MD Application Requirements
Contact
Office of Admissions
Texas A&M University School of Medicine
8447 Riverside Pkwy
Bryan, Texas 77807-3260
Phone: 979.436.0237
Fax: 979.436.0097
med-admissions@tamu.edu
MD/PhD
Carolyn Cannon, MD/PhD, Director
Phone: 979.436.0868
carolyn.cannon@tamu.edu
EnMed
Alyssa Garcia Zarco,
Admissions & Recruiting Coordinator
Phone: 713.677.8403
enmed.admissions.tamu.edu
MD Plus
Robert Carpenter, MD, Director
Johna Pettit Wright, MA, Program Coordinator
Ph. 979.436.0626
mdplus@tamu.edu
Admissions Staff
Dr. Wei Jung Chen,
Interim Associate Dean of Admissions
Fernando Vasquez, MA
Assistant Dean of Admissions
Vanessa Smithey, BS
Program Manager
Renee Harter
Administrative Coordinator
Application Checklist
The College of Medicine Office of Admissions only reviews completed applications. The following are the requirements for a complete application:
- Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service ( TMDSAS) application (primary application) and fee paid or the American Medical College Application Service ( AMCAS) application and fee for MD/PhD applicants and non-resident EnMed applicants.
- A submitted College of Medicine secondary application and fee paid
- A maximum of three individual letters of evaluation or a Health Professions Advisory Committee Packet
- Official MCAT with no pending scores and not older than five years by time of enrollment
- Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics ( CASPer) and Duet, a value-alignment assessment
- Official transcripts (sent to TMDSAS within 30 days of request)
- A copy of U.S. Permanent Resident card (Green Card) sent directly to TMDSAS if U.S. Permanent Resident
The Medical School Course Requirements (or Prerequisite Courses) should be mostly complete upon application; however, some courses may be in progress or planned. These courses must be completed prior to matriculation.
Primary Application
For applicants to the MD program, the primary application is through the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service ( TMDSAS). TMDSAS is a centralized application processing service for first-year applicants at participating medical schools. The TMDSAS processing fee is a flat rate of $215. Please refer to the TMDSAS Application Handbook for further guidance on all matters pertinent to submitting a complete application.
For applicants to the MD/PhD program, the primary application is through AMCAS. The AMCAS processing fee is $175 for one medical school designation. Additional medical school designations are $45 each. Please refer to the AMCAS Application Guide for further guidance on all matters pertinent to submitting a complete application.
For nonresident applicants to the EnMed track, the primary application is through either AMCAS or TMDSAS.
Questions, corrections and letters of evaluation should be sent to:
TMDSAS
P.O. Box 2175
Austin, TX 78768
(512) 499-4785
info@tmdsas.com
Secondary Application
Access to the secondary and supplemental applications will be made available upon completion and verification of the primary application information..
The deadline to complete and submit the secondary application and pay the fee is November 1, 2023 at 5 p.m. CST.
For MD/PhD and EnMed applicants, the deadline to complete and submit the secondary application and pay the fee is November 1, 2023 at 5 p.m. CST
The secondary application is REQUIRED for the MD and MD/PhD programs and the EnMed Track. It is in addition to the TMDSAS and/or AMCAS primary applications. You will receive an email invitation to complete the secondary application after we have received your verified primary application.
A nonrefundable $60 fee is required before the secondary application can be processed. Only credit cards are accepted for payment of the fee. Credit card payments must be made using the university's secure payment system.
Applicants will NOT be considered for evaluation until the primary and secondary applications have been properly completed and the secondary payment of $60 is received.
Important: Only one secondary application is required regardless of the program. However, the MD/PhD program and the EnMed track also require a supplemental unique to their programs. It is made available after the secondary application payment of $60 is received and the secondary application is complete.
Letters of Evaluation
Health professions advisers and/or faculty play an important role in helping the admissions committee assess the intellectual ability, personal attributes and motivation for medical school training and medicine as a career. Therefore, prospective applicants are urged to get to know their advisers and teaching faculty early in their undergraduate education experience to ensure support of their application.
Evaluators should submit letters of evaluation or a Health Professions Advisory Committee Evaluation (HPAC) packet directly to TMDSAS. All letters of evaluation MUST include the following:
- Official letter head (personal or professional)
- Contact information of evaluator (phone number and email address)
- Applicant name along with TMDSAS or AMCAS ID
- Signature of evaluator
- Date on the letter (The Admissions Committees will take the date of the letter into consideration during the review, with a strong preference for current letters or letters written after May 1, 2021.)
- Letter must be written in English
Letters missing any of this information will not be accepted.
Letters can be submitted to TMDSAS by mail or submitted electronically via Interfolio or Virtual Evals. They can also be uploaded through the TMDSAS Advisor or Evaluator Portal.
A maximum of three evaluations or a Health Professions Advisory packet are required. Letters of evaluation from faculty are preferred, however, letters from physicians, other medical personnel, research mentors or employment supervisors are acceptable as well. TMDSAS will authenticate all letters and Health Professions Advisory packets.
If an applicant is no longer in undergraduate school and cannot obtain an evaluation from their former health professions adviser or health professions advisory committee, they should proceed as follows:
- If attending graduate school, one evaluation must be from the applicant's graduate advisor, or a faculty member in their degree concentration, or the chairperson of their department.
- If an applicant has been out of college for more than one year and is currently employed or serving in the military, one of the required evaluations must be written by their immediate supervisor or commanding officer.
- If self-employed, one of the recommendation letters must be from a business associate. The evaluation must detail the applicant's performance and character traits.
If an applicant cannot obtain a letter from a health professions advisor or faculty member because they have been out of school for several years, they must submit at least two letters from employment supervisors or associates, medical personnel, and/or research mentors to complete the evaluation packet.
MCAT Exam
The Admissions Committee considers the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores as part of its review and decision-making process. Although an applicant's performance on the MCAT is used in the evaluation process, it is not the sole or primary criterion for consideration or to end consideration.
Note: The MCAT must have been taken no earlier than five years before the expected date of enrollment. The College of Medicine will not accept MCAT scores that are more than five years old. (Scores from years prior to 2016 will not be considered. We will consider the MCAT scores taken through September 11, 2021.)
The MCAT is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, and knowledge of science concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine.
The MCAT exam is administered multiple times from late January through September and offered at hundreds of testing sites in the United States, Canada and around the world. More information on preparation, registration and application is available on the MCAT Home Page . Once the MCAT is taken, scores must be released directly to the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS). For instructions visit the TMDSAS website .
The MCAT includes four sections and four scores will be reported:
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills
The four sections will have numeric score values. Total testing time, with breaks, is expected to be seven-and-a-half hours.
Although an applicant's performance on the MCAT is used in admission decisions, it is not the sole criterion for consideration. In the evaluation process, MCAT scores are used in combination with the total academic record including but not limited to performance in BCPM courses, rigor of major, trends of performance, research activity, publications, poster presentations, and/or post-baccalaureate programs of study.
For questions about registration and test administration, contact the MCAT Resource Center:
MCAT Program Office
Association of American Medical Colleges
Medical College Admission Test
2450 N. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Phone: (202) 828-0690
E-mail: mcat@aamc.org (unable to accept attachments)
https://www.aamc.org/students/
CASPer Assessments
All applicants applying to the School of Medicine at Texas A&M University are required to complete CASPer as part of their application. Successful completion of CASPer is mandatory to maintain admission eligibility.
CASPer is a 90-minute online test which assesses for non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics. We believe these assessments will complement the other factors that we use for applicant screening. In implementing CASPer, we are trying to further enhance fairness and objectivity in our selection process.
In order to take CASPer, you will be responsible for securing access to a computer with audio capabilities, a webcam, and a reliable internet connection on your selected test date. CASPer can be taken practically anywhere that you can satisfy the aforementioned requirements. No exceptions will be provided for applicants unable to take CASPer online due to being located at sites where internet is not dependable due to technical or political factors.
Please go to takeCASPer.com to sign up and reserve a test using your TMDSAS or AMCAS Id # and a piece of government-issued photo ID or Driver’s License. You will be provided with a limited number of testing dates and times. Please note that these are the only testing dates available for your CASPer test. There will be no additional tests scheduled. Please use an email address that you check regularly; there may be updates to the test schedule.
Please direct any inquiries on the test to support@takecasper.com. Alternatively, you may use the chat bubble in the bottom right–hand corner of your screen on the takeCASPer.com website.
The CASPer test is comprised of 12 sections of video and written scenarios. Following each scenario, you will be required to answer a set of probing questions under a time contract. Each response is graded by a different rater, giving a very robust and reliable view of personal and professional characteristics important to our program. No studying is required for CASPer, although you may want to familiarize yourself with the test structure at takeCASPer.com, and ensure you have a quiet environment to take the test.
CASPer test results are valid for one admissions cycle. Applicants who have already taken the test in previous years will therefore be expected to re-take it.
Prerequisite Courses
Most entering students complete a baccalaureate degree before enrolling. However, students may enroll with 90 semester hours of college work or without a baccalaureate degree, provided their academic record, MCAT and CASPer/Duet performances, dedication to service, capacity for effective interactions, motivation for medicine, and life experiences are comparable or superior to those students who complete the baccalaureate degree.
The following prerequisite courses are required with at least a grade of a C from a fully accredited college or university in the United States and must be completed before, or by the time of, enrollment:
Course Name | Semester Hrs. | Quarter Hrs. |
---|---|---|
General Biology (with labs) | 8 | 12 |
Advanced Biological Sciences* | 6 | 9 |
Three semester hours or five quarter hours of biochemistry are required and may be used toward fulfillment of the advanced biological sciences requirement.** | ||
General Chemistry (with labs) | 8 | 12 |
Organic Chemistry (with labs) | 8 | 12 |
General Physics (with labs) | 8 | 12 |
Math-Based Statistics*** | 3 | 5 |
English | 6 | 9 |
Total Credit Hours Required | 47 | 71 |
Notes
* The advanced biological sciences requirements must include junior and senior university level biological science courses such as but not limited to Biochemistry, Fundamentals of Microbiology, Molecular Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Ecology, Integrated Human Anatomy and Physiology, Neural Development, etc.
**The biochemistry requirement may be used to fulfill part of the advanced biological sciences requirement. The course may be taught in the biology, biochemistry or chemistry department. It cannot be an introductory course. It must be a course that is applied toward a baccalaureate degree in any traditional science field and designed for biochemistry majors or an equivalent course. For a one-semester required biochemistry course the following principles and applications MUST be covered in the course material for it to satisfy the requirement:
- pH
- Protein structure
- DNA replication
- Carbohydrate metabolism
- ONe-carbon metabolism
- Nucleic acid synthesis
- Amino acid structure
- Enzyme kinetics and metabolism
- RNA transcription
- Amino acid metabolism
- Lipid structures and metabolism
*** The statistics course should be taught in the math or statistics department. Statistics courses taught in other departments may be considered with appropriate documentation and approval of the dean of admissions. Fundamentally, the course should:
Descriptive statistics
- Measures of central tendency
- Measures of variability or dispersion
- Kurtosis and skewness
- Univariate analysis of data
- Bivariate analysis of data
- Correlation and covariance
Inferential statistics
- Statistics modeling theory and assumptions (parametric and non-parametric)
- Population and sampling methods
- Inference and Probability
- Confidence intervals
- Chi-square probability
- General linear models (t-test, analysis of variance [ANOVA], Analysis of Covariance [ANCOVA], regression analysis and other multivariate methods
Policy on AP Credits, Credits by Exam, and Dual Credit
It is preferred that applicants take the prerequisite courses at a four-year accredited college or university rather than utilize advanced placement credits, credits by exam, dual-credit, pass/fail course work or community college courses. These credits are not dismissed. If they have been taken, they will be accepted toward meeting the prerequisites. If an applicant has placed out of a required level course, another course in that discipline at the same or higher level will be accepted.