Bates Medical Studies Committee Letter Applicants


The Committee Letter

A Committee Letter from the Bates Medical Studies Committee advocates for Bates students and alumni by highlighting their background and accomplishments, contextualizing challenges, and outlining their overall preparation and motivation for pursuing a career in medicine or dentistry. Medical, dental, and podiatry school applicants interested in applying for 2027 matriculation will prepare for their application throughout the Summer & Fall of 2025, and complete the Bates Medical Studies Committee Letter process during the Winter/Spring of 2026. In order to interview with the Bates Medical Studies Committee and receive a composite Committee Letter of evaluation, applicants must follow the Application Timeline and directions below. Failure to adhere to the Application Timeline deadlines may result in the withdrawal of a committee letter application.


Evaluation

A committee letter is authored by the Bates Medical Studies Committee, and offers an assessment of an applicant’s candidacy for medical & dental school admission committees. Each candidate is ranked using one of the following four designations: Not Recommended, Recommended, Highly Recommended, or Exceptional. Applicants will not be informed of their assessed designation.


MCAT/DAT

Standardized tests are one of the most important factors in determining admission to professional school. In order for the Bates Medical Studies Committee to provide an accurate assessment of an applicant’s candidacy (and to become eligible for a Committee Interview & Letter) applicants must have their MCAT or DAT score in hand by their committee interview date. Therefore, in the case of the MCAT, applicants must complete their standardized test by January in order to remain eligible for a Committee Interview (early-March through mid-April) given the typical lack of testing dates during the month of February and the one-month test score processing delay. We also encourage applicants to review the AAMC and AACOMAS MCAT/GPA grid to gauge whether the timing of their professional school application is appropriate.


Personal Statements

In order to provide an accurate assessment of an applicant’s candidacy, and to remain eligible for a Bates Medical Studies Committee interview, applicants must have a final-draft version of their personal statement submitted to the committee by the due date outlined below. Recommendations may be made during a committee interview, which can be used to update a statement in advance of an applicant’s professional school application. However, we encourage applicants to work with their advisors well in advance of the committee letter application process in order to be able to produce the required final-draft document that the Committee requires.


Registration Form

The registration form generally mimics questions found on the AMCAS primary application, which provides applicants with an opportunity to prepare their answers in advance. Therefore, applicants should complete the Committee Letter Registration Form with the same level of seriousness and attention that they would their professional school application. All elements of the application form were designed to learn about the applicant in order to inform our assessment and ranking of their candidacy. We expect a great deal of thought and reflection (and polish) when answering each of the questions. Applicants should also consider addressing the Premed Core Competencies for Entering Medical Students in their answers.


Applicant Designation Guide

Re-Applicant

Re-Applicants are described as those who have previously completed the Committee Letter process and applied to professional school, and were subsequently not accepted into professional school. Re-Applicants will not interview with the Committee for a second time. However, it will be necessary for all Re-Applicants to discuss their application with one of our pre-health advisors, and to submit an updated Registration Form, Self-Assessment, Resume, Personal Statement, Official Transcripts (unless previously-submitted and unchanged), and Brief Narrative. The Medical Studies Committee will not update a Re-Applicant’s original Committee Letter, nor will we accept updated or additional/new individual letters of recommendation to be included in their committee letter packet; however, an addendum will be added to the packet, to replace the original cover letter, summarizing the efforts taken on the applicant’s part to improve their candidacy (see Brief Narrative below) since the time of their original application.

Continuing Applicant

Continuing Applicants are described as those who have previously completed their Committee Interview and have a Committee Letter draft on file with the Bates Medical Studies Committee, but had postponed their candidacy before applying to professional school. Continuing Applicants will not interview with the Committee for a second time, and are expected to submit an updated Registration Form, Self-Assessment, Resume, Personal Statement, Official Transcripts (unless previously-submitted and unchanged), and Brief Narrative. The Committee would prefer that Continuing Applicants do not request letters of recommendation from new authors, and require past authors to re-submit their letters with more-recent dates applied to those letters.

Returning Applicant

Returning Applicants are described as those who began the Committee process in a previous application cycle, but postponed their application prior to completing their Committee Interview with the Bates medical Studies Committee. Returning Applicants will be required to have a mock interview with the Center for Purposeful Work and a Committee Interview with the Bates Medical Studies Committee. They are expected to submit an updated Registration Form, Self-Assessment, Resume, Personal Statement, Official Transcripts (unless previously-submitted and unchanged), and Brief Narrative. The Committee will allow Returning Applicants to request letters of recommendation from new authors, and require past authors to re-submit their letters with more-recent dates applied to those letters.

New Applicant

New Applicants have never initiated a file with the Bates Medical Studies Committee during a previous application cycle. New Applicants will be required to have a mock interview with the Center for Purposeful Work and a Committee Interview with the Bates Medical Studies Committee. They are expected to submit a Registration Form, Passport-style Photograph, Self-Assessment, Resume, Personal Statement {Final Draft}, and Official Transcripts. All individual letters of recommendation must be submitted to the Committee on Letterhead, Dated, Signed, and accompanied by the associated Release Form (see below).

All documents must be sent to James H. Smith via email: jsmith6@bates.edu


Application Timeline

(Required for All Applicants Unless Noted Otherwise)

Mock Interview (Required for New and Returning applicants) October – January
Committee Letter Registration Form and Passport-Style Photograph Due January 15
Self-Assessment Guide and Resume Due February 1
Brief Narrative (Required for Returning, Continuing, and Re-Applicants) Due February 1
Personal Statement {Final Draft} and Official Transcripts Due February 15
Individual Letters of Recommendation (Required for New, Returning, and Continuing Applicants) Due March 1
Committee Interview (Required for New and Returning applicants) Early March – Mid April
AMCAS, AACOMAS, ADEA AADSAS Applications May/June (Submit ASAP!)

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1. Mock Interview

New Applicants and Returning Applicants are required to complete a mock interview between early-October and late-January in preparation for their Committee Interview. Continuing Applicants and Re-Applicants have the option to complete a mock interview to assist with preparation for future professional school interviews. Alumni & Current Students may schedule mock interviews with advisors at the Bates Center for Purposeful Work by emailing purposefulwork@bates.edu – please use the subject line “Med Studies Mock Interview”.

2. Committee Letter Registration Form

Submission of the Committee Letter Registration Form will open the applicant’s medical/dental studies file with the Bates Medical Studies Committee & Bates Center for Purposeful Work.

Applicants should treat the Committee Letter Registration Form with the same level of seriousness and attention that they would their professional school application. All elements of the application form were designed to learn about the applicant in order to inform our assessment and ranking of their candidacy. We expect a great deal of thought and reflection (and polish) when answering each of the questions.

Note: Should an applicant have any updates or changes to report after submitting their registration form, such as a new MCAT score, change in test date, new email address, changes to their list of letter writers, etc., applicants are required to edit their registration form with those changes and re-submit the pdf to the Committee.

  1. Download the Committee Letter Registration Form PDF, save to a personal computer while progressing through the form, and follow the submission directions on the form. Please Note: The Registration Form requires downloading the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC PDF software. Users of MAC computers should especially avoid MAC’s “Preview” software when completing this form: After downloading Adobe and saving the Committee Letter Registration Form file to a personal computer, right click the Registration Form PDF file rather than double clicking, choose “open with”, and select the Adobe Acrobat option (rather than Mac’s default “Preview” software).
  2. Submit a passport-style photo along with the Registration Form.
  3. Registration Forms must be submitted by January 15.
  4. After submitting the registration form, applicant’s should make an appointment to meet with a pre-heath advisor to discuss their application plans.

3. Self-Assessment

The Self-Assessment form helps applicants prepare their strongest application possible, while also designed to inform whether or not now is the most appropriate time for them to apply to professional school.

  1. Download the Self-Assessment PDF, and save to a personal computer while progressing through the form. Please Note: The Self Assessment form requires downloading the free Adobe Acrobat Reader DC PDF software. Users of MAC computers should especially avoid MAC’s “Preview” software when completing this form: After downloading Adobe and saving the Self-Assessment file to a personal computer, right click the Self-Assessment PDF file rather than double clicking, choose “open with”, and select the Adobe Acrobat option (rather than Mac’s default “Preview” software).
  2. Submit form by February 1

4. Resume

Please include all extracurricular activities and offices held, medically-related experiences such as shadowing, volunteer activities, internships, and jobs.

Resume guides are available through the Bates Center for Purposeful Work.

1) Applicants should request that a pre-health advisor critique their resume before submission
2) Submit a final copy by February 1

5. Official Transcript

Applicants must obtain Official Transcripts, preferably submitted directly to the Committee. Include transcripts from all post-high school courses including summer courses at other colleges. It will not be necessary to re-submit unchanged official transcripts from a previous application cycle.

       1) Visit the Bates Registrar’s webpage to see how to request an electronic transcript

2) Submit transcript by February 15

6. Personal Statement

To remain eligible for a Bates Medical Studies Committee interview, applicants must have a {final-draft} version of their personal statement submitted to the committee well in advance of their committee interview. Recommendations may be provided for the applicant during the Committee Interview, which can be used to update the personal statement in advance of the applicant’s professional school application. However, we encourage applicants to work with their advisors well in advance of the committee letter application process in order to produce the final-draft document required by the Committee (due February 15).

Please visit the Personal Statement webpage for more information and resources on how to write a personal statement.

7. Brief Narrative

Returning Applicants, Continuing Applicants, and Re-Applicants are required to submit a Brief Narrative. Typically a one or two-page document, we ask that applicants outline any & all efforts taken to improve their candidacy in the time since they last applied with the Committee. The Brief Narrative should contain a significant reflection component related to the applicant’s pre-health journey, experiences, and growth.

Re-Applicants: An addendum will be added to your previous Committee Letter Packet summarizing your improvement efforts, which will be largely influenced by the Brief Narrative content. (due February 1)

8. Letters of Recommendation

New Applicants, Returning Applicants, and Continuing Applicants must request that their individual letters of recommendation are submitted to the Bates Medical Studies Committee on their behalf. Requests for letters of recommendation need to be issued as early as possible to ensure that writers are able to submit their letters by the March 1st due date. Letters of recommendation will be referenced in applicants’ Committee Letters, and included in a Committee Letter Packet created and submitted by the Bates Medical Studies Committee to applicants’ professional school applications. Letters of recommendation are critical for a successful application. Please visit the Letters of Recommendation webpage for more information.

The Committee recommendation will be based in part on individual letters of references (in addition to the applicant’s academic record, registration form, interview, etc.). Letters of recommendation are a vital part of a professional school application, and one should take great care in selecting individuals who are to serve as references. Be sure to discuss overall academic work, non-academic activities, and professional goals with these individuals. It is best to provide them with a résumé, a personal statement (a rough draft may suffice), and a current unofficial transcript.

One should not hesitate to ask whether or not an individual is willing to give strong support (this does not mean that he/she should not discuss weaknesses as well as strengths). In addition to science professors, the applicant should choose individuals who know them in different ways so the professional school gets a broad picture of their background and qualifications. Experts who have observed them in a professional capacity, for example, might also be a valuable reference.

Medical schools are increasingly setting limits on the number of individual letters of recommendation that they will review. Michigan Medicine, for example, requires a minimum of three letters, and a maximum of four letters.

Letters and release forms must be submitted by March 1.

9. Med Studies Committee Interview

New and Returning applicants are required to complete a Committee Interview with the Bates Medical Studies Committee. During the month of February, applicants will be offered (assuming their necessary materials have been properly submitted) a series of dates & times between early-March and mid-April from which they may select their preferred interview slot.

10. Primary Application

AMCAS, AACOMAS, and AADSAS are centralized application services that allow applicants to complete only one application, which the service will verify for accuracy and then distribute to their designated schools. Please visit our FAQ page for more information on this process.

  • Early May: AMCAS application opens.
  • Late May/Early June: AMCAS officially opens for application submission.
  • Early May: AACOMAS officially opens for application submission.
  • Mid-May: AADSAS application opens.
  • Mid-June: AADSAS officially opens for application submission.

Important note: Reference letters do not need to be uploaded in order for applicants to submit their professional school application, or for their application to be verified. We suggest that professional school applications are submitted as soon as possible, and applicants’ letters of recommendation will be uploaded by the Committee as soon as they are ready.

11. Sending References to Medical/Dental Schools

Committee Letters are finalized and ready for submission by July 1st, pending submission of all required documents to the Bates Medical Studies Committee.

After applicants submit their primary application, they should send James Smith their AMCAS letter request form PDF, and/or their AACOMAS/AADSAS ID number and electronic letter request.

The Committee Letter Packet (comprised of a cover letter, Committee Letter, and all individual letters of reference submitted to the Committee on the applicant’s behalf) will be submitted by the Bates Medical Studies Committee to AMCAS, AACOMAS, or AADSAS, which will then be distributed to the medical/dental schools they have selected in their application.

Medical/dental schools may request an additional application referred to as the Secondary Application. These applications involve short essays. FILL THEM OUT ASAP!!