*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2015-2016*~*~*~*

[mehc012]

So I had everything ready as far as my LOR go and for some reason it randomly erased everything today. I no longer see the LOR requests I had made and it made me redo all of the schools atteneded and biographic information portion. I'm also aware that a few of my letter writers had already uploaded. Is there anyway to get this back or is this some sort of glitch?

Did you accidentally log into the 2015 site? I did that once...

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[mehc012]

That would qualify as non-clinical. It is medical in the sense that I am teaching medical/patient care information to students. I could see it going either way.

Now you're just splitting hairs.
Medical/clinical is usually decided based on exposure to patients who are being treated. If you just want to make sure adcoms know that your job involved healthcare-related topics, well, the title 'CPR Instructor' would tell them that. Labelling it Medical/clinical doesn't change that factor, and might seem incorrect to those who expect to see patient involvement for clinical entries.

My opinion would be non-medical/clinical. Feel free to mark it however you like, but if you have already made your decision, why ask?

 

[pb34]

Now you're just splitting hairs.
My opinion would be non-medical/clinical. Feel free to mark it however you like, but if you have already made your decision, why ask?

I hadn't made my decision, in fact I was leaning towards marking it as non-medical/clinical. Just playing devil's advocate as I could see both sides to the argument. To be fair, it probably won't matter anyway.

 

[mehc012]

I hadn't made my decision, in fact I was leaning towards marking it as non-medical/clinical. Just playing devil's advocate as I could see both sides to the argument. To be fair, it probably won't matter anyway.

Truth to the bolded!
Fair enough...I expanded my thoughts on the matter above, at any rate.

 

[Cawolf]

@pb34 Ultimately you can mark it however you please, I don't think it will matter either way.

I do agree with @mehc012 that it more naturally fits into paid employment - not medical/clinical.

 

[pb34]

Agreed, I think I'll put it into the non medical/clinical. Thanks!

 

[gonnif]

I have a question about LORs (sorry if it has been asked previously).
I have 5 letter writers at this point and they ALL know me immensely well. Most of them I have been close with for the past three years of undergrade. Breakdown:
3 engineering
1 engineering research PI
1 biology

Congratulations. If we were to take strict interpretation of science vs. non-science faculty, your engineering profs are non science. However, it is highly doubtful anyone will care or notice

Here's my question: Can I get a professor/university administrator to write me my non-science letter? I have been active in the LGBT community hosting panel discussions and starting mentorship programs for entering LGBT identifying students and the official I worked with is a professor in counseling psychology so I've been told her area corresponds to non-science. However, I have never had a class with her I have just worked with her. Would this still be permissible?

Letter requirements are specified per school. Some will ask for an evaluation by someone you have taken a class with; some say faculty member. Again, unlikely they will care or notice. If the writer knows you well enough, then yes.

Additionally, if after attaining my non-science letter I have a very close family friend with whom I interacted through Big Brothers Big Sisters for my entire life (BBBS is a program that matches children without a father or a mother to an older mentor) could I utilize him as a letter writer? He's not family but he has known me such a long time and can speak to my character more than anyone I know.

While you could make the case for it, the LOE is for really how you perform in an academic setting. And you have 5 letters, which is more than enough

 

[bumblebee611]

Apologize if this is a silly question, but I just can't find the answer. When I was in high school I signed up for a class at a community college and then dropped it. The transcript bears the class, with a grade of W, and indicates that 3 credits were attempted and 0 were earned. Do I put 0 or 3 for the credits when I enter this coursework into AMCAS?

 

[Mavs88]

Apologize if this is a silly question, but I just can't find the answer. When I was in high school I signed up for a class at a community college and then dropped it. The transcript bears the class, with a grade of W, and indicates that 3 credits were attempted and 0 were earned. Do I put 0 or 3 for the credits when I enter this coursework into AMCAS?

I believe you will put 3.

 

[cornphilip]

So I'm Egyptian and I'm seeing that there's now an "other African American/Black" option where you can write in your self-identification. Would it be a good idea to select this and write in "Egyptian American" or something of the sort? I know whether or not Egyptians are african american is a kind of controversial topic, but I think it's the closest thing that I personally identify as. I'm also not trying to be dishonest in any way because the application will clearly say Egyptian on it and adcoms can reclassify it if they disagree?

 

[081388]

My university requires 6 hours of writing intensive coursework. Yet, my transcript does not indicate that these are writing intensive courses. Is there a way to make clear I have satisfied this requirement on the transcript portion of the AMCAS?
Thanks.

 

[medic86]

Apologize if this is a silly question, but I just can't find the answer. When I was in high school I signed up for a class at a community college and then dropped it. The transcript bears the class, with a grade of W, and indicates that 3 credits were attempted and 0 were earned. Do I put 0 or 3 for the credits when I enter this coursework into AMCAS?

I believe you will put 3.

It doesn't really matter since you'll be selecting the "Withdrawal" box below (this sets the credit hours entry to blank).

 

[question25]

oops wrong amcas thread, sorry

 

[mehc012]

My university requires 6 hours of writing intensive coursework. Yet, my transcript does not indicate that these are writing intensive courses. Is there a way to make clear I have satisfied this requirement on the transcript portion of the AMCAS?
Thanks.

Graduate, since it's a graduation requirement at your school?
I suppose I'm not certain why you are trying to clarify this to AMCAS. They are not concerned about whether you fulfilled your writing-intensive quota.

 

[081388]

So each individual school will review my transcript to see if I met their requirements? If it is not clear on my transcript, will they ask me for clarification?

 

[bumblebee611]

It doesn't really matter since you'll be selecting the "Withdrawal" box below (this sets the credit hours entry to blank).

Thanks-that makes sense.

 

[gonnif]

My university requires 6 hours of writing intensive coursework. Yet, my transcript does not indicate that these are writing intensive courses. Is there a way to make clear I have satisfied this requirement on the transcript portion of the AMCAS?
Thanks.

Are the courses listed as English? in the end, it wont matter. Prerequisite Requirements are defined at each school and are not typically checked for fulfillment until post-acceptance/pre-matriculation . AMCAS coursework is for GPA and BCPM/AO courses

 

[mehc012]

Are the courses listed as English? in the end, it wont matter. Prerequisite Requirements are defined at each school and are not typically checked for fulfillment until post-acceptance/pre-matriculation . AMCAS coursework is for GPA and BCPM/AO courses

Writing intensive ≠ English. At least at my school, writing intensive courses usually required far more writing than a standard English class, but could come from any discipline. Several of mine were, in fact, science courses. Writing a 5-7 page paper every other week (on the off weeks your partner wrote and you joined the professor in tearing it to shreds and discussing the points), each synthesizing 5-10 oft-conflicting journal articles is definitely intensive, but you wouldn't have the slightest clue from the title.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

Apologies if this is thread hijacking, but I have an unrelated question!

I'm hoping to submit my AMCAS as close to the open date, but I have not yet taken the MCAT (June 20). Is it better to try to formulate a school list based on practice test scores/rest of application and have that completed when I first submit to get my foot in the door at that schools? Or nail down the list after receiving MCAT scores later? Or does that put me behind the ball for schools that I add "last minute?"

 

[mehc012]

Apologies if this is thread hijacking, but I have an unrelated question!

I'm hoping to submit my AMCAS as close to the open date, but I have not yet taken the MCAT (June 20). Is it better to try to formulate a school list based on practice test scores/rest of application and have that completed when I first submit to get my foot in the door at that schools? Or nail down the list after receiving MCAT scores later? Or does that put me behind the ball for schools that I add "last minute?"

It would be the same either way...your application is not ready for review until those MCAT scores are in, so you would not be any more behind by adding a school the day you get your MCAT score than you would be for a school you added earlier, but which waited for your score to come through.

 

[ylayla2]

Hey guys. I have two questions. First is about coursework. I have a bunch of science classes with labs that are listed on my transcript under no grade and no credit. The lecture science courses are four credits and have a grade assigned to them while the labs are no credit and no grade. So would I select the four credit science course as lecture and lab or leave them separate? Also would I have to select audit or exempt to make sure AMCAS knows that the labs have no credit or grade assigned to them? Or should I just list them as 0 credit and no grade received?

Second is about disadvantaged statement. I'm not sure if I qualify since the AMCAS designations are sort of vague but I moved to the US at 8 for my mothers treatment. She was very ill and could not work. My father also couldn't work as a pharmacist since his bachelors in pharmacy prevented him from doing so. My mothers treatment ended up severely affecting my family's finances and she could not receive health insurance due to her preexisting condition. During this time I was on the reduced cost lunch program. We moved to a rural area where we run a store currently. Although not officially, I have worked in this store during high school and in college. As a new immigrant my english was not at the standard expected of students here and I had to work very hard to catch up to my fellow peers. Would this qualify as disadvantaged?

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

It would be the same either way...your application is not ready for review until those MCAT scores are in, so you would not be any more behind by adding a school the day you get your MCAT score than you would be for a school you added earlier, but which waited for your score to come through.

Ah ok that makes sense. Thank you!

 

[mehc012]

Ah ok that makes sense. Thank you!

The only caveat being verification time, sorry...should have pointed that out earlier.
You should submit early with one school (one that will be on your list no matter how your MCAT turns out) to get the verification process started. Verification can eat up weeks of your timeline.

However, the rest can be added after you see your score.

 

[gonnif]

So each individual school will review my transcript to see if I met their requirements? If it is not clear on my transcript, will they ask me for clarification?

Yes

Writing intensive ≠ English. At least at my school, writing intensive courses usually required far more writing than a standard English class, but could come from any discipline. Several of mine were, in fact, science courses. Writing a 5-7 page paper every other week (on the off weeks your partner wrote and you joined the professor in tearing it to shreds and discussing the points), each synthesizing 5-10 oft-conflicting journal articles is definitely intensive, but you wouldn't have the slightest clue from the title.

If/when you are accepted at a school and take that offer, you will have a pre-matriculation phase that will likely require to have official transcripts sent directly to the school for due diligence in checking you prereq requirements. Some schools are sticklers, other have generally easy waivers and/or accept, Some schools say intensive writing others say English specifically.

For example, last year I had a nontrad student, former journalist and textbook editor who, obviously, many intensive writing courses in college but no formal English course. The school she originally accepted would not give her a waiver and she would going to have to take a freshman English course in the summer prior to matriculation. Then she got waitlisted into an Ivy that over the phone said no problem on the writing requirement.

So the point to this is the definitive answer that you want is there isnt one. It wont matter for admission. It will be a post-admission discussion with school

 

[gonnif]

Hey guys. I have two questions. First is about coursework. I have a bunch of science classes with labs that are listed on my transcript under no grade and no credit. The lecture science courses are four credits and have a grade assigned to them while the labs are no credit and no grade. So would I select the four credit science course as lecture and lab or leave them separate? Also would I have to select audit or exempt to make sure AMCAS knows that the labs have no credit or grade assigned to them? Or should I just list them as 0 credit and no grade received?

List them as on the transcript so AMCAS doesnt get confused. If room on lecture line add (lab listed below). It doesnt really matter in the end

Second is about disadvantaged statement. I'm not sure if I qualify since the AMCAS designations are sort of vague but I moved to the US at 8 for my mothers treatment. She was very ill and could not work. My father also couldn't work as a pharmacist since his bachelors in pharmacy prevented him from doing so. My mothers treatment ended up severely affecting my family's finances and she could not receive health insurance due to her preexisting condition. During this time I was on the reduced cost lunch program. We moved to a rural area where we run a store currently. Although not officially, I have worked in this store during high school and in college. As a new immigrant my english was not at the standard expected of students here and I had to work very hard to catch up to my fellow peers. Would this qualify as disadvantaged?

You could if want to, it would seem to make a disadvantage statement

 

[socialcriticism]

I sent in my transcript on the first day that they were available on 5/5. Now, it's 5/17 and when I recheck, it's still considered "not received". Is anybody else experiencing such delays?

 

[Cawolf]

Well I doubt they process transcripts on the weekends.

I also am still waiting on a couple to show up as received that I know should have got there by now.

 

[socialcriticism]

Well I doubt they process transcripts on the weekends.

I also am still waiting on a couple to show up as received that I know should have got there by now.

i just clicked the transcript link today to look up the status. I have only 1 transcript to send, and the registrar said they were going to send it the week of. i guess i'll call them up tomorrow then.

 

[leventambi]

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[mehc012]

Looking for some guidance please! Kind of lost .Here's the situation:
-Taking MCAT for the second time on July 18.
-Need my spring quarter grades to be included in my transcript to help my GPA. They arent finalized till June 20th.
I want to submit to begin the verification process then add in my MCAT score. Could someone please tell me when to submit in my case? As soon as spring grades are finalized should i then ask for transcripts from my university? or ask earlier and then add in spring grades then submit the app? Then after the MCAT score comes out in August I add all the schools I want to apply to?
Please help! Thank you very much.

You cannot add in grades later. Request your transcripts one time. If you want your spring grades included, do it after they've been reported.

In your case, this will not be the rate-determining step, simply because your MCAT is so very, very late. Your primary application will not be ready for review until late August, when your score comes in. The fact that your app will not be verified until late July or early August is irrelevant (waiting for June 20-something and then several weeks for verification). Schools will see the scheduled MCAT date and set yours aside to wait for those results.

Honestly, given that your GPA apparently needs every bit of help you can muster (inferred from the importance of this semester's grades), you have a low MCAT which will show up no matter what (inferred from the last-minute retake), and you have an unknown future MCAT score, I would personally not apply this year if the earliest you could do so is late August. You should plan to apply only once, putting your best foot forward. You do not sound as if you have a strong enough app to absorb the impact of a late application, so your best foot would be a very early submission next cycle.

 

[gonnif]

You cannot add in grades later. Request your transcripts one time. If you want your spring grades included, do it after they've been reported.

In your case, this will not be the rate-determining step, simply because your MCAT is so very, very late. Your primary application will not be ready for review until late August, when your score comes in. The fact that your app will not be verified until late July or early August is irrelevant (waiting for June 20-something and then several weeks for verification). Schools will see the scheduled MCAT date and set yours aside to wait for those results.

To add to this, while AAMC guidelines state that schools should wait for a planned MCAT to review, each school can set their own policy and can review based on an existing MCAT score. I tend to advise students not to try to repeat the MCAT on the same cycle unless they have continually prep for it (ie took first MCAT and continued prep the next day). If you are below average stats you set yourself up for wasting money on rejection and put yourself in the weaker spot of being a reapplicant next time. Without knowing your GPA distribution and trend, its hard to say how badly a late MCAT will be.

 

[leventambi]

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[leventambi]

Without knowing your GPA distribution and trend, its hard to say how badly a late MCAT will be.

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[mehc012]

Yes that makes sense as well, thank you. I do have a pretty strong upward trend regarding GPA. beginning with a 2.7 and ending with a 3.8. It's just those first few quarters that are bringing down my cumulative GPA (with a valid reason imo). Don't want to sound like a broken record but I really want to apply this cycle. Is there anything I can do to help myself? ie. take the June MCAT if I feel confident and ready? Will this make much of a difference?

The earlier date would help, but with emphasis on the 'confident and ready.' The worst thing you could do would be to rush a retake and get another low score.

Given what @gonnif said above, if you go this route I would wait for the MCAT before adding the bulk of the schools, personally, for 2 reasons: 1, if the score does not end up where you want, you won't be a reapplicant at many places, and 2, if your first MCAT is low, I'd rather not risk them reviewing my app before I've put a second, better, score in.

 

[gonnif]

The earlier date would help, but with emphasis on the 'confident and ready.' The worst thing you could do would be to rush a retake and get another low score.

Given what @gonnif said above, if you go this route I would wait for the MCAT before adding the bulk of the schools, personally, for 2 reasons: 1, if the score does not end up where you want, you won't be a reapplicant at many places, and 2, if your first MCAT is low, I'd rather not risk them reviewing my app before I've put a second, better, score in.

Strongly concur with above. I cant help but think of what seems like a folksy saying but so true in medical school admissions: you never get a second chance to make a good first impression

 

[detu]

I was wondering if someone could help me with listing credit hours. I went to a UC, so we had a quarter system with units (generally 4.0 units a course). Should I list 4.0 for the number of credit hours? Thanks a lot.

 

[mehc012]

I was wondering if someone could help me with listing credit hours. I went to a UC, so we had a quarter system with units (generally 4.0 units a course). Should I list 4.0 for the number of credit hours? Thanks a lot.

List what's on your transcript. Just make sure you select the right semester type from the drop down menu.

 

[Cawolf]

I was wondering if someone could help me with listing credit hours. I went to a UC, so we had a quarter system with units (generally 4.0 units a course). Should I list 4.0 for the number of credit hours? Thanks a lot.

Without being too rude, did you try to look it up in the instruction manual? If you had, then searched for the word "conversions", you would see that no conversion should be done.

Assuming you tried, here is the proper source:

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

Page 39

 

[mehc012]

Without being too rude, did you try to look it up in the instruction manual? If you had, then searched for the word "conversions", you would see that no conversion should be done.

Assuming you tried, here is the proper source:

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

Page 39

Thank you for sourcing that...I was eating popcorn and only had one available hand!

 

[ChillDawg]

If I attended community college for, say, 3 years, how do I classify my years, ie, freshman, sophmore, etc..
Should I split the 3 years into fresh/soph? You can't technically be a 'junior' at community college, right?
I was full-time, so I definitely had more than fresh+soph amount of units.

 

[gjh94]

hello, looking for advice on listing parents' occupation -- they own a VERY small business but also operate it by themselves. is the category "Business Owner" still appropriate in this case, or would it be better to put "Other" w/description of "XX owner and operator"?

 

[gonnif]

If I attended community college for, say, 3 years, how do I classify my years, ie, freshman, sophmore, etc..
Should I split the 3 years into fresh/soph? You can't technically be a 'junior' at community college, right?
I was full-time, so I definitely had more than fresh+soph amount of units.

Do it by credit amounts as detailed in AMCAS instructions see page 36

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/182162/data/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf

 

[gonnif]

hello, looking for advice on listing parents' occupation -- they own a VERY small business but also operate it by themselves. is the category "Business Owner" still appropriate in this case, or would it be better to put "Other" w/description of "XX owner and operator"?

Owner Operator seems more appropriate and fairly obvious

 

[neuroresearchguy23]

You check the 'Repeat' box for both

As long as you didn't withdraw, both are marked as @mehc012 said.

Make sure you mark the first attempt with the grade received, not the symbol or notation the university uses for a repeat.

wow.. just kidding, I called again to ask for something else, and I asked about the repeated courses just to double check and they said check both times. Sorry about that!

 

[azzeh123]

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[gonnif]

Okay so I called AMCAS this morning. They told me that once you send in a transcript, they CANNOT remove it off your file. So if I am resending the same transcript just with a few additional grades on it, it will appear that I have two transcripts on file. Two transcripts will be sent out to the Medical Schools.

Now my question, would this cause unneeded confusion for medical schools/the verification process?

it will cause some confusion but how much, how long it might affect verification, is completely speculative. For example, I would assume as a processing step they would review/re-verify the entire transcript.

 

[azzeh123]

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[gonnif]

I would like your personal opinion on my situation. I made the mistake of sending my transcripts in early without my spring grades. I am a junior and without my spring grades do still have the minimum 90 units required to apply for some schools.

Do you suggest not sending in a new transcript, avoiding any possible confusion? Or sending in the transcript with my spring junior grades and hoping the delay from any possible confusion isn't too bad?

Thank you as always!

Are your grades vital? Will they improve GPA ? Will they show an array of upper level courses? Unless any of these are very true and will really show a big impact i would say dont resend

 

[mehc012]

Owner Operator seems more appropriate and fairly obvious

Isn't that usually a trucking term?

Edit: A quick Google search shows that every non-dictionary website you get about the term is solely about trucking owner-operators, but Wikipedia and definition pages usually mention that it can be any business in passing before then talking only about owner-operators in the context of trucks. So technically it is any business, it just carries a heavy connotation of trucks.

 

[azzeh123]

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