COMMUNICATIONS

All Lewis Advisees:

Welcome to the Lewis Family

Here are a few things to get you started:

Dr. Lewis can be emailed directly at drlewis@lewisassoc.com

1) Lewis Handouts - Make sure you bookmark this page!
Dr. Lewis will often refer you to handouts that are available on the website.  There is no link from the home page.  You must type http://www.lewisassoc.com/lewishandouts.htm in your browser's window to access these documents.  Some documents are password protected; the password is "class2004." (lower case, no spaces)  
 
2) Other Links
Our Newsletter is available here.
Our Premed links page is available here.

3) Titles
Proper document titles should include your name, date, and title of the document.
Example: " Smith, Personal Statement, 8-5-11"
               “Smith, GW secondary, 8-5-11”

This title should be in three places:
        the subject line of your email,
        at the top of the first page of your document,
        and in the name of your attached document.  

4) Editing Essays
When Dr. Lewis edits your essays, you will see notations such as //,__ , or CAPS
These notations mean:


After Dr. Lewis has edited your text, please REFORMAT into normal caps and lower case letters. Dr. Lewis will respond to essays which have been reformatted.

5) Appointments
Generally we are booked solid two weeks in advance.  For this reason it is very important that you keep your scheduled appointments.  We have a 24hour cancellation policy or you will be charged a $25.00 fee. Remember to always have an appointment scheduled.
 
6) Billing
You will receive your monthly statement via email. Please contact me via email or call 805-226-9669 if you think this will be a problem for you. Payments can be made via check to our mailing address or through the PayPal icon on our website.

7) Photos, please
Send us an electronic picture of your lovely/handsome selves so we have a face to match the voice on the phone. Thanks!
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Class of 2013 Applicants:

January:

FYI 1-6-12 2012 AAMC Fee Assistance Program

The 2012 AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) application has opened. Students with financial need who are planning to register for the MCAT and/or submit an AMCAS application during the 2012 calendar year are encouraged to apply. Applicants who are awarded fee assistance in the 2012 calendar year will receive the following:

MCAT(r) Benefits
* Reduced Registration Fee ($85 instead of $240)
 
* After your register for the MCAT using your FAP award, you'll also receive a free copy of The Official Guide to the MCAT Exam ($30 value)
 
Regardless of how many FAP awards your receive, you will only receive the Official Guide with your first award. The guide will automatically be sent to you 2-3 weeks after using your award to register for the MCAT exam.
 
MSAR(r) Benefits
* Complimentary access to MSAR Online for one year from the date of activation ($15 value)
 
AMCAS(r) Benefits
* Waiver for all AMCAS fees for up to 14 medical schools ($500+ value)
 
Submit your FAP application well in advance of your intended MCAT testing date or AMCAS submission, since FAP benefits are not retroactive and cannot be applied to tests already scheduled or applications already submitted.
 
Visit the redesigned FAP web site for more information on eligibility and answers to frequently asked questions: www.aamc.org/fap

Important Application Information!

1. Obtain your personal copy of your OFFICIAL transcripts NOW

Collect official copies of transcripts (for yourself) from ALL colleges and universities you've ever attended (including studying abroad college classes, during high school, community colleges, summer school, etc.) to prepare for entering course credit information into your AMCAS/AACOMAS/AADSAS/CASPA/OptomCAS/PharmCAS/VMCAS application.  Do this NOW, as it takes time to get your official transcripts!

This is the one issue causing the most difficulty for applicants. Every year, I have students who find "W's" or "I's" or wrong grades or grades to change at the last minute!  This must be determined now, or it will put you into the Class of 2013. You personally need to see these official transcripts, and also send me a copy for my file before you can correctly input course/grade data into your application form this summer!

For those taking spring or summer classes, we may need to get 1 last transcript from just that college in June.

2. Draft your Application Essay (sometimes called the personal statement)

Most of you applying to medical/Health Professions school have your essay near a final form by collaborating in weekly drafts with me, and have started on your disadvantaged, institutional action, research, or other essays by now. Make sure you are making good progress drafting all of those.

Remember that this is hard work that takes time to do well. It takes weeks to develop these essays. If you are working with me on this now, great.  If you haven't sent me drafts , you are LATE...and we need to begin immediately! I will work as hard as you work on them. Email drafts to me in MS Word. Do not expect immediate perfection. Be patient.  

3. Draft of Work/Experiences

Go to: http://www.lewisassoc.com/lewishandouts.htm and scroll down to “Application Process” and click "AMCAS Work/Activities" and /or "AACOMAS Work/Honors/Experiences", download files (remember it's a read-only file with the password of "class2004", lowercase, no spaces).

Please indicate as many experiences as you have actually done in your first draft. I will help you consolidate them if necessary in further drafts. Start with 1-2 sentences in the description, explaining just what you have done. Send it NOW so we can begin to refine and edit, and add to your descriptions.
 
4. GPA Calculations

You need to calculate your science and overall GPAs to the present. How do you do this? Go to http://www.lewisassoc.com/lewishandouts.htm. Under “Application Planning”, click "GPA Calculation Sheet". Fill in the blanks to calculate your GPA. Include Post-Bac and Graduate GPA WITH the number of units. Please e-mail this to me by February 1st, latest.

5. Letters of evaluation/recommendation

These should be getting completed in your files NOW--especially for any faculty (who tend to disappear a week or 2 before finals), and after finals, there is no guarantee you will locate them AT ALL. Thus, get these letters (and all other letters, too) in ASAP to our Templeton address. This takes SO long to do, and as you likely already know, your writers do not have this task as their highest priority.  We need them by 2 weeks PRIOR to spring finals week for faculty letters. Other letters may come in as late as the end of June. . . but no later!

6. Osteopathic Experience

Many of you need Osteopathic medical experiences, so that you can write your AACOMAS essay, and then request a letter of recommendation from an Osteopathic Physician. PUT THIS AT YOUR HIGHEST PRIORITY, as this takes time to do well. This is a very competitive process.

We have plenty to do with developing your personal strategy and completing applications—the primary, then secondaries in the coming months, and taking the MCAT or DAT or GRE during the summer, if necessary. Then come interviews!

These tasks require several hundred hours. Plan for them now! It will be a very long application “year”.

So, stay in very close weekly communication about the above items with me if you wish to be competitive for the Class of 2012!!
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April:

VERY IMPORTANT 4-19-12 Application Services Opening Dates and more

Class 2013 - Important issues Re: AMCAS

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May:

MORE UPDATES from Dr. Lewis

READ THIS CAREFULLY
1--- Time to register! Send us your User Name and Password for all application services and AMCAS ID# asap. This is how Dr. Lewis will know that you’ve registered.

2--- By now, we expect that you have requested a copy of your official transcripts for yourself and are sending us a photocopy. Only once you have them in hand should you enter your grades into AACOMAS, AMCAS, TMDSAS etc.

3--- If you are taking courses this Spring and/or Summer, you must discuss with Dr. Lewis your individual planned timing to request that transcript for application services.

4--- You should be sending your transcript requests to all schools NOW. (Except spring classes considered above in #3—Confer with Dr. Lewis)

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IMPORTANT CLASS 2013 FROM DR. LEWIS 5-1-12 NOW---TODAY:

Time to register! AMCAS opened today and AACOMAS will open at noon EDT on May 3, 2012. Send Marcia your User Name and Password for AMCAS and AACOMAS after you register. This is how Dr. Lewis knows you’ve registered.

Input all data into the AMCAS/AACOMAS up to the transcript request area.
 
Print the AMCAS/AACOMAS Transcript Request Forms for each college you attended. This means every college…including when in high school, all summer classes, everything!! It is irrelevant if you have transferred courses from one school to another!!
 
Now, hand, mail, or FAX these forms to all college Admissions and Records offices, requesting all transcripts be sent to AMCAS and AACOMAS.
 
Read the AMCAS/AACOMAS worksheets carefully.

If you have ever been placed on academic or conduct probation or dismissed--you and I have an essay to write--tell me NOW.
 
If you are disadvantaged (financial, educational, social, medical), we should have been drafting this essay and have it ready soon--pls verify with me.
 
MD-PhD applicants have 2 longer essays in addition to the main essay. We need to be working on this right now--pls confirm.
 
Our work and activities worksheet/table will have organized all your experiences. Continue to work with me on this. You can see the exact categories listed in the worksheet instructions.

And, we should have been working on your Personal Statements for these applications.

Stay tuned for more information tomorrow.

IMPORTANT 5-2-12 AMCAS 2013

Important issues Re: AMCAS 2013 – 5/2/12

Do these immediately after registering into AMCAS in May, 2012.
1. Transcript Request Form(s):
Print your transcript request form for each school you attended and send the form to each registrar at schools you attended in order to process your application. This is what takes the longest in processing your application! Do it now! If you are taking Spring 2012 classes, you will likely wait to request this transcript until Spring 2012 grades are posted – discuss with Dr. Lewis.

2. Letter of Recommendation Form(s):
You do not have to fill in the AMCAS Letter of Recommendation section in order to submit your AMCAS application.

Most applicants are waiting for all letters to be received into a confidential file. Once your letter file is complete, you can return to this section of your submitted AMCAS application, and complete it. Print your Letter of Recommendation form for each letter or packet you entered, and give to your letter writer or whoever is collecting your letters (in the case of a Letter Packet or Committee Letter). The forms must accompany the letters or packets so that AMCAS can match your letter(s) with your application.

Make sure to resubmit your AMCAS when you input letter information if you already submitted the AMCAS.
Letters of Recommendation can be sent by:
Letter Writer, Interfolio, US Mail, Virtual Evals.
Lewis Associates sends letters electronically.
 
3. You can add schools after you submit.
 
4. What’s new for 2013:
a. New Schools
    Central Michigan University School of Medicine
    Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (NJ)
    University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville

b. June 29 will be the first transmission of processed AMCAS applications to medical schools.
             
c. Cost is $160 for 1st school; $33/additional schools

d. Language proficiency: you will indicate all languages you speak and are spoken at home.

e. Self-identify all races and ethnicities that you feel are correct for you.

f. Status: you can indicate you are in process of becoming a US citizen.

g. Once submitted, processing can take up to 6 weeks during July-September. You can submit an Academic Change Request after processing (if something changed in your transcript or was not correctly assigned to an academic category). If your request is approved AMCAS will send the new information to the schools.

h. Letters: They cannot be removed once received.

Register today 5-3-12 AACOMAS is Open

Important information for the Class of 2013 Applicants

Class of 2013 Applicants,

Now that you have registered for AMCAS, AACOMAS, OptomCAS and/or SOPHAS,

AND you have your own official copies of all transcripts (except some may be waiting for spring 2012 grades to post),

AND, you have had those transcripts requested to be sent to the central application service,

NOW, you can continue to input all biographic and school information, and all class and grade information into your applications.

The NEXT step will be to input your personal statement, disadvantaged statement or explanation of institutional code violations, etc (IF these are relevant for you), and Work and Activities (AMCAS), or Post-secondary Experiences (AACOMAS), etc, AFTER we have finalized them.

NOTE that you cannot cut and paste text from MS Word into applications.

You must either retype original text in, or copy/paste from a text-edit file like “Notebook”.

* Have you given Marcia your UN and PW?

* Have you sent us copies of all official college transcripts?

* Email us what is inputted into your application!

AACOMAS transcripts 5-17-12

AACOMAS applicants,
You will have to log into your application to verify if your transcripts were received.

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Class of 2013 5-23-12 FYI AMCAS News

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Class 2013 Applicants 5-28-12

When you get ready to submit your AMCAS/AACOMAS application(s):

First, verify all your text elements fit the character limits; send them back to me for edits if they do not.

Then, make sure that you CAREFULLY proof ALL text – from biographical information to your personal statement. Make sure you did not copy/paste text from a MS Word document, because it will format strangely.

Do not input Letter or recommendation information yet (AMCAS only) or schools selected (both) until we discuss them.

________________________

Q: " I am completing the AMCAS Work/Activities section. I cannot list anyone as my contact for this experience. What do I do?"
 
A: This is how AMCAS staff will answer you (Bruno Venini, AMCAS Applicant and Advisor Relations Supervisor, AAMC):
Contact information for Activity/Experience entries is required so that medical schools can verify your experiences. If the original point of contact for your experience cannot be reached, or you do not have information for them, you may choose to include the email or phone number for someone else who can validate your experience. This could be the current contact person where the experience took place, your Student Affairs/Activities Office, or your pre-health advising office. If there is no one to contact, you may list yourself as the contact person, explaining in the description why there is no longer a valid contact person for that experience.

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Class 2013 5-30-12 Very Important

2. MCAT Scores

Results from the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) are required for all applicants seeking admission to medical school.

MCAT scores are NOT automatically forwarded to AACOMAS. Please visit the AAMC's web site at https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/releasingscores/, log into their MCAT Testing History system, select AACOMAS as a recipient of your scores and your scores will be transmitted to AACOMAS. Your MCAT is transmitted electronically to AACOMAS via your Social Security Number.

If you have not already taken the MCAT, AMCAS and AACOMAS will process your application materials without MCAT scores. Your Applicant Profile will be updated upon receipt of official scores.

3. Fee Assistance Program – FAP

The AAMC’s Fee Assistance Program (FAP) helps defray the cost of applying to medical school and taking the entrance exam. The FAP reduces or waives fees associated with the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) and the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) for those applicants whose annual family income is 300% or less of the federal poverty level. Be sure to complete and submit your FAP application well in advance of when you are planning to register for the MCAT exam and/or submit your AMCAS application. Information:  GO to https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/fap/

MCAT takers:
Guess what I have been discussing with my class of MCAT takers?

1. Confidence-building

2. Have a mantra that you can use against negative thoughts

3. Take the real released full length timed AAMC exams 3-11 weekly to see how you will do

4. Take off the day prior to your MCAT...go to the beach, a movie, shopping, out to eat. . . relax. . . sleep well . . . Stay healthy

5. Plan your lunch and fluids for test day--complex carbohydrates (like whole grains) and protein (lean meat, eggs, cottage cheese, etc.) and lots of fluids. Have some fruit too...like an apple, pear, for some sugar. And, if you like power bars, pick one with lots of fiber.

6. Know your MCAT site, how and where to park and how long it takes to get there. Practice doing it once for timing.

I know you will do well because you have put a huge effort of appropriate activities into your preparation. So. . . you are "good to go"!!

Stay well and do well!

______________________

MCAT Scores are NOT automatically released to AACOMAS.
You must login in to the THx system, click "send all of my scores" and choose American Association of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service from the Menu. Finally, click "Add" to send scores. Check back often to ensure that your scores have been sent.

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June:

As soon as you submit your application (AACOMAS, AMCAS, etc), please fill out the attached tracking log (note tabs at bottom) so we can keep track of your process. Of course, delete the schools where you are not applying. You will be emailing this log to Dr. Lewis weekly.

How to answer secondary questions appropriately:

1. Know the school, its mission statement, curricular design, special programs, things school is proud of, and HOW YOU match these specific items.
2. Make your answer personal; talk directly to the school in response.  Do NOT use 3rd person.
3. Secondary essays get to the heart of what each school cares about.
   

Sometimes, schools ask information that is redundant on the AMCAS. Answer it fully.
Sometimes they are probing your ability to think.  Think!

Always, you want to have done your homework!! You must tailor your answers to each school's personality.
And, you must answer SPECIFICALLY. Being vague is the kiss of death. Anyone can be vague…and certainly that person won't be taken as seriously by admissions. It is like "dating the school"…show that you care about your "date" by learning everything you can learn…start with the current 2012 MSAR (online), or ADEA guide or the Osteopathic Medical College Information book, continue with their website, and whatever you CANNOT locate, call Admissions and ask to speak with/email a first or second year student and/or an admissions staff to clarify something.

THIS MEANS YOU MUST ACTUALLY PLAN THIS HOMEWORK FOR EACH AND EVERY SCHOOL….THIS TAKES TIME, EFFORT, ETC.! START NOW.

Make sure you understand that the unwritten rule is to respond to secondary requests within 2 WEEKS of receipt!! So, input that date ALSO into your deadlines.

Observe the following guidelines when submitting your secondary essays to Dr. Lewis:

1. Titles should include your name, date, and title of the essay.
      Examples: "Smith, Personal Statement, 8-5-11"
                      “Smith, GW secondary, 8-5-11”

2. This title should be in three places:
        the subject line of your email,
        at the top of the first page of your document,
        and in the name of your attached document.
 
3. For secondaries, your should also have the school name, prompt question and space limit.
        Example: “Smith, GW secondary, 8-5-11
        What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW?  What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Please restrict your answer to 10 lines.”

4. Send your draft on MS Word documents (.doc) in 12pt Times font, single spaced, left margin aligned.

5. Indicate current draft length, e.g. 497 characters.

Dr. Lewis will work on one version ONLY for each essay for each school, as part of your application package, so please consider that before you submit it to her. If you have particular trouble with any essay, and need additional help, please note this is a “Re-Edit” in your email subject line, and Dr. Lewis will charge you at her hourly rate ($220/hr)

Print this and the previous email, and have both in front of you as you answer your secondaries.

More tips about Secondaries:
  
  1.  “Optional” question:
Never leave a question unanswered. This is your chance to make your case! If you have no other questions from that school, your default answer should describe all the specific features of the school that you find attractive, why, and how you specifically fit each. Be specific. If you have already addressed this, then write about a topic not addressed in detail in the primary application that you believe is important or interesting.

  2.  Replace the passive verb “allow” with active verbs.

  3.  Talk to the school as though it is a person in the room with you:
            “Your” name of program ... Not “their” program.
  
  4. Never say “Your school” in the general sense, which sounds like you could be talking about “any” school! Say the school’s name e.g. Yale, etc ...

  4.  Do not be vague, e.g. “I got exposure to”, or “involved with”. You mean you were trained? Or shadowed, or?
  
  5.  Remove “not only”... constructs with positive affirmations: “I did A and B”.
  
  6.  Remove wordiness: NOT “I had the opportunity to”
                                       YES: “I began...”

  9.  Be positive. Say “I will”, not “I can” do... Or intent to, might ...

  10. “Good” is overused. Say what you really mean: effective, helpful, ...what?

  11. Use the word “about”, not “on”, e.g. I prepare articles about ...

  12. Don’t use “research” as a verb.

  13. Say “I am A and B” only if A and B are actually different. Not “I am caring and compassionate”, essentially same thing. Do not be redundant.

  14.  Delete these words: “various”  
                                          “the field of”
                                          “first hand”
                                          “very”
                                          “really”