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When should I start filling it out?
2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread
- Thread starter Green Grass
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When should I start filling it out?
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Anytime you want.
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Is it okay to list something like this where you help out your parents' business? I'm curious because I'm in a similar boat.
For the work/activities section, can we state why we decided to volunteer and what we found particularly interesting about some of the experiences? ...I guess what I'm asking is if the work/activities descriptions can be like mini personal statements or are they supposed to be written sort of with an objective tone. Please let me know if putting feeling/personality into the work/activities descriptions is a good/bad idea.😕
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Now.
Both... they don't calculate it until they verify your courses, which is after you submit...
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I have a question about the year in school status
On the help section of AMCAS, it says each 'undergraduate status' should consist of approximately 27-35 semester hours, but the guidelines table right underneath that says that freshman year should be counted as 0-32 hours, and then sophmore begins at 31 hours.
I wanted to make my freshman year 26 hours, and then start sophmore after that. If anyone who has experience with this could please let me know I would appreciate it.
On the help section of AMCAS, it says each 'undergraduate status' should consist of approximately 27-35 semester hours, but the guidelines table right underneath that says that freshman year should be counted as 0-32 hours, and then sophmore begins at 31 hours.
I wanted to make my freshman year 26 hours, and then start sophmore after that. If anyone who has experience with this could please let me know I would appreciate it.
I got a little question and wondering what my options were. I transfered from a school after my freshman year, and I just looked at my transcripts from that school and realized my physics lab grade is wrong ( I got a B, should have gotten an A) so I went through the avenues to correct it and they said they are not sure how long it for the correction to show up on the trasncripts, it could be between a week or a month. So my question is how do I go about addressing this issue. It obviously is not gonna have much effect on my GPA, so should I just send my trancsipts in now and send them the new transcripts later? I just don't want to have to wait on the change in order to submit my application, bc I plan on submitting June 2nd. Any thoughts? TIA
You get it after you have submitted your app and it has been verified. Once it is verified you will be able to hit the print AMCAS option to save a pdf version of your app. All the calculations will be on there not on the online version of your app but the pdf version that you'd get if you hit print amcas after it has been submitted and verified.
If you would like to know how AMCAS GPA is calculated assume 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0, 0.0 for ABCDF respectively and assume .3 added to those numbers for the + version of those grades and subtract .3 from those numbers for the - grades.
For instance B+ is 3.3 but B- is 3.0-.3 and therefore 2.7.
This is as opposed to .67 or .33. for - and + grades.
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does it make a big dent on your GPA? you need to hit that school up and really press them to make a change ASAP. you did pay tuition there, write to the dean, get it done if you can.
I believe they said it would not make a big dent on the GPA. 1 point difference over a 1 credit lab is hardly to make an overall huge dent in the app. from my experience.
No it would not make much of a difference, the reason it supposedly takes so long is that it has to go from desk to desk to desk of various ppl who have to sign off on the change and then eventually it gets to the registrar who make the final change, the school is a giant public school so as I am sure many of you know getting things done is an extremely painful process, just to get acknoweldgement that the grade was wrong was a pain, but if I send my transcripts in now, does anyone know how I can let AMCAS know that it got changed once the change is made on my transcripts?
You won't get amcas to change it but you will be able to send a letter of update to all schools and explain to them with a grade sheet or unofficial or official transcript the grade changes.
You'd have to do it yourself though for each individual school. But it is almost worth it to do it that way rather then wait and screw up apps by being too late in submissions if it ends up being like sept before it gets done.
Hmm that's interesting. You could look into that as well. I'm not sure I know much about that.
So i've begun filling out my application and I want to confirm a few things.
-I need to get my college (and the CC that i did summer classes at) to send my transcripts to AMCAS? I didn't take any AP classes in high-school but I did take spanish which fulfilled my foreign language credit for college, do I need my HS to send them a transcript?
-if someone writes me a letter of recommendation THEY need to mail it directly to AMCAS?
-so do I "submit" the application to AMCAS when I get my MCAT scores? I'm taking the mcat on july 2 so I guess it'll be early august when I get my scores.
-I need to get my college (and the CC that i did summer classes at) to send my transcripts to AMCAS? I didn't take any AP classes in high-school but I did take spanish which fulfilled my foreign language credit for college, do I need my HS to send them a transcript?
-if someone writes me a letter of recommendation THEY need to mail it directly to AMCAS?
-so do I "submit" the application to AMCAS when I get my MCAT scores? I'm taking the mcat on july 2 so I guess it'll be early august when I get my scores.
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My Physics courses include lab, i.e., you do not get separate grades. Therefore, my Physics class is a 4 credit course w/lab.
However, my transcript lists the lab separately, but with 0 (zero) credits, and with the same course # [different section #, but we don't include section #s on AMCAS].
I am just afraid that since there's also a grade listed next to the lab entry, some adcoms may think I never took lab, since its listed as a 0 credit course.
It looks like this:
PHYSICS FOR SCIENCES | 01:750:193 | 4.0 credits | Grade A
PHYSICS FOR SCIENCES | 01:750:193LB | 0.0 credits | Grade A
....
What should I do? I called up AMCAS, but the representatives there told me to write it in the way it was. Problem is, don't we have to append "and Lab..."? And also check off "lecture only, lab only, etc...?
I've decided to click "Combined Lecture & Lab" for both entries. Any suggestions? 😕
However, my transcript lists the lab separately, but with 0 (zero) credits, and with the same course # [different section #, but we don't include section #s on AMCAS].
I am just afraid that since there's also a grade listed next to the lab entry, some adcoms may think I never took lab, since its listed as a 0 credit course.
It looks like this:
PHYSICS FOR SCIENCES | 01:750:193 | 4.0 credits | Grade A
PHYSICS FOR SCIENCES | 01:750:193LB | 0.0 credits | Grade A
....
What should I do? I called up AMCAS, but the representatives there told me to write it in the way it was. Problem is, don't we have to append "and Lab..."? And also check off "lecture only, lab only, etc...?
I've decided to click "Combined Lecture & Lab" for both entries. Any suggestions? 😕
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1) Did you take the Spanish class at a community college? If so, you need to get a transcript from that college. If you just took it in a regular high school setting, then you don't need the transcript.
2) Yes.
3) No, submit it before you get your MCAT score. It'll take longer to verify your courses if you wait, and that's the longest part of the application that doesn't depend on you.
thanks for the help!!!
I guess my next question is... Can we continue to modify the application after it has been submitted? I'm still racking up ECs right now, will I be able to add them after the application has been submitted? Same thing goes with the LORs. Do they have to be in before the application is submitted? I guess what I'm confused about is, what does "submitting your app to AMACS" mean? Once i hit "submit" does that mean they send it out to med-schools? Or do they just confirm everything (verify courses) and then you decide when to send it to med schools?
Thanks for your time guys. I just have a bad habit of messing up the details with stuff like this so I don't want to do anything wrong.
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I've requested all of my transcripts. How do I know when AMCAS receives them?
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you can't modify the primary after you submit it.
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1. they will email you
2. you can click on the detail of your app (i dont remember what the actual tab was - left side of the home screen on amcas) and shows transcript status
So this has quite possibly been addressed before but 23 pages is a lot to look through. Anyways when I took English senior year of high school they somehow had it set up to give us credit through the local community college. I got an A one semester and a B the second, or vice versa, who knows or cares. I transferred it to my university and its listed as Rhet 105 6hrs with a 3.5 as the grade. I have no idea how to put this down as I've never heard of a 6 hour class, and you can't really put a 3.5 as a letter grade. Any ideas?
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Hi All,
1. Was wondering if someone could clear up a few questions for me. I'm confused about the whole primary submission and LORs deal. My college told me that they will submit one committee letter basically (with all the other letters in it). So when I click "submit" on June 2nd, will it not go through until my pre-med advisor has written the letter and sent it in? Or does the application go through without the letter first and is only needed for the secondaries?
2. Should you submit exactly on June 2nd? Is it bad to submit later than that date?
3. I took classes at Harvard Summer School, since they were at Harvard I'm assuming they were college courses, do I need a transcript from them?
Any input would be great, especially the first question! Thanks so much!! =)
1. Was wondering if someone could clear up a few questions for me. I'm confused about the whole primary submission and LORs deal. My college told me that they will submit one committee letter basically (with all the other letters in it). So when I click "submit" on June 2nd, will it not go through until my pre-med advisor has written the letter and sent it in? Or does the application go through without the letter first and is only needed for the secondaries?
2. Should you submit exactly on June 2nd? Is it bad to submit later than that date?
3. I took classes at Harvard Summer School, since they were at Harvard I'm assuming they were college courses, do I need a transcript from them?
Any input would be great, especially the first question! Thanks so much!! =)
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hey SDN,
I searched everywhere for the answer to this question, but i couldn't find it anywhere, so sorry if this is a repeat but..
I sent a transcript to AMCAS a few days ago, they still havent got it. That transcript had the summer classes that i was taking on it, but since then i have dropped a few (not withdrew, but dropped), and added others. Should i send them another transcript, or just let them verify the one i sent them? i have already deleted the courses that i dropped from the "my courses" section of AMCAS...
Thanks guys, i hate AMCAS lol
I searched everywhere for the answer to this question, but i couldn't find it anywhere, so sorry if this is a repeat but..
I sent a transcript to AMCAS a few days ago, they still havent got it. That transcript had the summer classes that i was taking on it, but since then i have dropped a few (not withdrew, but dropped), and added others. Should i send them another transcript, or just let them verify the one i sent them? i have already deleted the courses that i dropped from the "my courses" section of AMCAS...
Thanks guys, i hate AMCAS lol
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Merging with AMCAS Questions thread.
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You and everyone else... heck of a thing, at least it's not absurdly expensive...
I think you do need to send them another transcript, for sure at some point, might as well just bite the bullet and send it now. I'm honestly not sure if that'll cause more delays. Logically, I wouldn't think it would, except that everything causes more delays...
You might also be able to get away with waiting until the end of your summer session (so that the classes will be graded), especially if it's one of those short jobs that get done mid June.
How's that for waffles? I guess the bottom line is, it probably won't hurt to send an updated one now, but if your class is short, you can probably kill two birds with one stone and send the transcript once it's in the books.
1. LORs don't affect your application from getting verified and sent. You can add letters any time after AMCAS is submitted by resubmitting it after it is verified. and then saying send such and such letters to schools. Kinda hard to explain on here but you'll see what I mean. so youll get secondaries even if you haven't submitted your letters now with amcas and wait til later after amcas has been verified.
2. submit when you are ready but try to do it by June or July and not when interview season starts.
3. Yes you need transcripts for all college courses including dual enrollment and summers elsewhere.
You would need a transcript from the local community college since it is dual enrollment.
So would I update the schools on my secondaries, would there be a place for that? because I imagine the change will be made by then, or would I just have to like draft a letter or something and send each med school an individual letter with the transcript attatched?
for AP courses....my school blocks all the AP courses and gives me 15 units, but for a course like General Chemistry, I took the AP, but I also took the class at my school..should I be listing the Course and the AP entry as "repeats" even though I only took the class once at the institution?
Also, how long does it take for AMCAS to input the transcripts, I sent them in early last week, no word yet.
Thanks!
Also, how long does it take for AMCAS to input the transcripts, I sent them in early last week, no word yet.
Thanks!
So if my letters aren't in by June 2nd but everything else is done would u suggest just going ahead and submitting and worrying about the rec's later?
I'm in a similar situation, I called them up and essentially the answer I got was "put whatever is on your transcripts" so what I did was list both. I listed the ap credit as " AP Chemistry" and listed the actual college course I took by the name it has on my transcripts.
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OK does anyone know anything about repeated AP credit? I emailed AMCAS and they were less than helpful with my question. So I have 3 classes that I got credit for twice (like once through AP and once through a placement test). Well both show up on my transcript, but it says that I repeated the class. There's also another class that I got credit for 3 times (effectively making my transcript say that I retook the class twice). So do I just put all of the courses in for the same semester and classify them as repeat?
Also, I got credit for two different English classes, but on your transcript you can only get credit for one of them (they restructured and renamed the class right before I started). If I classify them as repeat classes, how will AMCAS know that they are effectively the same course??
And question number three, I got credit for all of GChem minus the lab through AP testing, but I took the second semester anyway. Would this be considered a repeat class, as well?
I really just don't want it to look like I took, let's say, freshman English 3 times, when I didn't really take it at all. sigh
Also, I got credit for two different English classes, but on your transcript you can only get credit for one of them (they restructured and renamed the class right before I started). If I classify them as repeat classes, how will AMCAS know that they are effectively the same course??
And question number three, I got credit for all of GChem minus the lab through AP testing, but I took the second semester anyway. Would this be considered a repeat class, as well?
I really just don't want it to look like I took, let's say, freshman English 3 times, when I didn't really take it at all. sigh
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Does anyone know roughly how long it takes for AMCAS to receive your transcript? I called the community college where I took a class between my junior and senior year of high school, and they said they mailed it on the 13th of May. They should have electronic submissions for transcripts >.<
Yes that's what I did last year. letters are important to have submited only once you get the secondary. Maybe in the future this will change when all 126+ schools are on amcas letter system but right now I'm sure its ok to get it verified and add letters later. i believe it said that in the amcas instructions too.
My school mailed it on the 8th, just got an email from amcas saying they got it 5 minutes ago. lol
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How does verification work exactly? Does it just check your GPA or does it also send to the schools etc? Thus, do we have to finish the essays before we can verify?
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My requests were faxed to 2 schools (both in the west) on the 11th, one was uploaded yesterday and one today.
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Hey you guys,
for those who have sent their transcripts already, has it said "Received" under your transcripts section yet in AMCAS? My school supposedly sent my transcripts 1 week ago and AMCAS still says "Not Received." 😡
It's super early to send in transcripts now, and it seems to be taking as long as it did for me last summer when I sent them in mid-June.😡
for those who have sent their transcripts already, has it said "Received" under your transcripts section yet in AMCAS? My school supposedly sent my transcripts 1 week ago and AMCAS still says "Not Received." 😡
It's super early to send in transcripts now, and it seems to be taking as long as it did for me last summer when I sent them in mid-June.😡
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I sent one, school confirmed at May 13, and just got an email today. The second one, I think I sent around the same time, and still no word. So I would say just sit tight, they'll probably find them pretty soon.
Yes once you've submitted you cannot change anything except to add letters of recommendation and add schools you want to send it to. All essays, resume portion, etc. are to be done before submission. Otherwise what is there to submit really?
Arrggh too many questions posted too fast for me to read your posts and answer them all.
But since i've gone through this once around this past cycle I'll share my knowledge.
Submission:
You submit an application after all things have been filled out. The only portion that may be left empty until later is LORs.
So this means your essays, your work activities, your classes, schools, biographical data, test scores, etc. must all be in there. Nothing will be able to be changed post submission.
To submit it you have to have picked one medical school for AMCAS to send it off to before you can get it submitted and verified.
Post submission you may choose to add more medical schools or you can add all your schools you want prior to submission. This is one of the things that can be changed both pre and post submission.
Post submission you may also continue to add letters of recommendation and choose the schools you want it to be sent to and hit submit again.
Besides adding LORs or adding schools you want AMCAS to be sent to you will not be able to change anything else. Don't do something stupid like not send your essay or not write all your activities current and past into the app before submitting it.
More answers to your questions:
If you have ECs that are new i.e. done after AMCAS you may send individual letters of updates to schools you've applied to on AMCAS or otherwise make note of it in areas appropriate to such in the secondary apps for these respective schools. some will address this issue through the common question: Is there anything else you'd like the committee to know about you? Others will specifically tell you to write things you've done not listed in amcas. Others will just ask that you expand upon what you've done again in secondaries because they'll again ask you what your hobbies are, what leadership you've had, to talk about clinical experiences, etc.
so yes you can update things just not via amcas.
If you have grades that come in after AMCAS you will have to send grade sheets via your version of OASIS or ISIS, via unofficial transcripts, or via official transcripts on your own to individual schools and write an email or letter informing them of such. email is easier for this purpose.
But since i've gone through this once around this past cycle I'll share my knowledge.
Submission:
You submit an application after all things have been filled out. The only portion that may be left empty until later is LORs.
So this means your essays, your work activities, your classes, schools, biographical data, test scores, etc. must all be in there. Nothing will be able to be changed post submission.
To submit it you have to have picked one medical school for AMCAS to send it off to before you can get it submitted and verified.
Post submission you may choose to add more medical schools or you can add all your schools you want prior to submission. This is one of the things that can be changed both pre and post submission.
Post submission you may also continue to add letters of recommendation and choose the schools you want it to be sent to and hit submit again.
Besides adding LORs or adding schools you want AMCAS to be sent to you will not be able to change anything else. Don't do something stupid like not send your essay or not write all your activities current and past into the app before submitting it.
More answers to your questions:
If you have ECs that are new i.e. done after AMCAS you may send individual letters of updates to schools you've applied to on AMCAS or otherwise make note of it in areas appropriate to such in the secondary apps for these respective schools. some will address this issue through the common question: Is there anything else you'd like the committee to know about you? Others will specifically tell you to write things you've done not listed in amcas. Others will just ask that you expand upon what you've done again in secondaries because they'll again ask you what your hobbies are, what leadership you've had, to talk about clinical experiences, etc.
so yes you can update things just not via amcas.
If you have grades that come in after AMCAS you will have to send grade sheets via your version of OASIS or ISIS, via unofficial transcripts, or via official transcripts on your own to individual schools and write an email or letter informing them of such. email is easier for this purpose.
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I apologize if they has been asked before....but if you studied abroad but all your grades are listed in your undergraduate institution trascript, do you list them under your undergrad school? Or under the study abroad school (which I also entered in as separate school)? Thanks!
Post submission of your completed application, the verifiers will look to see that there are no discrepancy in reporting of grades, make sure you have not forgotten to list courses taken, and will correct any wrong classification of courses. They will calculate your GPA AO (Overall GPA), (non science GPA), and BCPM (Science GPA) in 3 columns. overall will be the last. They will do this for each year's worth of courses and postbac and graduate courses if that applies to you as well. They will also show a row with the total overall BCPM for ugrad courses including postbac ugrad courses and your original degree courses as well as one like this for your overall AO and overall nonscience GPA. Your graduate GPA if you have one will not be factored into ugrad GPA.
Not sure. I'd just list it as your undergrad school since that is the transcript that reports the grades according to the US system. It seems like you wouldn't be able to so easily get an international transcript.
Yes you should be ok.
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