Pre-Med/Pre-Health: Applying to Schools

The Mandatory Meetings for students who plan to apply in the 2025-2026 cycle for dental and medical school will be held from 7:00-8:30pm on Zoom: Dental School Applicants on Thurs November 21 (Recording of Meeting Here) and  Medical School Applicants on Tues December 3 (Recording of Meeting Here). 

All medical and dental schools strongly prefer a committee letter if an applicant’s undergraduate institution has a Pre-Health Advising Office. A committee letter includes:

  • A letter of evaluation written by the Pre-Med/Pre-Health Advising Office that describes the candidate in relation to other applicants from that institution
  • Approximately 3-5 additional letters from professors and work or volunteer supervisors that highlight the applicant’s strengths and skills

A good committee letter is the result of the student being a strong, well-prepared applicant and having a working relationship with the Pre-Health Advising Office. Students and UMass alumni should speak with a pre-health advisor as soon as they determine they will apply to medical or dental school. Before deciding when to apply, potential applicants should meet with an advisor in the Pre-Med/Pre-Health Advising Office to assess their readiness. The following areas will be discussed:

  • academic background and DAT/MCAT score
  • field experience in medical/dental settings
  • history of community service
  • campus engagement/activities
  • cultural humility/awareness

Candidates should apply when they have strong applications, adjusting their timelines as needed. An informational meeting for applicants is held in the late fall/early winter of every academic year.

The Application Process

Most health professions graduate programs have rolling admissions, which means that the odds of admission decrease the longer a candidate waits to submit the application. Therefore, the Pre-Health Advising Office recommends that candidates submit their applications within the first 2 months that the application is open. For medical and dental school, this means submitting between early June and late July with the plan of matriculating 14 months later.

Before submitting an application, candidates should have all of their application materials prepared—letters of recommendation, the appropriate standardized test score, a personal statement, and for medical schools, the PREview and Casper tests are often required as well. Because of this, applicants begin the process nearly one year before the application cycle opens. For medical, dental, and optometry, a committee letter written by the UMass Amherst Pre-Med/Pre-Health Advisors will also be a critical piece of the application. The requirements and deadlines for a committee letter are listed below.

All medical (MD and DO), dental, podiatry, PA, and optometry schools each work with a unique, central online application service and initially require only one application, which is received and processed electronically and forwarded to indicated schools.

Application Timeline

This year-long application timeline charts important to-dos for the application process, including everything needed to apply and when.

Application Resources

School selection tools to be used after you have an MCAT or DAT score:

  • The MSAR database lists the requirements for application and admission to all U.S. (and many Canadian) allopathic medical schools and is available for a small fee.
  • Choose DO Explorer shares the requirements for application and admission to all U.S. osteopathic medical schools.
  • The ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools (available in print or online) lists the requirements for application to all U.S. dental schools and is available for a small fee.

Deadlines/Requirements for Applying with a Committee Letter

All of these deadlines and requirements are based on data-driven best practices, with applicant success (acceptance!) as the highest priority. 

  • Log in to the Pre-Med/Pre-Health Applicant Support CANVAS CATALOG site. (Open Moodle is no longer available at UMass Amherst)
  • Link to Canvas/Catalog (choose: Log in to Canvas Catalog)
  • Click on "Need a Canvas Account? It's Free!"
  • Choose "I'm a Student"
  • Use this Join Code to complete the form F3A6JC (older course code: C9MMA8)
  • *Info for Applicants is available in the Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Applicant Support course (available Jan 2025)
  • Current students CANNOT access Catalog from their standard UMass Canvas account
  • If these instructions do not work, contact 24/7 Support Chat for Students (on login page).
  • Waiver form: Fill out this Pre-Health Advising Waiver Form. The decision to waive access to letters of recommendation is optional and voluntary; however, most medical/dental schools expect it. The form should be uploaded within the Self-Assessment (below).
  • Self-Assessment: Complete the 2025-26 Pre-Med/Pre-Health Advising Self-Assessment Form.  Complete and submit by May 1. You should have the MCAT or DAT score you plan to use this cycle before filling out this form.
  • Letters of Recommendation: If you meet the requirements for a Committee Letter, your other/supporting letters will be submitted to AMCAS/AADSAS/AACOMAS by the PreHealth Office WITHIN the Committee Letter. Have your supporting letters sent to: prehealthletters [at] umass [dot] edu (prehealthletters[at]umass[dot]edu) (please instruct your letter writers to put your name in the subject line of the email). All letters of recommendation must have a signature and be on official letterhead stationery.
  • Letters of recommendation should be received by May 31 in the year in which you are applying. When filling out the Letters section of the application, choose Committee Letter and enter the name/contact information of your PreHealth Advisor.
  • MCAT Score: Students planning to apply with a Committee Letter from the PreHealth Office must have a competitive** MCAT score by April (latest test date March 31). Based on our data, having your MCAT score 6 or more months before the application cycle opens leads to the best results.
  • DAT Score: Students planning to apply with a committee letter should have a competitive** DAT score by April. Speak with a pre-health advisor about your DAT exam plans.
  • Advisor Meeting to assess your competitiveness for an application. This meeting should ideally take place six months or more before the application cycle begins.
  • Submit by August 1: Applications must be submitted to AADSAS, AMCAS and/or AACOMAS no later than this date. 

**Competitive exam scores can vary slightly depending on individual circumstances—speak with your pre-health advisor about your score as early as possible.

Standardized Entrance Exams

Admission test dates for graduate and professional schools

TESTTEST DATE
DENTAL ADMISSION TEST (DAT)Computerized tests are available year-round
GRADUATE RECORD EXAM (GRE)Computerized tests are available year-round
MEDICAL COLLEGE ADMISSION TEST (MCAT)Computerized tests are available January–September
OPTOMETRY ADMISSION TEST (OAT)Computerized tests are available year-round

Application Services