For Medical and Dental School Applicants, the UMBC Health Professions Evaluation Committee's (HPEC) Cohort process - which begins with exercises to help applicants prepare the materials they need to complete their professional school application, and results in a Committee Letter from the HPEC to accompany an applicant's other Letters of Recommendation - is set in motion nearly a year and half before an applicant plans to enter Medical or Dental School.
The next HPEC Cohort, supporting applicants planning to enter Medical or Dental School in Fall 2027, is about to begin!
Information regarding the process of expressing an interest in
joining the Health Professions Evaluation Committee (HPEC) Fall 2027 Cohort has been posted to the PreMedical & PreDental Advising Office
web site. Follow the link below to view the Minimum Requirements for participation and to access the online forms through which you can express your interest.
The HPEC Cohort process serves current UMBC Undergraduate students,
and UMBC Alumni who completed an Undergraduate (Bachelor's) degree at
UMBC within the past five (5) years.
The deadline for expression of interest
from First-Time Applicants to Medical or Dental School who wish to join
the HPEC Fall 2027 Cohort is:
11:59 pm on February 15, 2026
HPEC defines First-Time Applicants as:
•Alumni and Current Undergraduate students as described above who are applying to Medical or Dental school for the FIRST TIME.
•Alumni and Current Undergraduate students who participated in a past HPEC Cohort, but withdrew from the process before a Committee Letter was submitted on their behalf (a.k.a., Previous Non-Completers or PNCs)
•Past Independent Applicants (meaning, applied without
HPEC support) who applied to Medical or Dental school outside of the
HPEC Process one time before, but wish to participate in the HPEC Cohort for their second application attempt.
Re-Applicants - meaning, those who
participated in a previous HPEC Cohort past the point where an HPEC
Committee Letter was submitted to Medical or Dental School on their
behalf, regardless of whether the applicant ultimately completed the
remainder of the application process - have an extended period of time to join the upcoming Cohort.
This later deadline is designed to give applicants who are awaiting
decisions from the current (2025-2026) application cycle additional time
to decide to join the next immediate Cohort once their admission status
at all of the schools where they have applied has become clearer.
Please remember that you can only receive an HPEC Committee letter on
your first and/or second time applying to professional school (maximum
of two times), so make sure that you have addressed (and improved) the
weaker aspects of your applicant profile before making another attempt.
Some re-applicants choose to wait a year (or more) between application
cycles. Potential Re-Applicants should see the website linked below for
more details.
As in the past, additional action beyond the initial expression of interest will be required to officially join the Cohort.
A link to information about next steps is included in
the Interest Form's submission confirmation screen. This link will also
be sent via email to those who have submitted their interest form, beginning in mid-January.