TMDSAS

Medical Application

• How to Apply
  • Application Instructions
  • Education Requirements
  • Foreign Coursework
  • Admissions Tests
  • Special Programs
  • Section Overview
  • Evaluation & Transcript Request Forms
  • Applicant Responsibilities
• After you Apply
• Acceptance/Match Info
• Enter Match Preference
• Participating Schools

Resources

• FAQ
• Residency
• Policies
• Texas Academic Fresh Start
• Application Statistics

Section Overview of the Application

TMDSAS strongly recommends that you print out the following Section Overview as well as the Application Instructions so that you can refer to them while filling out the application.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to read, understand and follow all TMDSAS and school-specific instructions. Applicants must certify that they have read, understand, and agree to comply with TMDSAS instructions when submitting a TMDSAS application.

The TMDSAS online application consists of multiple sections, each section must be saved individually. It is imperative that you save each page BEFORE moving to the next page. Information will be lost if you do not save each page.

Following is a listing of the sections. Click on each section to learn more.

SELECT SCHOOLS
Select Schools : Application History

QUESTIONS
Personal Information:
Contact Info : Demographic : Socioeconomic : Military Service : Family : Financial : Felonies and Misdemeanors

Education:
High School : Colleges Attended : Colleges Attended Questions : Terms Attended : College Coursework : Planned Enrollment : Education History

Employment and Activities:
Academic Recognition : College Leadership : Employment : Research Activities :
Healthcare Activities : Community Service : Extracurricular & Leisure Activities : Planned Activities

Essays

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Upload Photo : Test Dates : Letters of Evaluation

CHRONOLOGY OF ACTIVITIES

PROOF OF RESIDENCY

PAY & SUBMIT
Certification : Payment

* Important - Be sure to proofread your application thoroughly BEFORE submitting. Applications will be forwarded to the schools exactly as they are submitted.

Select Schools

SELECT SCHOOLS

In this section, you will first indicate if you are applying through any special/assured admission program such as JAMP or the Texas A&M HSC COM Partnership in Primary Care Program.

Check the box of each school you wish to apply to.  If you plan on applying to any of the dual degree programs offered at each school (e.g. MD/PhD, DO/PhD, JD/MD, MBA/MD) you will check the box of each dual degree program you wish to apply to. 

Next, you will indicate if you are applying to any MD/PhD programs through AMCAS.  You will also indicate if you intend to apply to any non-TMDSAS schools for the current application cycle.

APPLICATION HISTORY

In this section, you will indicate if you have previously applied to medical, dental or vet school.  You will indicate the school(s), the entry year you applied for, if you were accepted and if you are currently enrolled.  If you were ever accepted, you will need to indicate if you were ever dismissed or withdrawn from medical, dental, or vet school.

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Questions: Personal Information

CONTACT INFO

*You may make revisions to this section any time during the application process.*

LEGAL NAME
Enter your first, middle and last names. You will also enter any salutations or prefixes associated with your name.

OTHER NAMES
If you prefer to be addressed by a different first name other than your legal first name, you will indicate that information in this section. 

Also, if there are any other last names (i.e. maiden name) listed on your academic records than what you have already entered, you must indicate those names.

EMAIL/PHONE
Indicate your email address. If you need to change your email account, do so through the [My Account] link in the upper right-hand corner of the application.

Provide the cell phone number where TMDSAS and/or admissions officers can contact you. If you do not have a cell phone, you will answer “No” to the question “Do you have a cell phone?”

You will also provide your work phone number – if applicable.

MAILING ADDRESS

If your address changes at any time during the application process, login to your application and update your address. Keeping your address updated helps assure that you do not miss important information.

• Address 1 - Enter your current mailing address. TMDSAS and the schools you apply to will use this address to send you any correspondence.
• Address 2 - If needed, enter an apartment number or additional address information in this field. If not, leave this field blank.
• City - Type the name of your city.
• Country - Select your country from the pull down menu.
• State - Select your state from the pull down menu.
• County - Select your county from the pull down menu.
• Zip Code or Postal Code - Enter your zip or postal code.
• Phone number - Provide the phone number where TMDSAS and/or admissions officers can contact you.

PERMANENT ADDRESS
Enter your permanent address information if different from your Mailing Address. If your permanent address is the same as your mailing address, answer “Yes” to the question “Is your Mailing Address also your Permanent Address?” and the information will pre-populate from what you entered under Mailing Address.

If your permanent address changes, login to your TMDSAS application account and update your address online.

• Address 1 - Enter your Permanent Address.
• Address 2 - If needed, enter an apartment number or additional address information in this field. If not, leave this field blank.
• City - Type the name of your city.
• Country - Select your country from the pull down menu.
• State - Select your state from the pull down menu.
• County - Select your county from the pull down menu.
• Zip Code or Postal Code - Enter your zip or postal code.
• Phone number - Provide the phone number for your permanent address.

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DEMOGRAPHIC INFO

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

BIRTH INFORMATION

• Date of Birth- Enter your date of birth - mm/dd/yyyy
• City - Enter the city where you were born.
• Country - Select the country in which you were born from the pull down menu.
• State/Possession/Canadian Province - Select the state, possession or province in which you were born from the pull down menu.
• County - Select the US county in which you were born from the pull down menu - if applicable.

HOMETOWN
The following questions refer to what you consider your "hometown".

• City - Enter the name of the city that you consider your hometown.
• Country - Select the country from the pull down menu.
• State/Possession/Canadian Province - Select the state, possession or province from the pull down menu.
• County - Select the US county of your hometown from the pull down menu - if applicable.
• Approximate Population - Select the approximate population range of your hometown from the pull down menu.
• Describe the Area - Select: Rural, Urban, Inner City, Suburban, Military or Government Installation or Other. Definitions are provided.
• Primary language spoken at home - Select the primary language spoken at home from the pull down menu.

GENDER
Indicate whether you are male or female.

ETHNICITY AND RACE
The following questions are asked for federal and/or state reporting purposes. These questions are voluntary and applicants will not be at a disadvantage in the admissions process if they are not completed.

The table below provides guideline for self-identification:

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SOCIOECONOMIC INFO

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

The questions in this section ask:

• Are you a member of the first generation in your family to apply to, attend or graduate from an undergraduate program?
• Are you a member of the first generation in your family to apply to, attend or graduate from a graduate or professional program?
• Are you a parent or guardian of dependent children?
• What do you consider your primary language?
• Are you bilingual or multilingual?

You will also be asked several questions that pertain to the household in which you were raised or spent the majority of your life from birth to age 18. If you moved frequently during this time period, enter the information for the location you spent the majority of your childhood.

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MILITARY SERVICE

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

You will answer questions concerning whether or not you have served in the United States military.

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FAMILY INFO

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

You will enter information regarding your parents as well as any significant male and/or female figures in your life.

You will indicate how many siblings you have.  You may include step-siblings if you choose.  You will then indicate the following for each of your siblings:

• Age
• Relationship – brother or sister
• If they have ever attended college

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FINANCIAL INFO

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

You will enter the percentage of your college expenses provided by family, spouse, academic scholarships, financial need-based scholarships, loans, employment, or other sources. The total percentage must add up to 100%.

If you have graduated college, you will also be asked to indicate the percentage of your living expenses provided by family, spouse, employment or other sources. The total percentage must add up to 100%.

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FELONIES AND MISDEMEANORS

You will indicate whether you are currently under charge or have you ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, or have you ever received a felony or misdemeanor deferred adjudication.

You need NOT disclose information about any of the following:

• you were arrested but not charged
• you were arrested and charged, but the charges were dropped
• you were arrested and charged, but found not guilty by a judge or jury
• you were arrested and found guilty by a judge or jury, but the conviction was overturned on appeal
•  you received an executive pardon
•  a juvenile or criminal record that has been sealed or expunged. Failure to disclose information that is not in fact expunged or sealed may result in the applicant being denied admission
• minor traffic violations

After the date of submission of your TMDSAS application and prior to your medical school matriculation, if you are charged, convicted of, plead guilty, or no contest to a felony or misdemeanor crime, you must inform TMDSAS as well as the admissions office of each medical school to which you have applied. You must notify TMDSAS and each medical school within ten business days of the occurrence of the criminal charge or conviction. Failure to do so is grounds for rejection of your application, withdrawal of any offer of acceptance, dismissal after enrollment, or rescission of any degrees granted.

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Questions: Education

HIGH SCHOOL

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

Indicate how you completed your high school education: High School, GED or Home Schooled.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
Enter the country and state, if applicable, in which your high school is located.  Enter part of the high school name and then click [Search] to search for your high school.  From the search results, click on [Add School] next to the correct listing – doing so will pre-populate the following information:

• High School Name
• City
• Zip Code
• State
• County

If your high school was not found, you will need to add the school manually in the designated [High School Information] fields.

Next, enter graduation month, graduation year, class size and class rank, if applicable, in the designated fields.

GED
For applicants who have received their GED certificate, please list the city, zip code, country and state where the certificate was awarded.  Enter the graduation month and graduation year the certificate was received.

HOME SCHOOLED
For applicants who were home schooled, please list the city, zip code, country and state where you home schooled (or received your diploma).  Enter the graduation month and graduation year.

SAT AND/OR ACT RESULTS
If you have taken either the SAT or ACT you will need to enter your score(s).

Contact your college admissions office if you do not remember your score(s). 

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COLLEGES ATTENDED

*You may make revisions to this section any time during the application process. You will be able to add new schools. *

• List ALL undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools you have attended. You must also enter information about ALL schools you plan on attending between now and the completion of Summer 2012.
• List each school once for each type of degree - even if there was a break in attendance.  For example, if you attended Houston Community College in the summer of 2006 and 2008, you would list the school once with attendance dates as:  Summer 2006 – Summer 2008.
• If you attended the same school for undergraduate and graduate/professional programs, list each degree program separately.
• Include foreign colleges. You do not need to list a foreign college if it was part of an official study abroad program and the coursework appears on the transcript of the sponsoring US college or university.
• Failure to list all colleges and universities may delay processing of your application and may be considered a violation of your application certification statement.

ADD COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY

Click on the [Add College or University] button.  Enter the country, state and a distinctive part of the college or university name and a list of matching institutions will appear.  Keep in mind that the less you type in the [College Name] field, the more results you will get back. Try just entering words that are unique to your college name. Click the [Search] button to obtain your search results.

Select the correct institution and click [Select] to add the school to your list of Colleges Attended. This will fill in the required [Institution Information] fields for the college listing. 

If your college was not found in the search, you will need to add the college manually.

Enter attendance dates and degree information.  Majors and minors are listed alphabetically.  If your major/minor is not listed, select “Other” and enter your major/minor in the designated field.  Next, indicate if you were enrolled in an honors program at this school.  

Click [Add College Attended] on the bottom left corner of the screen.  Continue to enter additional colleges and universities attended by clicking on the [Add College or University] link.  Once you have entered all schools, check the box that states: Click the checkbox if you have no more colleges to enter at this time.  Your colleges will not be saved to the database until you have checked this box and clicked [Save ]or [Save and Continue].

COLLEGES ATTENDED QUESTIONS

First, you will be asked if you were enrolled in any institution under the Texas Academic Fresh Start provision.  Academic Fresh Start is a program which allows non-traditional students to apply on equal footing as a traditional applicant.

Next, you will indicate your primary undergraduate college. Primary College is the college or university from which you received or will receive your bachelor's degree. If no degree is planned, select the school at which you earned the majority of your credit.

Lastly, you will be asked if you want to release your information to the Health Professions Advisor at this school.  Checking [Yes] permits your advisor to view information about the status of your application.  Your TMDSAS application will be processed regardless of how you answer the question.  TMDSAS strongly encourages you to give permission to release selected information about the status of your application to your health professions advisor.  Having this information helps your advisor provide services to you and informs the advisor about the success of students from your college/university in being admitted into medical/dental/vet schools. However, your application will not be adversely impacted if you do not agree to have your information released to your health professions advisor.

TERMS ATTENDED

*You may make revisions to this section any time during the application process. You will be able to add new terms attended. *

Enter all terms in which you have taken course work at each school listed in the [Colleges Attended] section. 

To add a term, click on [Add Term] button next to the institution for which you wish to add a term.  From the drop-down menu, select the year, term and whether or not the credits are reported in semester or quarter hours.  Click [Add This Term] to save. 

Once you have entered all terms, you MUST click [Save] or [Save and Continue] or all information will be lost.

COLLEGE COURSEWORK

*You may make revisions to this section any time during the application process. You will be able to add planned/future coursework. *

IMPORTANT REMINDER
You must list all coursework from every institution attended exactly as it appears on your official transcript(s).  Include information and corresponding grades for every course you have ever taken at any US, US overseas or Canadian institution, regardless of whether credit was earned. You should enter any planned or future coursework as well.

Within each term, list the courses as they appear on the official transcript. Use a personal copy of your official transcript(s) to enter ALL of your college coursework attempted and earned (do not attempt to do this from memory).

All courses that appear on your official transcript (s) and for which a grade and credit was ever assigned will be included in the TMDSAS GPA calculations, even if they are not included in the GPA calculations of the transcript-issuing school.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Courses that have been repeated
• Courses that you failed, regardless of whether they have been repeated
• Courses you took in high school for college credit that appear on a college transcript
• Courses taken at American colleges overseas

TMDSAS verifies your self-reported courses against your official transcript(s) and will report any discrepancies to your selected institutions. TMDSAS does not enter courses for you. TMDSAS will contact you and return your application for corrections or explanations if it identifies a significant number of course discrepancies or omissions. Failure to properly enter all course information and to make corrections as requested may result in processing delays and may jeopardize your chances for admission.

ADDING COURSEWORK FOR A TERM
Click on the [Add Course] button next to the term you want to enter coursework for.

For each course, you will enter the following: Academic Status, Course Type, Prefix, Course Number, Course Area, Transcript Grade, Credit Hours, and Last Time Taken.  Click on [Add Course] to save the course. 

You can continue to add, edit or delete courses to the term selected by clicking the [Add Course] button or the [Edit] link next to each course.

When you have finished adding, updating, and deleting courses for each term, click on the [Done for this Term] button.

Continue this process until you have added all coursework for all terms. Be sure to include future/planned coursework (indicate "Not Yet Reported" as the grade for planned coursework).

When you have finished adding, updating and deleting courses for each term, click on the [Continue to Next Section] button to continue with the application.

DEFINITIONS FOR COMPLETING [ADD A COURSE FOR A TERM]

ACADEMIC STATUS
Indicate your academic status for each course you enter. Refer to the table below for definitions.

COURSE TYPE
Indicate the course type for each course taken. Most courses will be labeled [Regular Class].

Course types include:

• Regular Class - Most courses will be designated [Regular Class]. This is a regular class taken in the classroom.
• Distance Learning/Online Course - Indicate if the course you are entering was completed as an on-line, correspondence or other form of learning at a distance. Distance learning/online courses are considered for credit and grades earned are computed into the TMDSAS GPA.
• Honors - An honors course is one taken as part of an undergraduate honors program, not a course for which you may have received academic honors.
• Study Abroad - Indicate if you enrolled in courses at a foreign university as part of a Study Abroad program, and received credit for those courses on a U.S. or Canadian school transcript. Courses completed overseas that are not part of a Study Abroad program should be treated as foreign coursework and will not be included in the TMDSAS GPA computation.
• Advanced Placement/CLEP - Indicate if you have received credits on your transcript from AP or CLEP examinations.  AP or CLEP credit is accepted only if the school granting the credit lists the specific course(s) and number of units granted per course on an official transcript. Lump sum credit is not accepted. If these do not appear on the transcript, an official letter from the registrar is required.  AP credit appearing on the transcript without subject or course names will be classified as non-science unless official documentation is received. If a letter grade is shown on the official transcript, the letter grade should be listed in the Grade column and will be included in your GPA calculations.  If a letter grade is not given on the official transcript or the course is indicated as being passed, then enter the semester hours and, under Grade column, select CR – credit.
• International Baccalaureate - Indicate if you have received credits on your transcript for completion of an International Baccalaureate Program, an intensive pre-college curriculum sponsored by the International Baccalaureate Organization.
• Credit by Institutional/Departmental Exam - Indicate if you have received credits on your transcript for successful completion of an institutional or departmental examination.
• Audit - Any course you attended without attempting to earn credit.  No credit hours or grade will be assigned.
• Developmental - Developmental courses will not count towards the GPA nor will they be calculated into the overall hours.
• Dual Credit - College credit earned when a high school student is taking a college course for both high school and college credit.  If you took college courses while in high school and received only college credit, you should indicate this Course Type as [Regular Class].  The credit must appear on an official transcript from the college. Courses may be taken at the high school or at the college, but need to be listed on the application under the name of the college.

PREFIX
Enter the departmental prefix of the course as it appears on the transcript - for example, CHEM.

COURSE NUMBER
Enter the course number as it appears on the official transcript.

COURSE NAME
Enter the full course title as it appears on the official transcript. For example, General Chemistry I.

COURSE AREA
Indicate the course area from the drop-down menu for each course. Following are the subject areas and courses which qualify for each. For courses that are not listed, use your judgment – TMDSAS will determine correct course area during processing.

TRANSCRIPT GRADE
Record the grade as it appears on your official transcript. This can be a numeric grade or a letter grade, with or without a plus or minus sign.

If narrative evaluations are used in your system in lieu of grades, list "Pass" if pass credit was awarded. Copies of narrative evaluations will be forwarded to your designated colleges.

TMDSAS GRADE
The TMDSAS grading system standardizes the way grades will be reported to your designated schools.  TMDSAS grades include: A, B, C, D, F, Credit, Pass, Quit, Fail, Incomplete and Not Yet Reported (to be used for future/planned coursework).

The TMDSAS Grade is assigned a numeric value to calculate your grade point average.   As you enter your grades, the TMDSAS system will convert the grade to a TMDSAS Grade.

SEMESTER HOURS
Enter the number of semester or quarter hours for each course, including failures and withdrawals.   All entries must be made in semester or quarter hours.

You can enter hours up to one decimal point – 00.0 

Some institutions grant credits as course units.  Please convert these course units into semester or quarter hours as defined by your institution on the back of your transcript.

Common Conversion Examples:

Austin College 1 unit = 4 semester hours
Duke University 1 unit = 4 semester hours
Northwestern University 1 unit = 4 quarter hours or 2.7 semester hours

LAST TIME TAKEN
Last Time Taken is asking “Was this the last time you took this course?”  Most coursework will be answered as [Yes].  Courses repeated for additional credit, but not for a better grade, such as physical education, chorus, or thesis/research are not considered a repeat and should be answered [Yes].

Instances where you would answer [No]:

1. If you withdrew and re-took or plan to take the course again. For the first time you took the course enter [No]. When retaken, enter [Yes].
2. If you received a C, D, F, took a Pass/Fail or Credit/No-Credit course then re-took the course for a better grade, enter [No] for the first time taken and enter [Yes] for the last time taken.

MILITARY CREDIT
Individuals in the US Armed Services frequently receive credit for special courses that they have taken while in service. These courses are considered post-secondary, but do not appear on a college transcript. In other situations, information about these courses may be posted to something called a “SMART” transcript (SMART stands for Sailor/Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript – official document colleges and universities can use to evaluate an applicant’s experiences to determine if they want to award college credit.)  TMDSAS does not consider these courses to be college courses and they should not be added to the application.

In certain situations, colleges/universities may award academic credit for these same military courses, or for experiences gained during military service.  Such credit is usually considered “life experience credit” and is awarded as credit hours towards the completion of a degree.  In situations such as this, the applicant should indicate the credit hours on the TMDSAS application, under the college/university granting the credit.  Only the credit hours actually awarded by the college/university should be included in the TMDSAS application.  

You can submit your SMART transcript to TMDSAS and we will forward it to the medical schools for their review.

TRANSCRIPTS
You must submit sealed official transcripts accompanied by a TMDSAS Transcript Request Form directly to TMDSAS.  One official transcript is required from every regionally accredited US, US Territorial or Canadian college attended. Copies or faxes are not accepted.

This includes:

• Colleges through which you earned dual credit coursework while in high school
• Colleges through which you earned credit that was then transferred to your home institution

While TMDSAS will accept transcripts that are not attached to a TMDSAS Transcript Request Form, TMDSAS is not responsible for transcripts that cannot be matched to your application due to the absence of a TMDSAS Transcript Request Form.  You are strongly encouraged to utilize these forms.  Be sure to inform the registrars that this form should be attached to the transcript when it is sent to TMDSAS.

TMDSAS recommends that you obtain a personal copy of each transcript for your records to help you properly complete the [College Coursework] section of your application.

It is your responsibility to verify and ensure that TMDSAS has received all of your official transcripts. Check the status of your transcripts regularly by logging into your application and viewing the [Application Status] page.

Transcript Request Form

1. Complete the [Colleges Attended] section of the application.
2. Download the TMDSAS Transcript Request Form.
3. Fill out the PDF and print it out OR print it and fill it out by hand.
4. Deliver completed form to registrar at each college attended.
5. Be sure to advise the Registrar’s office to enclose the Transcript Request Form with your official sealed transcript and mail it directly to TMDSAS.  Transcripts that are not accompanied by the Transcript Request Form can result in a delay in processing the document.

Canadian Transcripts - Follow steps 1 – 5 above to have your English-speaking Canadian transcripts to be sent to TMDSAS.

Study Abroad - If you participated in a Study Abroad program under the sponsorship of a US or Canadian institution and the international coursework appears on the US/Canadian transcript as regular itemized credit, only list the US or Canadian institution on your TMDSAS application.  DO NOT list the foreign institution.  Arrange for only the US or Canadian transcript to be sent to TMDSAS.  TMDSAS processes study-abroad coursework in the same manner as US and Canadian coursework.

Overseas US Institutions
Overseas US institutions are:

• Located outside US borders,
• Accredited by a regional institutional accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education, and
• Use English as the primary language of instruction and documentation.

If you attended an overseas US institution, report it to TMDSAS in the same manner as your US and (English-speaking) Canadian institutions and arrange for an official transcript to be forwarded to TMDSAS. List all coursework on your TMDSAS application.  US institutions with campuses overseas are also considered US colleges for which transcripts are required and all coursework must be listed.

International Transcripts - Enter coursework taken at all international colleges/universities in the [College Coursework] section.  Although TMDSAS permits you to list foreign coursework in your application, TMDSAS does not verify this coursework for authenticity and does not use grades from international transcripts in computing TMDSAS GPA’s. Foreign coursework does not count towards meeting the 90 hour requirement nor does it count towards meeting the prerequisite coursework.

You are required to submit one transcript from every international college/university you have attended. TMDSAS also encourages international applicants to submit a copy of any evaluation of international coursework that has been completed by an official credential evaluation service.

TMDSAS will forward a photocopy of your international transcript and evaluation to your designated medical schools.

PLANNED ENROLLMENT

*You may make revisions to this section any time during the application process. You will be able to add planned enrollment. *

Indicate if you plan to take any future coursework between the time of application and Summer 2012.  You will indicate the college, term and year for all future coursework. You will still need to list the actual planned coursework in the [College Coursework] section. The sections are independent of one another.

EDUCATION HISTORY

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application.  Review your entries carefully before submitting*

You will answer questions concerning your education.  Below are the questions:

• Has your education or vocation ever been interrupted for any reason?
• Were you ever the recipient of any action by any college or professional school for unacceptable academic performance (i.e. academic probation, suspension, dismissal, etc.)?
• Were you ever the recipient of any action by any college or professional school for conduct violations?

You are required to inform the Admissions Office of each medical school to which you apply as well as TMDSAS if you become the subject of an institutional action after the date of original application submission and prior to medical school matriculation. This communication must be in writing and must occur within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the institutional action. Failure to do so is grounds for rejection of your application, withdrawal of any offer of acceptance, dismissal after enrollment, or rescission of any degrees granted.

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Questions: Employment & Activities

*You will not be able to make any changes to these sections once you have submitted your application.  Review your entries carefully before submitting*

If you have activities that fit into more than one of the categories below, you should list the activity in each category. We recommend that you list activities in multiple categories if they fit the criteria in more than one category.

Keep in mind that your [Chronology of Activities] will be automatically built from the information you enter in all other sections of the application.  Your chronology MUST account for all time between high school graduation and August 2012; therefore, you must account for this time period in all the sub-sections of the [Employment & Activities] section.

ACADEMIC RECOGNITION

List academic honors, awards and other recognitions received since beginning college to the present. Indicate the Award Title, date received, city, country, state and a brief description of the award.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add An Award] link.

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COLLEGE LEADERSHIP

List any leadership roles or positions of responsibility held since beginning college to the present.  Indicate the Role Title, start date, end date, city, country, state and a brief description of the position.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add a Leadership Role] link.

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EMPLOYMENT

List all jobs (paid work experience) held since graduating from high school to the present, including military service.  Indicate the employer, job title, when the job was held, start date, end date, city, hours worked per week, country, state and a brief description of the job.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add an Employment Activity] link.

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RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

List any significant research activities (paid or volunteer) you have participated in since beginning college to the present.  Indicate the Research Activity Name, start date, end date, city, approximate hours worked per week, total cumulative hours, country, state and a brief description of the research.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add a Research Activity] link.

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HEALTHCARE ACTIVITIES

List any healthcare related community service, volunteer, employment OR shadowing experience you have participated in since beginning college to the present.  Indicate the Activity Name, start date, end date, city, hours worked per week, total cumulative hours, country, state and a brief description of the activity.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add a Healthcare Activity] link.

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COMMUNITY SERVICE

List any non-healthcare related community service or volunteer activities you have participated in since beginning college to the present.  Indicate the Activity Name, start date, end date, city, approximate hours per week, total cumulative hours, country, state and a brief description of the activity.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add a Community Service Activity] link.

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EXTRACURRICULAR & LEISURE ACTIVITIES

List any significant extracurricular, leisure activities or hobbies you have participated in since beginning college to the present.  Indicate the Type of Activity, start date, end date, city, approximate hours per month, total cumulative hours, country, state and a brief description of the activity.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add an Extracurricular/Leisure Activity] link.

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PLANNED ACTIVITIES

Indicate future activities you plan on participating in between now and August 2012.  This should include any future employment as well as any future research, healthcare, community service, or extracurricular activities.  Indicate the Activity Type, start date, planned end date, city, total projected hours, country, state and a brief description of the activity.  Click on [Submit] to save the record.

Additional records can be added by clicking the [Add a Planned Activity] link.

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Questions Tab: Essays

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

It is important that you proof your essays thoroughly AFTER saving. Your essays will be sent to the schools exactly as they appear. TMDSAS will NOT contact you about incomplete essays or margin cut-offs. You will not be given the opportunity to correct any grammatical or typographical errors in your essays once your application has been submitted to TMDSAS.

The medical schools are aware of essay writing services and are seeking your personal expression.

MEDICAL PERSONAL STATEMENT

The personal essay asks you to explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. Be sure to include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician. 

The essay is limited to 5000 characters, including spaces.

OPTIONAL ESSAYS

The optional essays are an opportunity to provide the admissions committee(s) with a broader picture of who you are as an applicant.  The essays are optional; however, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.

1. Optional Essay 1:
   Briefly state any unique circumstances or life experiences that are relevant to your application.   This is not an area to continue your essay or reiterate what you have previously stated - this area is provided to address any issues which have not previously been addressed. 
   
   Optional Essay 1 is limited to 2500 characters, including spaces.
2. Optional Essay 2:
   Describe any personal characteristics and/or important or challenging experiences you have had that will contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of/ or provide educational benefits to the student body.
   
    Optional Essay 2 is limited to 2500 characters, including spaces.

DUAL DEGREE PROGRAM ESSAYS

Essays limited to 5000 characters, including spaces.

MD/PHD or DO/PHD ESSAYS

1. Explain your motivation to seek a MD/PhD or DO/PhD dual degree.  Discuss your research interests and career goals as an applicant to a dual degree program.
2. Describe your significant research experiences.  Include the name and title of your research mentor as well as your contributions to the project.  List any publications which have resulted from your work.

JD/MD ESSAY
Explain your motivation to seek a JD/MD dual degree.  Discuss your interest and career goals as an applicant to the JD/MD program.

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Supporting Documents

*You will be able to make changes to this section once you have submitted your application.  You will be able to add or remove planned test dates.*

UPLOAD PHOTO

As part of your application, you are required to upload a digital photo of yourself.  It must be smaller than 100 KB and be in one of the following file formats: jpg, gif, png or bmp. 

If you don’t have access to a digital photo of yourself, many print shops such as Kinko’s can provide you with one.

TEST DATES

The MCAT is required for admission to medical school. The exam must have been taken no earlier than January 2007 and no later than September of the year preceding enrollment into medical school (i.e. if you are applying for entry year 2012, September 2011 is the last month you can take the MCAT).  No score from a test taken within the year of enrollment will be accepted.  MCAT scores can be no more than five years old.

For information on how to release your score(s) to TMDSAS, refer to the Admissions Test page.

AAMC ID
Enter your AAMC ID given to you by the AAMC.  This is the 8-digit number assigned to you by AAMC for all correspondence.

Be sure that you enter these numbers correctly. Your MCAT score(s) will match to your application based on this information.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
Disclosure of your social security number is requested for the purpose of identifying documents associated with your application. No statute or other authority requires that you disclose your social security number, but it is important in the identification of MCAT scores that are incorporated into your application.

Indicate whether this is a US Social Security Number or a Canadian Social Insurance Number.

Be sure that you enter these numbers correctly. Your MCAT score(s) will match to your application based on this information.

MCATS TAKEN
Enter all dates you have previously taken the MCAT.

Failure to list all dates the exam has been taken will result in an irregularity with follow-up actions indicated in the Certification Statement. You do not need to list exams that you voided at the time of the exam.

MCATS PLANNED
Enter all dates you plan to take the MCAT between the time of application and September 2011.

* Important: Any change in planned test dates MUST be immediately reported to TMDSAS.   You can update this information by logging into your application. Failure to do so will cause your application to be incomplete which could affect your evaluation at one or more of the participating schools.

LETTERS OF EVALUATION

Applicants are required to submit one the following options. You may also submit one extra individual letter.

• Two individual letters of evaluation

OR

• One Health Professions Committee Letter/Packet

Once you have completed this section, you should have your letters delivered to TMDSAS. TMDSAS accepts letters from Interfolio, Virtual Evals or regular mail. Make sure that your TMDSAS ID is entered into those systems so that we can match your letters properly.

Indicate how you will submit your letters of evaluation:

1. HP Committee Packet
2. Individual Letters

SUBMITTING A HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE PACKET
If you are submitting a HP Committee Packet, you will need to select the institution your packet will be coming from.  To do this, you must have first completed the [Colleges Attended] section.

SUBMITTING INDIVIDUAL LETTERS OF EVALUATION
If you are submitting individual letters, placeholders for the required letters will be shown.  Click the edit button to fill out and complete a letter placeholder.  You will not be able to save this section until you have completed every REQUIRED letter placeholder. 

Individual evaluations MUST be accompanied by the TMDSAS Evaluation Form.  Complete the top portion of the form and deliver it to your evaluator to complete. Evaluators should know an applicant well enough to evaluate him/her both academically and personally. It is recommended that your evaluators be current/former professors that can speak to your academic ability in the sciences.

WHAT IS A HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMMITTEE PACKET?
Many institutions utilize a Health Professions Committee Packet for their professional school applicants.  These packets come in three basic formats:

1. Committee letter with supporting letters attached.
2. Committee letter that is composed and uses quotes from various evaluators but may or may not have supporting letters attached.
3. Collection of of individual evaluation letters which may also include a cover letter from an advising office or school letter service.  The advising office or school letter service serves as a central collection service for the applicant, but does not make additional assessments of the candidate.

All three types of HP Committee Packets are acceptable to TMDSAS, regardless of the number of evaluations that may be contained within the document.  TMDSAS respects the varying philosophies of colleges and universities as to how best to provide a HP Committee Packet and therefore does not limit the number of evaluations included. If you are having an HP Committee Packet submitted on your behalf, indicate the name of the school that will be submitting the packet.

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Chronology of Activities

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

Your Chronology of Activities will be automatically built from the information you enter in all other sections of the application.  This is done for your convenience; therefore, it is to your advantage to complete all other sections before completing this section.  The compiling of this data will be done only once – if you delete or change items in other sections after your Chronology is compiled, you will have to retype that information in your Chronology – you cannot re-import the data.

You can edit or delete items from the Chronology – doing so will not change what you have entered elsewhere in the application.  

 Your Chronology MUST account for all time between high school graduation and August 2012.  

Once the import of your data has been done, a [Show Activities Calendar] link appears.  Click on the link to see a calendar displaying any gaps in your chronology.  Gaps will be indicated by a blank box on the calendar.  All gaps greater than 3 months must have a record.

You will be able to add records to fill any gaps in time.

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Proof of Residency

*You will not be able to make any changes to this section once you have submitted your application. Review your entries carefully before submitting.*

This section contains questions regarding your citizenship, state of legal residence, etc.  These questions will determine whether you are classified as a Texas resident or a non-resident. 

Applicants who are not US citizens MUST provide TMDSAS with a copy of both sides of their Permanent Resident card or Visa stamp in their passport.  An application will NOT be processed without this documentation.  The documentation can be uploaded directly to the application or mailed to TMDSAS. 

A non-US citizen must indicate his/her country of citizenship and complete the required information regarding his/her Visa.  If your Permanent Resident card has no expiration date, enter the expiration date as ten years from the issue date.

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Pay & Submit

CERTIFICATION

In order to submit your application, you are required to certify several statements. Your certification of these statements serves the same purpose as a legal signature, and is binding.

PAYMENT

Refer to the Application Fee section in the Application Instructions for complete payment information.

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