When Do You Hear Back From Medical Schools for Interviews?

When Do You Hear Back from Medical Schools for Interviews?: Medical Schools in the US

“This is my third year applying to medical school and every year that I've applied my MCAT, my GPA, my extracurriculars have been really strong. I received interviews, but I kept getting rejected or waitlisted, so this year it is my third year applying. I want to give myself the best chance of doing well in the interview” – Sophie, BeMo student

If you’re like our student Sophie, and you are actually one of the few who get invited to a medical school interview, you are already doing better than 75%-80% of medical school applicants. If you have submitted your primary medical school application, as well as your secondaries, but have not received your interview invite yet, we are here to ease your mind and prepare you for the next steps you need to take.

So when do you hear back from medical schools for interviews? In the US, the majority of candidates hear back from medical schools for interviews between October and January, but there’s variation even in that wide spread of time. The variation is due to the individual policies that each medical school has for when to contact prospective applicants along with the different application services that are used in the US – AMCAS (for allopathic schools); TMDSAS (for schools in Texas); AACOMAS (for osteopathic schools).

But you also have to consider the sheer volume of material you’ve had to submit as an applicant: your CV, transcripts, MCAT score, application essay(s), medical school resume, medical school recommendation letters, medical school secondary essays, and so on. Now, multiply that by 50k to get a grasp of the scope of the task application reviewers face! That’s a lot of information for the admissions committees to review, and it’s in your best interest to have it reviewed carefully and thoroughly. Trust that they’re getting through all that information as quickly as possible, while still giving everyone the evaluation they deserve.

Medical school application timelines can vary depending on a variety of factors. There’s no easy way to say it: with a large number of medical schools, a similarly substantial number of medical school applicants, and no truly universal timeline for application review, interview invitations, and acceptance offers, U.S. medical school applicants should anticipate a potentially year-long application process.

“The waiting game is awful,” says Moriah, a non-traditional medical school applicant who eventually got into the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. Moriah relates that the application process can be humbling, but also a little unfamiliar to the usually high-achieving people who apply to medical school. Medical school applicants, Moriah relates, are typically “used to being the top achiever,” but then, when they apply to medical school, they realize that they are in “a pool with all the top achievers and this can cause some real crises in students,” especially when they’re waiting to find out if they’re application was good enough to get an interview.

Hannah, a former nurse who decided to become a doctor and was eventually accepted into the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, also “found the waiting to be the most difficult.” Like Moriah, Hannah also found that highly motivated people have a hard time dealing with waiting. Hannah said that “it's easier to work hard when I know there's something to work towards and then eventually with the application process it's just waiting.” But the main point of this blog is to say that you should not just “wait”, but you should be more proactive during this time, as there are many things you can do if, like Hannah, the waiting is the “most challenging part,” of the medical school application process.

Keeping yourself busy if you’re not sure when do you hear back from medical schools for interviews is important because if you do nothing during this time, the uncertainty and self-doubt will begin to take hold. Giving yourself something to do is one way to avoid these feelings, but Moriah says that another way to counter all these negative feelings is to apply early, “the earlier you get it [your application] in, the better your chances.” Submitting as early as possible is also what many medical schools recommend, if you want to get an interview invitation as early as possible, and the school uses rolling admissions.

However, you can also use the time when you’re waiting to hear back from medical schools for interviews is to reflect on your application. Sherry, a recent entrant into the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, says, the entire application process is similar to a “process of introspection and self-reflection.” So when you’re waiting to hear back, Sherry says that you should use this time to figure out “who you are; what you want to be; and what you want to be for others”, which are questions that you might be asked in your interviews, so thinking about these questions can also be part of your interview prep.

When Do You Hear Back from Medical Schools for Interviews? Medical Schools in Canada

Because medical schools in Canada don’t have rolling admissions like the U.S., that means that most medical school interview invites tend to come out around the same time, and interviews happen over a much shorter span of time, as well. The good news is that this means much less uncertainty, which might result in less stress and turmoil. That said, it’s still going to be a considerable wait between application and interview invitation, as many Canadian medical schools have an early-October deadline for application submission.

In general, most of the interview invitations in Canada come out in January and February, with interviews taking place between February and April. The exact dates vary from school to school, with some having interviews spread out over a couple of months, and others holding a few big “interview weekends”, completing all interviews in the span of just a few weeks.

Note that while many medical schools in Canada follow this general timeline, you must verify dates with individual schools, as there is some variation, particularly for medical schools in Quebec and those medical schools in Nova Scotia and other Canadian Maritime provinces. For example, Dalhousie Medical School generally has a late-July deadline for primary applications (with interview invites often coming out in October), and Quebec schools vary widely in their application due dates. These differences can impact the interview invitation timeline.

If mid-February rolls around and you haven’t received a medical school interview invitation, look into the suggestions at the end of this post to think through how best to move forward.

Try these hardest medical school interview questions for practice!

When Do You Hear from Medical Schools for Interviews: How to Stop Worrying

Aside from increasing your chances of hearing from your medical school earlier than other applicants, submitting your application as soon as possible can also take the weight off your shoulders. As Moriah says, “the sooner you’re just like, ‘alright now I'm done, and now I’m just waiting’,” but you’ll also be free to focus on other things, such as your interview prep, preparing additional application materials (letter of intent, if you need one) or whether you can do anything to enhance your application.

But something else that Moriah talks about coming to terms with, if you’re waiting for an interview invite and not sure when do you hear back from medical schools for interviews, is something you might not want to consider, which is medical school rejection. In fact, making peace with the fact that you might be rejected is the number one piece of advice Moriah has to offer premeds.

She says that “the main thing you have to learn (about the application process) is on some level to be prepared for rejection.” Someone who knows a lot about rejection is Joe, who applied to nineteen different medical schools on the East Coast. How many interview invites did Joe get from those nineteen different medical schools, which took an incredible amount of work to apply to? One.

Fortunately, the one interview invite Joe received from New York Medical College ended with an admission. But Joe’s case highlights something important about how to use your time when you are waiting and wondering when do you hear back from medical schools for interviews, which is preparing for your interview. You should absolutely spend this time be proactive and focusing on how to answer medical school interview questions or MMI questions, depending on the interview format your program uses.

Joe says he "spent my entire winter break of my senior year just basically preparing; learning all the ethical scenarios” of the MMI, since that is the interview format of New York Medical College. While Joe had time before his medical school interview, since he only had one, if you’ve applied to many medical schools, you should start basic interview prep (reading over questions; drafting answers) as soon as your secondary applications are off. But there many other things you can do when you are thinking when do you hear back from medical schools for interviews.

How can MMI interview coaching help you?

Is There Any Way For Me to Hear Back Earlier?

The rolling admissions system in the U.S. can also factor into the medical school interview invitation timeline, to some extent. That is, in the U.S., those who apply first often have their applications reviewed earliest. So, if you are a highly competitive candidate and you apply early, submit your secondary applications promptly, and have demonstrated a clear alignment with the mission, vision, and values of the institution (that is, you’ve shown that you’re a “good fit” for the program in your primary and secondary application materials), it is possible that you may hear back earlier in the interview cycle. That said, each school has its own timeline for application review, too, and medical schools don’t always necessarily review applications as they come in, so you shouldn’t fret if you submitted your application on the earliest possible date and you haven’t received any interview invitations in the earliest months indicated above – it all just depends on the school.

I Submitted Early, But Still Haven’t Heard Anything – What Gives?

That said, if you submitted your application at the earliest date possible and haven’t heard anything by December, it is possible that your application has been put in a category known as “pre-interview hold”. If this is the case, then the school has reviewed your application and found it competitive enough to keep in the proverbial pile, but not competitive enough to offer an interview immediately. However, they may still do so later in the cycle, after they’ve had the opportunity to compare it to the wider pool of applicants. Alas, there isn’t really any way for you to find out if this is the case, and you should not try to contact the school to ask about this status. Applicants are expected to be patient and wait for the process to unfold, so contacting the school can reflect poorly on your patience and ability to manage stress (both of which are needed in the medical profession!). At the end of this post, we’ll discuss some ways to get through this time and make the most of it, so focus on that rather than obsessing over where your application is in the evaluation process (easier said than done, I know!).

When Do you Hear Back from Medical Schools for Interviews: What to Do Instead of Worrying

In the time between submitting the application and the early medical school interview invitation timeline, there really isn’t much you can do to impact your chances of getting that invitation. Most importantly, worrying about it simply isn’t going to help you – quite the opposite! So, here are some things you can do instead of worrying, at various stages of the med school interview invitation timeline.

What to do prior to medical school interview invitations through the early weeks/months of the medical school interview invitation timeline:

• Refine your stress management
• Do things you enjoy
• Enhance your application with experience

This is likely going to be a stressful time, so use this as an opportunity to continue refining your stress management strategies. If you’re hoping to become a medical professional, you’re preparing to enter an inherently stressful line of work, so learning to compartmentalize stress and directing your efforts to where you can actually make an impact is crucial. One key thing you can do is focus on your own health and self-care. Prioritizing your physical and mental well-being is important for any professional, as it helps with overall performance and also the ability to manage stress. Equally important, if you take this time to work on your physical health through exercise, nutrition, and healthy habits, you’ll be at your physical best when an interview offer does come in!

What to do During the Mid-Point of the Medical School Interview Invitation Timeline

At this stage of the process, you could consider sending a medical school letter of intent or update letter, especially if you have a specific connection with the school/program or feel you’re a particularly good fit. Keep in mind that the information you provide in your letter should be new; in other words, should be found nowhere in your application materials or secondary essays, including your medical school personal statement. And although updates like grade increases or higher MCAT scores matter, so do other aspects of your application:

“[As I was working on my applications and waiting for interviews] I also continued to participate in my hobbies including photography” – Dr. Monica Taneja, MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine

So if you’re not sure what you can highlight in your update letter, here are some things that you can consider:

• Transcripts (updated grades)
• Work and activities
• Volunteer work
• Leadership activities
• Honors/accomplishments/awards
• Research activities

Clearly but briefly re-articulate your reasons for applying to this specific program and why you feel your mission, vision, and values align with theirs. For U.S. applicants, this could be done around December; for Canadian applicants, mid-February would be an appropriate time.

Note that if you have received any communication from the school that indicates that they do not welcome update letters or letters of intent, you should not take this step. This is pretty rare – most schools are open to receiving such information. However, it hopefully should go without saying that you shouldn’t do this if you’ve been specifically instructed not to.

As noted previously, another option is to ask an advocate (usually one of your letter writers) to call the admissions Dean on your behalf. If you feel you are a particularly good fit for one particular program, having a person of stature in the academic community reach out to emphasize this can impact the evaluation of your application.

What to do Late in the Medical School Interview Invitation Timeline

If the weeks and months have dragged on and you’ve received no medical school interview invitations in the final weeks of the medical school interview invitation timeline, there’s really only one thing left to do: begin damage control and start preparing for the next application cycle. As noted earlier, during this whole process, you should be maintaining or expanding your volunteering activities, clinical experiences, premed research opportunities, and other work related to your professionalization as an aspiring future physician. This keeps you connected to the medical community, but it also helps you continue building your CV, in the event that you are not accepted.

At this late stage in the process, it’s time to start doing an honest and thorough evaluation of your application materials and your education, work, and activities to this point. If you didn’t get a medical school interview invitation, then that simply means that your application wasn’t as competitive as it needs to be or you didn't meet the medical school requirements, which is something that Moriah, a non-traditional applicant, says is important that you realize about the application process.

“It is such a competitive process,” says Moriah, about applying to medical, and if you don’t get an interview invitation “it’s not because of who you are or anything.” Moriah offers a bit of perspective saying that you should know that “on some level it’s a numbers game and that’s okay”. You should also remember that not getting an interview invite may be a good thing. At one of her interviews, Moriah found that “I absolutely hated it; I was like ‘I don’t want to come here.’” The lesson is that you’ll get accepted into the school that is the right fit for you, as Moriah says, “that means you were supposed to be there and that you’re going to be a good fit for that school.” Conversely, you shouldn’t take any interview invites you don’t receive as rejection, but as Moriah says, “a sigh of relief.” Moriah took the attitude that for these schools she was “not a good fit...and that’s okay, that’s normal.”

So, not getting interview invites from some schools doesn’t need to mean the end of your journey. In fact, since resilience and self-correction are key qualities needed for a future as a medical professional, it shouldn’t mean the end of your journey. Rather, it should instead prompt you to examine what went wrong and what you can do to submit a stronger application for the next cycle. And keep in mind that even if you did not get an invite to an interview this cycle, it’s never late to start learning how to prepare for med school interview and how long to prepare for your medical school interview. This initial research can really help in preparation for your next application cycle.

Medical School Interview Invitations: Preparing to Reapply

MCAT

Reflect honestly on your MCAT score, particularly in terms of how it compares to the scores of last year’s matriculants at your schools of choice, unless you've applied to medical schools that don't require MCAT. This information is sometimes available on the school’s website, otherwise it can be found on the AAMC’s Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR). Is your score truly competitive? If not, you may want to consider retaking the MCAT and if so, make sure you know when to start preparing for MCAT for the second cycle of your applications and how to study for the MCAT to get a better score.

Kannan, one of our students, had to retake the MCAT as his first score was 497, which is not very competitive, especially for the top-tier medical schools such as Harvard Medical School and Stanford Medical School that Kannan was aiming for. Luckily, Kannan gave himself enough time before applying to retake the MCAT and scored a more impressive 510, but still short of the 520 average MCAT for a school like Harvard:

“I had [my new score] about two to three weeks prior to sending in applications, which impacted my school list a bit too. I used MSAR which has stats for every med school to classify schools into reaches, about mid-tier and lower-tier [schools]. I [also] applied to all the top tier DO schools” – Kannan, BeMo student, current student at Western University of Health Sciences

But Kannan had other aces up his sleeve. He logged over 150 clinical hours for medical school, which included volunteering in the emergency department at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in California; and 100 non-clinical experiences that included helping seniors navigate technology-related concerns. Those experiences and his other application materials helped get Kannan three acceptances, and two spots on a medical school waitlist. So, while you should absolutely try to retake the MCAT to improve a lackluster score, you should also be mindful that things like shadowing hours for medical school, extracurriculars for medical school and application materials can also make a difference in your medical school application chances. In the meantime, consider these strategies to help improve your performance on the MCAT:

• Retake the MCAT diagnostic test
• Create an MCAT study schedule
• Identify weaknesses
• Use active study strategies
• Get professional help

 But keep this advice from Dr. Neel Mistry, MD, in mind as you strive for a higher MCAT:

“Although the [MCAT score] is important when trying to calculate the odds of getting in, unfortunately, there is no simple formula for who gets in and who does not. I have seen many students over the years with perfect GPAs and MCAT not get in, while those with less impressive statistics get in.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine

GPA 

While it’s possible to get into medical school with a low GPA, it’s all contextual. You should also compare your GPA to last year’s matriculants (this info is also generally available through the school’s website or MSAR). Might it be in your interest to take some extra courses to bump your score up a bit? Are there any modifications you can make to your current course load to help improve your GPA (if you’re still in school)?

One thing that Dr. Neel Mistry, who graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, and did his residency at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine recommends to ensure you have a high GPA “would be taking courses you genuinely enjoy as opposed to doing them because they are ‘easy’ or to have a ‘relaxed’ schedule.” Dr. Mistry’s reasoning is “when you are doing something that you enjoy, you automatically end up going the extra mile, which shows in both the quality of your work as well as the results.” But if you’re a senior or have already graduated, you should ask yourself whether a special master’s program or post-baccalaureate program would benefit you? It can be incredibly difficult to make substantial increases to your GPA the further along you are in school, but sometimes additional courses, a post-bacc, or even graduate study can help offset less-than-ideal grades. Be sure you’re aware of medical school GPA requirements early on. Here are some tips to help you improve your GPA:

• Pursue grad school
• Improve your application
• Consider medical school admissions consulting

Some applicants might be wondering “do I need a graduate degree to boost my medical school chances?” The answer is that some programs can, if they are designed to boost your chances of medical school acceptance, like the post-bacc programs, and there are some pros and cons of pursuing such a graduate degree. Some of the major benefits include gaining better recommendation letters, more advanced research projects, and better networking. Keep in mind that not every medical school will look at your graduate school GPA, so you should make sure you’re only applying to relevant schools if this is the choice you’re making.

Date of Application and Applying Strategically

Next, look over the list of schools to which you applied. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself at this time:

1. If you’re a U.S. applicant, did you apply early? If not, the rolling admissions process may have worked against you, as the earliest applications generally get first consideration.
2. Did you apply strategically, focusing only on those schools where you had the strongest chances of admission?
3. Did you apply only to your “dream schools”, thinking about location, prestige, or other factors over realistically determining what your chances of admission were?

Again, you can review medical school acceptance rates on school websites or through MSAR, and you should apply first and foremost based on where you have realistic chances of getting in. “MSAR was a great resource as I built a list,” says Dr. Monica Taneja, who graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Taneja was able to use MSAR, specifically the GPA and MCAT ranges, “to make sure my statistics were within the 25-75 percentiles.” Just as important, MSAR allowed Dr. Taneja to check other vital information such as “the number of volunteer, work, and research experiences that accepted applicants had,” which, in turn, helped her focus her efforts on “schools that had averages that matched my numbers.” This means meeting their GPA and MCAT thresholds, demonstrating relevant skills and experiences, and emphasizing the values and goals they uphold in your application components.

The answer to the question “how many medical schools should I apply to?” is another question: “How many medical schools could I realistically gain admission to?” Make sure to apply to those schools where your profile would be valued.

Letters of Recommendation and Verifiers

Consider your letters of recommendation and/or verifiers next. While you generally won’t have access to your reference letters, and thus won’t know their content, you can think about who wrote for you and whether these were the best letter-writers for your application. Consider the following to help you evaluate the quality of the letters you submit:

1. Volunteer and Work Experience

2. Look over your list of work and activities and consider the following points during your review:

• Did you show commitment? According to Dr. Mistry, medical school admissions committees “love long-term involvement.” But the length of your commitment should also be a deciding factor in what you choose to describe as your most meaningful experience, among others, such as your ability to talk at length about the experience, and the quality of your referee.
• Did you go above and beyond? The time you’ve put into a meaningful experience will also count toward whether you’ve gone above and beyond. Dr. Mistry counsels that an “activity that you were involved in for longer often has more weight over a similar activity that you only did for a short period of time.” But ultimately, according to Dr. Mistry, you should choose an activity to talk about only if it “truly helped you grow as an individual – an experience where you learned new skills that will enhance your study of medicine.”

Take The Necessary Steps To Amend Gaps Or Lacking Qualities

Have you demonstrated clear and consistent dedication to the field of medicine and your own professional development? Or, have you done the bare minimum in terms of work, volunteering, shadowing hours for medical school, clinical experiences, research, and the like?

If you are asked to address these gaps in an interview, Dr. Mistry suggests that you “shape it in a positive light,” which means “showing how you have grown past it and have matured as an individual.” The goal in addressing any red flags or gaps in your application is to show you’ve taken steps to rectify those short-comings. It’s not an automatic disqualification if you have some gaps, but you also don’t want to brush over them without, as Dr. Mistry puts it, “identifying what the reason was for that (the gap or red flag),” so you can then be “honest with the committee,” about what happened.

This is seconded by Dr. Taneja, who advises, “the best way to address red flags is to be open and honest.” If there is no narrative of commitment to the field of medicine, then the admissions committee won’t consider you a viable candidate for their program. How can this be assessed? If you jumped from one project to the next within weeks, then this pattern does not show commitment. Having one long-term project where you grew as a professional and an individual is much more valuable than having a million extracurriculars where you had no impact. For example, plenty of virtual research opportunities for premedical students can help you demonstrate this level of consistency and intention in your activities.

Your Application Materials

Finally, consider your application as a whole, particularly your personal statement, secondaries, or other essays you had to write. Again, you need to be brutally honest – this isn’t the time for excuses, it’s the time for stark reality. Did you devote the time and effort needed to compose something truly great and reflective of your skills and dedication? Did you crank out a draft overnight and send it in, or did you conduct brainstorming and outlining, composing multiple drafts and re-writes, getting expert feedback, reviewing for impeccable grammar and flow, crafting a shining gem of a document over days – if not weeks – of composition, review, and revision for each and every essay? Dr. Neel Mistry suggests:

“Getting a fresh pair of eyes to have a look is never a bad idea. Asking your friends, families, and the experts at BeMo to have a look at your [application] and provide feedback helps to make it stronger and flesh out any oversights that may have been made.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD, University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine

It is not possible to understate the importance of these documents, and if you didn’t take those steps, then this is the most likely issue with your application (unless there’s something glaringly missing or below par in the other aspects listed above). In short, if your essays weren’t truly exceptional, then they likely didn’t grab the eye of the admissions committee, and if that doesn’t happen, the chances of being invited to interview are pretty much nil.

Medical School Interview Invitations: Final Thoughts

If you’re waiting for invites to medical schools in the US and when December rolls around you haven’t received a secondary application, it’s unfortunately unlikely that you will receive one. In Canada, the first three months of the year – January to March – are when most medical schools release their invites, so if you haven’t received an invite after March, your chances don’t look good. This is the time to take stock of what happened (follow our advice above) and put together a more competitive application for the following application cycle, as well as look at the easiest medical schools to get into.

If, on the other hand, December arrives and you have submitted a secondary application, there are a couple of things you can do to try to make the case for your suitability for the program and profession.

If you are waiting for invitations for interview from medical schools in Canada, you should become concerned…

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Your friends at BeMo

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