Please note that as per earlier instructions regarding the AMCAS Letter Pilot (for those applying to US MD schools), you only want to complete and print out the Letter of Evaluation section ONCE (Section 6). This is because a new AMCAS Letter ID will be generated each time you go in and complete that section and you only need ONE. Multiple letter IDs will result in confusion and “clean up” efforts.
The AMCAS Letter Pilot site can be accessed here.
Policy in Effect Beginning October 15, 2007
As the professional schools continue to become more competitive for admission, we have a number of re-applicants re-sending their Committee letter and supporting letters to the professional health schools. Because we are charged for usage of VirtualEvals (an electronic system, for transmitting letters) and need to cover the cost of envelopes, copying costs and paper, we are asking for each re-applicant to provide a flat fee of $10 for each year of reapplication. Please recall that we will send out an *unlimited* number of packets per applicant to any of the 6 professional schools (e.g., medical schools, dental schools, optometry, podiatry). If you are facing re-application, we strongly encourage you to make an appointment to help address what areas can be enhanced. Re-applicants should not be applying numerous times with the same application, but should be targeting and addressing other areas that need improvement.
If you elect NOT to come through the Committee or have missed a Committee deadline(s), you will want to consult Career Services for their Reference File Service. Please go to 259 Capen or the Career Services website. The Committee is not intended to be used as a Reference Service for those students who have completed the full Committee process.
If you came through the Prehealth Committee in April 2008 in support of a 2009 application to any of the professional schools (or plan to do so in September 2008), you will want to be sure you complete and submit a Release Form to our office (109 Norton Hall) Form once you begin to receive secondary applications from individual schools. This is so our office has your permission to release your Prehealth Committee packet. If you are applying through AADSAS in support of a dental school application, you have more flexibility to release your letters at other times (earlier). The Release Form is available at our website. You can drop this off to us, mail it to us or fax to us at 716-645-3042. If we do not have a signed Release Form we CANNOT send your letters.
Remember if you are applying to MD, DO or OD (optometry) schools check to see if the school is using VirtualEvals first. If the school is NOT using VirtualEvals, you want to pre-address an envelope (available in 108 Norton) and pre-stamp with postage ($1.17) so we can send your packet via US mail. Please turn in your Release Form with your prepared envelopes to 109 Norton.
If you plan on coming through the Prehealth Committee for APRIL 1, 2008 in support of your 2009 professional health school application, please carefully read the following information. Again, you will need at least 4 individual letters of recommendation by APRIL 15, 2008
Please turn in your materials to Virginia Majewski in 109 Norton Hall. Her phone is 645-6012; email – vmajewsk@buffalo.edu. You will need to set aside at least 10 minutes so that she can review your packet with you. Please do not simply drop off your materials to the office and leave.
If your last name begins with A-L, please turn in all your materials by 4:30 p.m. TUESDAY, APRIL 1.
If your last name begins with M-Z, please turn in all your materials by 4:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2.
YOU ARE SUBMITTING:
1) A printed copy of Prehealth Committee Application/Data Sheet - http://www.prehealth.buffalo.edu/pdfs/datasht2.pdf
2) Unofficial Transcripts from UB (My Grades off of MyUB) and any transcripts from transfer work.
3) Items #7-9 from the Prehealth Committee Application/Data Sheet
4) Personal Statement - #10 on the Prehealth Committee Application/Data Sheet
5) Be sure to read and answer appropriately #12 on the Prehealth Committee Application/Data Sheet. Please be sure to read the question carefully and contact us if you are unsure how to answer it. You want to report any disciplinary action/academic integrity issue regardless of whether you completed the required community service hours or regardless of whether you applied for the record to be expunged or you believe any record has already been expunged.
6) $40 fee.
If you are applying to two types professional health schools (i.e., MD and DO), the fee is $45 to cover the costs of transmitting your letters electronically through VirtualEvals to the MD and DO schools. The fee covers the expense overall of paper, copy services, and envelopes.
7) A black and white headshot (if possible). If not, we will take a quick photo here to be sure we are appropriately tracking all your Committee info.
The ONLY materials sent on to the professional schools from our office include your individual letters of recommendation and Prehealth Committee composite letter. We do not forward your essay, Prehealth Committee application, photo, transcripts, etc.
The SRC in 232 Capen must forward your official transcripts to the centralized application services or individual schools (whichever is applicable for you).
Setting the Interview
Once you have submitted all your materials and have at least four letters in, you will be assigned a Prehealth Committee interviewer. In 3-5 days, you will be emailed your interviewer’s name and contact information. It is important that you contact this person promptly. They will be expecting to hear from you to arrange the date and time of your interview. Please do arrive more than 10 minutes early for your interview but strive to be on time.
Please do not ask us to accept your application past the deadline or assign your interviewer without at least 4 letters by April 15. Doing so holds up the process for the entire pool. Our goal is to complete your letters by mid-to-late June so you are all very timely in having a completed packet. Early, complete applications to the professional health schools are highly advocated.
ATTENTION: Those applying for fall 2009 admission to the professional health schools.
If you are a junior this year and/or plan on applying for the entering class of 2009 to medical school (MD or DO), dental school, veterinary school, optometry, etc., please read below. You also will want to consider making an appointment for prehealth advisement several weeks prior to the April 1 Prehealth Committee deadline to be sure you are well informed and prepared to come through the Committee in support of your fall 2009 application.
DEADLINE: APRIL 1, 2008 with at least 4 individual letters due NO LATER THAN April 15, 2008
Four to seven individual letters of recommendation can be sent to the office in 109 Norton Hall anytime in support of your application.
If you are unclear as to what is involved in applying to the Committee, please go to the website.
All necessary forms are located here.
All forms, aside from the Preprofessional Data Sheet/Application, are also available in 108 Norton.
**There is a detailed checklist of what you need to assemble for the Prehealth Committee on the shelves in 108 Norton.**
A minimum of FOUR letters of recommendation MUST BE RECEIVED for you by APRIL 1, 2008.
**Please remember that applications to these professions school have been on the rise and; therefore, they are extremely competitive schools in which to gain admission. If your overall or science/math GPA is around or below a 3.0 (e.g., 2.9 to 3.3/3.4), please make an appointment to see the prehealth advisor prior to applying to the Prehealth Committee***
Please call 645-6013 to set up an appointment if you need more information regarding this process.
Effective Monday, October 15, 2007
As the professional schools continue to become more competitive for admission, we have a number of re-applicants re-sending their Committee letter and supporting letters to the professional health schools. Because we are charged for usage of VirtualEvals (an electronic system, for transmitting letters) and need to cover the cost of envelopes, copying costs and paper, we are asking for each re-applicant to provide a flat fee of $10 for each year of reapplication. Please recall that we will send out an *unlimited* number of packets per applicant to any of the 6 professional schools (e.g., medical schools, dental schools, optometry, podiatry). If you are facing re-application, we strongly encourage you to make an appointment to help address what areas can be enhanced. Re-applicants should not be applying numerous times with the same application, but should be targeting and addressing other areas that need improvement.
If you elect NOT to come through the Committee or have missed a Committee deadline(s), you will want to consult Career Services for their Reference File service. Please go to 259 Capen or Career Services. The Committee is not intended to be used as a Reference Service for those students who have not completed the full Committee process.
This policy is effective next Monday, October 15. If we have not asked you for a fee to this point, don’t be concerned; this is not retroactive. The policies are in effect from October 15 forward.
Reminder: September 1 is a Saturday. Your Committee packet and letters will be accepted through 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 4, 2007. Monday, September 3 is the LABOR DAY HOLIDAY.
Fall 2007 (Sept 1) Prehealth Committee Process – This is the LAST Committee cycle for fall 2008 (regular) application
ATTENTION: Those applying for fall 2008 admission to the professional health schools.
If you are a junior this year and/or plan on applying for the entering class of 2008 to medical school (MD or DO), dental school, veterinary school, optometry, etc., please read below. You also will want to consider making an appointment for prehealth advisement several weeks prior to the Sept 1 Prehealth Committee deadline to be sure you are well informed and prepared to come through the Committee in support of your fall 2008 application.
DEADLINE: SEPT 1, 2007
Four to seven individual letters of recommendation can be sent to the office in 109 Norton Hall anytime in support of your application.
If you are unclear as to what is involved in applying to the Committee, please go to the Prehealth Committee website.
All necessary forms are here.
All forms, aside from the Preprofessional Data Sheet/Application, are also available in 108 Norton.
**There is a detailed checklist of what you need to assemble for the Prehealth Committee on the shelves in 108 Norton.**
A minimum of FOUR letters of recommendation MUST BE RECEIVED for you by SEPT 1, 2007.
**Please remember that applications to these professions school have been on the rise and; therefore, they are extremely competitive schools in which to gain admission. If your overall or science/math GPA is around or below a 3.0 (e.g., 2.8 to 3.3), please make an appointment to see the prehealth advisor prior to applying to the Prehealth Committee***
Please call 645-6013 to set up an appointment if you need more information regarding this process.
If you came through the April 2007 Prehealth Committee and have submitted a Release Form to our office, please email us your AMCAS, AACOMAS or AADSAS central ID number. Many of you turned in Release Forms without these numbers. They are the central identifiers that are provided to you when you initiate and log into your professional health school application for MD, DO and DDS respectively.
Please send an email to Karen Barrera at barrera@buffalo.edu with your ID. All you need to do is provide your name, person number and application identifier number as referred to above.
If you HAVE NOT YET submitted your Release Forms, please be sure to provide this number on the form when you submit it to our offices.
Good Afternoon Everyone:
Effective next Wednesday (June 20, 2007) Virginia (Jinny) Majewski who manages the letters for the Prehealth Committee process will be out of the office until sometime in August.
In her absence, Ms. Karen Barrera will be your first contact for overseeing the process of collecting and sending out your packets to the various professional health schools to which you are applying. She will also oversee the VirtualEvals system for transmitting your letters electronically to those medical (allopathic and osteopathic) schools and optometry schools that accept them.
Karen’s full contact information is below.
Ms. Karen Barrera
109 Norton Hall
645-6010
barrera@buffalo.edu.
If Karen is not available, you may also contact:
Jenn Rosseland at 645-6019. Jenn is also in 109 Norton Hall. Her email is jmr1@buffalo.edu.
Week of June 18-22
There will no appointments or prehealth drop-ins available the week of June 18.
I will be out of the office and Dalene Aylward is currently on maternity leave.
Please feel free to contact Karen or Jenn about Prehealth Committee letter matters and feel free to set an appointment for the week of June 25 or plan to come by drop-in hours that week. Summer drop-in hours are Tuesday from 2:00-4:00, Wednesday from 10:30-11:30 and Thursday from 10:00-11:00.
If you are applying to the professional health schools for fall 2008 AND are coming through the Prehealth Committee this year, please be alerted that if we need to mail any packets for you (i.e., schools not using Virtual Evals like some US medical schools, and all US dental schools, all podiatry, all veterinary, all optometry), we need a pre-addressed, and stamped envelope. Blank envelopes are available for you to address in 108 Norton, but the postage has changed from $1.11 to $1.14 with the recent postal rate change.
