2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread
- Thread starter Green Grass
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The actual transcript verification process can take how long exactly? I'm still "in line" to be verified so I'm assuming this might take awhile especially during this time. But as long as it's before the 24th, I'm still good for being "early"?
Right now its not going to take that long if you wait til say august it might be 4-6 weeks.
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guju,
It definitely feels good to be done with it.
One of my entires for ED volunteering had some info left out of it after I submitted, so that's kind of bothering me. I am certain I entered the organization name, hours/week and contact info, but maybe I didn't save it correctly. At least it had the description part. All the other entries were ok as well. You ever heard of anyone losing some info after submitting, or did I just forget to save
You might have forgotten to save it. call amcas and see what they can do otherwise when you get your secondaries make note of it there or as an additional update letter to schools.
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Medical schools will begin receiving applications on June 24, 2009.
But then my AMCAS
AMCAS Processing is Complete
Application has been made available to the designated medical schools.
So what is the deal? When will I hear back from them regarding secondaries?
Will they not look at them until the 24th?
But then my AMCAS
AMCAS Processing is Complete
So what is the deal? When will I hear back from them regarding secondaries?
Will they not look at them until the 24th?
Medical schools will begin receiving applications on June 24, 2009.
But then my AMCAS
AMCAS Processing is CompleteApplication has been made available to the designated medical schools.
So what is the deal? When will I hear back from them regarding secondaries?
Will they not look at them until the 24th?
some release 2ndarys early such as yale and columbia, early meaning before the 24th. I think its basically like this, the schools can see whos applying and for those who send 2ndarys to all applicants, they just send it to everyone to collect their money faster 🙂
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They said to leave them blank? Does their own manual not say to label AP credit without grades as "G", or am I misreading that?
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Does anyone know how long it takes for AMCAS to receive LORs sent from Interfolio? I delivered mine on Wednesday and it said it was electronically sent but AMCAS has not received it yet.
Thanks
Thanks
I was trying to find this out but i couldn't find a clear cut answer in this thread.
are you at a disadvantage if you submit your AMCAS before your transcript is in? for some reason i remember reading that if the transcript is not in before you submit your AMCAS, your application goes on HOLD and is sent to the back of the pile. and so it takes longer for your AMCAS to be verified. is this true?
Would it be better for me to submit my AMCAS after i know that they have my transcript???
if anyone can clarify, I would very much appreciate it! 🙂
are you at a disadvantage if you submit your AMCAS before your transcript is in? for some reason i remember reading that if the transcript is not in before you submit your AMCAS, your application goes on HOLD and is sent to the back of the pile. and so it takes longer for your AMCAS to be verified. is this true?
Would it be better for me to submit my AMCAS after i know that they have my transcript???
if anyone can clarify, I would very much appreciate it! 🙂
Hmm I'm not sure. that is a question to ask AMCAS people directly.
Hmm LizzyM would be a good person to ask about this. I'm not sure how big a deal it is because you've listed that you did the research but your name isn't on the paper as an author. so not sure.
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I hadn't read this before, but all my AP grades were changed to "G" during verification, so putting that in from the beginning would be a good tactic 🙂
You won't get put in line to be verified until they receive your transcripts. So in the sense that you'll be waiting for a few days for your transcripts to arrive, and then you'll start to be verified, it'll take longer. But, realistically, it takes the same time either way... you either submit after they receive your transcripts, or you submit before and wait until they receive them to be put in line.
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I've been volunteering in a particular department of a hospital since September, and starting end of this month will be moving to another department for a new and better position in the same hospital. Since I haven't actually started this position yet, in the activities section, should I focus mainly on the first position and then add on a few sentences explaining how I will be moving to this department and what I will be doing? Or should I count that as a completely separate activity? Thanks.
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Does anyone know?
It took me only a few days. I can look it up on amcas and interfolio. I sent mine already and it didn't take too many days from what I can recall.
Ok I sent mine on 5/28, and this past week was the first week of June and it was there since at least Monday if not before, so it was less then a week for me.
Yes that's what I did for one of mine though I had technically already started in that other dept.
And that is what I'd do in your situation. Go ahead and do this and at a later date you can send a further update letter with more details of what you've done.
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Sorry, I didn't understand which option you meant. You think I should go with the first one? (focus on the current position with a few sentences on the upcoming one) Thanks for your help.
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Say your reference uploads their letter via AMCAS Letters. Will it show up immediately as received when you check the details of your application???
I'm sure it would or at least within a day or 2. Not sure though since I sent mine via interfolio.
Yes that's what I meant. i.e. I talked about my longstanding volunteering with all children's hospital specialty care clinic in tampa and then wrote a line or two saying I was volunteering in their ER in the main hospital but focused in on the cancer clinic. So in your case you'd focus in on your current experience, but say in 1-2 lines what you will be doing in the new position and then at a later date send a further more updated detail to the new position with more details of whatever you'd like to add then.
<1 day literally. Once all my letters were uploaded, I sent them electronically and later that night amcas sent me an email saying they were reccieved. Though it might be slightly longer now that we are in the middle of open applications. I sent my letters like 5/28.
You just reminded me that I could check the date I got the email saying they were received.
Ok so my situation was same as yours. I sent it 5/28 according to interfolio and 5/29 I got the email saying they were received from what I just checked in my email.
So same thing for me as for you.
PS question: so I have finished my personal statement and I would like to enter it in AMCAS. Would you recommend indenting each paragraph (5 spaces)? I'm pretty much at the max characters, so if I did indent, I would have to get rid of a few words.
You cannot indent on AMCAS. You either leave a line that is blank between paragraphs and AMCAS counts empty lines as characters though MS word doesn't, or you don't leave a line and make the last line of each paragraph so short that it is easy to tell where one starts and the other ends.
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I received 31 hours from AP/IB. I earned 17 / 18 / 17 / 17 / 18 / 19 hours from my first six semesters.
Considering that my first semester (designated with Freshman status for AMCAS) will have 48 hours, how should I designate each following term? I figure there are three different ways:
1) By actual year in school - but I'd end up with 66 freshman hours.
2) Following 30/60/90 as best as possible - 1 FR semester, 1 SO, 2 JR, 4 SR is a little odd.
3) Switching every 2 semesters after the first - It'd be ~45/75/105 for each.
For those of you who came in with a lot of hours and have been verified, how did AMCAS sort your years?
Considering that my first semester (designated with Freshman status for AMCAS) will have 48 hours, how should I designate each following term? I figure there are three different ways:
1) By actual year in school - but I'd end up with 66 freshman hours.
2) Following 30/60/90 as best as possible - 1 FR semester, 1 SO, 2 JR, 4 SR is a little odd.
3) Switching every 2 semesters after the first - It'd be ~45/75/105 for each.
For those of you who came in with a lot of hours and have been verified, how did AMCAS sort your years?
I have had a operating room internship. I have 400 hours of paid and 200 hours of volunteer. I know the volunteer looks better, but how do I enter it into the work and activities section on the application. Should I do two entries?
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I have a very unusual question, and I am hoping to get some advice from you fellow SDNers (my $40,000 a year university, of course, has people marginally more qualified than chimpanzees doing the advising).
I want to list as much research on my application as possible. I am working on a health policy thesis right now, which I am passionate about, and I would love to continue doing this kind of research in medical school; however, it is incomplete, and thus I cannot list it on AMCAS. As it stands, the only research I am listing on my application is a 3-month-long summer research program I did after Freshman year when I was an astrophysics major; I got a publication, but still, that shows minimal commitment.
Here's the conundrum: I actually did 5-6 months of research in (what I thought was going to be) a neurobiology lab earlier this year. However, the research turned out to be more psych/behavioral research, which doesn't interest me. Also, the professor was senile and inept at dealing with people (even by professor standards); as such, the lab was going nowhere, since he could neither attract nor hold down any post docs or grad students to work in his lab. Furthermore, he openly insulted all of the students, including myself, for no reason whatsoever. I figured that I have a publication already, found the work uninteresting and I have M3, M4, and all of residency to get pooped on by superiors, so I quit. Should I list this experience on my AMCAS? Even though it was meaningless and ended poorly, it is still research experience. As an aside, I did quit after winter quarter (my school is on quarters), so I did not quit at a suspicious time in the process. However, it would probably look weird that I did not seek a recommendation from the PI; since I obviously cannot write on the AMCAS that he was impossible to work with, this will look sketchy.
If I listed it, I wouldn't want to list the professor as the contact; although there were no graduate students as I mentioned before, there was an undergraduate who was the "lab coordinator" who is very personable and has a high opinion of me. Could I list her as a contact, or would the fact that she is an undergraduate make that a poor choice?
I would greatly appreciate anyone's help on this matter. If you want, feel free to PM me.
--WaryWildcat
I want to list as much research on my application as possible. I am working on a health policy thesis right now, which I am passionate about, and I would love to continue doing this kind of research in medical school; however, it is incomplete, and thus I cannot list it on AMCAS. As it stands, the only research I am listing on my application is a 3-month-long summer research program I did after Freshman year when I was an astrophysics major; I got a publication, but still, that shows minimal commitment.
Here's the conundrum: I actually did 5-6 months of research in (what I thought was going to be) a neurobiology lab earlier this year. However, the research turned out to be more psych/behavioral research, which doesn't interest me. Also, the professor was senile and inept at dealing with people (even by professor standards); as such, the lab was going nowhere, since he could neither attract nor hold down any post docs or grad students to work in his lab. Furthermore, he openly insulted all of the students, including myself, for no reason whatsoever. I figured that I have a publication already, found the work uninteresting and I have M3, M4, and all of residency to get pooped on by superiors, so I quit. Should I list this experience on my AMCAS? Even though it was meaningless and ended poorly, it is still research experience. As an aside, I did quit after winter quarter (my school is on quarters), so I did not quit at a suspicious time in the process. However, it would probably look weird that I did not seek a recommendation from the PI; since I obviously cannot write on the AMCAS that he was impossible to work with, this will look sketchy.
If I listed it, I wouldn't want to list the professor as the contact; although there were no graduate students as I mentioned before, there was an undergraduate who was the "lab coordinator" who is very personable and has a high opinion of me. Could I list her as a contact, or would the fact that she is an undergraduate make that a poor choice?
I would greatly appreciate anyone's help on this matter. If you want, feel free to PM me.
--WaryWildcat
i'll be teaching orgo to a class of ~20 students and i will get paid for a small amount. should i list this under the activities list on AMCAS (since its involving leadership skills) or under work experience ?
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definitely go with work experience... as an instructor myself, i find it hard to see myself or any of my colleagues as leaders in the classroom... students only see you as a means to an end... they lead their own lives... if amcas had an option that allowed you to list activities in which you were a cartoon.. then definitely list your teaching experience... cause i feel like that every day i walk into that classroom...
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Sorry if this has been asked before. Ugh, I feel silly for asking this but:
On my transcript I have listed both ap math ab, and ap math bc.
I have 0 credit for ab, because bc superseded that (I was given credit for bc only)
So on the amcas should I:
1. Leave out ap math ab.
2. Put in ap math ab, with 0 credits, and check exempt?
3. Do as #2, but do not check exempt?
4. Other?
Argh I hate this.
Also, AP Lit granted me exception from taking a read&comp course. Should I just list AP Lit? I cannot specify a course because it's not a specific class that I got exception from, it is a general requirement where numerous courses qualify.
To clarify, my university requires RC1 and RC2. I qualified to be exempt from RC1. RC1 could be met by numerous courses. But there is no mention at all that my RC1 has been exempted for by AP Lit on my transcript (unofficial).
So should I just leave AP Lit as is, with no course relations? (since no course is mentioned in my transcript)
On my transcript I have listed both ap math ab, and ap math bc.
I have 0 credit for ab, because bc superseded that (I was given credit for bc only)
So on the amcas should I:
1. Leave out ap math ab.
2. Put in ap math ab, with 0 credits, and check exempt?
3. Do as #2, but do not check exempt?
4. Other?
Argh I hate this.
Also, AP Lit granted me exception from taking a read&comp course. Should I just list AP Lit? I cannot specify a course because it's not a specific class that I got exception from, it is a general requirement where numerous courses qualify.
To clarify, my university requires RC1 and RC2. I qualified to be exempt from RC1. RC1 could be met by numerous courses. But there is no mention at all that my RC1 has been exempted for by AP Lit on my transcript (unofficial).
So should I just leave AP Lit as is, with no course relations? (since no course is mentioned in my transcript)
Put your supervisor's name. Put whoever you feel most appropriate to put or leave it blank.
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Ok... here's my breakdown. I got 46 credits from AP/IB. I graduated in 3 years. I took course loads of the following: 12 / 18 / 15 / 18 / 13 / 15.
They classified all my AP/IB credits, plus my first full year in school as Freshman (that's 46+12+18 = 76). My second year was Sophomore (Hours 77 - 109). My third year was Senior (Hours 110 - 137). My extra classes after undergrad were Post-Bacc.
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Any field that is not required (marked with a red * IIRC) can be left blank. I know this because I called AMCAS on another matter and asked.
I didn't put a single contact name for any activities. I didn't fill in any fields that weren't required.
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Thank you! You being verified already is extremely helpful, haha. I went ahead and put in G for my AP/IB courses.
I've sorted my semesters by actual year, then. Freshman year = 66, sophomore year = 67-100, junior year = 101-152, and senior year will be = 153-182. Junior year's larger because I earned 15 hours through this research program the summer before.
As long as I have Current/Future classes listed, is it going to give me the "You have entered one or more courses without grades and/or credit hours. Although..." message?
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Yes it will. Kinda sucks, but not much you can do about it.
LOL Good philosophy.
It doesn't matter. Either way is fine. But it will have to be sent through AMCAS once you get them for most of the schools but the small select few like Albany that are not yet part of that service.
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Question - Does anyone know if courses that are taken at another university need to be double listed? The transfer credit is applied to my main college transcript, but it's just credits not grades. Do they still want you to list the courses, even if the actual grades are on the transcript from the college where the course was taken and are listed on AMCAS with that college? Thanks in advance for the clarification.
So, I took Calculus at a community college between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college. I never transferred the credits because I didn't need to. However, I did get an A in the class so it will definitely boost my calculated GPA. How should I go about adding this class to my application? Do I have to go to the community college and have them send a transcript in addition to my official college transcript?
Yes and all classes taken at any post secondary institution regardless of whether or not you transferred them to your home institution need to be factored in.
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Under the letters section, there's a dialog that asks:
"Is this letter from a school?"
I'm sending my letters from my school's Career Center, but the actual letter is from someone outside the school. I'm just using the Career Center to organize my letters.
So is my letter "from a school"?
"Is this letter from a school?"
I'm sending my letters from my school's Career Center, but the actual letter is from someone outside the school. I'm just using the Career Center to organize my letters.
So is my letter "from a school"?
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