Dear customer,

Dear customer,

Welcome to the July edition of ICON+’s University Access Newsletter. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you inquired about our test prep and/or admissions consulting services.

This month, we focus on admissions to medical schools in the UK and US.

Do the workings of the human body fascinate you? Are you naturally inclined toward the sciences? Is helping others the number one priority in your life? Are you looking to enter a stable and relatively lucrative profession?

Do you really have enough passion for medicine that you are prepared to study and work long, grueling hours for the rest of your pre-retirement life?

Becoming a doctor certainly won’t be easy – and perhaps even more so for those wanting to study or work abroad. However, if medicine is truly the career match for you, the journey will certainly be worth it. Read on to find out just what it takes to become a doctor in the USA or the UK.

*Keep in mind, however, that medical licensing requirements vary by country and that transferring the right to practice across nations is not always possible. We won’t get into the nitty gritty on cross-national licensing issues here, but we beg of you to begin checking out this complicated issue before you even begin compiling medical school applications.

Get into Med School in the US      

Medicine is a four-year, graduate-level program in the US. Yes, that’s right. You’ll need to complete your undergraduate degree before beginning to study toward an MD degree – and in the vast majority of cases, you’ll need to get that bachelor’s degree from a US university to even be eligible for med school admissions.

What to do During the Undergraduate Years

Although you can major in anything that you want during your undergraduate years (Bring it on, interpretive dance majors!), many medical schools encourage obtaining a balanced, liberal arts education. Coursework requirements for admissions vary throughout medical schools, but most list:

First year chemistry with labs
Organic chemistry with labs
Biology with labs
Physics with labs
English
Mathematics (Calculus)
OK, so say you’ve got the academic mojo to get top-notch scores in the “pre-med” courses above.

That’s not enough.

You need to get volunteer, internship, and/or paid work experience in healthcare settings such as hospitals and clinics. In other words, what you do outside of class counts – a lot!

If you’re serious about medicine, you must begin to develop a strong relationship with your pre-health advisor and follow his/her advice from your freshman year.

The App Process

Medical school admissions for U.S. citizens is already unbelievably competitive. For international students, the chances of getting in are microscopic. In 2009, only 144 first year places in all medical schools across the US went to international students.

If those statistics aren’t enough to scare you away, then here’s what you need to do to apply.

If you intend to continue directly to medical school after completing your bachelor’s degree, then you’ll need to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) during the spring semester of your junior year (and get a phenomenal score, of course).

Almost all medical schools use the AMCAS, a centralized application service which distributes your application to your medical institutions of choice. You should prepare your AMCAS application during the summer after your junior year, then submit applications and ace your interviews during the fall semester of your senior year. Your applications will include both essays and letters of recommendations, the latter of which should come from health professions advisors and faculty members as well as health profession professionals or others who have supervised you.

To read more click here

As a standardized test, the SAT gives you certain guaranteed question types. Yes, there are going to be lots and lots of reading passages, and you will have to decipher, understand and then answer questions. It’s an absolute fact that the many of the reading passages are intensely dull. However as a standardized test, the SAT allows us to predict the types of reading passages we will come across

Here is a list of the five most common reading passages:

The Art Passage

The definition of “art” encompasses various disciplines from literature, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, theatre or lives of well-known individual artists. Every single art passage will be paired with a positive tone. Often, there will be some criticisms along the way but overall, no one is going to say that, Van Gogh’s paintings are shockingly bad.”

The History Passage

This passage will look at a particular point in history, whether it’s a historical trend or an interpretation of that trend.  The author will always support their argument and interpretation by providing evidence and examples.  Another clue to watch out for is when the author refers or relates to a historian that agrees or disagrees with their view. In addition, circle the name of any historian mentioned and note whether they agree or disagree with the argument presented by the author. Most likely, the SAT will ask you a question on it.

The Science Passage

If you’re not a complete science wiz, then, like many other students, you may be slightly intimidated by the scientific terms and jargon used within the science passage. In all honesty, you don’t need to panic as you don’t need to know the scientific terms! It is most likely that the terms will be almost irrelevant to understanding the passage. If you need to understand the tricky science vocabulary for a particular question, remember to use contextual clues. Look at the sentences before and after to decipher the general meaning of the word in question.

To read more click here

Getting started on your revision for your IELTS or TOEFL is always the biggest step. Purchasing a great revision guide can be the easy kick start you need to get going with your preparation. These revision tools provide useful techniques and tactics to effectively answer different question types as well as general exam advice.

The second step, of course, is to actually use and read the book, soaking in all the techniques and tactics discussed. By the time your exam comes around the corner, aim to have completed all the exercises and practice questions in the book.

TOEFL

- Official Guide to the TOEFL Test, Third Edition, By Educational Testing Service
- Barron's TOEFL iBT Internet-Based Test, 12th Edition, By Pamela Sharpe
- Kaplan TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM, By Kaplan
- 400 Must-Have Words for the TOEFL, By Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz and Lawrence Zwier

To read the full article click here