ATSU Admissions

Application advice

Top ten application mistakes and suggestions

1. Failing to contact the national centralized processing agency (AACOMAS, AADSAS, PTCAS, OTCAS, CASPA) or the office of admissions to see if your application has been received. If it has been several weeks since you’ve submitted your application, it is okay to verify that all items of the application have been received.
2. Waiting too long to write the personal statement (maybe even writing it in a day). Plan to complete your application with a timeline that allows for feedback from valuable resources, such as advisors, friends, professors, and parents.
3. Under-explaining or over-explaining discrepancies (such as gaps in time or a series of poor grades) in the application. Seek guidance from a trusted and experienced advisor if you are unsure how to address these areas.
4. Starting the process of becoming a competitive applicant too late, including everything from clinical exposure to actually filing the application. Start early and devote time and energy to every step.
5. Sharing too little of personal drive and desire. Make sure your personal statement reflects specific examples that accompany such experiences that inspired you to become a healthcare provider.
6. Getting letters of evaluation from individuals who have only known the applicant for a short period of time. Build relationships and ask people who know you beyond the surface level. Letters from your community provider or faculty member that are full of details about your character and fit for the profession are more valued than somebody with a fancy title.
7. Acting inappropriately when contacting our office or coming for an interview. We look for professionalism in our applicants. Every part of the application process is a part of our decision, so being professional is a must!
8. Not taking the opportunity to practice interview skills. Take advantage of career services on your college campus or ask a trusted professional to conduct at least one mock interview with you.
9. Demonstrating only a cursory understanding of the healthcare career field you are wishing to enter. Take the time to read and reflect on what a professional in your desired career field does, shadow somebody locally to see firsthand what they do on the day-to-day, and be able to articulate what it means personally to pursue that for your career.
10. Bringing your cell phone and responding to phone calls or text messages throughout an advising session or an interview day. Leave your cell phone in the car, or turned off (not just silenced) in your bag. Even a blinking light or a vibrating sound will be distracting to you and the person who meets with you.

Personal statement tips: Things to do

• Proofread, proofread, proofread. Avoid careless mistakes that spellcheck will not catch.
• Make every word count. Use action verbs and eliminate prepositional phrases. Communicate an impression and take an innovative approach that makes us want to meet you in person.
• Brainstorm for ideas you wish to write about in your essays. Make a list of things that inspired you to go into medicine, think of moments when you were passionate about helping others, etc.
• Revise and rework your initial essay and all secondary essays. Freeform write on the topics in your essays until you narrow down your focus and know how you want to communicate your thoughts.
• Always consider the tone of the essay – you want to highlight your positive attributes. Applicants must show humility and not arrogance when discussing their experiences and character.
• Mention your clinical exposure and personal experiences and how they have directly influenced your decision to be a physician – most importantly, share your feelings. Using examples from your experiences that personally impacted you to become a healthcare provider are powerful!
• Use active language, complex sentences, simple sentences, and correct terminology. Use action verbs, limit the use of “I” statements, reduce how many prepositional phrases or filler words you use, and eliminate jargon.
• Know your audience and have an understanding of the institution to which you are applying. Do your research. The students that will be accepted by a school will reflect the mission of the institution.
• Be proud of your accomplishments. It is okay to talk about your experiences and accolades while still reflecting a sense of humility. Talk about the context of what happened for you to be recognized versus focusing the attention on you.
• Convey your research, leadership, service, and life experiences. We want to find students that are very well rounded so that they can have a way to relate to the culturally diverse populations they may serve.
• Demonstrate your integrity, common sense, and your ability to inspire confidence in your colleagues. If you made a mistake or learned a valuable life lesson, own up to it and show how you grew from it.
• Demonstrate compassion for human beings, overall commitment, and enthusiasm for your future medical pursuits. Help us be excited for the great things you will do in this world, and make us want to be part of your journey!
• Relate your professional goals and your personal goals. Talk about where you see yourself in your profession – what type of population you wish to serve, the areas that you would like your career to focus on. These things may change as you go through school and get exposed to a variety of areas that you could provide care, but having a vision is a good place to start!
• Talk from your heart. One of the biggest things that will differentiate one applicant from another is their passion. Make sure you include enough personal examples that shows passion.

Personal statement tips: Things to avoid

• Don’t speak in generalities. Always answer the “how” and the “why” and use evidence to support your statements.
• Don’t cut and paste your personal statement for use in the essays you need to complete in your secondary application. Cutting and pasting the same information creates an impression of laziness. Use the extra space to expand on what you may have written before if you don’t have other things to share.
• Don’t use bad grammar, incorrect punctuation, or make spelling errors. Proofread to avoid simple errors, and have others read your essay to be sure your thoughts are being conveyed how you wish them to be.
• Don’t ramble on. Use specific examples and keep your thoughts concise.
• Don’t beg for an interview. Let your application speak for itself and act professionally as you wait through the process.
• Don’t make excuses for the less than stellar qualities of your application. Explain any apparent errors in judgment or poor grades and move on.
• Don’t forget to do the essay – incompleteness is undesirable. Use the spaces given in the primary and the secondary applications to take advantage of the extra opportunity to talk directly to us through your own words.
• Don’t list qualities – illustrate and elucidate specific aspects. Provide examples that let your qualities speak for themselves.
• Don’t swear. Even if you are quoting somebody’s exact words, find another way to get your point across without using profane language.
• Don’t employ gimmicks, try to create a great literary piece, or be overly flamboyant - be yourself. This is not a creative writing assignment. Metaphors will often lose your message, and too many references may cause you to lose your point in a short essay.
• Don’t restate the scores already listed elsewhere in your application, such as GPA or MCAT results. Assume that everything you have listed in your application is already known by the reader. The personal statement or essays are for you to tell your story.
• Don’t speak of actions only - speak of feelings too as they are unique to you. Make your essay personal with references to your personal emotions.
• Don’t overlook the power of the introduction and conclusion. An abrupt start and stop can look like an incomplete thought, or that your statement was unfinished.
• Don’t take a non-stop approach to the statement – step away once in a while and come back. The best statements are ones that evolve over time and have been reviewed by more than yourself.
• Don’t blame others or put down other professions. This looks very unprofessional and immature and can get your application rejected very quickly.

Dressing for an interview

• Wear a solid, conservative suit that fits you well. If it is new, be sure to clip the threads that hold the pockets and back plackets together on your jacket or skirt.
• Wear minimal jewelry or accessories. Classic or conservative earrings or necklaces are the best choices.
• Wear minimal perfume or cologne, or none at all. Some people are very sensitive to smells, and an overpowering scent can be distracting, especially if your interview room is small without a lot of ventilation.
• Wear clean, comfortable shoes with a low heel, loafers, or oxfords. Make sure you are comfortable walking a lot in them, and can be in them all day without getting sore feet.
• Be up-to-date in your clothing, but not too trendy. The graduate health professions school interview is one that looks for prospective students who will look and be viewed as professional, so you need to look the part.
• Note for tops: Wear conservative tops without plunging necklines, or wear a long-sleeve button-up shirt. Wear a suit jacket. If wearing a tie, choose a coordinating conservative, traditional one.
• Note for bottoms: If wearing a skirt, make sure that it is not revealing when you bend over or cross your legs. Wear tan or light hosiery or dark dress socks that match your suit pants to cover bare skin on your legs.
• Bring a padfolio with a professional cover to store your notes and papers. It is okay to take notes, so bring a nice pen, as well.
• Make-up should be light and natural, but not too bold or dark in color.
• Make sure your nails are manicured or neatly trimmed. Nails that are painted should be of a conservative length and a neutral color. Nail art or bright paint colors can be distracting.
• Ethnic culture may dictate that cultural dress or head coverings are expected in public settings, and these are fine.
• Leave your earbuds and cell phone in your car.

Student ambassadors program

ATSU’s Student Ambassador Program is comprised of experienced students who are interested in helping prospective students make informed decisions about their future. Ambassadors play a key role in the successful advisement, recruitment, and retention of students in all of our programs. In order to be contacted by one of our Student Ambassadors, please email your request, including your program of interest and other pertinent contact information, to admissions@atsu.edu.

ATSU Alumni Ambassador Program

ATSU Alumni Ambassadors are willing to answer questions for future osteopathic physicians. We have Alumni Ambassadors in every region of the United States. We encourage prospective students to contact our Alumni Ambassadors to learn more about osteopathic medicine and ATSU. If you would like to contact an Alumni Ambassador, please contact Alumni Relations at 660.626.2307, or alumni@atsu.edu.

Orientation

NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION:
What an exciting time full of celebration regarding your recent acceptance to ATSU!

New Student Orientation is designed for all residential based programs to help assist in the transition to the graduate health sciences experience.

New Student Orientation 2024 will begin on July 8, 2024 for Missouri and Arizona based programs, and September 30, 2024 for California based programs. Please be sure you have made all necessary housing arrangements and have fully relocated before the first day of NSO. Information regarding New Student Orientation will be communicated to accepted students starting March, 2024 via their ATSU email account.

Download the ATSU Go mobile app at Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Housing

ATSU provides students relocating to California, Missouri and Arizona with vetted nearby housing options through the ATSU Housing Marketplace found at housing.atsu.edu. This platform helps students make safe, informed renting decisions by providing a central place to view property listings from reputable property owners and managers.

The roommate portal provides a safe way to connect with other students looking for a place to live and is secured by your ATSU login credentials. Be sure to explore the marketplace where students from all programs post furniture or other household items to buy/sell/trade with other ATSU students.

Stay informed

Through intentional design, accepted students can download the ATSU Go mobile app. This app will provide a holistic introduction to resources and opportunities available to all students to have a successful and transformative experience at ATSU. Share your story, answer polls and receive timely notifications related to your transition to ATSU.

Best practices

ATSU Office of Admissions is a member of the National Association of Graduate Admission Professionals and therefore strives to ensure appropriate conduct among professionals in the recruitment and retention of students and their transition to graduate healthcare education. Statement of Principles of Best Practices Mandatory practices: ATSU Office of Admissions staff agrees to:

1. Be responsible for compliance with applicable laws and regulations with respect to the students’ rights to privacy.
2. Cease from using disparaging comparison of other schools, programs, organizations, and services.
3. Not offer or accept any reward or remuneration from any school, program, organization, agency, student, or service for placement of applications or recruitment of students into ATSU schools/programs.
4. Accurately represent ATSU’s schools, programs, organizations, and services.

ATSU Office of Admissions uses the standards and best practices published through the National Association of Graduate Admission Professionals. Review the National Association of Graduate Admission Professionals bylaws.

Statement of purpose: ATSU Admissions is dedicated to providing support for University programs by recruiting and advising highly-qualified, diverse individuals who are committed to lifelong learning, becoming competent healthcare providers, and serving underserved populations.

Clery Act

In compliance with the Clery Act and Section 86 of Department of Education regulations, ATSU makes the following information available to all prospective students, admitted students, and current students: Annual Security (& Fire Safety) Reports and the Drug and Alcohol Misuse Prevention policies. A hard copy can also be requested by contacting Student Affairs at studentaffairs@atsu.edu or 660.626.2236.

Admissions Leadership

Missouri Campus Admissions Staff

Application Processing Staff

866.626.2878 ext 2237
admissions@atsu.edu

Arizona Campus Admissions Staff

ASHS California Admissions Staff

ASHS Online Admissions Staff

877.469.2878
onlineinquiry@atsu.edu

CGHS Admissions Staff

877.626.5577
cghsonlineadmissions@atsu.edu