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Secondary Applications
After the schools receive your preliminary applications from the centralized application services, you will (hopefully) receive secondary applications. Some schools do not request secondary applications, but base their decisions on the information contained in your preliminary application and letters of recommendation. Some schools send secondaries to all applicants, some to all in-state applicants. Some schools conduct a review of the preliminary applications to determine whether or not to send each applicant a secondary. You should hear from each school either way. If you do not hear from the school within 3-4 weeks after you receive your applicant profile, you should contact the school to find out the status of your application, to make sure they have received it.
The secondary application usually asks additional questions, and may require more essays. You will probably wind up repeating some of the information contained in your personal statement. This is OK (it means you chose to write about information they were interested in!). However, do not repeat your personal statement. The schools already have this, and are looking for new essays. It may also request other supplementary materials such as letters of recommendation or resumes. Do not send any supplementary materials, including letters of recommendation, to the schools until you are instructed to do so (exception - some schools want you to send supplemental materials before you hear from them, such as with some dental schools). Follow all instructions carefully. Send all materials in as soon as possible, and be aware of any deadlines for the secondaries. A good rule of thumb is to return secondary applications within two weeks of receiving them. Make sure your letters of recommendation are received before the deadline. Some people take much longer than they claim to write the letters. It is not their responsibility to make sure the letters are in on time, it is yours! Most schools will inform you when your application is complete. If you do not hear from the school within two weeks after you feel all materials should have arrived, contact the school to make sure your file is complete.
After all information is received by the school, your application will be reviewed to determine whether or not you will be granted an interview. This decision may take quite a while to make. Be patient. You should review the handout on interviewing tips, or read the interviewing section of the Health Professions Handbook. Also, an interview workshop will be held by OHLPA at the very beginning of the fall semester. Log onto The Student Doctor Network to read some other students' experiences. Make sure to record your experiences for future students' use.
Procedures for processing and reviewing applications and notifying applicants of interviews and acceptances vary from school to school. The secondary application should explain some of this; if not, contact the schools and familiarize yourself with each school’s procedure so you will know what to expect. However, do not bombard the schools with too many questions, they need time to review your application!
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