Preparing Your Written Application Materials

Our Application Writing Support program is available to students who meet certain eligibility standards and deadlines. This process has been thoughtfully designed to meet the following three objectives:

  • You will attend a series of required group meetings that will help you understand how to prepare effective and compelling written application materials
  • You will be given a clear set of tasks to complete, with externally imposed deadlines that will keep you on track so that you will be prepared to navigate the application process successfully
  • You will work individually with our pre-health advisors to discuss your drafts of your written application materials (e.g., personal statement, activity descriptions, disclosure statements, and secondary application essays).

How to Participate in the Application Writing Support Program

Enrollment Status

  • Option 1:
    • You must currently be taking pre-health coursework while enrolled in one of our post-baccalaureate programs听and be on track to complete at least 9 such credit hours by June 1 in the year when you are submitting your application to professional school.
      • If you are taking听online courses, be aware that at least one of these courses must be taken in an in-person format (daytime or evening).
  • Option 2:
    • You must already have completed 18 credit hours of pre-health coursework (in any format) while enrolled in one of our post-baccalaureate programs.鈥

Recent pre-health coursework:

  • During or since the summer term two years prior to submitting your professional school application, you must have completed at least 9 credit hours of pre-health prerequisites or math/science electives. (For instance, those submitting applications to professional school in Summer 2026 must have completed those credit hours during or since Summer 2024.)
    • If you took some of those credits at another institution, at least 3 of those credit hours must have been taken while enrolled in one of our post-baccalaureate programs.

Recent engagement in individual pre-health advising:听

  • You must have completed at least one individual pre-health advising session since June 1 of the year prior to submitting your application to professional school. For instance, if you would like to engage in the Application Writing Support program during the 2025-2026 school year, you must have met with us for at least one individual pre-health advising appointment on or after June 1, 2025.

GPA

  • Your Cumulative Undergraduate and Science* GPAs both need to be 3.0+ by January 1 in the year when you submit your application to professional school.
  • You must be on track to have completed three terms in a row with term GPAs of 3.0+ by May 15 in the year when you submit your application to professional school.
  • If your GPA falls below these thresholds, send an email to ceprehealth@colorado.edu to ask if you may qualify for an exception.

Clinical Experience

  • You must be on track to score a 鈥2鈥 or above in the Direct Patient Interaction category on our听Self Assessment by June 1 of the year when you submit your application to professional school.

Each of the three required "Get Ready to Apply" workshops will be offered twice: in-person during the fall semester, and Zoom during Winter Break.听

Refer to the Upcoming Events webpage for dates and details.

  • Save a personal copy of the听Pre-Application Spreadsheet. Be sure to keep it formatted as a Google Sheet.
    Note: The master document is "View Only." Save a copy for your own use, then update听the sharing settings of your copy so that "Anyone with the Link" can edit.
  • The "Assignments & Deadlines for App Writing Support" provides a checklist of videos to watch, tasks to complete, and instructions for submitting your Pre-Application Spreadsheet by the November 1 deadline. Please do not leave this until the last minute; it will take several hours to complete all of the requirements.听
  • We will review your听Pre-Application Spreadsheet to verify that you have completed all required sections in good faith before the deadline.
  • Over Winter Break, you will complete additional sections of your Pre-Application Spreadsheet, including full drafts of your personal statement and your application activity entries.
  • Detailed instructions for completing and submitting these additional sections of your Pre-Application Spreadsheet are posted on the "Assignments & Deadlines for App Writing Support" tab.
  • Application Writing Support sessions are offered in three waves in the spring and summer (one session per student per wave). Earlier submissions qualify for more waves.
Eligibility waves for Application Writing Support Program

Once you have been approved for the Application Writing Support program, you may schedule pre-health advising appointments for the purpose of application writing support.听

Logistics to keep in mind:

  • Schedule your advising sessions in Buff Portal Advising as you would for a regular pre-health advising appointment, but indicate in the "Reason for Appointment" box that you are seeking application writing support. Indicate which document you would like your advisor to review to prepare for the appointment: personal statement, your set of activity entries, or a representative set of a few secondary application essays. If you do not have access to Buff Portal Advising, call our office at 303-492-5148 and select the option for Academic Advising for scheduling assistance.
  • Ensure that you keep all of your drafts (or links to your drafts) in your Pre-Application Spreadsheet, not in separate stand-alone documents
  • For writing support on your personal statement, be consistent about working with the same pre-health advisor each time.听