New OptomCas Sysytem Issues and Application Experience

[Xtermination]

So, people who applied last are screwed according to the new OptomCas system. Your old app info and transcript will NOT be carried over. That's a huge waste of time and money to get those transcript resend.

Since this morning their Beta Version crushed at least 5 times or may be more. This is just ridiculous.

Also, while I was putting my grades down, it was computing W grade to the GPA, which was not done by the previous system. For example, my term GPA for the semester was 3.52 but when they took in account the W grade and it went down to 2.90 because the withdrawn class was worth 5 credits. I'm just pissed with the new system.

Anybody else experiencing any issues with the new system? Please share. Thanks.

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[apzambia32]

I was entering things just fine up until an hour ago. Now it seems the site is down. I'm not a reapplicant so I don't have the issues you are having, nore do I have a W.

 

[Salmon]

Yes, I was having issues as well. It was working fine until I ran into the same problems as you. Hopefully things get better within the next month. I'm not sure how W's are handled now but my web browser has a cached version of the old FAQ.

Here's what it said regarding W's:
"Q: What types of courses ARE NOT included in my GPAs?
A: Foreign coursework will not be included in the GPAs. In addition, any course in which a grade of withdrawal, pass/no-pass, audit, incomplete, exempted or not yet enrolled is specifically indicated on your official transcript, will not be included in the GPAs."

I read elsewhere (today in fact) that W's should be reported as zero credit hours on the old system, but I can't find that either.

Anyway, for those specific questions I would email them because of the new system and just hope that they fix the application system soon... but on the upside we're all in the same boat

EDIT: I said my browser had cached the web page, but apparently it was google that cached the web page. So you all can check the old FAQ too if you do a google search then click on the little green down arrow next to the green link under your search results.

 

[Juliaekoorb]

I was trying to enter my AP credit (As CR like the previous FAQ pages had said to do) and it brings my GPA down as well UGH.

Also I'm confused with the whole Course Title vs. Subject area??
Is course title the BIOL part of a course code? Or would that just mean the subject is biology and the course title would be neuroscience or something?

 

[Wobble]

Here's how I did it:
Course Code: BIOL 240
Course Subject: Biology
Course Title: Introductory Cell Biology

 

[sp4175]

Does it matter if you put a space b/w the number and letters like CHM2045 or CHM 2045?

 

[Wobble]

Does it matter if you put a space b/w the number and letters like CHM2045 or CHM 2045?

Write it EXACTLY like how it appears on your transcript. My school does capital letters with spaces, so thats how I did it. So like "BIOL 240"

 

[Salmon]

Here is an email I got from them regarding W's and repeats:

"Good afternoon,

Thank you for contacting OPTOMCAS. If you withdrew from a course, then you
should enter W for the grade. There is no way to indicate if a course was
repeated, but your schools will know when they see your coursework."

I can't seem to get the application to show me GPA totals but I was seeing them yesterday.

 

[apzambia32]

Here is an email I got from them regarding W's and repeats:

"Good afternoon,

Thank you for contacting OPTOMCAS. If you withdrew from a course, then you
should enter W for the grade. There is no way to indicate if a course was
repeated, but your schools will know when they see your coursework."

I can't seem to get the application to show me GPA totals but I was seeing them yesterday.

im not sure about not being able to indicate if a course was repeated. Under the "Transcript Review" section you are prompted if you repeated any courses.

 

[apzambia32]

I changed my response to "YES" to see what would happen and it then prompts you to select all the repeated courses from all the classes you have entered into OptomCAS. It also tells you to select all attempts including the last.

Hope this helps

Cheers.

 

[Salmon]

lol! so I guess optomcas employees themselves aren't a reliable source of information... Thank for the info!

 

[Salmon]

How did you get to "transcript review" do you have to completely fill out all of your transcripts first? Thanks though! This does help a lot.

 

[apzambia32]

lol! so I guess optomcas employees themselves aren't a reliable source of information... Thank for the info!

haha yea, kinda sad when you are paying for a service.

 

[apzambia32]

Yes, I did completely fill out all my classes.
THEN
when I click on Academic History
I see 3 options under that:
1) Colleges Attended
2) Transcript Entry
3) Standardized Tests

click on
2) Transcript Entry
then click
Review & Finalize My Transcript.

 

[Salmon]

Ah, I see. Thanks again. I have feeling this thread is going to be an unofficial FAQ for me as I fill out the application.

 

[apzambia32]

I hear ya, i'm just glad i'm not in the same boat as Xtermination. I have heard that the website from previous application cycles was much more user friendly.
If you have any more questions just throw them up here, someone or myself should be here looking for answers to similar questions.

Cheers.

 

[Wobble]

For evaluator's information what did you guys put under "official title"?

 

[apzambia32]

I put PhD & OD and for title I put Dr.

 

[Xtermination]

For evaluator's information what did you guys put under "official title"?

Put optometrist or whatever the position the person you are getting the letter from such as physics professor or volunteer coordinator etc.

 

[Xtermination]

lol! so I guess optomcas employees themselves aren't a reliable source of information... Thank for the info!

Yep, that's why I rarely contact them.

 

[pawsandpotatoes]

None of my letter writers received an email from optomcas...I will have to call them tomorrow and request that they be sent again. So you may want to follow up with yours!

UPDATE: I called OptomCAS and asked that they be resent. My writers still did not get them. I finally just deleted all of their information from my application and put it back in. So far 2 out of the 4 have confirmed that they got it. I think this may only be an issue for those of us that entered them on July 1st.

 

[Dagheloot]

So I am also in the process of filling out my coursework and wanted to see what people are doing when it comes to the "subject" part. Some of them are already in the system i.e. biology/calculus but when I add my A&P course, should I put the subject as "Anatomy" or "Physiology" or just type "Anatomy/Physiology" into the field???

 

[Salmon]

So I am also in the process of filling out my coursework and wanted to see what people are doing when it comes to the "subject" part. Some of them are already in the system i.e. biology/calculus but when I add my A&P course, should I put the subject as "Anatomy" or "Physiology" or just type "Anatomy/Physiology" into the field???

I was just typing in the department it was taken in at my college. My A&P course is with the bio department so I just wrote "Biology" as the subject.

 

[Dagheloot]

I was just typing in the department it was taken in at my college. My A&P course is with the bio department so I just wrote "Biology" as the subject.

So do you recommend just using the system-provided subjects? The A&P course I took was with the Nutritional Science dept. (as are a lot of my other courses) but the only choice that the system has is "Nutrition."

 

[blackhole2]

I am having trouble creating an account. When I go to click "Create My Account," the link itself is not highlighted. I wonder if I am missing something?

Edit: Nevermind. My issue was not designating the phone number type I had provided.

 

[apzambia32]

None of my letter writers received an email from optomcas...I will have to call them tomorrow and request that they be sent again. So you may want to follow up with yours!

I just contacted OptomCAS this morning and had them resend an email to my LOR writers. I just got confirmation that my writers received an email this morning. I had originally filled out my writers info and saved it on July 1st, but they didn't receive anything.

Also once the emails were sent out I got a notification within OptomCAS notifying me that an email was sent out to each writer.

 

[Xtermination]

None of my letter writers received an email from optomcas...I will have to call them tomorrow and request that they be sent again. So you may want to follow up with yours!

i have requested 2 out of 3 received it. I am waiting for the professor to reply for the 3rd one. The new system is good but it's just too buggy...

 

[Xtermination]

So do you recommend just using the system-provided subjects? The A&P course I took was with the Nutritional Science dept. (as are a lot of my other courses) but the only choice that the system has is "Nutrition."

if it falls under nutrition or nutritional science then I'd choose nutrition. Once you are done it will prompt you to review and they will double check it anyway to make sure everything matches up with the transcript.

 

[Dagheloot]

if it falls under nutrition or nutritional science then I'd choose nutrition. Once you are done it will prompt you to review and they will double check it anyway to make sure everything matches up with the transcript.

Good point. Might as well not "make up" new categories to make things a little clearer. Thanks!

 

[drumstix]

wow.. this is complete b.s.

not that i give a **** since i'm already admitted for 2014, but it's still complete b.s. I remember reading that if you paid the previous cycle, they carry your info over to the next year's cycle. but when i try to log in, my entire account seems to have been deleted. and when i go to "Forgot password" and put my email address in there, i get this error:

• This email address is not yet registered. Please try again.
  

i want to sue these dinguses

 

[drumstix]

"Reapplying to OptomCAS?
For the 2014-2015 application cycle, all applicants, including those who previously applied during the 2013-2014 application cycle will need to create a new application and send in all required documents.

Why?
OptomCAS is on a new technology platform for the 2014-2015 cycle and it was not possible to move data from the previous application. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and hope you enjoy the improved application experience. If you have feedback you wish to share or would like to participate in usability research projects for OptomCAS, please send an email to [email protected]."

feedback:

 

[sp4175]

Put optometrist or whatever the position the person you are getting the letter from such as physics professor or volunteer coordinator etc.

so how would you put an optometrist? would "title" be doctor and official title be optometrist?

 

[Xtermination]

so how would you put an optometrist? would "title" be doctor and official title be optometrist?

Yes, it would make more sense to put "Dr." as title or it can be "mr" "miss" or whatever that person is. And official title would be the occupation of that person which would be "optometrist" or "professor (PhD)" etc.

 

[Xtermination]

wow.. this is complete b.s.

not that i give a **** since i'm already admitted for 2014, but it's still complete b.s. I remember reading that if you paid the previous cycle, they carry your info over to the next year's cycle. but when i try to log in, my entire account seems to have been deleted. and when i go to "Forgot password" and put my email address in there, i get this error:

• This email address is not yet registered. Please try again.

i want to sue these dinguses

I totally agree with you. Which school are you going to ?

 

[drumstix]

I totally agree with you. Which school are you going to ?

PUCO

 

[optochoco]

Hi everyone,

This might be a silly question, but did you guys order an official transcript for yourself and entered your grades according to that or did you just log into your school's portal and took the info from the grade section there and entered it into optomcas?

 

[apzambia32]

Hi everyone,

This might be a silly question, but did you guys order an official transcript for yourself and entered your grades according to that or did you just log into your school's portal and took the info from the grade section there and entered it into optomcas?

I was able to download an unofficial copy for free from my school website.
I was done with my degree so all my classes were completed and had grades to go along with them.
I just used this to transcribe my transcripts into OptomCAS.
I'm assuming if you want to be 100% sure you are entering the correct information request an official copy.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

 

[fifa518]

I am trying to add shadowing, memberships, and employment, however for every option in the drop down menu, only the field for employment comes up. For example, for shadowing experience it asks me about Job title, job description, job payments… Is this going to be fixed or should I enter in the information in these fields.

i e-mailed OptomCas about this, and they requested screen shots from me. I sent them screenshots, and they have not yet responded. I also tried opening the application on different servers. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Salmon]

I am trying to add shadowing, memberships, and employment, however for every option in the drop down menu, only the field for employment comes up. For example, for shadowing experience it asks me about Job title, job description, job payments… Is this going to be fixed or should I enter in the information in these fields.

i e-mailed OptomCas about this, and they requested screen shots from me. I sent them screenshots, and they have not yet responded. I also tried opening the application on different servers. Does anyone else have this problem?

I think that's how it is supposed to be. For shadowing I put my job title as "Shadowing". I think "intern" would work too. Just to let them know it was shadowing. Then for job description I talked about what I did during that shadowing experience.

 

[fifa518]

Thanks! That seems about right. Thanks for the help

 

[moes27]

Hello guys,

I just got off the phone with OptomCAS about AP credits and the guy on the phone told me to leave the grade part blank. On my college transcript it shows the grade as PS. What do I do leave it blank or put PS. Also today I am having trouble with transcript entry anybody else having trouble.
Thanks

 

[optochoco]

I was able to download an unofficial copy for free from my school website.
I was done with my degree so all my classes were completed and had grades to go along with them.
I just used this to transcribe my transcripts into OptomCAS.
I'm assuming if you want to be 100% sure you are entering the correct information request an official copy.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Thank you for the reply!

 

[Xtermination]

View attachment 183468 Alert:

Please check your Application periodically for changes as the OptomCas Beta people are working in the background, which can potentially mix-up your application with someone else. I logged into my account this morning from my cell phone and guess what, i saw somebody else's name instead of mine. I took a screenshot and deleted the other applicant's ID.

I'm so pissed at OptomCas. they are just greedy as they have raised the price for application and for the OAT exam, but the quality of service haven't improved at all.

My recommender has been trying to submit the recommendation since the past week and still having trouble because of they shi_ _ y system.

 

[tkuhug]

Yea, I've logged in a few times and navigation has disappeared and all my selected schools were gone. Uhm I guess we should submit while we can!

Just curious, by how much did they raise the app fee?

 

[Salmon]

View attachment 183468 Alert:

Please check your Application periodically for changes as the OptomCas Beta people are working in the background, which can potentially mix-up your application with someone else. I logged into my account this morning from my cell phone and guess what, i saw somebody else's name instead of mine. I took a screenshot and deleted the other applicant's ID.

I'm so pissed at OptomCas. they are just greedy as they have raised the price for application and for the OAT exam, but the quality of service haven't improved at all.

My recommender has been trying to submit the recommendation since the past week and still having trouble because of they shi_ _ y system.

Thanks for pointing this out! I don't think we should be posting peoples names though.

 

[apzambia32]

I can't be the only one that thought of this Olivia... Although I agree with Salmon

 

[sme309]

Where is everyone putting their extracurricular down? Under achievements or experiments?

I am not a big fan of this new system!

 

[Salmon]

Where is everyone putting their extracurricular down? Under achievements or experiments?

I am not a big fan of this new system!

Luckily they don't require that you list your experiments, just your experience. So you would report that under "experience". There is an option in the drop down menu where you can select extracurricular activities.

 

[Dagheloot]

Hey all, last week I got a notification from OptomCAS that they had received all of my transcripts and I was actually able to see a scanned version of what they received when I clicked on the "Colleges Attended" tab. However, the transcripts are now gone. Did this happen to anyone else?

 

[Xtermination]

Hey all, last week I got a notification from OptomCAS that they had received all of my transcripts and I was actually able to see a scanned version of what they received when I clicked on the "Colleges Attended" tab. However, the transcripts are now gone. Did this happen to anyone else?

this has to be another one of their system glitch, remember it's a beta pprogram and and they always working in the background. So, i'd say just try later in the day, and it should be there.