*-*-*The Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2011*-*-*

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
so I've been emailing my health professions advisor and all the courses I listed count as BCPM except for behavioral pharmacology. though I felt it was more science in nature, the "behavioral" aspect can be called into question (especially since its in the title) and could cause possible delays in my application.

so i guess i will be leaving that out unforeunately
 
hi all. i was wondering is anyone else was having trouble entering in study abroad coursework through AMCAS and AACOMAS like me 😳.
i studied fall 06 in cannes and paris through AIFS and took courses at 3 different schools. the course names and credits earned show up on my UG transcript but there are no course numbers or grades on there. according to the instruction booklet only one of these schools needs a separate transcript sent. what to do...

i emailed AMCAS and AACOMAS about this like a week ago and no response.... 👎
 
Unforgettable said:
Thanks for the help.

How can you say that EMT is not a leadership?

What is a leadership? A position where you lead a project, a team, or an organization. Everybody on an ambulance is expected to lead in any situation though their are designated officer-in-charge for that shift. I was fortunate enough to always run with a team where I was given an opportunity to lead the situation. So, yes, it is a leadership.

Not an argument just an explanation.
Click to expand...

Almost any profession can be made into a "leadership". AMCAS has the different categories for a reason. If you got paid, then your are a "paid employee" which should be the main category. You can explain your leadership role "within your employment" in the description box. Like the clerk who is the "chief of clerks" and lead the team..blah..blah blah//

Leadership (AMCAS) applies to those instances where you: organized a club, created a non profit, led a team to some god forsaken rural area to provide help, etc.....It just shows that you took the initiative to "originate" something. Otherwise, it looks just like fluff....

To become an EMT, you went to school for that. You were told what to do, how to behave ( if anything, you were led by teachers and instructors...) If once inside the organization you did something to "lead", then it should go on the description box.

Not arguing here either, just explaining btw
 
mvenus929 said:
If they are listed on your transcript, it means you got credit for them--college credit. So, you would have to list them, otherwise it'll take much longer to verify. We're not talking activities, we're talking courses.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I guess it depends on the school. Mine only considers AP and IB credit for advanced placement. We don't get any college credit.🙁
 
what are these credit hours?? my school just gives me half a credit for each semester worth of a course... do i have to convert them into credit hours??
 
MB333999 said:
what are these credit hours?? my school just gives me half a credit for each semester worth of a course... do i have to convert them into credit hours??
Click to expand...
Yes, and they're different for each school. I know for instance, my fiancée's school went based on credits where each full course was 1 credit (give or take a half) and the minimum was 3 credits per semester.

Therefore, 3 credits = 12 credit hours at her school, so 1 credit = 4 credit hours. I don't know if that's the official way, but look at your school's minimum credit amount for full-time enrollment and then compare to the standard of 12 credit hours minimum to calculate the conversion.

If that's off by a little, then AMCAS verifiers will make sure the conversion is correct based on your transcript, but that will definitely get you close. 👍
 
If on my transcript, my course is listed as "Hon Genrl Chemistry" and its number is "chem H2B", can I put the name is "Honors General Chemistry" and its number is "Chem H2B"?

Also, since it's a quarter to quarter series (A-B-C), do I need to put that in the "course name" or just leave it"Honors General Chemistry" and AMCAS can figure it out?

One last question: On my transcript, some of my summer sessions are listed as "Special-Misc Session 200_" (I know this meant our 10 week summer session instead of our 5 week summer sessions)...how do I classify this term on AMCAS? Do I just put "summer quarter" or do I put "other term"?

I'm looking at the "HELP" file for AMCAS, and I am looking up the classification of Org Chem on the list. O-chem isnt even listed on the classifications guide, I would still put it under Chemistry, right? Also, Biochemistry at my school and probably at most schools is considered a bio course..Why in the world does AMCAS think it is a "chemistry" course?
 
Last edited:
Quick question, I stopped attending a 1 unit softball class like 4 years ago and instead of receiving a grade got a WU which I assume means an administrative withdrawl, since it lists 1 unit under units attempted but 0 units under units earned. When I attempt to enter it in AMCAS, whenever I enter 1 unit, then select "Withdrawl" from the bottom, it switches my unit hours to "0". Should I leave it like this or do something else?
 
guitarguy23 said:
I took two courses in high school in conjunction with a local technical college that were considered transfer credit at my school, but only fulfilled my requirement for the course and no letter grade was incorporated into my GPA for college.

How should I put this in the course work information?
Click to expand...

You'll need to get a transcript from the technical college, and enter the grades and whatnot how it appears on that transcript, I think.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
When listing contact's under work/activities, should I list the name of the former director of volunteer services when I was there or should I list the new person's name? The new person came in right after I finished my volunteer.
 
traitorman said:
When listing contact's under work/activities, should I list the name of the former director of volunteer services when I was there or should I list the new person's name? The new person came in right after I finished my volunteer.
Click to expand...

I would list the old one. The phone number is the same, so you're good on that part.

I doubt this matters all that much, but I would list the person who was actually familiar with me even if they didn't work there anymore.
 
im still bummed out about one of the experiences im adding. it was a student shadow program that randomly paired students with physicians.

i randomly got paired up with a neurosurgeon. i was still able to shadow but certain circumstances prevented me from taking full advantage of this opportunity
 
in regards to the activities, if u have room, do u guys add like a 1-2 sentence statement about what the activity meant to u? made u feel? learned from it? etc.
 
traitorman said:
im still bummed out about one of the experiences im adding. it was a student shadow program that randomly paired students with physicians.

i randomly got paired up with a neurosurgeon. i was still able to shadow but certain circumstances prevented me from taking full advantage of this opportunity
Click to expand...

Sorry.
 
traitorman said:
in regards to the activities, if u have room, do u guys add like a 1-2 sentence statement about what the activity meant to u? made u feel? learned from it? etc.
Click to expand...

Well you have a good bit of space to write about the activity, which means describing what you did and (more importantly) how it affected you. The desription section for Activities is your chance to explain what the activity meant to you without taking up needless space in your PS.
 
metallica81788 said:
Well you have a good bit of space to write about the activity, which means describing what you did and (more importantly) how it affected you. The desription section for Activities is your chance to explain what the activity meant to you without taking up needless space in your PS.
Click to expand...

So we're supposed to write about what we did AND how it affected us, correct? Do you recommend using bullet statements to explain what we did and paragraph format to explain how it affected us?
 
I'm a non-trad...I graduated from college in 2006 and then returned to the same college in 2009 for post-bacc. Under "Schools Attended" do I add the same school twice - the first time in 2006 using Program Type "Undergraduate" and the second time in 2009 as Program Type "Postbacc Undergraduate?" If doing that...does AMCAS require that I send 2 transcripts even though 1 transcript will have the grades for both undergrad and post-bacc since it's the same school? It lets me print a transcript request for both...I don't want to just send one transcript and them be looking for two.
 
LetsGo352 said:
So we're supposed to write about what we did AND how it affected us, correct? Do you recommend using bullet statements to explain what we did and paragraph format to explain how it affected us?
Click to expand...

I would recommend only using one type of formatting. If you're going to talk about how it affected you, I wouldn't do bullets at all. You don't have to talk about how it affected you, but I would recommend it if you didn't touch on it in your PS. I love bullets and use them for just about everything, but they seem kind of impersonal to me for this kind of thing.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
metallica81788 said:
I would recommend only using one type of formatting. If you're going to talk about how it affected you, I wouldn't do bullets at all. You don't have to talk about how it affected you, but I would recommend it if you didn't touch on it in your PS. I love bullets and use them for just about everything, but they seem kind of impersonal to me for this kind of thing.
Click to expand...
👍
 
You don't want your activity description to look like this if you're trying to show how much you learned from something.

-Researched x, y, z
-Presented poster at conference
-learned the scientific method
-became a leader in the lab
-mentored other lab workers
-discovered the persistance it takes to research basic science
-learned how to collaborate with others

To me, that looks like you're trying to say you did more things than you actually did.
 
metallica81788 said:
You don't want your activity description to look like this if you're trying to show how much you learned from something.

-Researched x, y, z
-Presented poster at conference
-learned the scientific method
-became a leader in the lab
-mentored other lab workers
-discovered the persistance it takes to research basic science
-learned how to collaborate with others

To me, that looks like you're trying to say you did more things than you actually did.
Click to expand...

so would u say that stating the experience u got out of an activity is more important than what u did? for some activities, i fill up the space with what i did and have no room to provide a reflection on the activity. for others, i have enough room to provide what i got out of it

should i try to remove some of what i did to make space for what i got out of it?
 
By any chance, does anyone have the list of BCMP classes on hand? I've been looking everywhere for it (saw it in a post once). I'm wondering if ecology counts.
 
Sorry for asking this elsewhere, but I think I couldn't get a good answer.

When adding letters of recommendation, it asks "is this letter from a school?" Do you only check this if it's, say, an advising committee on behalf of the school, or is this the case for ANY professor's letter from your university?

Thanks
 
traitorman said:
so would u say that stating the experience u got out of an activity is more important than what u did? for some activities, i fill up the space with what i did and have no room to provide a reflection on the activity. for others, i have enough room to provide what i got out of it

should i try to remove some of what i did to make space for what i got out of it?
Click to expand...

You should probably cut down on what you did to make some room for what you got out of it. Make sure they're both there, but you can emphasize whichever part you feel is more important for individual activities. Go with your gut.
 
hey thanks a lot metallica! your advice has been extremely helpful. I'll work on finding that balance between the two.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
metallica81788 said:
You should probably cut down on what you did to make some room for what you got out of it. Make sure they're both there, but you can emphasize whichever part you feel is more important for individual activities. Go with your gut.
Click to expand...

Talked to a few adcoms about this, most are annoyed at the amount of space given to ECS now (having to read long, drawn out descriptions of things they are already familiar with). I'd strongly recommend against having long descriptions of what you got out of hospital volunteering, tutoring, etc and just list what you did. They know what most people get out of volunteering. I'd use more space to describe details about research and activities they might be unfamiliar with, but using stories or long drawn out explanations how some ec made you want to be a doctor is completely unnecessary (thats for your PS).

Short, sweet descriptions will let the adcoms know what the extracurricular entailed. Hours will tell them how involved/dedicated you are. Your PS will tell them how this helped you want to become a doctor, and if it doesn't you can talk about it on your interview.
 
rafflecopter said:
Talked to a few adcoms about this, most are annoyed at the amount of space given to ECS now (having to read long, drawn out descriptions of things they are already familiar with). I'd strongly recommend against having long descriptions of what you got out of hospital volunteering, tutoring, etc and just list what you did. They know what most people get out of volunteering. I'd use more space to describe details about research and activities they might be unfamiliar with, but using stories or long drawn out explanations how some ec made you want to be a doctor is completely unnecessary (thats for your PS).

Short, sweet descriptions will let the adcoms know what the extracurricular entailed. Hours will tell them how involved/dedicated you are. Your PS will tell them how this helped you want to become a doctor, and if it doesn't you can talk about it on your interview.
Click to expand...

True, true. I definitely agree.

I never said to make your EC description really, really long. I sure as hell never even got close to filling any of mine up. I guess what I meant was say what you did and what you got out of it concisely. To add your advice, just make sure you're not writing a novel.
 
lmarina1 said:
]Ok, so I guess the consensus is there is no consensus about what to include[/B]. Considering LizzyM shortened my 4 sentences down to one and loves bullet points, it seems like her input conflicts with yours. I guess the reality is different schools have different expectations. But if they;re drastically different, seems like there's no way to get out of it without shooting yourself in the foot somewhere. C'mon 2010ers be like Mettalica and TooMuchResearch and chime in!

FWIW, here's a search I did which came up with Lizzy's view
Click to expand...

Pretty much.

But don't be long winded, people. Take the lesson that the PS teaches you about being concise. 👍
 
Just curious, did you guys use all 15 spaces for the activities section?
 
lmarina1 - i didnt post that quote.

but yea i see what you all are saying. be concise and not be fuzzy.

i read on another thread how one person preferred short succinct sentences while another one enjoyed more thoughtful responses. not sure which side a majority of adcoms side with
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
What I am finding out, is that giving the Experience the right name is really important and can really make u stand out, right then and there..

ie: I started an art gallery with emphasis on latin american art and I organize weekly exhibits....

Category- Leadership

Experience name - Director Art Gallery

Organization name - The Name of the Gallery

Description - Started art gallery to promote the exposure of latin american artists within the local community. Organized weekly exhibits, now going on 3 years.

I am doing all my activities this way. If the interviewer is interested in asking me about it, then i can give all the details
 
When entering information about LORs, they ask for the letter writer's address, city, zip code, etc... I'm using interfolio, so I don't have this information from my letter writers. Should I email them and ask? Should I just put in the school's address?
 
Artimacia said:
When entering information about LORs, they ask for the letter writer's address, city, zip code, etc... I'm using interfolio, so I don't have this information from my letter writers. Should I email them and ask? Should I just put in the school's address?
Click to expand...

I just put in the address of the College of Basic Sciences office for my committee letter. I doubt it matters all that much, plus your writers might put some address/contact info on the actual letter itself.
 
metallica81788 said:
I just put in the address of the College of Basic Sciences office for my committee letter. I doubt it matters all that much, plus your writers might put some address/contact info on the actual letter itself.
Click to expand...

Should I just put their office address from the school? (Office address outside the school for the personal, non-school related LOR I have) It's required on the form, not really sure why it needs to be though (like you said)

Also, if a class (like Biochem for example) has a lab section, but doesn't state lab in the name or adds the credit for lab (like at my school, lectures plus labs are 4 credits, but biochem is 3), that's considered lecture + lab, right?
 
Artimacia said:
Should I just put their office address from the school? (Office address outside the school for the personal, non-school related LOR I have) It's required on the form, not really sure why it needs to be though (like you said)

Also, if a class (like Biochem for example) has a lab section, but doesn't state lab in the name or adds the credit for lab (like at my school, lectures plus labs are 4 credits, but biochem is 3), that's considered lecture + lab, right?
Click to expand...

1 - Sure that sounds good
2 - Yes

I have brought out my AMCAS app so maybe I can be of greater service to you 2015 peeps. :laugh: Plus, I have finals so I will need a way to procrastinate.
 
metallica81788 said:
1 - Sure that sounds good
2 - Yes

I have brought out my AMCAS app so maybe I can be of greater service to you 2015 peeps. :laugh: Plus, I have finals so I will need a way to procrastinate.
Click to expand...

Haha, thanks for the help, it's really great for this endlessly confusing form.

This is a really stupid question, but what would regular club membership go under? Nothin on the list seemed very clear.

Also, I was in a political club for a year as vice president (later discovered I was moderate) but I want to list the leadership aspect, but not stir up stuff with it being political.
 
Artimacia said:
Haha, thanks for the help, it's really great for this endlessly confusing form.

This is a really stupid question, but what would regular club membership go under? Nothin on the list seemed very clear.

Also, I was in a political club for a year as vice president (later discovered I was moderate) but I want to list the leadership aspect, but not stir up stuff with it being political.
Click to expand...

Extracurricular/Hobbies/Advocations

I would list that if you think you don't have enough activities. Just hope they don't ask about it at interviews and if they do, stay away from the actual politics.
 
metallica81788 said:
Extracurricular/Hobbies/Advocations

I would list that if you think you don't have enough activities. Just hope they don't ask about it at interviews and if they do, stay away from the actual politics.
Click to expand...

Yea, I mean, it's a years worth of leadership...but I don't want anyone to start being like "Well, you must agree with this....." and "Well, so-and-so, like your group, thought this so you must be for this too" etc...
 
Have any past applicants had any experience with their committee using VirtualEvals? I haven't yet received my letter, but can anyone shed some light on how the VE process works? Do I need to go ahead and create a letter entry or wait until I'm notified by VE that I have a letter ready?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

chilly_md
  • Sticky
*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2025-2026 *~*~*~*
2
Replies
93
Views
21K
chilly_md
chilly_md
wysdoc
  • Sticky
*~*~*~* Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2025-2026 *~*~*~*~*
7 8 9 10 11
Replies
521
Views
76K
wysdoc
wysdoc
chilly_md
*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2024-2025 *~*~*~*
Replies
23
Views
10K
diltiazemm
diltiazemm
chilly_md
~*~*~*~*~* Official Letters of Evaluation Questions Thread 2025-2026 *~*~*~*~*~
2
Replies
71
Views
10K
chilly_md
chilly_md
wysdoc
  • Locked
*~*~*~* Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2024-2025 *~*~*~*~*
5 6 7 8 9
Replies
443
Views
88K
wysdoc
wysdoc
Top Bottom