Here are the Florida communities celebrating India’s 73rd Republic Day.

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SOUTH FLORIDA (MIRAMAR): The Indian Regional and Cultural Center (IRCC) will hold Anand Bazaar – Lohri/Republic Day/Kite Flying all rolled into one – from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30, at Miramar Regional Park,16801 Miramar Parkway (corporate shelter). Kites and food will be available for sale. Youth club elections will also be held. For information on the event, which is free to attend, e-mail [email protected] or visit https://irccflorida.org/

TAMPA BAY AREA: The Federation of India Associations (FIA) of Tampa Bay will hold India’s 73rd Republic Day celebration on Sunday, Jan. 30, at India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road, Tampa. Activities for the free event will include a cultural program; cooking, music, art/essay, rangoli and fancy dress contests; blood donation; also, high school scholarship will be awarded. Booths by member associations in respective regional languages will also be set up. Food will be available for sale. To register to participate, visit http://www.fiatampabay.org/ For additional information, see ad on page 8 or contact FIA President Jigisha Desai, Republic Day Event Chair Himatlal Parekh or Republic Day Event Co-Chair Jai Chandran at [email protected]

the bridge to college

What You Need to Know About Applying to Medical School

You already know that getting into medical school is hard. But perhaps you are unaware of the application process, which is also … hard!

Let’s start with understanding the three “must do” items. Medical schools want to see great grades, a great Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score, and a strong resume of health-related activity. Let’s take these so you can see what lies beneath those necessities.

Grades? You know that you need top grades. But often, college students get lost, living in a world without supervision, and academic challenges can become overwhelming. No longer living with parents, students lose connection with those important support people. Please, if academic issues become a problem, quickly contact mom or dad and ask for help ... quickly! Tutors can make a big difference.

As for the MCAT, this is a test that you cannot avoid. While many undergraduate schools make the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) optional, few medical schools will admit you without a strong MCAT score. The MCAT is so critical that some students choose to wait a year to apply so they can study conscientiously, without the distractions of college. With that in mind, one important decision is when to apply to medical school – at your first opportunity, or a year later.

What can be tricky is resume building. Because medical school applications open earlier than those for other kinds of schools, there is very little time to collect relevant health experience such as research, internships, shadowing, and whatever else you can find. Plus, in the first year or so of college, you have no seniority and it’s very, very hard to get the experience you will want for a powerful application. Here is where networking – and perhaps the help of a consultant – can make a significant difference.

But what about the application process itself? It usually happens in three stages:

First, students apply to medical schools through a universal format known as AMCAS. For this, you will need your MCAT score, a personal statement essay, a list of your relevant experience with some explanation, your college grades, and just a bit more info. What surprises many is how early the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) site opens: in May of junior year, around Memorial Day. Because medical schools tend almost to be “first come, first served,” there’s a rush to get things done. For this reason, our company recommends that students seeking medical schools ideally start their consulting in January or February.

Second, once your chosen medical schools decide if they want to know more about you, they will ask for additional essays known as “secondaries.” This can happen as early as the beginning of July. Unfortunately, medical school applicants must write a lot of essays. We have had students write over 100 essays in just a few weeks! Obviously, since essays are subjective, not objective, quality writing can make a big difference. Be ready for a very challenging month or two of writing.

Robert LeVine is the founder and CEO of University Consultants of America, an independent educational consultancy assisting students around the world with applications to colleges, universities and graduate schools. For more information, call University Consultants of America, Inc. at 1-800-465-5890 or visit www.universitycoa.com