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

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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SupraDOc said:
I sent my MCAT scores via aamc.org (completed) but they're still not up yet on my app. How long did it take yours to be posted?
Click to expand...

Provided you sent them AFTER you began working on your app, it will probably take a few days to a week. If you sent them before starting your app, you'll need to resend them.
 
SupraDOc said:
I sent my MCAT scores via aamc.org (completed) but they're still not up yet on my app. How long did it take yours to be posted?
Click to expand...

I sent mine after submitting my primary. AAMC says the transaction is "completed", but AACOMAS still hasn't posted my "official" scores. It's been 4 days.
 
Please clarify.

MCAT is in AUGUST...My AACOMAS app is done except for the MCAT scores.

My question: Should I go ahead and submit my application and pay the fees, or should I wait till my scores come back to submit?

Thank you,
 
Hi OCHO darling,

It really depends on how well you think you'll do on the MCAT. I went ahead and submitted my application last year before my score came out. However, I think you're going to ROCK the MCAT, so you might as well submit your application now. Most schools will put you on hold for a secondary until they get your score, some might send you a secondary before it comes out.



OCHO said:
Please clarify.

MCAT is in AUGUST...My AACOMAS app is done except for the MCAT scores.

My question: Should I go ahead and submit my application and pay the fees, or should I wait till my scores come back to submit?

Thank you,
Click to expand...
 
okay. should the personal statement be about "why I want to go to medicine" or "why I will make a good medical student/succeed at your school".

i have a personal statememnt that is pretty polished, and reading it i realize that i do not really explain why i want to go into medicine. i explain why I will make a great med student/physicain, and i describe the things that I have done that show this..but i never say "this is why i want to go into medicine." reading other pepoles personal statements, they all seem to have some story like "my grandfater came to american in a boat and did so and so...this really inspired me" or "a doctor saved my life and ever since then, i knew i wanted to go into medicine..."

the truth is, i dont have anything like that. there wasnt a light bulb moment for me. so i dont talk about one. is it okay in the PS to just talk about why i will make a great physician and leave the interview or secondary for "why medicine"
 
ryserr21 said:
okay. should the personal statement be about "why I want to go to medicine" or "why I will make a good medical student/succeed at your school".

i have a personal statememnt that is pretty polished, and reading it i realize that i do not really explain why i want to go into medicine. i explain why I will make a great med student/physicain, and i describe the things that I have done that show this..but i never say "this is why i want to go into medicine." reading other pepoles personal statements, they all seem to have some story like "my grandfater came to american in a boat and did so and so...this really inspired me" or "a doctor saved my life and ever since then, i knew i wanted to go into medicine..."

the truth is, i dont have anything like that. there wasnt a light bulb moment for me. so i dont talk about one. is it okay in the PS to just talk about why i will make a great physician and leave the interview or secondary for "why medicine"
Click to expand...

IMO, the personal statement should be about "why you would be a great doctor and your motivations for becoming one".

In the secondaries you should explain "why you would be a successful medical student and why you are an excellent match for the school".

That's what I did anyway . . . :luck:
 
My PS was more of a "how did I get to this place at such a late age?" It was all about opportunity knocking so loudly you can't ignore it anymore.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
Submit.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan 🙂

prionsRbad said:
Hi OCHO darling,

It really depends on how well you think you'll do on the MCAT. I went ahead and submitted my application last year before my score came out. However, I think you're going to ROCK the MCAT, so you might as well submit your application now. Most schools will put you on hold for a secondary until they get your score, some might send you a secondary before it comes out.
Click to expand...

I am studying my butt off and I hope to do well on the MCAT. I was just nervous about sending that money in and getting a lot of rejections because I didnt have the MCAT scores yet and then having to send in more money to re-apply. Does that make any sense?

Prions--Thank you for the vote of confidence by the way.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful memorial day.😀
 
Semi-dumb question, may have missed it earlier: I have not yet had physics. Am taking PHY 201 and 202 this summer (nontrad). I am ready to submit but want to show those courses are in process and I'm not a total deadbeat. Started to enter them in college courses but since I don't have a grade yet, I backed them out. Is there a relatively simple way to put "courses in process" so I don't get automatically screened out as not having had these prereqs yet? Physics is the only prereq I HAVEN'T taken...had more than enough bio/chem electives as a bio major and for PA school.
Thanks
Lisa
 
When you add your classes you can add for those currently in process or will be in process and they will show up on your application as such. You shouldn't be screened out if they are on the application.
 
primadonna22274 said:
Semi-dumb question, may have missed it earlier: I have not yet had physics. Am taking PHY 201 and 202 this summer (nontrad). I am ready to submit but want to show those courses are in process and I'm not a total deadbeat. Started to enter them in college courses but since I don't have a grade yet, I backed them out. Is there a relatively simple way to put "courses in process" so I don't get automatically screened out as not having had these prereqs yet? Physics is the only prereq I HAVEN'T taken...had more than enough bio/chem electives as a bio major and for PA school.
Thanks
Lisa
Click to expand...

yes, its pretty easy to do too!

at the top of the page where you are adding in classes you should see something like this:

Term Year
sortIconDown.gif
Academic StatusPrefix and Number CourseSubject Semester Hours Grade AACOMAS
Grade Classification


Term Year is where you want to be. If you click the tab, you can add the term and year that are applicable. At the bottom of the tab you will see "add term" and a box should pop up that asks you for year, term, term type, etc. The very last option is "Term Information Status." which you can change so that it says "planned/in progress." schools then know that you are planning on taking that specific course in the near future.

hope that helped!
 
Muy excelente, muchas gracias.
L.

$$
ryserr21 said:
yes, its pretty easy to do too!

at the top of the page where you are adding in classes you should see something like this:

Term Year
sortIconDown.gif
Academic StatusPrefix and Number CourseSubject Semester Hours Grade AACOMAS
Grade Classification


Term Year is where you want to be. If you click the tab, you can add the term and year that are applicable. At the bottom of the tab you will see "add term" and a box should pop up that asks you for year, term, term type, etc. The very last option is "Term Information Status." which you can change so that it says "planned/in progress." schools then know that you are planning on taking that specific course in the near future.

hope that helped!
Click to expand...
 
Hi everyone,

I have a question on how to list a course. My undergrad offered a single course in "J term" but the course counted the same as if it were taken over the entire fall/spring semester. Any idea how to list this course on the app? Should I just list it as a fall course? I have contacted AACOM but have had no luck.

Thanks 🙂
 
I was born in Italy and my mother was born in Brazil. Would it be in my advantage to put that I'm part Latino on my applications?

thank you
 
put it this way. it would be at your disadvantage not to put it. it definitely will not hurt you in any way and it most likely will help you.
 
biorocks said:
Hi everyone,

I have a question on how to list a course. My undergrad offered a single course in "J term" but the course counted the same as if it were taken over the entire fall/spring semester. Any idea how to list this course on the app? Should I just list it as a fall course? I have contacted AACOM but have had no luck.

Thanks 🙂
Click to expand...

Does the "J" stand for January? How about using the "Winter" designation?
 
leave that question blank. let your merits speak for themselves
 
My mom was born in South America too. If I wasn't a pasty-white ocean-faring lutefisk-eating Scandinavian, I would have marked myself Latino.

Neither Italy nor Brazil makes you URM though.
 
Completely off topic here but I have read through a couple of threads and have seen URM repeated several times. What does this mean?
 
Under-represented Minority. In some ways a contentious issue on who is URM or not.
 
How many EC LORs are usually sent ? I have 1 non-science, 2 science, 1 DO, 1 from an Osteopathic Association, and I am debating whether or not to ask my hospital volunteering coordinator for one as well. I am thinking the hospital LOR may be too many.

I attended NYLF Medicine in high school; is that worth adding (or even allowed) ?


<edit again>
I'm slowly going through all the pages in this thread and I see some of my other questions have been answered, apologies!
 
thanecyan said:
How are you guys writing the description? Are you writing it like "I did so and so..." or "This organization did so and so..."
Click to expand...

descriptions of ECs, volunteer, jobs, etc.?

word on the street is it should not read like a paragraph. short, concise bullet points.
 
I'm kinda freaking out because i noticed two mistakes in my AACOMAS application after i sent it in.
1. my personal statement format screwed up
2. i forgot to label the subject of one of my classes correctly

i called aacomas like crazy and sent 2 e mails and left two voice mails and no one is responding!

My question is...has anyone made a mistake before and did they let you change it? And after you contacted them how long until they contacted you??

Thanks guys
 
msu321 said:
I'm kinda freaking out because i noticed two mistakes in my AACOMAS application after i sent it in.
1. my personal statement format screwed up
2. i forgot to label the subject of one of my classes correctly

i called aacomas like crazy and sent 2 e mails and left two voice mails and no one is responding!

My question is...has anyone made a mistake before and did they let you change it? And after you contacted them how long until they contacted you??

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

1) its the weekend. Its also a holiday on Monday. they probably wont respond til Tuesday.

2) breathe. it will be okay. i'm not sure about the formatting of the PS but as far as forgetting to lable the subject, the worse case is they send it back and tell you to label it, then you submit it again.
 
Happened to me too, they will get back to you. They open your file again, you can fix it. But it might take you another couple weeks to get verified, but thats not really big deal.
 
msu321 said:
I'm kinda freaking out because i noticed two mistakes in my AACOMAS application after i sent it in.
1. my personal statement format screwed up
2. i forgot to label the subject of one of my classes correctly

i called aacomas like crazy and sent 2 e mails and left two voice mails and no one is responding!

My question is...has anyone made a mistake before and did they let you change it? And after you contacted them how long until they contacted you??

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

You sent it in already?😱 I didn't think it was supposed to be available until June 1st? Now I'm freaking out because I'm not ready.:scared:

And I think plenty of people make mistakes; I wouldn't call like a maniac; they'll think you're psycho. Calm down!
 
ryserr21 said:
okay. should the personal statement be about "why I want to go to medicine" or "why I will make a good medical student/succeed at your school".

i have a personal statememnt that is pretty polished, and reading it i realize that i do not really explain why i want to go into medicine. i explain why I will make a great med student/physicain, and i describe the things that I have done that show this..but i never say "this is why i want to go into medicine." reading other pepoles personal statements, they all seem to have some story like "my grandfater came to american in a boat and did so and so...this really inspired me" or "a doctor saved my life and ever since then, i knew i wanted to go into medicine..."

the truth is, i dont have anything like that. there wasnt a light bulb moment for me. so i dont talk about one. is it okay in the PS to just talk about why i will make a great physician and leave the interview or secondary for "why medicine"
Click to expand...


Use your personal statement to help the admissions committe see why you are different. This is your chance to get them excited about you! Think about how many of these they will read. You want yours to stand out. Be creative and sell yourself. You have secondary essays to tell them why you will be a great doctor and usually applicants all end up saying the same thing.
 
JLH2008 said:
Use your personal statement to help the admissions committe see why you are different. This is your chance to get them excited about you! Think about how many of these they will read. You want yours to stand out. Be creative and sell yourself. You have secondary essays to tell them why you will be a great doctor and usually applicants all end up saying the same thing.
Click to expand...

well here's the thing. i think mine does stand out, i talk about some unique expereinces where I feel have shown some positive characteristics. at the same time these experiences have solidified my passion for medicine. but that still doesnt really answer why i want to go into it, and i am not sure if that is a bad thing. i've sent my PS to many people and most all have thought it was very good, but i dont know i just get the feeling that i should talk more about why....
 
If I submit the application now for 7 schools, but I decide to add one later, will the fee for the 8th school just be $30 or will it be the $155?

Thanks.
 
kassy said:
If I submit the application now for 7 schools, but I decide to add one later, will the fee for the 8th school just be $30 or will it be the $155?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think its $50 to add on one more school after the initial submission of your primary.
 
msu321 said:
I'm kinda freaking out because i noticed two mistakes in my AACOMAS application after i sent it in.
1. my personal statement format screwed up
2. i forgot to label the subject of one of my classes correctly

i called aacomas like crazy and sent 2 e mails and left two voice mails and no one is responding!

My question is...has anyone made a mistake before and did they let you change it? And after you contacted them how long until they contacted you??

Thanks guys
Click to expand...


I made a mistake and clicked on the support tab in the top right corner. You can leave a message requesting to change your app. They replied to mine on Sunday morning (waited about 3 days) and then I resubmitted. I don't think it will set me back to far.


Has anyone been verified yet? Part of me is wondering whether verification won't start until June 1st? Also-has anyone who took the April MCAT gotten their scores verified by AACOMAS after sending them from the AAMC?
 
I think mine are. I sent them to AACOM on May 5th and it says "official scores" on my app. for the mcat.
 
Ok so i am VERY confused..
my aacomas are all ready except my transcript hasnt been submitted yet..my school says that they will send it out in 2-3 days.
Can i still apply before they receive my transcript or should I wait for the transcripts to be processed and then submit?
 
Are we supposed to be putting down our hobbies in the ECs section? For example, I am a PC hardware enthusiast but it is completely unrelated to anything I did during college so do I add it or leave it for interviews?
 
Vincenzo333 said:
I was born in Italy and my mother was born in Brazil. Would it be in my advantage to put that I'm part Latino on my applications?

thank you
Click to expand...

On your primary applications you will be asked if you are Hispanic(Black or white). If yo uconsider yourself hispanic due to your mothers heritage check the box, if not I wouldn't. No need to play games for med school admissions. Your numbers, ECs, personal statement and other things will have a much larger impact than your race/ethnicity.

Good Luck
 
Dr. Josh said:
You sent it in already?😱 I didn't think it was supposed to be available until June 1st? Now I'm freaking out because I'm not ready.:scared:
Click to expand...

You can submit as soon as you're finished. I submitted a couple of weeks ago. I haven't been verified yet because while they've received the transcripts from one of my undergrads and my post-bacc school, they're still waiting on the transcript from my other undergrad school (which should arrive tomorrow according to the registrar). AACOMAS has already categorized my classes into pretty color-coded columns though. LOL
 
I have both of my transcripts sent in, but my final grades for this last semester are not included. I had set up the transcript to be sent from my current school only AFTER final grades were out and for some reason unknown to me they sent the transcripts like 4 days before finals started, so the transcript aacomas has doesn't have the B- i got to replace the D in orgo 2. I have since had another transcript sent but will AACOMAS change the date the transcript is received is listed so that I know whether or not they have the most recent transcript or the old one? I sent them an email asking and they replied saying "yes we use the most updated transcript" which doesn't answer my question.
 
If I have done research work for credit (credit that I did not need), should I list it in ECs or no?


Also, how does video gaming play into hobbies? During my time, I wasn't just a couch potato staring at the TV for hours on end. I was the leader of multiple teams, competed it multiple tournaments in and out of the home (with total winnings being over $1000). I've also helped in hosting tournaments and wrote articles for an online international community. Is this worth mentioning on my application?
 
honeybee86 said:
Ok so i am VERY confused..
my aacomas are all ready except my transcript hasnt been submitted yet..my school says that they will send it out in 2-3 days.
Can i still apply before they receive my transcript or should I wait for the transcripts to be processed and then submit?
Click to expand...

Go ahead and submit. They'll just be waiting on your transcripts. No one seems to be verified anyway, even after 2 weeks, so no biggie.
 
I haven't looked at AACOMAS since I started it about two weeks ago and unfortunately, I had forgotten my password. No big deal; I request the password and I login. When I get in, I notice that all of my saved progress was gone; I also noticed I got a new AACOMAS ID for this one, despite it being attached to the same email.

What is even worse is that I already requested all of my transcripts to be sent to the previous account which I have mostly completed.

So, I call them and they say all I can do is email the AACOMAS general manager and request my old password back. After doing that just now, I wonder how long it will take.

I'm at a loss, because I know something went horribly wrong. I'm currently looking for my old password now but I'm not in a position to request more transcripts because I have to show up in person to deliver the request form, or at least one of my schools wants me to show up in person when there are supplemental forms.

What I am really afraid of is they deleted my old account since I technically started a new one with this address, so the transcripts are being sent to nowhere.

The defining point I have to say was that when I was making the AACOMAS account for the first time, I did not tie in my Interfolio account before. This time, however, it required me to use my Interfolio password (which was different from my previous AACOMAS one). My AACOMAS and Interfolio account share the same email. I think this is where it messed up.

I hope this hasn't been talked about before because I tried a search. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks.

EDIT - Oh crap, sorry about that; figured it should've gone in here first.
 
Flushot said:
I haven't looked at AACOMAS since I started it about two weeks ago and unfortunately, I had forgotten my password. No big deal; I request the password and I login. When I get in, I notice that all of my saved progress was gone; I also noticed I got a new AACOMAS ID for this one, despite it being attached to the same email.

What is even worse is that I already requested all of my transcripts to be sent to the previous account which I have mostly completed.

So, I call them and they say all I can do is email the AACOMAS general manager and request my old password back. After doing that just now, I wonder how long it will take.

I'm at a loss, because I know something went horribly wrong. I'm currently looking for my old password now but I'm not in a position to request more transcripts because I have to show up in person to deliver the request form, or at least one of my schools wants me to show up in person when there are supplemental forms.

What I am really afraid of is they deleted my old account since I technically started a new one with this address, so the transcripts are being sent to nowhere.

The defining point I have to say was that when I was making the AACOMAS account for the first time, I did not tie in my Interfolio account before. This time, however, it required me to use my Interfolio password (which was different from my previous AACOMAS one). My AACOMAS and Interfolio account share the same email. I think this is where it messed up.

I hope this hasn't been talked about before because I tried a search. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Wow that sucks. I think you're the first to mention this problem.

It sounds like you'll need to wait a few days to see if you get your old pw back, and if it's still attached to the previous app. In the meantime you could still request transcripts from your schools. Since I know you don't have to use the transcript request form, it sounds like you could get them sent from the school that only wants you in person if you use an additional form. Just don't use it, and you should be fine.
 
Oh, so the transcript request form is just for formalities? Well, that's pretty nice to know. It might not be that big of a deal, but it was kind of a shock to see it all gone. Thanks for that notice.

Speaking of which (kind of off topic), is AMCAS the same way? Is that request form not really needed?
 
I went to my school and requested them to send my transcripts. They said it would take three days or so, this was over a week ago, and on the application it says 0/1 transcript received. Who should I contact about this?
 
Pineappleyum said:
I went to my school and requested them to send my transcripts. They said it would take three days or so, this was over a week ago, and on the application it says 0/1 transcript received. Who should I contact about this?
Click to expand...

I'd say not to be alarmed until the start of next week, at the earliest. However, I know that doesn't help much 😉, so you should call the registrar's office and ask if they did, in fact, send the transcript. If they did, wait til Monday to bug AACOMAS--they're good about updating receipt status.
 
Pineappleyum said:
I went to my school and requested them to send my transcripts. They said it would take three days or so, this was over a week ago, and on the application it says 0/1 transcript received. Who should I contact about this?
Click to expand...

Give it 2+ weeks, I had mine sent on 5/13 and it was just logged into the system today.
 
i can still submit the AACOMAs application without the transcript there or no?
 
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