course work section of AMCAS

[bananaboat]

some questions about coursework, from a canadian applicant

1) on my transcripts courses are given letter grades and numerical grades, which would should i enter? i did numerical

2) one of my courses only has a letter grade, so i should only insert this? *this is the only one displayed on the transcript

3) i did physics I and II at a different university over the summer. i'm going to get a transcript from this university (i believe i must do this?). i've stated that these are the courses i've done at that university. but at the university i'm getting my degree from, i recieved transfer credit for my summer school physics I and II. is there anywhere i can place that this was a transfer credit? or is it redunant to playce PHYSICS I and II as courses under both universities. since the physics transfer credit does show up in the transcript at the university i'm getting my degree at, i figured i should include it. so i don't have to make a correction and be re-verified or wahtever. any clarification?

4) my school basicaly has a fall (sept-dec) and winter (jan-may) session. you either have half credits or full credits. i figure this is closest to a semseter system, 2 semesters? so my full year courses i've classified as full year - semester system, and my half year courses i've classified as "first semester fall" and "2nd semester spring". hope this will make sense, even though at my university, the second semester is actually called winter, and not spring.

5) i don't see the future courses option. i was just going to use "2006-2007" and assume they will understand.

6) the transcript does not show credit hours, what it shows is the "weight". half credit counts a weight of 0.5, and a full credit counts a weight of 1.0. should i place this in the credit hours? or leave it blank as stated in the instructions. also canadians did you ask the registrar to attatch a note claiming that their were labs included to figure out semester hours? or is that for americans who have credit hours displayed on the transcript.

sorry for all these questions guys...but since i'll be submitting my primary 'late', i want to get it right the first time. there won't be too much time for corrections if its gonna take 6+ weeks to verify.

this section seems to have the most room for error. but basically what i seem to be getting is that, you have to report everything as is on your transcript.

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[63768]

1) and 2) on AMCAS, enter your grades as they are displayed on your transcript. if it's numerical, use numerical. so for the one that is listed as a letter, use a letter grade.

3) if you did it at a separate university, don't list it under your primary school where the grades were transferred in. you have the separate transcript and that's all they need.

4) i think you should use spring instead of winter. just to avoid confusion with the short winter semester that most of the institutions use.

5) there's a check box at the bottom of each course listing that says "Current/Future" and you check that to indicate future coursework.

6) not sure about the last one. you might want to email AMCAS and ask that question yourself. i think there are a few canadian posters on SDN and would be able to answer this for you as well.

and yes, you should enter everything as is on your transcript. well except for the grades obtained elsewhere for which you're providing a separate transcript.

 

[bananaboat]

4) i think you should use spring instead of winter. just to avoid confusion with the short winter semester that most of the institutions use.

and yes, you should enter everything as is on your transcript. well except for the grades obtained elsewhere for which you're providing a separate transcript.

thanks yourmom for the quick reply!

i just hope it won't be an issue becuase my transcript says "FALL" and "WINTER SESSION"...but my AMCAS is going to be saying "fall 1st semester" and "spring second semester".

okay, so there is no where to say that i have a transfer credit on AMCAS? when they see my university transcript in paper they will see "TRANSFER CREDIT" and check out the other transcript?

 

[chowchilla]

you need to enter letter grades in your amcas application since that's what they prefer (and you have them available). as for the semesters, you've got it right:

fall session = 1st semester
winter/spring session = 2nd semester

also,

a half (0.5) course = 3 credit hours
a full (1.0) course = 6 credit hours

this i verified with the uoft registrar (i'm guessing that's where you also attend).

 

[bananaboat]

you need to enter letter grades in your amcas application since that's what they prefer (and you have them available). as for the semesters, you've got it right:

fall session = 1st semester
winter/spring session = 2nd semester

also,

a half (0.5) course = 3 credit hours
a full (1.0) course = 6 credit hours

this i verified with the uoft registrar (i'm guessing that's where you also attend).

okay, but you know how some schools require 4/8? will they just convert it to that system for us?

*yes i do attend u of t *

this might be a stupid question, but why even bother entering the course work if they are going to see the transcripts?

and u of t student....you may be in a similar situation where you haven't exactly figured out all your courses yet for next year (with all the waiting lists and such). so i have a couple of courses currently on my transcript that i prob wont' even take next year. (they just show up as what i'll be taking next year, even though i may drop them in december/jan). i just don't want to drop them now, in case i lose my spot in them later.

but should i put them on my amcas anyway? so there isn't any confusion between what i submit on my amcas and what's on my transcript?

 

[bananaboat]

after reading hte instructions more closely, i see it says "indicate your credit hours or units EXACTLY as they appear on your transcript"

if units is the case, i'm sure there will be no problem indicating half credits as 0.5 units and full credits as 1.0 units. this is exactly as it appears on my transcript and will probably be best.

but do i still need my registrar to explain the lab courses?

 

[MiniNMD]

after reading hte instructions more closely, i see it says "indicate your credit hours or units EXACTLY as they appear on your transcript"

if units is the case, i'm sure there will be no problem indicating half credits as 0.5 units and full credits as 1.0 units. this is exactly as it appears on my transcript and will probably be best.

but do i still need my registrar to explain the lab courses?

my school counts courses in 0.5 units and 1.0 units as well. i entered them that way on AMCAS, and they were verified without corrections (apparently the official transcript tells AMCAS how to convert everything to semester hours). were the labs built into courses? your transcript should say bio (or whatever)... w/ lab if they are so you're probably in ok shape.

 

[bananaboat]

my school counts courses in 0.5 units and 1.0 units as well. i entered them that way on AMCAS, and they were verified without corrections (apparently the official transcript tells AMCAS how to convert everything to semester hours). were the labs built into courses? your transcript should say bio (or whatever)... w/ lab if they are so you're probably in ok shape.

no the transcript does not say lab. the course description only says lab

it will just be called "CEULLAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY" the lab is not included in the course title. therefore, what exactly woudl my registrar's note say?

"To whom it may concern, the following courses included a laboratory component of X hours on alternating weeks" or something to that effect?

thanks for your response...i'm going to use the 0.5 and 1.0 unit system.

 

[MiniNMD]

no the transcript does not say lab. the course description only says lab

it will just be called "CEULLAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY" the lab is not included in the course title. therefore, what exactly woudl my registrar's note say?

"To whom it may concern, the following courses included a laboratory component of X hours on alternating weeks" or something to that effect?

thanks for your response...i'm going to use the 0.5 and 1.0 unit system.

I'm pretty sure on AMCAS it asks that if a course included a lab under one of the pull down options. definitely use that. i guess the registrar's letter could take the course descriptions to note that the course included a lab and then describe how often and for how long that lab occured.

but is this the lab for your intro bio courses or just courses you took after? because if it's not one of the prerequisite labs then the registrar's letter may not be necessary.

 

[bananaboat]

I'm pretty sure on AMCAS it asks that if a course included a lab under one of the pull down options. definitely use that. i guess the registrar's letter could take the course descriptions to note that the course included a lab and then describe how often and for how long that lab occured.

but is this the lab for your intro bio courses or just courses you took after? because if it's not one of the prerequisite labs then the registrar's letter may not be necessary.

yea i'm definately using the lab+lecture option. but i'm not sure that is sufficient, if i'm going to be using the units (as shown on my transcript) rather than the semester hours.

not sure who that memo applies to about, having the registrar attatch a note about lab hours.

 

[keiichi]

Using 2002(fall)-2003(spring) school year (quarter system at UCSD) as an example, I took organic chem during the summer of 2003. Would this summer session in 2003 count as part of the 2002-2003 school year, or part of the 2003-2004 school year? I notice when I added this summer course as part of the 2002-2003 year, it placed it in front of the courses I took in 2002 fall. I always thought summer session taken in 2003 would be after spring quarter in 2003 and thus part of the 2002-2003 school year. Here is a visual example of what I mean:

(Summer session taken in July 2003)==>(2002 fall (sept) quarter classes)==>(2003 winter quarter classes)==>(2003 spring quarter classes)

It would seem to me that AMCAS is classifying my summer session in a quarter system as taking place before the fall 2002 quarter.

The basic question is: Does summer session take place in the beginning or the end of the corresponding school year? Is it the same for both semester and quarter systems?

This is all assuming that AMCAS lists the coursework section in chronological order, which I think it does.