2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread

[Anita817]

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you should send out your app asap and add the new lor later. The med schools give you plenty of opportunities to update your information. The majority of schools send out a secondary invite before even reading your initial so that would be a great opportunity to talk about your new clinical experience with the md. And i think that the lors from the dos should be helpful because med schools are looking to see that you have had patient contact and that you know what you are really getting yourself into.

thank you!

 

[229141]

I have an ethnicity question...pretty much in regards to how I should report it.

I'm 75% white (French/German)
and the other 25% consists of Portugese and Indian (as in india)
(in terms of looks pretty much every one who sees me assumes I'm italian lol)

Would reporting this as hispanic or multiracial increase my chances at all? I know being part indian would actually hurt my chances since theres too many indians in med school statistically.

 

[Myuu]

I have an ethnicity question...pretty much in regards to how I should report it.

I'm 75% white (French/German)
and the other 25% consists of Portugese and Indian (as in india)
(in terms of looks pretty much every one who sees me assumes I'm italian lol)

Would reporting this as hispanic or multiracial increase my chances at all? I know being part indian would actually hurt my chances since theres too many indians in med school statistically.

Only put down ethnicities that you have significant cultural connections to. I'm 1/16th cherokee, but I didn't put that down as it doesn't play a role in my life at all.

 

[BlueElmo]

I just checked non-Hispanic for the first box and left the second ethnicity box blank. That should be okay, right?

 

[G1SG2]

When writing descriptions for work/activities, are you guys writing in paragraphs with a line of space in between each? Or are you just writing the entire description in one big chunk/1 paragraph?

 

[OneMCATAway]

the ethnicity is optional so you dont need to put anything if you dont want to! i left them blank too because there is no option for "other"..

how are you guys entering AP credit? i know it goes to the first quarter of freshman year and the credit hour is how much credit you get from your school.. but what do we put as course number, course name, course classification, and the grade?!!!

 

[BlueElmo]

When writing descriptions for work/activities, are you guys writing in paragraphs with a line of space in between each? Or are you just writing the entire description in one big chunk/1 paragraph?

I just indent.

 

[BlueElmo]

the ethnicity is optional so you dont need to put anything if you dont want to! i left them blank too because there is no option for "other"..

how are you guys entering AP credit? i know it goes to the first quarter of freshman year and the credit hour is how much credit you get from your school.. but what do we put as course number, course name, course classification, and the grade?!!!

I just wrote "Advanced Placement Math AB" and the credits earned. No grade, so left them blank.

 

[OneMCATAway]

there is no way to move the courses up and down after entering them!! in the instructions it says enter courses in same order it appears on the transcript & i entered the AP at the end so now i gotta delete the whole first quarter and enter it again

 

[Myuu]

the ethnicity is optional so you dont need to put anything if you dont want to! i left them blank too because there is no option for "other"..

how are you guys entering AP credit? i know it goes to the first quarter of freshman year and the credit hour is how much credit you get from your school.. but what do we put as course number, course name, course classification, and the grade?!!!

From what I understood of last year's manual, I think if you put more than one ethnicity down you are automatically other.👍

There have been numerous posts in this thread about AP credit, so I would check there.

 

[Myuu]

there is no way to move the courses up and down after entering them!! in the instructions it says enter courses in the same order it appears on the transcript and i entered the AP at the end so now i gotta delete the whole first quarter and enter it again

:cry:

 

[229141]

Only put down ethnicities that you have significant cultural connections to. I'm 1/16th cherokee, but I didn't put that down as it doesn't play a role in my life at all.

Ok- that makes sense!

 

[229141]

Oh another paranoid pre med question.

Say I submit June 1...I will have 150 volunteer hours

BUT I'm doing a lot of volunteering in june and by the end I'll have over 225 hours...

Should I

a) Submit June 1 with only 150 hrs
b) Submit July 1 with 225 hrs
c) Submit June 1 but say 225 hrs since I'm going to have that soon enough

🙁

 

[G1SG2]

there is no way to move the courses up and down after entering them!! in the instructions it says enter courses in same order it appears on the transcript & i entered the AP at the end so now i gotta delete the whole first quarter and enter it again

exactly as they appear on the transcript? I pretty much listed them as they are on my transcript, however, I think I entered my bio lab right after my bio lecture class, even though on my transcript there was a class in between them (alphabetical listing). I hope that's okay.

 

[G1SG2]

a) Submit June 1 with only 150 hrs
b) Submit July 1 with 225 hrs
c) Submit June 1 but say 225 hrs since I'm going to have that soon enough

I think July is late. I'd go with choice a, but would check "to present" for the end date, to indicate that you're still volunteering. 150 hours is not bad.

 

[Myuu]

I think July is late. I'd go with choice a, but would check "to present" for the end date, to indicate that you're still volunteering. 150 hours is not bad.

Alternatively, he could put 150 in the box and then in the description say that he'll have ___ hours by the end of June.👍

 

[229141]

Alternatively, he could put 150 in the box and then in the description say that he'll have ___ hours by the end of June.👍

Very nice! I like how you think bud 🙂

 

[OneMCATAway]

Oh another paranoid pre med question.

Say I submit June 1...I will have 150 volunteer hours

BUT I'm doing a lot of volunteering in june and by the end I'll have over 225 hours...

Should I

a) Submit June 1 with only 150 hrs
b) Submit July 1 with 225 hrs
c) Submit June 1 but say 225 hrs since I'm going to have that soon enough

🙁

it asks for hours per week so it wouldn't matter when you submit they can figure that out based on ur avg hrs/week!

 

[G1SG2]

Anyone have any ideas for our research title questions? 😛 For example, if I did chem. research, should I just put "Research in Chemistry"/"Inorganic Chemistry Research" or the actual project title?

 

[BlueElmo]

there is no way to move the courses up and down after entering them!! in the instructions it says enter courses in same order it appears on the transcript & i entered the AP at the end so now i gotta delete the whole first quarter and enter it again

Are you serious? We have to enter them in the same freaking order?

 

[Appless]

Are you serious? We have to enter them in the same freaking order?

yep you do. I had to redo a large portion of mine due tothe weird way they make summer session the 1st set of classes for the year on a semester system...

 

[BlueElmo]

yep you do. I had to redo a large portion of mine due tothe weird way they make summer session the 1st set of classes for the year on a semester system...

OMG. No way to move them up and down. This blows.

 

[MDman87]

yep you do. I had to redo a large portion of mine due tothe weird way they make summer session the 1st set of classes for the year on a semester system...

Me too. I thought that was stupid [Summer quarter/semester is the end of the academic year, not the beginning]

Question: What date do we enter for Honors/Awards? I plan to group all my awards (Dean's/President's list, honor societies) under 1 activity, but what date should we put here?

 

[derArzt]

Strange Question:

I took the placement exam my Sophomore year for placement out of General Chemistry 1 and 2...

I passed the exam, RECEIVED CREDIT, but how do I enter that in coursework?

It's technically not AP Credit... but it's not exempt either, because I received credit for both lectures and labs.

Help! Thanks!

 

[G1SG2]

What date do we enter for Honors/Awards? I plan to group all my awards (Dean's/President's list, honor societies) under 1 activity, but what date should we put here?

I listed the date for my most recent award (departmental award), and then entered all the info in my description (i.e., dean's list since 1st yr)-although I'm not sure if that's the best way to do it. Maybe start with the date for when you received your first award/honor and the end date when you received your last award?

 

[mvenus929]

how are you guys entering AP credit? i know it goes to the first quarter of freshman year and the credit hour is how much credit you get from your school.. but what do we put as course number, course name, course classification, and the grade?!!!

I got a transfer evaluation from my school and entered the courses I actually got credit for, with P for the grade.

there is no way to move the courses up and down after entering them!! in the instructions it says enter courses in same order it appears on the transcript & i entered the AP at the end so now i gotta delete the whole first quarter and enter it again

yep you do. I had to redo a large portion of mine due tothe weird way they make summer session the 1st set of classes for the year on a semester system...

I think you're being a little bit paranoid. Your entered data isn't going to be identical to the transcript; as long as you have the basic information correct, I don't really think it's that big of deal.

After all, they reorder your ECs according to date regardless of the order you put them in. If you make sure they're all in the right semester and year, you should be ok, regardless of the order they fall in.

Oh another paranoid pre med question.

Say I submit June 1...I will have 150 volunteer hours

BUT I'm doing a lot of volunteering in june and by the end I'll have over 225 hours...

Should I

a) Submit June 1 with only 150 hrs
b) Submit July 1 with 225 hrs
c) Submit June 1 but say 225 hrs since I'm going to have that soon enough

🙁

I don't think 225 hours is going to look a whole lot different than 150 hours to adcoms, honestly, but put a note in your description that it's ongoing throughout the summer.

 

[nick_carraway]

OMG. No way to move them up and down. This blows.

That's one reason some people recommend getting a copy of your official transcript so you can see the order they're listed. Some are not in the same order as an unofficial transcript.

*pat pat*

The misery will be over in several months.

 

[MDman87]

OK. So I entered the credit I earned prior to college in the summer quarter before I started, so that it appears in the proper place on the list (also, obviously, listed it as High School). And I numbered all my chemistry classes I, II, and III (quarter system), even though they weren't numbered on my transcript. I think it was too confusing when I had three classes with the same title; plus, it made it look like I had retaken the class. Hope this is alright. If it isn't, I'm just going to let AMCAS make any additional corrections. . . I think I'm done

 

[witness23]

it asks for hours per week so it wouldn't matter when you submit they can figure that out based on ur avg hrs/week!

i never understood when people said they put down 100-1000 hours for something. was there a box for total hours? i don't think so right? i don't remember this at all - i just thought it was based on hour/wk and then the time commitment in terms of months

 

[jerew]

Hey, so I have a question about submitting GRE scores. I took the general GRE because I am getting a MS in Applied Physics in my gap year. Here's my situation.

Should I submit 800/800 Math and 690/800 (97th percentile) verbal, when my MCAT was in the 99.99% (13 on Verbal), or not?

 

[witness23]

Hey, so I have a question about submitting GRE scores. I took the general GRE because I am getting a MS in Applied Physics in my gap year. Here's my situation.

Should I submit 800/800 Math and 690/800 (97th percentile) verbal, when my MCAT was in the 99.99% (13 on Verbal), or not?

that is a ridiculously high GRE score, put it down. It will not help you unless you are going for MD/PhD in a non basic science subject (ie Engineering, Physics, Humanities)

 

[G1SG2]

hey, stupid question, but PI=principal investigator, right? And that's the title we should put down for our research professors?

 

[MDman87]

What date do we enter for Honors/Awards? I plan to group all my awards (Dean's/President's list, honor societies) under 1 activity, but what date should we put here?

Anyone?

EDIT: Sorry pookiez, didn't see your response

 

[witness23]

hey, stupid question, but PI=principal investigator, right? And that's the title we should put down for our research professors?

yes

MDman87
pick one date but list individual dates w/ the award

 

[G1SG2]

Anyone have any ideas for our research title questions? 😛 For example, if I did chem. research, should I just put "Research in Chemistry"/"Inorganic Chemistry Research" or the actual project title?

Anyone? Pretty please

 

[MDman87]

Anyone? Pretty please

I would go with either of the first two names (whichever you like best), then maybe the official title and what the research involved in the description

 

[BlueElmo]

i never understood when people said they put down 100-1000 hours for something. was there a box for total hours? i don't think so right? i don't remember this at all - i just thought it was based on hour/wk and then the time commitment in terms of months

Probably put the hours in the Description section.

 

[rbkrist]

First, a big thanks for all of the answers. You guys rock.

Couple of questions:
1. I received credit for research I have been doing for two years. Should I classify it as a biology class, and lab only? I guess what are people categorizing research as?

2. I received credit for TAing a gen chem class. Under course work should I put it as other or as a chemistry class or other?

3. I took a business statistics class. Should I classify it as a business class or math class?

Thanks!

 

[G1SG2]

1. I received credit for research I have been doing for two years. Should I classify it as a biology class, and lab only? I guess what are people categorizing research as?

What department was the course offered from? I also received credit for a research course, and it was offered by the bio dept. at my school. So, I classified it as a bio class, lab only.

2. I received credit for TAing a gen chem class. Under course work should I put it as other or as a chemistry class or other?

If it was credit from the chem department, then chemistry it is.

3. I took a business statistics class. Should I classify it as a business class or math class?

Are you a business major? If so, then I would just put it down as a math class, because at my school, different majors have to take different math classes as applicable to them. Unless that course was directly offered by the business department.

 

[BlueElmo]

First, a big thanks for all of the answers. You guys rock.

Couple of questions:
1. I received credit for research I have been doing for two years. Should I classify it as a biology class, and lab only? I guess what are people categorizing research as?

2. I received credit for TAing a gen chem class. Under course work should I put it as other or as a chemistry class or other?

3. I took a business statistics class. Should I classify it as a business class or math class?

Thanks!

1. I just selected "Other"

 

[rbkrist]

What department was the course offered from? I also received credit for a research course, and it was offered by the bio dept. at my school. So, I classified it as a bio class, lab only.



If it was credit from the chem department, then chemistry it is.




Are you a business major? If so, then I would just put it down as a math class, because at my school, different majors have to take different math classes as applicable to them. Unless that course was directly offered by the business department.

My research is through the entomology department.

 

[futuredoctor10]

That's one reason some people recommend getting a copy of your official transcript so you can see the order they're listed. Some are not in the same order as an unofficial transcript.

OOH did not know this... I think for our school (and maybe others) they are listed in the same order. I guess ask people who applied from your school before you did.

 

[Appless]

OOH did not know this... I think for our school (and maybe others) they are listed in the same order. I guess ask people who applied from your school before you did.

Worst case scenario if **** is missing or out of order or any other problem amcas will fix it, it just might delay verification, but if you already sent them your transcripts i mean its not like its going to really screw you up if they take longer verifiying your stuff. Most of us who started are wayyy ahead of the game. Most people who arent on SDN may not even know the app is open yet. I asked 2 of my friends if they started their app yet and they are like "wtf the app is open ??????" needless to say the neurotic population here probably isnt representative of most people 😉

 

[futuredoctor10]

haha true... thanks! I think we all worry alot about how all our grades should be entered but AMCAS will fix it (worst case scenario) and it's not that big a deal!

 

[Conashaugh]

Good luck to the applicants

 

[junkct]

might be a stupid question, but is it appropriate to have a "miscellaneous" section in the activities, where you list all the "rest" of your stuff that couldn't fit into your first categories?

 

[TooMuchResearch]

might be a stupid question, but is it appropriate to have a "miscellaneous" section in the activities, where you list all the "rest" of your stuff that couldn't fit into your first categories?

I am having a similar problem with space and am still working it out. If you were an Adcom looking at junkct's application, would you consider each of his/her activities worth reading about? Try to emphasize quality over quantity.

 

[G1SG2]

I attended an American chemical society research symposium with my chem. research group and PI-I served as a moderator for presentations. Should I list that separately under conferences or mention it in the description of my chem research?

 

[Schwann]

do we have to wait until spring grades come out, or can we just send in the transcripts we have now? I am sure this question has been answere before, but I just noticed that many people have posted that they are waiting for spring grades to come out.

 

[BlueElmo]

do we have to wait until spring grades come out, or can we just send in the transcripts we have now? I am sure this question has been answere before, but I just noticed that many people have posted that they are waiting for spring grades to come out.

I'm going to wait for mine.