Primary Applications
The primary application is the first formal step in applying to a health professional program!
Through a centralized application service (e.g., AMCAS, AACOMAS, ADEA AADSAS, CASPA, OptomCAS, VMCAS, and others), you will submit your academic history, experiences, personal statement, letters of evaluation, and other required materials to one or more programs.
This page provides guidance on navigating the primary application process, developing effective written materials, submitting letters of evaluation, and implementing best practices for a strong application submission.
You’ll also find resources and tips to help you submit a complete, accurate, and timely application that positions you to be a competitive candidate in the admissions process.
The table below outlines primary application opening months for the health professional programs we advise, as well as recommended timelines to apply, and links to the centralized application services and help guides.
The cost of applying to health professional programs can vary significantly. Most centralized application services charge a fee to submit a primary application to one program, with additional fees required to add more schools. Many programs also require secondary or supplemental applications, which often include additional fees that vary by institution.
Many centralized application services offer fee assistance programs for eligible applicants, which may reduce or waive application fees and provide access to additional resources. For more information about fee assistance, visit our Financing Health Professional School page.
Applicants should research the anticipated costs associated with their application cycle early in the process and budget accordingly. The table below outlines anticipated costs for program applications based on the number of schools our office recommends applying to:
| Program | Recommended Number of Programs to Apply to | Anticipated Cost (approximate, actual cost may vary) |
| Veterinary | 6-9 programs | $1600-$2000 |
| Physician Assistant/Associate | 10-15 programs | $1400-$2000 |
| Osteopathic Medicine (DO) | 15-25 programs | $2100-$3500 |
| Allopathic Medicine (MD) | 15-25 programs | $3000-$5000 |
| Dental | 8-10 programs | $2100-$2800 |
| Optometry | 6-9 programs | $1000-$1400 |
| TMDSAS Schools | 8-14 programs (depending on profession) | $1160-$2000 |
Because application fees and policies are updated regularly, we encourage you to review the most current pricing information through the appropriate centralized application service. Links to these resources are provided below:
Letters of evaluation are requested and uploaded through the centralized application service as part of your primary application. However, in most cases, admissions committees do not review letters until an applicant’s file is complete, which typically occurs after the submission of any required secondary or supplemental applications.
Because letters are not required for application verification, applicants should not delay submitting their primary application while waiting for letters to be received. Instead, submit your primary application as early as possible to enter the verification queue while letter writers complete and upload their evaluations.
By understanding how letters fit into the overall application timeline, applicants can avoid unnecessary delays and ensure their application progresses efficiently through the admissions process.
personal statement
The personal statement is an opportunity for admissions committees to learn more about your background, experiences, and personal and professional development beyond what can be captured through grades, test scores, and activity descriptions. It helps reviewers understand your motivations for pursuing a career in healthcare and the experiences that have shaped your goals. The essay also provides space for thoughtful reflection and creative expression that is often absent elsewhere in the application. Through your personal statement, you can highlight one or more impactful moments, demonstrate personal growth, and connect the varied experiences of your PreHealth journey into a cohesive narrative that explains why you are prepared to pursue your chosen health profession.
Personal Statement Prompts by Application Service
While every health profession application includes a personal statement or admissions essay, the specific prompts and character limits vary by application service. Most essays ask applicants to explain their motivation for pursuing their chosen profession, reflect on formative experiences, and demonstrate their readiness for professional training.
- AMCAS (MD)
- AACOMAS (DO)
- ADEA AADSAS (Dental)
- CASPA (PA)
- OptomCAS (Optometry)
- VMCAS (Veterinary)
- AACPMAS (Podiatry)
- TMDSAS (Texas medical, dental, podiatry, and veterinary)
additional essays
- AMCAS MD/PhD Candidates
- In addition to the AMCAS personal statement, MD/PhD applicants must complete two additional essays: an MD/PhD Essay (3,000 characters) explaining their reasons for pursuing physician-scientist training and a Significant Research Experience Essay (10,000 characters) describing their major research experiences, contributions, and scholarly development.
- ADEA AADSAS
- Many dental schools consider manual dexterity an important competency for future dentists. ADEA AADSAS includes a section where applicants may describe activities that demonstrate fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, artistic ability, craftsmanship, or other experiences relevant to manual dexterity (600 characters).
- TMDSAS Candidates
- In addition to the TMDSAS Personal Characteristics Essay, TMDSAS applicants are asked to complete one additional essay: a personal characteristics essay (2,500 characters) describing the personal qualities, characteristics, skills, or strengths they possess and explain how those attributes will contribute meaningfully to the lives of others.
- Optional Essays
- In addition to the essays listed above, some centralized application services include optional essay sections for explaining life experiences, disadvantaged status, or other special circumstances. Furthermore, many programs incorporate additional essay questions as part of their secondary or supplemental application process. Applicants should carefully review all application instructions and use each written component strategically, ensuring that every response contributes new information and helps admissions committees develop a more complete understanding of their qualifications and readiness for the profession.
TIPs for writinga strong essay
Start with Reflection: Before you begin writing, spend time reflecting on why you want to pursue your chosen health profession. One helpful exercise is to write down the impact you hope to have as a future healthcare professional. Then ask yourself why that impact matters to you and which experiences have shaped that goal. Remember, your goal is not to tell your entire life story or summarize your resume. Instead, identify a few meaningful experiences that help explain your motivation, growth, and readiness for the profession.
Write, Revise, and Seek Feedback: Start writing early and build dedicated writing time into your schedule. Strong personal statements are developed through multiple drafts, revisions, and periods of reflection. Read your essay aloud to assess flow and clarity, and do not rely solely on spellcheck or grammar software. Share your statement with trusted mentors, advisors, faculty members, or writing specialists to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement. While outside feedback can be valuable, ensure your authentic voice remains at the center of the essay.
Write Thoughtfully and Authentically: Strong personal statements are specific, reflective, and professional. If you choose to discuss personal challenges, hardships, or sensitive experiences, do so thoughtfully. Consider whether the experience was an important part of your journey to your chosen profession, what it taught you about yourself, how it relates to your future practice as a healthcare professional, and how it may be perceived by a diverse audience. Also consider whether the information is most appropriate for a personal statement or whether it may be better suited for an interview or future conversation. When discussing challenges, focus on the growth, resilience, insight, and skills you gained rather than the hardship itself.
As you write, avoid common pitfalls such as relying on generic or interchangeable examples, overusing quotations that overshadow your own voice, complaining about jobs, supervisors, courses, or institutions, attempting to summarize your entire resume, or using vague descriptions that leave room for misinterpretation. Similarly, avoid excessive self-promotion, losing sight of the prompt, or relying on common clichés and overused healthcare narratives.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool for brainstorming themes, organizing ideas, or identifying grammar and formatting issues. However, your personal statement should reflect your own experiences, reflections, and writing style. Admissions committees are interested in understanding you—not content generated by artificial intelligence. Use AI as a tool to support your writing process, not as the author of your essay.
Final Review: Before submitting, step away from your essay for a few days and revisit it with fresh eyes. Confirm that it accurately reflects your experiences, answers the prompt, and complies with all formatting and character requirements. Save a final copy for your records and keep a backup in a secure location.
NU resources for essays
- Personal Statement Workshop
- Personal Statement Workbook
- Northeastern University Writing Center
- Northeastern University Office of Undergraduate Research & Fellowships (Research Essays Only)
Additional resources for essays
In addition to academic metrics and written essays, health professional applications include sections dedicated to your pre-health experiences. These sections allow admissions committees to understand how you have explored your profession, developed key competencies, and contributed to your communities over time.
Depending on the application service, these sections may be referred to as Work and Activities, Experiences and Achievements, or similar titles. While the format and character limits vary, the goal remains the same: to provide context for the experiences that have shaped your development as a future healthcare professional.
Applicants should think strategically about the experiences they include. Admissions committees are generally interested in a broad range of experiences, including clinical exposure, community service, research, leadership, employment, teaching, extracurricular involvement, and other meaningful commitments. The strongest applications demonstrate sustained engagement, personal growth, and a thoughtful exploration of the profession rather than simply accumulating activities.
When writing experience descriptions, focus on more than just listing responsibilities. Admissions committees can often infer what a role involved; what they cannot infer is what the experience meant to you. Strong descriptions highlight your contributions, skills developed, lessons learned, and insights gained. Consider how each experience influenced your understanding of healthcare, your personal growth, or your readiness for professional training.
Many application services also allow applicants to designate particularly meaningful experiences or provide additional reflection on select activities. These opportunities should be used thoughtfully to highlight experiences that had a significant impact on your development, values, career goals, or understanding of your chosen profession.
As you prepare your application, maintain detailed records of your experiences, including dates, hours, supervisor information, and key accomplishments using the Northeastern University PreMed and PreHealth Advising Program’s Experience Portfolio Template. Accurate recordkeeping will make the application process significantly easier and help ensure your experiences are presented clearly and consistently across applications, secondary essays, and interviews.
For additional guidance, review our Work & Activities Workshop, which provides a comprehensive overview of the experiences sections within health professional applications. The workshop includes visuals and walkthroughs of the actual application platforms, along with guidance on experience classifications, writing strategies, and best practices.
Health professional applications contain many sections beyond essays and experiences, including schools attended, coursework entry, transcript requests, program selection, demographic information, letters of evaluation, standardized test scores, and more.
Because health professional applications are detailed, complex, and often unfamiliar, it is important to understand both the information being requested and how to accurately enter that information into the application platform. Taking the time to learn the application process can help reduce confusion, improve accuracy, and make the overall application experience more manageable.
For step-by-step guidance, we encourage applicants to review our AMCAS Application Workshop and/or LiaisonCAS Application Workshop (e.g., CASPA, ADEA AADSAS, OptomCAS, VMCAS, and AACPMAS). These resources provide visual walkthroughs of the actual application systems and cover topics such as entering biographic/demographic information, adding schools/colleges attended, requesting transcripts, entering coursework, assigning letters of evaluation, selecting programs, understanding verification, and navigating common application questions to help you complete your application accurately and efficiently.
Additionally, applicants who have participated in study abroad programs may require additional guidance when incorporating those experiences into their application. Our Entering Study Abroad Coursework Instructions and Applicant FAQ include guidance on how to accurately incorporate your study abroad experiences within your primary applications.