2012 AMCAS Changes

Where did you find this info at?

PhilDunphy said:

FYI for upcoming applicants.

1. Dates (tentative)- May 5, AMCAS opens, begins accepting transcripts; June 1, AMCAS can be submitted
2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required
3. Work/Activities- contact information will be required; 15 experience descriptions, each 700 characters max; choose three as "most meaningful experiences," additional 1325 characters max.
4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature
5. Certification statement will be broken down into individual statements, which you must certify separately; includes one new certification stating that all written passages (essay, work/activities descriptions, etc) are your own and "have not been written in part or whole, by a third party."
6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

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Really, the bolded are the only changes (I'm assuming you have a good source for this info). The additional description for the activities is kind of annoying, and the biography section just sounds jacked up. Although, I wonder if UCSD will change its secondary essay which is also an autobiography.

That sucks for you guys, 2016.

PhilDunphy said:

FYI for upcoming applicants.

1. Dates (tentative)- May 5, AMCAS opens, begins accepting transcripts; June 1, AMCAS can be submitted
2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required
3. Work/Activities- contact information will be required; 15 experience descriptions, each 700 characters max; choose three as "most meaningful experiences," additional 1325 characters max.
4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature
5. Certification statement will be broken down into individual statements, which you must certify separately; includes one new certification stating that all written passages (essay, work/activities descriptions, etc) are your own and "have not been written in part or whole, by a third party."
6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

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what.

I hope there's an autobiography section. It will give me a chance to bring in some of my "tier 2" PS material.

medzealot said:

I hope there's an autobiography section. It will give me a chance to bring in some of my "tier 2" PS material.

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Yeah, I'm gonna be pissed if I have to write a biography about someone. I'll just use the one I wrote in 4th grade about Benjamin Franklin...

lol...I was thinking about contracting my own biography out to another author, until I read that you have to certify that you didn't do that.

PhilDunphy said:

FYI for upcoming applicants.

1. Dates (tentative)- May 5, AMCAS opens, begins accepting transcripts; June 1, AMCAS can be submitted
2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required
3. Work/Activities- contact information will be required; 15 experience descriptions, each 700 characters max; choose three as "most meaningful experiences," additional 1325 characters max.
4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature
5. Certification statement will be broken down into individual statements, which you must certify separately; includes one new certification stating that all written passages (essay, work/activities descriptions, etc) are your own and "have not been written in part or whole, by a third party."
6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

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this is bad

For official details (and even screenshots of the new application) see

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/177482/data/amcas_2012_advisor_webcast.pptx

david06 said:

For official details (and even screenshots of the new application) see

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/177482/data/amcas_2012_advisor_webcast.pptx

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Thank you so much for posting this information. I'm currently waitlisted at one of my schools, but I'm preparing for the upcoming application cycle just in case. Nice to know the heads-up! Thanks again!

I showed this to my gf who essentially has already written all 15 of her activities at 1325 characters. She was not a happy camper...
Thanks for the post though, for informative!

Thank God I didn't have to write about my childhood, because I can sum it up pretty quickly in that I played outside a lot and engaged in daily, near-mortal combat with my brothers.

Doubt that would win me many points with the admissions peeps.

Not too happy about required contact information; I haven't told my current employer that I'm planning on pursuing med school (I plan on leaving next summer if I get accepted this cycle, but I would like to continue working and receiving a paycheck until then), and in an at-will state, they can decide to terminate me at any time for any reason.

SFGuy2011 said:

Thank God I didn't have to write about my childhood, because I can sum it up pretty quickly in that I played outside a lot and engaged in daily, near-mortal combat with my brothers.

Doubt that would win me many points with the admissions peeps.

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I know a dean of admissions who grew up similarly, so it could've worked for you with at least one school.

I have my own recycle project in my city, how would I provide a contact person for that?

Also, I helped start the chemistry honors society on my campus (made us a chapter), would I provide the contact of the professor I worked closely with during that time? thumbdown

Why would they want a autobiography of our childhood as well as a biography of our parents?

Wolfman89 said:

Why would they want a autobiography of our childhood as well as a biography of our parents?

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To make sure you've got your story straight? Or maybe they can be from different perspectives. Your autobiography could be a moving tale of overcoming daily beatings, while your father's could be about struggling to discipline a hell raising little twerp. So maybe an exercise in empathy?

Mr Hippopotamus said:

To make sure you've got your story straight? Or maybe they can be from different perspectives. Your autobiography could be a moving tale of overcoming daily beatings, while your father's could be about struggling to discipline a hell raising little twerp. So maybe an exercise in empathy?

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I guess I should mention that time I had to sell coke to support my twelve older brothers and sisters while I was research a cure for cancer and at age 11 got a 44 MCAT, although that 44 MCAT might screw me over so I might have to go DO.

movax said:

Not too happy about required contact information; I haven't told my current employer that I'm planning on pursuing med school (I plan on leaving next summer if I get accepted this cycle, but I would like to continue working and receiving a paycheck until then), and in an at-will state, they can decide to terminate me at any time for any reason.

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Good point. They should really provide exceptions for current employment -- a lot of people have to support themselves and earn money for applications as they go through the cycle. Maybe you could provide the contact info of a co-worker who could keep the fact that you're applying to med school a secret? AMCAS probably wants the contact info of a supervisor though.

EDIT: Nope, it looks like you can use contact info of whoever you want as long as you list that person's title/role.

This is great! I've been checking out the slide show, and it looks like in the parent section, you don't have a "Mother" and a "Father"; instead, you fill out info for each parent as just a "parent" and select that parent's sex. In other words, it acknowledges that not all people are raised by straight couples.

Spin said:

Good point. They should really provide exceptions for current employment -- a lot of people have to support themselves and earn money for applications as they go through the cycle. Maybe you could provide the contact info of a co-worker who could keep the fact that you're applying to med school a secret? AMCAS probably wants the contact info of a supervisor though.

EDIT: Nope, it looks like you can use contact info of whoever you want as long as you list that person's title/role.

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Yeah...I'll figure that out when I get to it, I suppose. Not worth worrying about the moment, will just put it off a bit, heh.

For a lot of the activities can the contact person be a peer who did the activity with you?

Are schools going to call/email our contacts to verify we did the activities?

flatearth22 said:

For a lot of the activities can the contact person be a peer who did the activity with you?

Are schools going to call/email our contacts to verify we did the activities?

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Schools interview 500+ students each with 15 activities. I highly doubt they have the time or the care. Who knows maybe they will call 1 random reference before accepting you to make sure you are legit? Get caught in a lie on AMCAS from one school and kiss ever going to med school goodbye though...

SoyRicoSuave said:

Schools interview 500+ students each with 15 activities. I highly doubt they have the time or the care. Who knows maybe they will call 1 random reference before accepting you to make sure you are legit? Get caught in a lie on AMCAS from one school and kiss ever going to med school goodbye though...

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Yeah I understand....but a lot of my activities are large and disorganized so would I be better off listing a peer that did it with me rather than the faculty adviser who doesn't even know who I am and was only loosely associated with the activity?

flatearth22 said:

Yeah I understand....but a lot of my activities are large and disorganized so would I be better off listing a peer that did it with me rather than the faculty adviser who doesn't even know who I am and was only loosely associated with the activity?

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I opted for peers that were involved in leading the organizations. If you're president, list the secretary or VP or a founding member.

Spin said:

I opted for peers that were involved in leading the organizations. If you're president, list the secretary or VP or a founding member.

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Gotcha

PhilDunphy said:

FYI for upcoming applicants.

1. Dates (tentative)- May 5, AMCAS opens, begins accepting transcripts; June 1, AMCAS can be submitted
2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required
3. Work/Activities- contact information will be required; 15 experience descriptions, each 700 characters max; choose three as "most meaningful experiences," additional 1325 characters max.
4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature
5. Certification statement will be broken down into individual statements, which you must certify separately; includes one new certification stating that all written passages (essay, work/activities descriptions, etc) are your own and "have not been written in part or whole, by a third party."
6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

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Number 2 and 3 are going to suck. But where do they drawn the line on "written in part or whole, by a third party".

Negrodamus said:

Number 2 and 3 are going to suck. But where do they drawn the line on "written in part or whole, by a third party".

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What I'm guessing they are going for here is that you didn't have someone ghostwrite your PS or have some sort of company make significant changes to it. I don't think they can really ban your mother and friends from reading it and giving you suggestions.

For me, I wrote my PS myself and all of my revisions were done with help, but I didn't have anyone do it for me. For example, someone may have suggested a word replacement or rewording of a sentence, or just cutting out a paragraph, but it was a situation of, "this paragraph is adding nothing to your PS an you should cut it out" and not of, "this paragraph is adding nothing to your PS and you shuold replace it with this paragraph i just wrote for you."

I also think that schools kind of know who is doing that and who isn't because those who have someone write their PS's for them (in part or in whole) usually don't have the same person do their secondaries (if at all) and when you are reading an app, you can tell that the writing style changed even if you aren't looking for it. As TA's we don't usually look for instances of cheating, but we can identify it even if we're not looking for it--it's kinda like that.

The parental sections suck....what does that have to do with anything?

Also, on the slideshow it says the Primary will be sent to schools on june 10thish....isnt that much earlier than june 26th or whatever last year?

rHinO1 said:

Really, the bolded are the only changes (I'm assuming you have a good source for this info). The additional description for the activities is kind of annoying, and the biography section just sounds jacked up. Although, I wonder if UCSD will change its secondary essay which is also an autobiography.

That sucks for you guys, 2016.

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Why does it suck for 2016 kids? These changes are effective this coming June

raltima07 said:

The parental sections suck....what does that have to do with anything?

Also, on the slideshow it says the Primary will be sent to schools on june 10thish....isnt that much earlier than june 26th or whatever last year?

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Where did you see that least year they were sent June 26th? Isn't the first date to send applications for AMCAS always June 1?

chiapet874 said:

Why does it suck for 2016 kids? These changes are effective this coming June

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People who apply this June are class of 2016, yo.

rHinO1 said:

People who apply this June are class of 2016, yo.

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ooo sorry. I thought you meant like, ppl APPLYING in 2016 haha

Wowwwwww...umm...thanks for the heads-up OP.

acromonkey said:

Where did you see that least year they were sent June 26th? Isn't the first date to send applications for AMCAS always June 1?

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The earliest date for applicants to submit to AMCAS is the first week of June, but AMCAS doesn't send out the verified applications to med schools for the first time until later. Historically, it's been the last week of June, but the above post (#31) suggests they will go out ~2 weeks earlier this year.

PhilDunphy said:

FYI for upcoming applicants.

1. Dates (tentative)- May 5, AMCAS opens, begins accepting transcripts; June 1, AMCAS can be submitted
2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required
3. Work/Activities- contact information will be required; 15 experience descriptions, each 700 characters max; choose three as "most meaningful experiences," additional 1325 characters max.
4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature
5. Certification statement will be broken down into individual statements, which you must certify separately; includes one new certification stating that all written passages (essay, work/activities descriptions, etc) are your own and "have not been written in part or whole, by a third party."
6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

Click to expand...

My concern is with the bolded sentence... what do they mean when they say "official letter head"? As far as I know, all professors at my school simply type up a letter of rec on their computer, print it out, and send it over to our pre-health office. Our pre-health office doesn't add an official letter head to these letters as they are not allowed to touch the letters once it comes in

im sure your profs use a letterlead. its just your school logo paper. they stick that paper into the printer and print out ur lor on it

chiapet874 said:

My concern is with the bolded sentence... what do they mean when they say "official letter head"? As far as I know, all professors at my school simply type up a letter of rec on their computer, print it out, and send it over to our pre-health office. Our pre-health office doesn't add an official letter head to these letters as they are not allowed to touch the letters once it comes in

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Having letters on official letterhead and signed is not a new requirment. If your profs have ever written these letters before, then they will know what is expected. Also, both interfolio and amcas will verify both of these requirements have been met. For Amcas you have to call for this, and interfolio posts it online when you look at your letter status.

Do you really have to do 15 work/experiences, or is that just the max you can do?

The other thing... some of the places I worked at years ago, my boss of that time is long gone, so how am I supposed to have any contact info?

its the max--you don't need all 15

Are they kidding? I have to estimate my yearly family income from when I was born until I was 18? My parents are divorced, I don't even know where my dad is. My mother was a nurse for a long time, but she didn't tell me her salary when I was 4 years old, imagine that. My mother remarried when I was 7 to someone I have no idea what he is/was making, but I sure as heck know it wasn't consistent for the past 11 years.

How in the heck can they expect any meaningful answer to that question?

PhilDunphy said:

2. Biography- new required section on childhood; section on parents/guardians will be required

4. Letters- many med schools now require that letters are on official letterhead and bear author's signature

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These are all nice changes

6. Information from 2011 AMCAS will not roll over into 2012 AMCAS.

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So if you're going to reapply, you'll have to fill out all the details again Hmm... can't see why they're changing it.

Syqers said:

Are they kidding? I have to estimate my yearly family income from when I was born until I was 18? My parents are divorced, I don't even know where my dad is. My mother was a nurse for a long time, but she didn't tell me her salary when I was 4 years old, imagine that. My mother remarried when I was 7 to someone I have no idea what he is/was making, but I sure as heck know it wasn't consistent for the past 11 years.

How in the heck can they expect any meaningful answer to that question?

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You will be asked many questions about your parents during the application process to which you will likely not know the answer. My advice is to then ask them. If your father was out of the picture, you can leave him out of your answers.

phltz said:

You will be asked many questions about your parents during the application process to which you will likely not know the answer. My advice is to then ask them. If your father was out of the picture, you can leave him out of your answers.

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I will leave him out of it, but does this number include what my step-dad made? This is now sooo unnecessarily complicated, and requires me to go digging into areas where I should just let sleeping dogs lie.

I actually just finished the application cycle (but I might wind up re-applying), and I was never asked any detailed questions that required me to know the finances of my parents for 18 years.

My point is that the number is absolutely meaningless. If from when I was 0 to 7, we lived on $5000 per year, and then my mother married a bazillionaire, the average would be a lot. But that totally discounts those years when I lived on $5000 per year. It's just a crappy designed question in my opinion designed to see if parents can pay for medical school out of pocket. It doesn't tell a whole lot about the applicant.

Syqers said:

Are they kidding? I have to estimate my yearly family income from when I was born until I was 18? ....

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This is going to be inconvenient to some applicants, especially if your parents worked outside of the U.S. (like mine did), then you'd have to convert their income into US dollars, which may turn out to be under $2,000/year. Do they ask WHERE your parents worked?

Dave Chester said:

This is going to be inconvenient to some applicants, especially if your parents worked outside of the U.S. (like mine did), then you'd have to convert their income into US dollars, which may turn out to be under $2,000/year. Do they ask WHERE your parents worked?

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No, thank goodness. It's just a drop down list with ranges specified.

Will you parents even remember what they made 20+ years ago?

Syqers said:

My point is that the number is absolutely meaningless. If from when I was 0 to 7, we lived on $5000 per year, and then my mother married a bazillionaire, the average would be a lot. But that totally discounts those years when I lived on $5000 per year. It's just a crappy designed question in my opinion designed to see if parents can pay for medical school out of pocket. It doesn't tell a whole lot about the applicant.

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I think it's a clumsy attempt at quantifying how disadvantaged or advantaged you were growing up. Presumably they'll find it more impressive to see a certain level of academic success coming from a kid whose family could just barely put food on the table than one whose family can afford intensive tutoring and private lessons.

When they ask you about family income on your financial aid forms, that's an attempt to figure out if you can pay out of pocket.