Applying to Medical School in Summer 2022 For Matriculation in Fall 2023

• The last day to declare your intent for the 2023M cycle was April 1, 2022. If you have not declared your intent but plan to apply this cycle, please email Ms. Morhac.
• Plan to attend the Application Curriculum which includes each of the following workshops (Zoom & Recording Information available via 2023M Resources) 
  • ASSESSING YOUR CANDIDACY FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL, Tuesday, November 9, 5:30PM TO 6:30PM EST, in French Family Science 2231 & Live Via Zoom Want to have a good sense of your candidacy and how to be the strongest applicant you can be before you apply? Join Ms. Morhac & Mr. Jones for this workshop that will provide an overview of what medical schools are looking for, help you assess your own candidacy by identifying your current strengths and areas of opportunity, and help you feel better prepared to start your application. This workshop will give you time to ask questions and work on an individualized assessment so we recommend you bring a resume draft and your laptop. 
  • 2022M APPLICATION 101 MEETING, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 5:30PM TO 6:30PM EST, in French Family Science 2231 & Live Zoom: Are you planning to apply, or thinking about applying, to medical school this summer for the 2023 matriculation cycle? Use the break to get started on your application by joining the Office of Health Professions Advising staff for our overview of the cycle meeting! This meeting will include important information on how to be a successful medical school applicant, including an overview of application timeline, letters of recommendation, committee letter, and AMCAS expectations. 
  • 2022 RMA LAB, Thursday, December 16, 5:30 PM EST via Zoom: Are you ready to start your RMA? Do you know what a RMA entails? After hearing from former students how valuable the RMA was in helping them craft their strongest application we want to give you the inside scoop! You may find it helpful to have your Assessing Candidacy worksheet with you as we thinking about starting to draft your narrative. Join Dean Perz and Ms. Morhac to learn about what makes a good RMA draft and appointment, common pitfalls and discuss examples.  Questions can be emailed to Ms. Morhac. NOTE: This is the 3^rd session in the 2023M Application Curriculum.  It is the expectation of Duke HPA that anyone planning to apply to medical school attend all of the Application Curriculum sessions or watch the recordings.  This session will be recorded for those that cannot attend, but live attendance is strongly encouraged if possible.
  • INTERACTIVE PERSONAL ESSAY WRITING WORKSHOP, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 12 NOON (EST) ON ZOOM: Are you applying to medical schools this summer? Would you like guidance to help you to get started on writing your personal statement? Dr. Eliana Schonberg from the Writing Studio will facilitate an interactive workshop and discuss tips for writing a good statement, offer advice on how to avoid common mistakes, and answer your questions. Please bring at least two paragraphs of your statement to the workshop as you will be working with your text during the session. 
  • SCHOOL SELECTION AND LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: JANUARY 19, 2022, from 5:30-6:30 PM-Room 139-Social Sciences. Did you know the average applicant from Duke applies to 23 medical schools? How do you craft your school list and what factors should you consider? This workshop will provide an overview of characteristics to consider in yourself, your future goals, and potential medical schools—beyond just the metrics—to begin crafting your list and plan your application. Join Mr. Robert Jones, III and Dean Perz for a live Q & A session to discuss topics related to medical school selection and requesting letters of recommendations.

If you are unable to attend a workshop for the application cycle please review all materials at your convenience prior to your RMA. You can find these resources on this page in the Application Resource Section of the Prehealth Library. It is Duke HPA's expectation that you have attended or reviewed materials for all workshops before your RMA.

• Begin to work on a draft of your RMA (Review My Application) form during break. It allows you to list and describe the experiences that have been significant to you, answer short essay questions that help you develop your story, choose who will write Letters of Recommendation for you, and identify schools you may apply to. It will take you time to write and to research schools, so plan to work on this over a period of weeks.

2023M RMA FORM

• Consider subscribing to MSAR.
• Begin conceptualizing and outlining your personal statement.
• NEW! RMA SLOTS ARE NOW FULL RMA meetings are held February through the end of April 2022 and you will meet with a prehealth advisor to go over your RMA form. Your advisor will give you suggestions for a strong application and can answer any questions you have. Your RMA meeting also gives us preliminary information for your Committee Letter. Because of the large number of applicants, we can offer only one RMA meeting per applicant each cycle and will not be able to reschedule an RMA. The deadline to join the wait-list for an RMA appointment (which are held through April) is April 1, 2022.   

RMA Appointment Types:

First Time RMA appointments are for applicants that have never had an RMA appointment with Duke HPA. (A RMEA for FlexMed does not count).

Power Planning RMA appointments are for applicants that have previously completed an RMA appointment with Duke HPA, but have never applied to medical school.

Reapplicant RMA appointments are for applicants that have already applied to medical school and are reapplying in a subsequent cycle.

RMA Calendars are now closed because there are no more remaining appointments.

If you wish to join the RMA waitlist, please email prehealth@duke.edu including your name, class year, what type of appointment you need (1st Time, Power Planning or Reapplicant) and why you are requesting to join the waitlist. RMA waitlist applicants are not guaranteed an RMA appointment and will be added in the order that you contact us with all required information.  We urge all waitlist applicants to complete their RMA forms so that they are able to accept any appointments that may become available.   

Important! Please submit your completed RMA form and a recent resume at least 3 business days before your RMA meeting so your advisor has time to review them. The link for submission can be found in your RMA email confirmation, as a clickable link in the 2023M Applicant Resource folder, and in the email sent to 2023M Applicants. Failure to submit your form may result in the cancellation of your RMA appointment.

• Review any workshops you did not attend. 

• RMA Calendars are now closed because there are no more remaining appointments.

THE RMA WAITLIST IS NOW CLOSED AS RMAs have ended. 

If you wish to join the RMA waitlist, please email prehealth@duke.edu including your name, class year, what type of appointment you need (1st Time, Power Planning or Reapplicant) and why you are requesting to join the waitlist. RMA waitlist applicants are not guaranteed an RMA appointment and will be added in the order that you contact us with all required information. We urge all waitlist applicants to complete their RMA forms so that they are able to accept any appointments that may become available.   

Important! Please submit your completed RMA form and a recent resume at least 3 business days before your RMA meeting so your advisor has time to review them. The link for submission can be found in your RMA email confirmation, as a clickable link in the 2023M Applicant Resource folder, and in the email sent to 2023M Applicants. Failure to submit your form may result in the cancellation of your RMA appointment.

• Ask for your letters of recommendation by Mid March. This should be based on requirements outlined by the medical schools you are going to apply to. We encourage you to finalize this list by April and you can send your writers our Instructions & Tips for Letter Writers.  
• Research schools to which you may apply.
• Keep working on your personal statement.
• Take your MCAT by the end of April if you have not yet.

• Start Your Primary Applications in the application systems
  • The TMDSAS (Texas schools) application opens to begin to enter information on May 2, 2022.
  • The AMCAS (allopathic schools) application opens to begin to enter information on May 3, 2022.
  • The AACOMAS  (osteopathic schools) application opens on May 4, 2022.
  • You can begin submitting AACOMAS applications on May 6, 2022, but we advise you wait until mid May to submit if you are a junior or senior applicant waiting for transcripts from Spring 2022.
• Finalize the list of schools to which you will apply.
  • Confirm what Letter of Rec requirements are for each school
  • Confirm if you will need CASPer and/or PREview exam and schedule for next month as needed.
• Finalize your personal statement.
• Questions about how to complete your applications? Please start by reading the Guide for Duke Students & Alumni Applying to Medical School. Many FAQs are answered in that document.
• Enter your letters of recommendation information into your primary. Each application system has different guidelines for submission so please refer to the system and our Duke Guide for what you then need to send to your writers.  
• Send a final transcript to AMCAS & AACOMAS with final spring grades once spring grades are posted. Directions for Duke transcripts. Please note TMDSAS has different directions and you should follow those posted on their website.
• Register for CASPer to take it in June or July
• Submit your TMDSAS application when the application service opens for submission May 16, 2022.
• Submit your AMCAS application as soon as the application service opens for submission on May 31, 2022.

• Complete CASPer if required or recommended by any of the medical schools you have applied to.
• Complete AAMC PREview Exam (formerly SJT) if necessary.
• The application service will then verify your application, i.e., will check and verify the listing of your courses and grades. If you submit your application in the first week of June, verification may take a few days or a week. If you submit your application in mid/late June or July, verification may take several weeks. This delays the transmission of your application to medical schools.  
  • If there are errors or inaccuracies during the verification process, you may submit an Academic Change Request to be reviewed by AMCAS. After the review, the request can either be granted or denied.
• Request your Committee Letter be uploaded after your application is verified by submitting the required documents to the HPA Office. Directions & links for submission are in the 2023M Duke Guide. This tells us that your application is complete and ready to send to medical schools. Medical schools will not receive your application until the end of June so during this time we write and upload your Committee Letter to the application service.   
  • If you are applying to multiple systems you need to submit a request each time you a verified by an application system.
  • For TMDSAS applications, upload the email you receive from TMDSAS stating that your application has been transmitted to schools and upload a PDF of your verified TMDSAS AND AMCAS applications with that email.
  • For AACOMAS applications, you only need to upload one school's application.
  • If you did not complete a RMA with one of us you must upload the RMA essay questions along with your verified application. Please note if you are a reapplicant you need to submit the reapplication RMA form.

• AACOMAS will begin releasing applications to medical schools on June 15, 2022.
• AMCAS will begin releasing applications to medical schools on June 24, 2022.

Submit secondary applications within two weeks of receipt. Some schools send secondary applications to all applicants; some send applications only after reviewing the primary application and some do not use secondary applications at all. Each school has their own specific questions and essays and most will require a secondary fee. Plan to have internet access and time to write these essays. Note that you are not considered fully complete until the secondary application and fee have been received and you will not be considered for an interview until you are fully complete.  

• Please see the Duke Guide for guidance on secondary writing.

• Interview
  • We will do a mock interview with you when you have an interview invitation.

Dean Perz https://calendly.com/mock-interviews-dean-perz

Ms. Morhac (until 8/25)  https://calendly.com/mock-interviews-brittany-morhac

Mr. Jones https://calendly.com/mock-interviews-robert-jones

Ms. Horn https://calendly.com/mock-interviews-mary-charles-horn

Michael Rudisill (Traditional Interviews only), Assistant Director and Manager of the Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences community at the Duke Career Center: https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/CollegeAdvisingAppointments@ProdDuke.onmicrosoft.com/bookings/s/BXZE1IbFjkC6v2O96neFcQ2

Career Center Advisors (Traditional Interviews only): https://duke.joinhandshake.com/login (make a handshake account and select “Health Professions Practice Interview" to schedule).

• Receive acceptances or waitlist notices from October 15, 2022 to July 2023.
  • Review Traffic Rules for AMCAS, AACOMAS, & TMDSAS
• Update your application as appropriate. 
  • Follow directions from the schools in which you apply to in regards to updates.
  • If you are considering sending updates to schools that you have not heard from we suggest you wait until late October 2022 to send those.
• Choose Your Medical School Tool becomes available in mid February for AMCAS applicants. You do not need to make any decisions this early.

• Continue to update your application as appropriate.
• Send letters of interest or intent as appropriate.
• Watch trafficking rules.  
  • Choose Your Medical School Tool became available on February 21, 2023
  • April 17, 2023, applicants with more than 3 acceptances must narrow their school choice to 3 and decline their seat at other medical schools. You may sit on unlimited waitlists.
  • May 1, 2023, applicants with more than 2 or 3 acceptances must narrow their school choice to 1 and decline their seat at other medical schools. You may stay on unlimited waitlists.
• Accept admission offers; if you have decided NOT to attend a school to which you have been accepted, promptly withdraw your application from that school.  
• Pay attention to the medical school you are choosing to attend’s acceptance policy. Follow Commit to Enroll deadline outlined by your school.

• Matriculate to medical school!
• Consider joining MedMap after you matriculate if you are interested and willing to provide insight to other Duke students and alums.

Please attend or view all sessions. These are meant to complement individual advising appointments not replace them, nor will individual appointments be able to provide all of this critical information.

• Application Curriculum is available in the 2023M Applicant Resource folder including materials for:
  • Assessing Candidacy that helps you review your own candidate profile and recognize your strengths. 
  • Application 101 that provides an overview of the application to medical school process, timeline and guidance for working with our office.
  • RMA Lab that helps you think about how to create a quality RMA draft.
  • School Selection on how to create your school list.
  • Personal Statement Workshop for tips on writing a strong statement.
• 2023M RMA Form
• 2023M Reapplication Form
• 2023M Duke Student & Alumni Applicant Guide

External Resources

• AAMC Core Competencies
• Applying with AMCAS
• 2023M AMCAS Applicant Guide 
• AACOMAS
• TMDSAS