optometry, PA, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Education Programs

If you want to use your science degree in a healthcare field, it’s likely that you’ll need to pursue additional education. Whether you want to care for people as a dentist, PA, or physician, or care for animals as a veterinarian, having an understanding of the process will be key to your success in continuing your education.

Application Strategies

When considering what programs might be right for you, be sure to consider the following aspects of programs:

Program Alignment: How does this school/program align with your personal mission, values, interests and goals?
Geographical Location: Do you want to be close to home? Or are you ready to explore the world? Where do you want to live for the next 2-10 years?
Clinical & Research Opportunities: Depending on your research and clinical interests, there may be some programs that appeal to you more than others. Consider what populations you might be most interested in serving, in addition to the faculty research focus at each school you plan to apply to.

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Application Timelines

Depending on the program you are interested in, there are different milestones to plan for. The accordion feature below displays timelines by type of health professional educational program.

Medical School Timeline

The medical school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for medical school. It includes recommending preparing for, and taking, the MCAT the summer prior to applying for medical school, which is typically two years prior to matriculation. The spring prior to the application opening, prospective medical students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open in May and applicants will typically submit their applications that summer. During the summer and early fall they will also complete any secondary application essays they receive. Interviews can start as early as August and run through the following March. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring with a late summer to early fall matriculation.

Dental School Application Timeline

The dental school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for dental school. It includes recommending preparing for and taking the DAT the summer prior to applying for dental school, which is typically two years prior to matriculation. The spring prior to the application opening, prospective dental students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open in June and applicants will typically submit their applications that summer. Interviews can start as early as August and run through the following February. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring with a late summer to early fall matriculation.

Pharmacy School Application Timeline

The pharmacy school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for pharmacy school. The spring prior to the application opening, prospective pharmacy students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open in July. Deadlines will vary by school but most applicants will typically submit their applications by November. Interviews can start as early as September and run through the following March. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring, and programs typically matriculate late summer to early fall.

PA School Timeline

The PA school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for PA school. The spring prior to the application opening, prospective PA students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open at the end of April and applicants will typically submit their applications that summer. During the summer and early fall they will also complete any secondary application essays they receive. Interviews can start as early as August and run through the following March. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring, and programs typically matriculate that summer or fall.

Optometry School Application Timeline

The optometry school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for optometry school. It includes recommending preparing for and taking the OAT the summer prior to applying for optometry school, which is typically two years prior to matriculation. The spring prior to the application opening, prospective optometry students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open in June and applicants will typically submit their applications that summer. Interviews can start as early as September and run through the following April. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring with a late summer to early fall matriculation.

Veterinary School Application Timeline

The veterinary school timeline outlines the typical path applicants follow when applying for veterinary school. The fall prior to the application opening, prospective veterinary students write essays, secure letters of recommendation and record activities. Applications open in January but you cannot submit until May. Most applicants will typically submit their applications that summer. Interviews can start as early as October and run through the following March. Offers and decisions will occur throughout fall and spring, and programs typically matriculate that fall.

Personal Statements

Personal statements are often one of the most overwhelming pieces of the professional school application process; but they don’t have to be! While the workbook below gives a more complete guide to writing your statement, here are a few quick tips to get you started:

Reflect on your experiences: What motivated you to pursue this work? How did you solidify that decision? How have you prepared yourself?
Identify your skills: Making connections between your experiences and skills and the qualities that professional schools are looking for is key to your success. Spend some time reflecting on how you have developed the competencies outlined by professional organizations for future physicians, dentists, and veterinarians.
Share your story: When it comes to personal statements, showing is always better than telling. Highlight the skills professional schools are looking for by telling specific stories about how you developed your abilities and defined your values through hands-on experiences.

Personal Statement Guide for Med Schools

Use this guide to plan and draft your personal statement, step-by-step.

Personal-Statement-Guide-Med-School.pdf

Additional Documents and Elements to Prepare

Activities

The Activities section of most professional school applications is a place to write more about your experiences, like you had in your personal statement. Using the same process of highlighting your skills and values, make connections to the field and demonstrate your readiness for continuing your education in this profession. The guide below demystifies the process.

Med School Activities Guide

This workbook will help you strategize which activities to showcase.

Med-School-Activities.pdf

Letters of Recommendation

While professional school may seem far away, it's important to plan early for letters of recommendation. Every interaction you have with professors, advisors, and professionals in your chosen industry could be used to build connections and trust, which are essential to requesting and receiving letters of recommendation.

Letter of Recommendation Guide

Use this guide to track your connections with potential letter writers, and to develop emails for making the ask.

Letter of Rec Guide.pdf

Testing Resources

Some professional programs may require you to take a standardized exam for admission; these are reflected in the timelines above. It is always best to check the program websites in order to gain a full picture of testing requirements. Visit the exam websites below for details on each.

Examination Websites

Med School: MCAT
PA School: PACAT
Dental School: DAT
Grad School: GRE
Optometry School: OAT

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Interviews for Health Professional Schools

You made it to the interview round; this is a great indicator that you’re doing something right! When preparing for interviews, there are a few formats that you may encounter:

Traditional Interviews: Comprised of common questions like ‘Tell me about yourself’ or ‘Why medicine?’ or ‘tell us about a time when...”. These types of interviews could be one-on-one or may be ‘panel-style’, where you will speak with numerous members of the hiring team/school at the same time.
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs): This type of interview will challenge your ability to respond to stress under pressure and test your ethical-decision making abilities. Typically these take place over the course of 1-2 hours and are comprised of 10-minute modules that will give you 2 minutes to review a prompt, 5 minutes to respond, and 3 minutes to address follow up questions.
Group Interviews: In this rare format, you may find yourself interviewing at the same time as several other candidates. Typically group interviews require you to work through a challenge or puzzle with other candidates, making it a good place for you to demonstrate your ability to work with a team, and to show that you can balance stepping up and stepping back when it comes to taking the lead.

Interview Resources

Watch and Learn: Interview Strategies Video

Develop Your Content: Interview Strategies Workbook

Download this workbook for some good strategies and tips to crush your interview.

Interview Worksheets Fillable.pdf

Practice Your Interview Skills

In addition to doing a mock interview with our team, you can practice with Interview Stream, a free online resource from the MSU Career Services Network.

Health Professional School Booklets

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Help with Pre-Health Applications

Do you have questions?

For additional resources on applying to pre-health graduate programs, visit the MSU Pre-Health website or connect with an LBC Career Advisor.