2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread

[JJMrK]

I apologize if these questions have been asked and answered -- didn't see too much through Search, lots to sift through.

1) I chose to receive a pass/fail for an English class that I tested out of by way of SAT II. When I select "AP Credit", it no longer allows me to select "pass/fail". What should I put for my grade -- is "CR" sufficient (it's what my transcript shows)? Or will it look like it's supposed to be a C?

2) I didn't want to jump between fresh/soph/jr/sr in the middle of a semester. Should I?

3) I took a Social Statistics class (statistics for sociology) -- does this count as a math or a sociology?

4) I want to sign up for a class in the Fall, but I'm not ready to decide what class yet. How should I list this?

Thanks, y'all!

1. I don't know. I'd either call them or just put exactly what it says on the transcript.

2. In the middle of a semester or between semesters(between fall and spring)? I think the former is not cool but the latter is fine. Your class standing can't change during the semester, but you can change between fall and spring.

3. If you got an A you might try to make it a math class to boost your BCPM GPA.

4. You don't need to list it at all, or you can list what you're thinking of taking and change your mind later. Doesn't matter.

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[JJMrK]

My rule of thumb: 2 science letters, 1 non science letter if possible otherwise replace with a 3rd science letter. 2 character letters. In your case: 1 PI 1 doctor would be ideal if the doctor's letter is strong. Remember these are supposed to be confidential. wave your rights to see them and dont share with them that you've seen them if they've shown it to you.

In case anyone cares, here is an incomplete list of schools that absolutely require a non-sci letter: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=626907

 

[HelloGoodbye]

What do you think about this, do I include this?

So my freshmen year I applied to a university was accepted. I registered for classes and then day 3 of classes I realized the university wasn't right for me, so I withdrew from the university entirely.

I called AMCAS and one person said I would still include this in my application. I talked to another (who spoke with a manager) and they said not to include this in my application. What should I do?

The university says I have a transcipt that states "withdrew from university on 9/4/05". Thats it! no record of classes, but technically I have a transcipt.

Any help is appreciated I don't want them to put me on hold because I don't enter any course work if I include this school in my app.

 

[Aggro]

Ack, one more question, since I've heard conflicting things:

For the Work/Activities section, should I write out the descriptions as bullet points, or should everything be in prose? I have them all written out like, "For each patient, I was required to blah blah, followed by blah blah." Should I just redo it as:

* Blah blah
* Blee bloo

Thanks!

 

[JJMrK]

Ack, one more question, since I've heard conflicting things:

For the Work/Activities section, should I write out the descriptions as bullet points, or should everything be in prose? I have them all written out like, "For each patient, I was required to blah blah, followed by blah blah." Should I just redo it as:

* Blah blah
* Blee bloo

Thanks!

Whichever way sounds better to you.

 

[deleted212936]

Q: does the PS textbox on the AAMC allow bold/italic characters?

 

[nick_carraway]

Q: does the PS textbox on the AAMC allow bold/italic characters?

Nope. Plaintext only. Use textedit or notepad to see how it will turn out or just type it into the AMCAS fields for fun.

 

[JJMrK]

Nope. Plaintext only. Use textedit or notepad to see how it will turn out or just type it into the AMCAS fields for fun.

In MS Word there is a way to turn off any characters that will give AMCAS trouble. Anyone remember what it is?

 

[gujuDoc]

Ack, one more question, since I've heard conflicting things:

For the Work/Activities section, should I write out the descriptions as bullet points, or should everything be in prose? I have them all written out like, "For each patient, I was required to blah blah, followed by blah blah." Should I just redo it as:

* Blah blah
* Blee bloo

Thanks!

I've been advising everyone to do what they are comfortable with. There is no clear cut answer to this question. There have been people who've used bullets and people who've used prose and both have gottenin just fine. Say what you need to say to market yourself to the best of your capabilities.

 

[gujuDoc]

Whichever way sounds better to you.

Agreed with this. I used prose but others have used bullets. People are successful using either method. So do whichever brings your point across and markets yourself to the best of your capabilities.

 

[Jolt21]

No indentations. Most people leave a blank line between paragraphs.

thats what i did. seemed to do the job. thanks.

 

[Jolt21]

Does UT Southwestern not have a regular M.D.? How come I dont see it as an option in the Medical Schools portion?

 

[linkin06]

just wanted to give people a reference: i sent in transcript on 19th and got email confirmation today. time to work on AMCAS this weekend and ship it in tuesday.

hope today goes well w/ mcat...

 

[Jolt21]

just wanted to give people a reference: i sent in transcript on 19th and got email confirmation today. time to work on AMCAS this weekend and ship it in tuesday.

hope today goes well w/ mcat...

yea, amcas got and confirmed receipt for 2 of my 3 transcripts within one week. nice turn around time.

 

[gujuDoc]

thats what i did. seemed to do the job. thanks.

No problema.

 

[gujuDoc]

Does UT Southwestern not have a regular M.D.? How come I dont see it as an option in the Medical Schools portion?

that's odd. Maybe you gotta fill out TDMAS for that.

 

[hanjg]

All Texas schools are "TMDSAS only" for MD except Baylor (AMCAS only).

 

[deleted212936]

AAMC still hasn't got my transcript yet.
And when they've got it, will they notify me when my grades have been entered?
Do I need to wait until my grades are entered into the system in order to send my primary application?

 

[Myuu]

AAMC still hasn't got my transcript yet.
And when they've got it, will they notify me when my grades have been entered?
Do I need to wait until my grades are entered into the system in order to send my primary application?

They will notify you when they receive the transcript(s) your institution(s) have sent in support of the coursework and grades you enter. After you submit the application, they will notify you once they have verified the courses you entered against the transcripts they have.

 

[parhumn]

While I'm not a fan of shadowing and don't see the intrinsic value in it, having all of your letters come from the classroom/research makes it more vital that your PS or ECs demonstrate clear clinical interest. In my case, adcoms commented that my previous app looked more like a PhD application than a med school app since I had classroom/lab experience and my PS was focused on the teaching aspect of medicine.

As long as the rest of your app emphasizes the right things, I think you can do without both shadowing recs, but when in doubt, just leave one in the pile.

If you need 6, I would do 2 science, 1 non-science, both research, and either one MD letter or another science letter (depending on which one you think is better).

My rule of thumb: 2 science letters, 1 non science letter if possible otherwise replace with a 3rd science letter. 2 character letters. In your case: 1 PI 1 doctor would be ideal if the doctor's letter is strong. Remember these are supposed to be confidential. wave your rights to see them and dont share with them that you've seen them if they've shown it to you.

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!! you guys make life a lot easier =)

is 6 LORs overkill?

 

[gujuDoc]

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!! you guys make life a lot easier =)

is 6 LORs overkill?

No 6 is ok. But more then that is too much.

and I'd only use 6 if they were a mix of professor letters and character letters i.e. 2 of your doctors and 1 PI or 2 or your PIs and 1 doctor with 3 professor letters. Too many professor letters might do no good. But extra character letters help give insight into other sorts or work ethic i.e. how you are in the lab or clinic.

 

[parhumn]

No 6 is ok. But more then that is too much.

and I'd only use 6 if they were a mix of professor letters and character letters i.e. 2 of your doctors and 1 PI or 2 or your PIs and 1 doctor with 3 professor letters. Too many professor letters might do no good. But extra character letters help give insight into other sorts or work ethic i.e. how you are in the lab or clinic.

thank you soo much for all your help

 

[Heta]

If I submit my primary and withdraw it before submitting any secondaries, will I count as having applied to medical school once already?

 

[gujuDoc]

If I submit my primary and withdraw it before submitting any secondaries, will I count as having applied to medical school once already?

Yes. Oddly enough I sent in a primary but never officially withdrew at a couple of schools but also never officially sent in a secondary and was still sent a rejection letter though I essentially chose not to continue my app there. I guess I never formally withdrew so they took it as someone who applied but didn't finish their app.

The only way you won't count as a reapp is if you withdraw before you app has even been verified.

 

[CielloStelatto]

Is there any reason to include a LOR from a non-clinical job? I know it would be a strong letter (my boss cried to my parents when they came for my graduation)...but I already have profs and PIs. Thoughts?

 

[Myuu]

Is there any reason to include a LOR from a non-clinical job? I know it would be a strong letter (my boss cried to my parents when they came for my graduation)...but I already have profs and PIs. Thoughts?

Think of it as a character reference.

 

[CielloStelatto]

Think of it as a character reference.

OK. I need input.

LORS:
Two year PI (also academic, and advisor)
Two summer PI
One semester PI

Professor LOR
Committee LOR

Could get:
Character reference, per above - employment
orgo prof LOR (but part of above committee)
Getting a LOR from a physician, but it's coming later this summer.

--I don't want to use too many LORs, but I have to include the first 3 b/c MSTP. Would I just not send in the character reference and physician letter to some schools? But then, how do I decide? Oi.

 

[Myuu]

OK. I need input.

LORS:
Two year PI (also academic, and advisor)
Two summer PI
One semester PI

Professor LOR
Committee LOR

Could get:
Character reference, per above - employment
orgo prof LOR (but part of above committee)
Getting a LOR from a physician, but it's coming later this summer.

--I don't want to use too many LORs, but I have to include the first 3 b/c MSTP. Would I just not send in the character reference and physician letter to some schools? But then, how do I decide? Oi.

How good is the physician letter going to be (not that you should ask to read it)?

 

[CielloStelatto]

not good yet, but I'm sensing it will be pretty good in about a month. new thought - can you send updates in the form of references? maybe i'll do that.

 

[Myuu]

not good yet, but I'm sensing it will be pretty good in about a month. new thought - can you send updates in the form of references? maybe i'll do that.

Some schools like that (most of them, I think), some schools don't.

 

[gujuDoc]

not good yet, but I'm sensing it will be pretty good in about a month. new thought - can you send updates in the form of references? maybe i'll do that.

I think after awhile references won't do any good if you've already got good references. the only real updates that will help are those that are of new grades or extracurricular activities. If that letter is a letter of update from someone and not one of your pile of letters from a new activity you've done then it might be worth it. But no they probably won't do much good once you've accumulated your max letters with strong letters. More helpful would be the newer grades you'll get or newer activities you've participated in.

Here is another idea though. If you have a committee at your school, you can include all your letters because they will take excerpts from all the original letters and write a huge big letter with the best parts of all the letters. Otherwise use the rule I gave you.

If you send too many individual letters rather then a committee letter and 2 or 3 other letters or a few individual letters it starts to look like padding your resume and starts to get annoying. i've had some adcoms tell me that part of the reason they put a limit on how many letters is because otherwise all students would start using tons of letters and it would get to a point where things would start to get unreasonable.

 

[gujuDoc]

Some schools like that (most of them, I think), some schools don't.

I would say updates are fine but when they are something more tangible then wayyyyyyy too many letters i.e. new activities you've done, new grades you didn't have before for which you can update the with, etc. not new letters or essays or things like that which only help to a point but are not anything really tangible.

 

[CielloStelatto]

I've already graduating so I won't be updating with grades. I was only thinking about adding this letter later to highlight clinical things, for which I don't have anything tangible in my app yet.

And hopefully i'll be updating with abstracts and pubs.

 

[Myuu]

I've already graduating so I won't be updating with grades. I was only thinking about adding this letter later to highlight clinical things, for which I don't have anything tangible in my app yet.

And hopefully i'll be updating with abstracts and pubs.

My thinking on this is that you should put together the combination of letters that presents you in the best possible light. Anything submitted after that should be icing.

 

[jenandhansun]

For your reference, I had my transcript sent from UCLA on the 22th, and I received an e-mail yesterday saying AMCAS had received it.

I had some questions about the CLASS CLASSIFICATION:
Did you put ALL your Psychology department couses that you took under the category "behavioral and social sciences" or "biology"? Because some of my Psychology course content (such as Psych 124B: Visual Info Processing) were definitely more biology than psychology.

To sum it up, should I base class classifications on CONTENT or DEPARTMENT?

 

[basolateral]

i couldnt find the answer to this question on the thread:
if we withdrew or had an "f" grade for a course and received no credit, do we put "0.00" as the amount of credit hours or the amount of credits the specific course was worth regardless of whether or not i received the credits?

 

[plsletmein]

i couldnt find the answer to this question on the thread:
if we withdrew or had an "f" grade for a course and received no credit, do we put "0.00" as the amount of credit hours or the amount of credits the specific course was worth regardless of whether or not i received the credits?

put whatever it says on your official transcript

 

[plsletmein]

For your reference, I had my transcript sent from UCLA on the 22th, and I received an e-mail yesterday saying AMCAS had received it.

I had some questions about the CLASS CLASSIFICATION:
Did you put ALL your Psychology department couses that you took under the category "behavioral and social sciences" or "biology"? Because some of my Psychology course content (such as Psych 124B: Visual Info Processing) were definitely more biology than psychology.

To sum it up, should I base class classifications on CONTENT or DEPARTMENT?

You should put what you feel is more appropriate. When your app gets verified, if the verifier feels differently, she'll make the change

 

[gujuDoc]

i couldnt find the answer to this question on the thread:
if we withdrew or had an "f" grade for a course and received no credit, do we put "0.00" as the amount of credit hours or the amount of credits the specific course was worth regardless of whether or not i received the credits?

I believe the credit hours question is in regards to how many credits the course is, not how many you earned. when you enter the letter grade they'll realize you got 0xwhatever amount of credits it is.

So even if you get an A in a 4 credit course they are asking whether the course is 4 credits or 3 credits not whether you earned 16 points or 12 points. They need the amount of credits so they can calculate your GPA by taking points earned divided by the points possible.

 

[emrygrad]

For selecting which languages you know what qualifies as "knowing" I understand gujarati fluently, can't speak it fluently tho. Also I can understand hindi decently, at least conversationally, can't speak it too well tho. Main reason I ask is one of my important EC's is a summer project in India.

 

[flip26]

For selecting which languages you know what qualifies as "knowing" I understand gujarati fluently, can't speak it fluently tho. Also I can understand hindi decently, at least conversationally, can't speak it too well tho. Main reason I ask is one of my important EC's is a summer project in India.

But "knowing" is not the standard that AMCAS has set...from the AMCAS "help" box:

Languages

Enter information regarding the language(s) you speak fluently. Select your primary language from the Primary drop-down list, and then select additional languages by checking the appropriate check boxes.

 

[CielloStelatto]

I've heard that if you get an interviewer that speaks a language you indicated on AMCAS, they might talk to you in that language. Wouldn't want to make a fool of yourself. You can always say in your EC box that you picked up some of the language while there.

 

[emrygrad]

thx good point, another question what type of gpa jump justifies mention in the personal statement, my first 5 semesters I was around a 3.4ish then my last 3 semesteres i had like a 3.98 which bumped me up to 3.7ish, i figure I have more important things to talk about and I figure they will be able to see the upward trend by themselves but should I mention/explain it?

 

[CielloStelatto]

You should be fine with that overall gpa, so only mention it if you feel like it - especially if you have a good story about how you figured out how to study better, or overcame some difficulty your early semesters... Also, maybe it would be good for some secondaries?

 

[LAman10]

Ok so i have WAY more than 15 signficant activities (mostly because of my research in several labs. no, I'm not a bad researcher. these are mostly through different summer programs). I've gotten a publication, abstract, and maybe some other potential publications in the works. If I were to separate out my pubs and research, this would probably take up 8 spots. And I'm not joking when i say I really need all 15 (and probably some more, because unfortunately i'm going to have to cut out some relatively significant activities). anyway, would it be ok for me to lump the publication with the resaerch description? IMO, I don't see the point of having 2 separate descriptions. If you got a pub, it's pretty self-implying that you did resaerch in a lab. And if you list them separately then you'll have a reseach entry with a description of what you did, and then a publication citation with probably the exact same description. Wouldn't it be better just to put the pub and the resaerch entry together and label it as pub?

 

[CielloStelatto]

Ok so i have WAY more than 15 signficant activities (mostly because of my research in several labs. no, I'm not a bad researcher. these are mostly through different summer programs). I've gotten a publication, abstract, and maybe some other potential publications in the works. If I were to separate out my pubs and research, this would probably take up 8 spots. And I'm not joking when i say I really need all 15 (and probably some more, because unfortunately i'm going to have to cut out some relatively significant activities). anyway, would it be ok for me to lump the publication with the resaerch description? IMO, I don't see the point of having 2 separate descriptions. If you got a pub, it's pretty self-implying that you did resaerch in a lab. And if you list them separately then you'll have a reseach entry with a description of what you did, and then a publication citation with probably the exact same description. Wouldn't it be better just to put the pub and the resaerch entry together and label it as pub?

Two things:
1. Definitely group them together. Absolutely no need to make a separate activity for a publication unless you have not done anything else and you have like two activities. Just describe your research, and your role, and at the end just put the citation of the pub.

2. I jokingly say to make sure you spell research correctly in your descriptions.

 

[plsletmein]

Wouldn't it be better just to put the pub and the resaerch entry together and label it as pub?

Yes that sounds completely reasonable given your situation

 

[LAman10]

Two things:
1. Definitely group them together. Absolutely no need to make a separate activity for a publication unless you have not done anything else and you have like two activities. Just describe your research, and your role, and at the end just put the citation of the pub.

2. I jokingly say to make sure you spell research correctly in your descriptions.

cool, haha yeah research is just one of those words that i can never type correctly, no matter how hard i try. MOST of the time I end up typing "reserach". Sigh, I guess that's what happens when you type 180 wpm (Kidding! it's only like 174wpm... minus 100)

 

[deleted212936]

We are currently entering transcripts into the application that were received on 05.27.09

Is AMCAS entering our grades into the app. in addition to the grades we enter by ourselves?

 

[Myuu]

Is AMCAS entering our grades into the app. in addition to the grades we enter by ourselves?

They have to check your list vs. their list and you can count on them not doing that with paper in hand.