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You should definitely list all of the courses. Omitting something that's on your transcript is probably a recipe for delays. "Exempt" seems like a valid option. In the end, does it matter, though?
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*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*
Started by CougarMD
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You should definitely list all of the courses. Omitting something that's on your transcript is probably a recipe for delays. "Exempt" seems like a valid option. In the end, does it matter, though?
Merging into AMCAS questions thread.
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So I'm a little confused, should I change the course years for my classes then? That would seem even more confusing because my freshman courses would fall into the "sophomore" AMCAS Rank, which seems really stupid. What would I make my junior/senior courses then? If the above is correct, I would have to make my junior courses into "senior" rank, what would my future senior courses be then?
Senior courses. The table makes it readily apparent that any number of credits exceeding 90 qualifies one for senior status. Doesn't matter if it's 91 or 191.
Seriously, the way to approach this is to lose any preconceived notions of what you think is "right" or "appropriate" or "stupid." The instruction manual is the codified process for applying. It's a standardized process intended to make apples-to-apples comparisons of everyone's coursework. If you got credit for AP courses, that technically boosts you into a higher rank than a true straight-out-of-high school freshman. Once you've attained 91+ credits, the 91 credit-holder is on an equal footing as the 191 credit-holder because both have gone through the same number of prior credits.
If you disagree with my reasoning, that's perfectly fine. I'm not going to argue you should modify your application, as I have no vested interest in it. I am only trying to help people along in the application process by relating and interpreting relevant portions of the instruction manual, which for our purposes is the law of the land. Ultimately, the people processing your application will decide if your entering of your coursework satisfies the guidelines or not.
Thanks for the response. To me, it just seems like such a policy will make a huge mess; it seems very confusing to label Spring semester freshman courses as "Sophomore"- it would make it seem like I didn't take any real freshman courses at all...
Okay now I have a vested interest in this as well. The manual states:
"Each undergraduate status should consist of approximately 27-35 semester hours. Applicants with undergraduate, full-time, continuous enrollment at an institution should usually change their Year in School after every 2 semesters, 3-4 quarters, or 2-3 trimesters."
"Applicants who have been enrolled part-time, or who have had interrupted attendance, should
use these ranges to determine their appropriate status for each term: (List of hours)"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but since I am a continuous full-time student, I am listing my year and courses as found directly on my transcript. How is this not acceptable? It says we should use those guidelines if we were enrolled part-time, etc...
I believe the key word in your bolded statement is "usually." That implies there may be exceptions to this advice. However, there are no qualifiers around "Each undergraduate status should consist of approximately 27-35 hours." So, that range applies to everyone. Note that immediately prior to your quote is stated: "If the Year in School selected greatly exceeds the ranges specified below, AMCAS may reassign statuses." I should also point out that nowhere in the manual do I believe that it says "if you are a full-time, continuously-enrolled student, list your year exactly as it appears on your transcript" (emphasis mine). The fact that AMCAS provides you information on calculating your Year in School implies that your transcript's indication of your year in school is not the same as AMCAS's Year in School.
For situations where you may have more credits than the typical undergrad (upper bound: 35 x 4 = 140), we can look to the table previously mentioned for insight as to what should be done in that case. The fact that Senior status gets 91+ credits implies that, all other things being equal, the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior statuses should be kept to approximately 30 credits each and no more, and that the Senior status receives all excess credits.
I don't believe I can elaborate on my rationale any more than I already have. If there are continued disagreements with my interpretation, I highly recommend that rather than continue the discussion here, seek advice from the authoritative body, AMCAS, directly. While I don't intend to steer anyone wrong here, the best I can do is say "these are the manual's instructions and this is what I interpret them to mean." If you call up AMCAS and say "the advice you were given is horse-dung," then please come back and post. (If anyone reading has direct experience with this, that would be excellent as well. I had a typical undergrad transcript.) I would be happily shown to be wrong in that case, so that we can give more definitive help to people in the future.
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I also had a weird credit situation (crapton of AP credits, took a semester off, 2 semesters of 20+ units), and called up AMCAS to see how I should go about classifying Year in School. They just said go by semester - 1st/2nd semester = Freshman, 3rd/4th = Sophomore, etc. They said even though my credits definitely didn't fit their standard 27-35 credits/year rule, they wouldn't reclassify my years as long as I followed the semester rule for classification. You can call them up too, but the lady I talked to seemed surprised that I was worried about things being reclassified because of my credit situation. She said as long as you go by the semester rule, and don't assign classes in the same semester to different Years in School, AMCAS won't touch it. Often, if you look at your transcript, it will list your year in school at the top of each semester. As long as that agrees with what you enter on your AMCAS, you'll be fine. (For example, I took Fall semester my Junior year off. My 5th and 6th semesters on my transcript say "Junior Year," so that's what I classified them on my AMCAS, even though the 5th semester was Spring and the 6th semester was Fall).
Hey everyone, I just had a quick question and couldn't find an answer with a brief search. On my transcript, all classes have a number of credits next to them (for example, english classes are 1.00, chem classes with a lab are 1.50, etc...). This obviously isn't the "credit hours" that the AMCAS wants me to enter, so should I leave that line blank, or enter the numbers from my school's transcript and have AMCAS make the conversions themselves? Thanks for any help
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In the AMCAS, they specifically asks you to describe how a meaningful activity has been transformative for you as a person. While this doesn't mean it has to be medically relevant or related, it probably does mean that it has to go beyond merely being important in your daily life.
For instance, exercising is a crucial part of my daily routine. It helps me to relax, takes my mind off things and generally clears my thoughts. However, it cannot be said to be transformative because it doesn't change who I am besides getting me super duper swoooollllllllll.... Anyway, I've liked exercising for a while now so doing it doesn't change me, it's more of a maintenance thing. That's why it isn't a meaningful activity for me in that sense. Using an analogy, it would be the difference between changing the oil for your car and sticking a turbocharger on the engine. One keeps it on the road, the other helps it tear the latter up.
It's something to consider when choosing these things. And the med schools probably would also like you to have at least one activity that was transformative for you in terms of giving you more knowledge or understanding of the medical profession.
for transformative can you talk about a medical related activity? or just stick with 3 non medical related ones? do you even have to use 3? are you at a disadvantage if you put only 2?
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They do want to see well rounded people applying to their schools, and you never know, your interviewer may share the same interest as you, and there you have it, you struck gold!
I would think that if your interviewer also is into jazz, that he/she will remember you out of the hundreds of other interviewees which I'm sure is a good thing.
Great, this makes sense. I'll see if I can call them up as well tomorrow and confirm what you just stated.
I know that medical schools see our work/activities in chronological order, but when I print out my app I see it in reverse chronological. I'm assuming this is not the case on the real application.
How do schools receive the app? Do they get a digital print out similar to what get, or some different way of accessing the information?
How do schools receive the app? Do they get a digital print out similar to what get, or some different way of accessing the information?
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Hi. Just a general question:
Is it a good idea to apply to more schools than you were planning to? For example, I was planning on applying to 10 schools because I thought I will have enough time to complete all secondaries as soon as possible with good quality. Now, I am debating that I should add another 5 schools - and if I don't have time to work on these extra 5 secondaries, I will just not do it. Does it look bad in any way if I do this? I mean not doing the secondaries for some schools.
Thanks for answering!!
Is it a good idea to apply to more schools than you were planning to? For example, I was planning on applying to 10 schools because I thought I will have enough time to complete all secondaries as soon as possible with good quality. Now, I am debating that I should add another 5 schools - and if I don't have time to work on these extra 5 secondaries, I will just not do it. Does it look bad in any way if I do this? I mean not doing the secondaries for some schools.
Thanks for answering!!
You're supposed to enter the number of credits exactly as it appears on your transcript. AMCAS will standardize them to credit hours.
Perfect. Thank you!
Hi Cat or anyone else who might know,
Does anyone know if coursework taken in the summer after an academic year (eg, after sophomore) counts as part of the following academic year (in this case, junior) or if it would count as part of the same academic year (in this case, sophomore)?
Thanks!
Does anyone know if coursework taken in the summer after an academic year (eg, after sophomore) counts as part of the following academic year (in this case, junior) or if it would count as part of the same academic year (in this case, sophomore)?
Thanks!
Just to be clear, there are two different issues here:
1. Academic year. The academic year always starts in the summer and ends the following spring.
2. Year in school.
Courses taken in the summer are considered the beginning of the next academic year (as in academic year 2008, or academic year 2009, etc). There isn't any leeway here, because AMCAS is clear that a summer term is considered the start of a new academic year. However, the year in school (as in freshman, sophomore, etc) can be different. You don't have to make all classes in Academic year 2008 be freshman and all classes in Academic year 2009 be sophomore. (You do have to make all the classes in one term be in the same year in school, though.) Consider this scenario:
Academic year 2008 (summer 2008-spring 2009)
Fall term- 15 credits- Freshman
Spring term- 15 credits- Freshman
Academic year 2009 (summer 2009-spring 2010)
Summer term- 6 credits- ???
Fall term-15 credits- Sophomore
Spring term- 15 credits- Sophomore
The question would be: What should you call your year in school for summer term in academic year 2009?
The answer is: It's up to you and it seems AMCAS probably won't change it. You will end up creating a "year in school" that has 36 credit hours for Freshman or for Sophomore. I would calculate out the GPA per year in school and see which one you like best.
From the instruction manual, page 37
Is it ok to mention that my lab is preparing some manuscripts for publication, which I'll be co-authored?
You can def mention it when you talk about the research, but don't put it as a "publication". Hopefully that info will also be in a LOR.
i did this (i actually had three such manuscripts)
but im just wondering, how seriously are these taken by the committee? I mean, are they impressed, if at all?
Yup that was what I planned to do since the research experience is one of my most meaningful. I have some room to briefly state this. Thanks.
I think you could briefly state it if you want (at the end of a research entry), but it will be treated as being pretty worthless. It will make a strong update letter if it gets accepted.
The publication process can take forever though. I am a coauthor on a paper that was submitted in January 2010, provisionally accepted in March 2010, revisions were sent in June 2010, we got proofs of it in January 2011, and it was finally published last month 😱.
Some undergrads who graduated in 2007 worked on all the data for a manuscript and wrote up the first drafts back then. It bounced around to different journals since then, and was finally accepted in February of this year. It still hasn't been published officially for the world to see. The lead authors submitted this while undergrads, but now one is done with med school and the other is wrapping up his PhD.
This is why a manuscript in preparation, or even submitted, is pretty worthless.
The publication process can take forever though. I am a coauthor on a paper that was submitted in January 2010, provisionally accepted in March 2010, revisions were sent in June 2010, we got proofs of it in January 2011, and it was finally published last month 😱.
Some undergrads who graduated in 2007 worked on all the data for a manuscript and wrote up the first drafts back then. It bounced around to different journals since then, and was finally accepted in February of this year. It still hasn't been published officially for the world to see. The lead authors submitted this while undergrads, but now one is done with med school and the other is wrapping up his PhD.
This is why a manuscript in preparation, or even submitted, is pretty worthless.
Agreed. My publication also seemed to take forever from submission to publication date.
That said, I wouldn't say listing a manuscript as 'submitted' is worthless. I'm not sure what the typical rate of acceptance is for submitted articles. It probably depends on the journal, but if it's particularly low, then yes, it may be of relatively little value.
But I still think it shows a significant amount of work yielding results, and that could only reflect positively.
I don't understand. Does this mean you were going to complete the applications for 10 schools (primary + secondary), but now you want to submit your primary to 15 schools but maybe only complete 10 secondaries? If that's what you're saying, then no, it's not going to "look bad"--schools don't care about your pending applications at other schools. However, keep in mind that if you end up needing to reapply next year, you would likely be considered a reapplicant at those schools despite you not having completed the secondaries.
Oh god, this gave me a terrible feeling. My school has two summer sessions. For the first session I listed myself as a soph, and for the second as a jr (I was going by credits). Of course, the AMCAS application doesn't differentiate between two session. Is this reason to be worried? The last thing I want is to get the app send back to me.
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also i think showing a manuscript in preparation and listing the authors thereby can reveal just how much you contributed based on where on the author list you stand (i.e. 1st vs 2nd..etc). Plus, since you have to provide a contact info, chances are most people can't lie about this kind of stuff....
but still i wonder if the committee will take these manuscripts seriously.... :/
but still i wonder if the committee will take these manuscripts seriously.... :/
I am about to start a summer school class today that runs until mid june at a community college. I have never taken class at this college before, so I was wondering whether i need to send a transcript now from the college (which would not have a grade) or if i am supposed to wait until after i receive the grade in july to send a transcript. I have it in my coursework as the grade is not yet reported.
I just don't want my application to be delayed while they wait on this grade, yet I'm unsure if AMCAS needs my transcript right now if there is no grade since i will be taking the class while my application is processed!
I just don't want my application to be delayed while they wait on this grade, yet I'm unsure if AMCAS needs my transcript right now if there is no grade since i will be taking the class while my application is processed!
Thanks a lot for the input..last year when I applied they explicitly said in the AMCAS manual that courses taken in the summer between two years in school would count as being part of the upcoming year (e.g., courses taken in summer after freshman year count as part of sophomore year), but it wasn't explicit this year at all so that's why I was confused.
I meant the class runs until mid july!! not mid june
Put it under Coursework, check the "Current/Future" box, and proceed.
You don't need a transcript from a school with only future or current coursework.
Also, in the future, you should read before posting questions. Such as the AMCAS FAQ on the official website
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/147536/amcas_2010_faqs-6.7.html
Hey, I have a ques about discussing research experience on PS. I didn't know where else to post it and didn't want to start a new thread for it.
Since the work/activities section will have ample description of my research project, I was wondering how much should I write about research in my PS before getting to the why medicine aspect of it? eg should I mention I worked here, my project goal was this and that or can I just get away with I worked here and ....why medicine
Since the work/activities section will have ample description of my research project, I was wondering how much should I write about research in my PS before getting to the why medicine aspect of it? eg should I mention I worked here, my project goal was this and that or can I just get away with I worked here and ....why medicine
How does your research tie in with your journey towards pursuing a career in medicine? Include it in that context, perhaps including a discussion of how your work there affected your perceptions and motivations, but there's no need to go into detail about what you did.
All AMCAS questions belong in this thread. Merging threads.
How long is it taking everyone's transcripts to get in? I sent requests out 10 days ago and none of them have gotten to AMCAS yet.
Yes.
Yes.
Can I submit my AMCAS app if everything is complete except my MCAT score?
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Yep, I did.
Does AMCAS/medical schools have a definition for "Labs" on the AMCAS transcript section? Is it reserved for hard science bench style lab courses? I looked over the 2012 manual, but couldn't find anything specific.
My school designates units based on lecture hrs. + lab hours + hw hrs. and counts things like P.E. and certain music classes to be lab hours since there is technically no "lecturing". Should I label these classes as "Lab Only"? What about economics lab simulations and foreign language learning labs? Thanks!
My school designates units based on lecture hrs. + lab hours + hw hrs. and counts things like P.E. and certain music classes to be lab hours since there is technically no "lecturing". Should I label these classes as "Lab Only"? What about economics lab simulations and foreign language learning labs? Thanks!
how many days it takes for them to receive my transcripts. they were mailed june 1 and it still says on my page that they are waiting for transcripts... slowly killing me. 😳
Wait. I am still confused about the verification process. So, if I submit my application this week, the transcripts have been requested, and etc etc., but MCAT scores are not yet available, would they start "verifying" my application? Or is the verification process for the transcripts only?
Verification is the process by which AMCAS uses your transcripts to verify that you have entered your coursework correctly. The availability of your MCAT score does not affect when this process starts. If you have submitted your application and your transcripts are available, you will enter the queue for verification.
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