Selection FAQs
- Who should submit CVs?
All students who are in the top 12.5% of the class are eligible for junior AOA consideration. All seniors who are in the top 30% of the class are eligible for senior AOA consideration. All eligible students should be submit CVs when requested (in late March for junior AOA and in July for senior AOA). Students near the GPA cutoffs are encouraged to submit CVs if they would like to be considered for selection, as their class rank could change with pending MS3 clerkship grades. If you are unsure, please submit a CV anyway.
- What if I plan to take a year off?
Students who anticipate delaying graduation to complete additional educational opportunities (research, IMEP, MBA, MPH, etc.) should apply for Jr. and Sr. AOA in the spring and summer of their MS3 year so as to be considered alongside their peers.
- What is the deadline for CV submissions?
The current deadline for CV submissions for election to the Junior AOA will likely be sometime in early April. An email will be sent out to the class in March with specific dates.
- How should CVs be submitted?
All CVs should be submitted electronically as an email attachment to Holli Holbert via Holli.Holbert@utsouthwestern.edu with a carbon copy (cc) to UTSWAOA UTSWAOA@gmail.com.
- What if my CV is submitted late?
No late submission will be accepted, and there are no extenuating circumstances! All individuals are made aware of the deadline with sufficient time to prepare their CV in the appropriate format. CVs not submitted in the appropriate format will be rejected, and individuals will be asked to re-submit their CV in the appropriate format prior to the deadline.
- Why was the CV scoring system made public? Doesn’t that make it easy to “game” the system?
The issue of keeping the scoring system known only to the CV reviewers has been considered at length by the AOA Executive Committee. Ultimately, the scoring system was made public in order to make the selection process as fair as possible. The Committee chose not to keep the information private because of the potential exists that a private scoring system could become known by a sub-set of individual students being considered for AOA selection, giving these students a likely advantage over their peers in the selection process. Furthermore, the review committee will check the veracity of submitted CVs, and any individuals who misrepresent themselves will be eliminated from consideration.
- Who is going to have access to my CV, USMLE Step score, and GPA after I apply?
Current fourth year medical students who are on the AOA Selection Committee will be assigned to score an individual section of the CV. Each group will consist of 3-4 members who will review one category (either research, volunteer, or leadership) for all applications to reduce variance among reviewers. This review process is blinded and names will not be attached to the application when assigning scores. Each category of the CV will be reviewed separately to reduce the risk of loss of confidentiality during the review process.
Dr. Mihalic and Holli Holbert will assign points for GPA. Current medical students on the selection committee will not have access to this information. After the CV review process is complete, Dr. Mihalic and Holli will compile the final list to be released of selected AOA members.
- What if I participated in an activity during medical school that is not explicitly defined in the CV scoring criteria?
Individuals are encouraged to include any activity they participated in during medical school that they believe fits into the specified categories. Points for these activities will be determined by consensus among the review committee.
