Alumni/Recent Graduates

As a Tulane alumni applicant, you bring unique strengths and qualities to health professions schools. As an alumni you will not have access to the Committee Letter process but we do offer you support throughout your exploration and application timeline.

About the Application Cycle

You complete and submit your application about a year before you will actually enter health professions school. For example, if you hope to start medical school in the fall of 2013, you would optimally submit your application in June or July of 2012. When we refer to the 2013 application cycle, we are referring to this year’s process.

Application Timeline for 2013 Cycle

Spring 2012
• Request Letters of Recommendation – You should begin this process as early as possible to give your recommenders adequate time to prepare your letters. Since you are an alumni applicant, you should seek to have a mix of academic letters from your time here at Tulane University and letters describing your current work, graduate program, or other experience. Aim to have 4-6 letters of recommendation.

Summer 2012
• Complete and submit the AMCAS – For more information on the AMCAS, please visit  AAMC.org
• Take the MCAT (aim for either the June or July test dates)
• Upon receipt of your AMCAS, medical schools will start to send you secondary applications. Try to complete these as thoroughly but quickly as possible. Schools will begin inviting applicants for interviews on the basis of secondary applications.

Late summer/Fall 2012
• Complete secondary applications as they come in
• Prepare for interviews – mock interviews are available through our office either by phone or in person
• Interview at medical schools

Spring 2013
• Interview at medical schools
• Send any updates about new projects/experiences
• Update our office on your progress

Application Strategies
• Apply early! Try to submit your AMCAS in June or July rather than August or later.
• Highlight your strengths – Medical schools value the maturity and life experience that candidates not coming directly from college bring. Emphasize what you have been doing since college and why you have decided to pursue a career in medicine at this point in your life.
• Work on any areas that need improvement – If during an appointment with an advisor, areas come up (for example, needing more clinical experience), you need to take the steps to address them. While you cannot update the AMCAS, you will be able to mention any new experiences in your secondary applications and in your interviews.
• Develop a strong personal statement – This goes hand in hand with highlighting your strengths. Your personal statement should have a strong central theme and 2-3 experiences that relate to that theme. For example, your theme may be your commitment to working with children and your examples might include working at a clinic, tutoring children, and doing research on pediatric AIDS.
• Be ready to articulate why you want to be a doctor – This may seem like an obvious strategy but it is remarkable how many applicants each year are unable to do this. Examine your values and ask yourself, “Is this career a good fit for me? If so, why