Resources

Prepare to Apply to Professional Schools

Any student wishing to apply to a postgraduate professional health program may use the PHAC's services, regardless of major. Applying to a professional health program is a long and rigorous process; therefore, it is important to establish yourself as a pre-health student early in your college career so that you can utilize the various resources that are dedicated to helping you succeed and achieve your goals.

Students who have completed the following are eligible to apply for evaluation by the °¼Í¹ÊÓƵ Pre-Professional Health Advisory Committee (PHAC):

  • Completion of BIOL 121N/122N, BIOL 123N/124N, CHEM 121N/122N and CHEM 123N/124N with grades of C or higher.
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (professional schools typically require a minimum GPA of 3.0, some require higher)
  • At least some experience in one or more of the following categories (80 cumulative hours):
    • Volunteering (Clinical or Non-Clinical)
    • Internships
    • Scribing
    • Shadowing
    • Research
    • Other

To get connected with services such as personal statement review and mock interview prep, you must complete the .

 

Here are some resources to assist with these important steps in the application process:

Pre-Professional Health

Quick Links

Please view the video on personal statements brought to you by the Pre-Professional Health Advisory Committee at °¼Í¹ÊÓƵ. This presentation will provide strategies for crafting a personal statement that reflects your accomplishments while helping you stand out from the crowd. You will also find resources here that will assist you in formulating some ideas for your own personal statement:

AAMC Advisor Corner 20 Steps to Writing a Personal Statement Purdue OWL Personal Statement Tips Writing an Effecitve Personal Statement

If you are applying during the current application cycle (June) and would like to have a one-on-one discussion to further workshop your personal statement, there will be opportunities available during the spring semester. Students who have been evaluated by the PHAC as eligible for application support services will receive an email from prehealth@odu.edu with further details.

Students planning to apply during the current application cycle should complete the following steps in order to schedule a committee interview. The committee interview is required for students requesting a committee letter from the PHAC for applications to medical or dental school. Students applying to all other professional health programs (pharmacy, physician assistant, optometry, podiatry, etc.) are encouraged to attend the pre-health interviewing workshop.

  • Step 1

    • Be eligible and have applied officially to work with the pre-health advisory committee .

  • Step 2

    • Fully complete and submit the .

  • Step 3

    • Sign up for your pre-health mock interview . Committee interviews will be conducted between May 1st and November 1st.

  • Step 4

    • Participate in Mock Interview.

  • Step 5

    • Submit Committee letter writer request/submission details (AMCAS -MD, AACOMAS - DO, Interfolio information, etc.) to Reneldo Randall (Pre-Health Advisor) at rrandall@odu.edu.

  • Step 6

    • Committee letters are typically completed in two to three weeks after the mock interview has been completed and the committee letter details have been received.