Pre-Medicine Committee Review

You must complete the application through Qualtrics and upload all application materials by Friday, March 22, 2024 to be eligible to participate in the PMC review. All letters of recommendation must also be received by this date. These should be sent to aspremedcommittee@kent.edu. 

Students must be declared in a College of Arts and Sciences major and hold a cumulative 3.400 GPA to participate in the PMC review.

The PMC will review your application and conduct interviews within 4-6 weeks of the application deadline. You should be planning to apply to medical school in the upcoming cycle if you request a PMC review. You may submit your application materials only one time each year.

2024 Request for a Pre-Medicine Committee Review Instructions (PDF)

Please adhere to the 5300-character limit (including spaces) established by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Your essay should address why you want to become a medical doctor. You may wish to include experiences, motivations, and/or challenges that distinguish you from other applicants. This is also the place to explain any significant fluctuations in your academic record. For help in creating an effective personal statement see the "Tips for Writing A Personal Statement" included in the application (see above) or contact Career Exploration and Development for assistance.

The personal statement you present to the Pre-Medicine Committee should be a polished, final draft. The PMC reviewers may provide feedback regarding content and structure, but you should provide a statement that includes well-developed and structured sentences and has already been checked for spelling and grammar. 

For this section, list up to 15 experiences that affected your life or decision to become a medical doctor. These may include (but are not limited to): volunteer activities, medically relevant experiences, laboratory research, shadowing experience, employment, leadership roles, etc.

For each experience, provide a title, start and end dates, total number of hours, name of organization, location, contact information for a person who can verify your participation (when possible), as well as a brief description (maximum 700 characters). List your experiences in chronological order, as this is how they will appear on your actual application.

Consider the Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students when writing your experience description. You should use your description to explain how that experience either taught you or allowed you to demonstrate one or several of the Core Competencies.

You must identify at least one and no more than three activities that you consider to be "Most Meaningful." For these experiences, you are allowed an additional 1325 characters to explain why you feel this experience is meaningful.

Your experiences should ideally include only activities you have undertaken post-high school. There may be some exceptions made for on-going experiences, significant awards or achievements related to medicine, or similar instances.

Tips and examples can be found in the "Guidelines for Completing Experiences/Activities Section" in the PMC application.

You may have 3-6 individual letters of recommendation sent by email to aspremedcommittee@kent.edu. Give a completed and signed 'PMC Recommendation Letter Request Form' to each individual you are soliciting a letter. All letters should be addressed 'To The Admissions Committee' (not the Pre-Medicine Committee), signed and on letterhead paper.

You may elect not to have your letters included in the PMC review, but it is then your responsibility to request your letter writers to upload their letters individually directly to the application service.

Letter writers should be professional, non-related individuals who best know your attributes to become a medical doctor. It's strongly recommended that letters come from 1-2 science faculty (biology, chemistry, physics, or mathematics), 1-2 from allopathic and/or osteopathic physicians, and potentially an additional letter from a social science or humanities faculty, research mentor, employer, volunteer coordinator, coach, medical professional, etc.

As a benefit of participating in the Pre-Medicine Committee review process, you may elect to have your letters then uploaded to AMCAS (AAMC) and/or AACOMAS (AACOM) as a "Letter Packet." Please indicate in the Qualtrics application if you would like to have your letters uploaded. All letters must be received by the deadline to be uploaded as a packet.  

After your Pre-Medicine Committee reviewers have looked over your personal statement, list of experiences, and letters of recommendation, they will reach out to set up individual interviews. You will be interviewed by two different committee members. You may discuss the interview format (in person or virtual) with your reviewers. The interview will not only allow the reviewer to see your interview skills and abilities, but will also give you additional practice prior to the application cycle. You should take these interviews seriously and endeavor to prepare by reviewing your application materials, looking over medical school interview preparation recommendations, and practicing with friends, family, or other university professionals.

Career Exploration and Development at Kent State University offers mock interview services, which can be scheduled through KSUAdvising. There is more information about mock interviews available on their website.

You should consult with your interviewer(s) in advance to determine if they wish you to wear business/interview attire or if you can dress casually for your interview.

For virtual interviews, please be sure to find a quiet, well-lit space with reliable access to WIFI. You should be mindful of your background, keeping it as neutral and distraction-free as possible. You will also need access to a computer or tablet with a camera and microphone. You may want to consider practicing with the virtual platform (Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) prior to the interview, to make sure you have the appropriate access and understand the controls.