## 2008-2009 Application Season ## Post AACOMAS questions HERE!!!

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Kyleorz87 said:
Hi everyone i was wondering if any upperclassmen could help me out with some questions i have. but first here is my backround

1.I am a sophmore at a major university in ohio this fall
2. I ended this year with a 2.7gpa, and was extremely dissapointed
3. The university i attend is very big on all healthcare medicine,pharmacy,nursing etc etc
4. i have worked in a community pharmacy for 3 years and a hospital pharmacy for 1 year.



Here are my questions and concerns

1. While i am very dissapointed in myself for my first year of college, i must say i wasent a straight 4.0 student, but my friends are and 90% of them are all on academic prohbation soooo honestly i must not be that bad.
2. i am actualy still a pre-pharmacy major and still considering being a pharmacist but have always had a strong passion to go an extra 2 years and become a doctor
3. With my gpa i plan to retake the science courses i didnt do as well in, the university i attend offers 12 credits of grade deletion and also for the pharmacy program will take the higher of the 2 attemps of each science course for your application for pharmacy school.
4. Can i still do medicine? and how bad will retaking classes hurt my application?
5. i am only interested in osteopathic medicine, due to shadowing allotpathic and osteopathic and find the approach to osteopathic medicine to be more along the lines of my ethical and moral beliefs

- any help you could offer would be appreciated, thanks
-Kyle
Click to expand...

Curious...do you go to Case or OSU? I went to Case and I retook two of my first year courses (biology/genetics, and general chemistry 1)....Since you are set on attending an osteopathic school, you will be using the AACOMAS application for admission. This system is nice b/c it allows you to retake courses and replace your grades with the most recent (this is nice only if you do better the second time around). Also, I know you may be discouraged now b/c you got off on a rough start, but it will get better as long as you keep trying. I know that my first year I had a difficult time balancing school with social activities and figuring out a good study method. Once I learned how to study (sounds silly, but it's true) I did a whole lot better.

Please keep in mind that schools will consider any upward trend in your GPA as a positive thing. For example...2.7 GPA freshmen year --> 3.2 GPA sophomore year --> 3.4 GPA junior year --> 3.5 GPA senior year....

Just keep trucking and don't get too discouraged! :luck:
 
You're at the beginning of your Sophmore year. I'd say wait at least halfway through your junior year then re-asses whether or not to retake it, unless of course you have nothing better to do over the summer and the courses are available during Summer Term.
Other than that I would put that energy towards future classes and volunteering and shadowing. Get the things that are a MUST first, then re-evalute your Med School app, and strengthen it.

You are trying to strengthen something that you truly haven't even built yet.
 
I go to the University Of Toledo right now and am a pharmacy major. As many of you probably know the first 2-3 years of pre-pharm is the say as pre-med and at toledo the cut off gpa for admission into the pharmD program is a 3.84gpa. yes..... harder to become a pharmacist these days then to become a doctor.... what is this world coming to. Thank you all for your help, and knowing about retaking classes and how it applys to your application helped my confidence more then you know. At 20 years old , so far i have shadowed 8 doctors and have 6 letters of recomendations and my gp went to PCOM and his Wife LECOM which are the 2 schools closest to me( - Ohio university in athens) so right now im feeling much better. I guess this year i just got to caught up in it all.... sadly..... and at toledo all the core science classes are very hard because they are trying to weed out the 500 pre-pharm and 300 pre-med/dent/vet kids that come here each year... its very depressing to say the least, but more and more when i wake up every morning and i go to the pharmacy i feel that im not getting what i want out of this career.... I feel medicine is my true passion not for the $, not for the wanna-b fame or glory, just because i wanna wake up and know that im helping people more directly then putting their medication in a bottle and recommending the best over the counter allergy or cough medication for a patient. Just right now my pride is hurting because i didnt do as well as i wanted to.... any other advice is appreciated thank you for your time.


p.s anyone who goes to lecom or pcom do you know the average mcat scores for admissions?
 
engineeredout said:
For the AAMCOS application, should engineering courses be listed as "other science"?

I certainly hope so because I've done my best in engineering classes, plus they're most definitely science classes. I want them to factor into my science GPA.
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From the AACOMAS application instructions:

Other Science
Agricultural Science
Astronomy
Chiropractic
Electronics
***Engineering***
Epidemiology
Geology
Kinesiology
Medical Technology
Meteorology
Nutrition
Pharmacy
Physical Anthropology
Physical Geography
Physical Science
Physician Assistant
Radiology

You should read the instructions before filling out the application . . . . it does wonders. 👍
 
Does anybody know if Calculus I and II are included in the sci GPA for DO schools? I know it is for MD schools, but since Calc I and II aren't required for DO...

Thanks!
 
a817 said:
When you state you on your aacomas app that you are retaking the mcat, the schools put you on hold. they dont really grant you interviews and stuff. If you did get an interview with your old mcat, and were rejected, it is highly unlikely that they will overturn the decission. however if you are waitlisted, a new mcat score could make a giant difference. In the end, fill your app right now. Take the mcat in august if you feel like you can do better. You will be complete in September. Most likely interview in November or December. Plenty of seats will be open by then.

No one is going to get your app and reject you in a month. If you state you will retake the mcat, most likely they wont reject you until they get the new score. Unless, you gpa is below cut off or you are taking the mcat past there supplemental deadline (jan mcat).

A 24 should get you one or two acceptances, but if you want to get many choices i would retake. August mcat is fairly common, and not that bad. Retake if you are sure you can do better
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! So basically, if you indicate that you will re-take the MCAT, the schools won't even look at your application at all? In other words, schools that think my score of 24 is good enough will not grant me interview because my status is "will re-take MCAT" and therefore would be considered incomplete? What I'm trying to do is to indicate that I'll take it again, but also want to leave the option for schools that think the old score is good enough and grant me interviews without waiting for the new score; assuming, that is, that they will even look at my old score, or the application itself.
 
a817 said:
When you state you on your aacomas app that you are retaking the mcat, the schools put you on hold. they dont really grant you interviews and stuff. If you did get an interview with your old mcat, and were rejected, it is highly unlikely that they will overturn the decission. however if you are waitlisted, a new mcat score could make a giant difference. In the end, fill your app right now. Take the mcat in august if you feel like you can do better. You will be complete in September. Most likely interview in November or December. Plenty of seats will be open by then.

No one is going to get your app and reject you in a month. If you state you will retake the mcat, most likely they wont reject you until they get the new score. Unless, you gpa is below cut off or you are taking the mcat past there supplemental deadline (jan mcat).

A 24 should get you one or two acceptances, but if you want to get many choices i would retake. August mcat is fairly common, and not that bad. Retake if you are sure you can do better
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! So basically, if you indicate that you will re-take the MCAT, the schools won't even look at your application at all? In other words, schools that think my score of 24 is good enough will not grant me interview because my status is "will re-take MCAT" and therefore would be considered incomplete? What I'm trying to do is to indicate that I'll take it again, but also want to leave the option for schools that think the old score is good enough and grant me interviews without waiting for the new score; assuming, that is, that they will even look at my old score, or the application itself.
 
You may, or may not, get a look. People are often granted interviews when they say they are taking it again if the rest of the app is in good shape. You may get in, and you may get waitlisted. It all depends upon the school. There are people who have gotten interviews without even taking the MCAT at some schools. Nothing is truly written in stone.

The thing to do is to make sure that they know you ARE takng it again so that they won't automatically reject you because of your score. That can certainly happen as well. Once you submit, call the schools and talk to them individually to make sure that they understand your intentions.
 
guyline said:
Thanks for the info! So basically, if you indicate that you will re-take the MCAT, the schools won't even look at your application at all? In other words, schools that think my score of 24 is good enough will not grant me interview because my status is "will re-take MCAT" and therefore would be considered incomplete? What I'm trying to do is to indicate that I'll take it again, but also want to leave the option for schools that think the old score is good enough and grant me interviews without waiting for the new score; assuming, that is, that they will even look at my old score, or the application itself.
Click to expand...

it depends on the school, some schools put you on hold, some schools dont. From my experience most schools did put me on hold. It is not a bad thing. Some school are curious about your new mcat score and will want to evaluate you. You can go from borderline to excellent shot.

EX. if you retake the test in august and get a 28, you are in alot better shape, despite being late then you are with the 24. That why i feel that applying early is very important but some people overate it so much that they think that apply early is better than having a strong application

If you are almost sure that in 2-3 months you can get a 28-30, i would go for it. I would look at md apps and see other applicants with a 24 that of gotten in, and reassess your chances

Bottom Line: dont take the mcat for the sake of being early, take it when you are ready. It is a marathon, not a race. People dont take things step by step and already thinking about if they are going to get in without even taking the mcat. Worry about the mcat first then think about getting in.

That is just my opinion
 
Kateb4 said:
You don't have to disclose that you are planning on taking it again unless you want the schools to hold your application for the second score. I believe that once you release scores to AACOMAS or AMCAS they will automatically release subsequent scores (I may be wrong on this one, but I'm sure someone will verify). So, I don't think that you can withhold any scores after you have taken it.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. Once you choose to release your score, all of your scores from previous MCATs will also be sent. Even though they give you the choice of which score to send, but in reality, schools will get to see all of your scores. Therefore, I don't think you can hide the fact that you have taken the test multiple times. I'm not 100% sure on this, but pretty certain that this is the case.
 
rowingrache09 said:
Does anybody know if Calculus I and II are included in the sci GPA for DO schools? I know it is for MD schools, but since Calc I and II aren't required for DO...

Thanks!
Click to expand...

No, math grades are not included in the science GPA calculations for AACOMAS
 
I got C's in orgo 1 & 2. I got a B in orgo lab. My overall gpa was a 3.6 my MCAT a 27 (7 in physical science). I was accepted to multiple DO schools. (I only applied to DO schools)

You definitely have a great chance 😀
 
Hey All,
I was just wondering: Should I wait to submit my primary application until I have a letter from a DO, or should I just submit with the letters that I have currently, and hope that I have it before I send in my secondaries? I know that every school is different, but do most schools require a DO letter BEFORE they send me a secondary, or after?

Thanks!
 
MDorbust said:
Hey All,
I was just wondering: Should I wait to submit my primary application until I have a letter from a DO, or should I just submit with the letters that I have currently, and hope that I have it before I send in my secondaries? I know that every school is different, but do most schools require a DO letter BEFORE they send me a secondary, or after?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Most schools dont even require a recommendation from a DO, i would not hold off my app for that. just send the rec in a timely manner. If the school does require it, they usually prefer to receive it towards the time you send your secondary in.
 
Do I only need to send one transcript from each school I attended to AACOMAS? Or one per school I applied to?
 
to accomas, your application won't be complete unless they received, and processed it
 
For the AACOMAS personal statement, was anyone able to make their essay retain paragraph spacing? After I entered the personal statement and clicked on the "View Application Summary", the personal statement was just one big paragraph. I did not copy and paste it from word either. I used notepad because I know that the application wont deal with Word formatting.
 
4Health said:
For the AACOMAS personal statement, was anyone able to make their essay retain paragraph spacing? After I entered the personal statement and clicked on the "View Application Summary", the personal statement was just one big paragraph. I did not copy and paste it from word either. I used notepad because I know that the application wont deal with Word formatting.
Click to expand...

Regardless of formatting, the Application Summary looked like one big paragraph for me too. Don't worry about it. Either the schools will see them all as written or all as a big paragraph. 👍
 
If the rest of your primary application is complete, will schools send out secondaries before they get an MCAT score? Or do most schools wait for everything before sending a secondary?
 
stebby said:
If the rest of your primary application is complete, will schools send out secondaries before they get an MCAT score? Or do most schools wait for everything before sending a secondary?
Click to expand...

Most schools will wait. I have heard of some that do, but they're not the majority.
 
does URM work the same way for AACOMAS as it does for AMCAS? Will they automatically decide whether you are URM or not?? I vaguely remember clicking Puerto Rican when signing up for the MCAT...but is that enough to I will be labeled as URM... I also labled my self as hispanic on AACOMAS. how does URM work exactly ?
 
Ok stupid question, do the schools with "supplemental" applications found online also send secondaries? When is a good time to send these in?
 
Cp22kjer said:
Ok stupid question, do the schools with "supplemental" applications found online also send secondaries? When is a good time to send these in?
Click to expand...

Those are the secondaries. They are just posted online. Don't turn one in until they invite you to fill one out. You can work on them in the mean time. 😉
 
edit: I figurd out my last question, so here is another quesiton. i know it has been discussed before, but I dont feel like searching through all 10 or so pages for the answer... so if someon could be kind as to explain what they did if they had this same experience....


At my school, you dont get any credit for the lab component of the class, its just incorporated into the overall grade...so on my transcript the labs dont show up anywhere. nothing about the class title hints that there is a lab. for example it just says "Organic Chemistry I."

should i just write in the description "with lab" or how did people go about this?
 
prionsRbad said:
Those are the secondaries. They are just posted online. Don't turn one in until they invite you to fill one out. You can work on them in the mean time. 😉
Click to expand...

Thanks!
 
ryserr21 said:
At my school, you dont get any credit for the lab component of the class, its just incorporated into the overall grade...so on my transcript the labs dont show up anywhere. nothing about the class title hints that there is a lab. for example it just says "Organic Chemistry I."

should i just write in the description "with lab" or how did people go about this?
Click to expand...

This happened to other people last year. They said they went ahead and added "with lab" to the title. AACOMAS accepted it.
 
ryserr21 said:
At my school, you dont get any credit for the lab component of the class, its just incorporated into the overall grade...so on my transcript the labs dont show up anywhere. nothing about the class title hints that there is a lab. for example it just says "Organic Chemistry I."

should i just write in the description "with lab" or how did people go about this?
Click to expand...


My school is the same way - there is zero mentioning of lab for g-chem, o-chem, physics, anatomy, and physio, even though I did take the lab for those courses. I took the advice of past applicants and stealthily included "with lab" in the course title.
 
Where should we put our volunteer experience? In EC section of AACOMAS???
Thanks everyone!
Good Luck!
 
iowagirl said:
Where should we put our volunteer experience? In EC section of AACOMAS???
Thanks everyone!
Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Umm yeah, you should put it under the section titled "Extracurricular, Volunteer, Community Service". 👍
 
Thanks, I am also confused with shadow experience...does it goes under EC section too??? What if you have shadowed many DOs, do we have to make a new record for each doctor???
For above question i meant what if i have shadowed in different units??? Do we have to make new record for each unit too??
Sorry for confusion!

I appreciate replies....
Good Luck

prionsRbad said:
Umm yeah, you should put it under the section titled "Extracurricular, Volunteer, Community Service". 👍
Click to expand...
 
Under the volunteer and work expereince section theres a place where you have to type in a description...my question is do I have to go in depth and talk about not only what i did but how its going to make me a better doctor or just a straight and concise description of what I did without having well structured sentences like in a personal statement
 
yaba said:
Under the volunteer and work expereince section theres a place where you have to type in a description...my question is do I have to go in depth and talk about not only what i did but how its going to make me a better doctor or just a straight and concise description of what I did without having well structured sentences like in a personal statement
Click to expand...

word on the street is you should do descriptions in bullet points. short concise sentences. it shouldn't be in paragraphs or read like a PS.
 
iowagirl said:
Thanks, I am also confused with shadow experience...does it goes under EC section too??? What if you have shadowed many DOs, do we have to make a new record for each doctor???
For above question i meant what if i have shadowed in different units??? Do we have to make new record for each unit too??
Sorry for confusion!

I appreciate replies....
Good Luck
Click to expand...

This question was covered a couple of pages back. 😀

Here you go:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6662209&postcount=429

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6662742&postcount=430
 
ryserr21 said:
word on the street is you should do descriptions in bullet points. short concise sentences. it shouldn't be in paragraphs or read like a PS.
Click to expand...

thanks, thats saves me loads of time and stress
 
yaba said:
thanks, thats saves me loads of time and stress
Click to expand...


you shouuuuuld be able to talk about any of those experiences in an interview tho 🙂. so you dont have to worry about it yet, but is still something to think about
 
Do I have to print and request a transcript from all the colleges I attended myself, I thought it would be electronic? Can my application become verified before June 1st submission date?
 
Submitted to AACOMAS on the 15th still not verified🙁
 
yaba said:
Do I have to print and request a transcript from all the colleges I attended myself, I thought it would be electronic? Can my application become verified before June 1st submission date?
Click to expand...

You DO have to request transcripts to be sent from all colleges you attended. This is NOT electronic (except if you are electronically requesting them from your schools). They send paper copies directly to AACOMAS.

Your application cannot be verified before submission. I'm not sure if that was your question--I'm a little confused by your wording. Also I don't think you'd be verified in a week from today, unless they have been accepting apps without beginning to verify them. I say this b/c several have been submitted for a week or so with no verification yet...

Did that answer your questions?
 
Chocolate Bear said:
13th for me. No love yet. Don't worry, though, this is just the beginning of the hurrying up and waiting. 😉
Click to expand...

do they notify you? or do you constantly check your AACOMAS page to see if it says verified.
 
ryserr21 said:
do they notify you? or do you constantly check your AACOMAS page to see if it says verified.
Click to expand...

Since they don't notify you of beginning or submitting the app, I'm guessing they also won't say anything about becoming verified. "Constantly" is such a strong word. Let's go with "compulsively." :meanie:
 
Haha Chocolate Bear I couldn't think of a better word🙂

I thought it was just my neurotic tendencies...glad to hear someone else is just as bad👍
 
Chocolate Bear said:
You DO have to request transcripts to be sent from all colleges you attended. This is NOT electronic (except if you are electronically requesting them from your schools). They send paper copies directly to AACOMAS.

Your application cannot be verified before submission. I'm not sure if that was your question--I'm a little confused by your wording. Also I don't think you'd be verified in a week from today, unless they have been accepting apps without beginning to verify them. I say this b/c several have been submitted for a week or so with no verification yet...

Did that answer your questions?
Click to expand...

you answered my question, thanks
 
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