2009-2010 AMCAS Questions Thread

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Question: If one of my classes had a recitation as part of that class, do I make mention of that in the course title? "Analytic Geometry and Calculus with recitation"?

Also, if I tested out of a class and got credit for it, how do I report it? the transcript doesn't give it any date or involve it with any particular semester. It just states it on the top. What do I do?
 
I'm sure this has been asked already, so my apologies. How long does AMCAS typically take to verify your app? 1-2 weeks?
 
bonoz said:
Question: If one of my classes had a recitation as part of that class, do I make mention of that in the course title? "Analytic Geometry and Calculus with recitation"?

Also, if I tested out of a class and got credit for it, how do I report it? the transcript doesn't give it any date or involve it with any particular semester. It just states it on the top. What do I do?
Click to expand...

Part 1: I wouldn't change the course title unless you really feel adamantly about it. Leave it as either the official title, or what it's listed as in your transcript. If you were strongly impacted by this recitation thing, then you can bring it up elsewhere.

Part 2: Report it exactly as it says it in your transcript. There is no reason why a med school would want to know / care the date that you tested out of some class.

have fun.
 
whatupron said:
hey guys

i jus finished my masters and i will be applying for 09-2010. i was wondering where exactly on my primary AMCAS do i put that i jus graduated from Grad school with my Masters??

Is it under course work? but isnt that just for my undergrad?? please helpppp. thanks guys !
Click to expand...

course work is NOT just for undergrad. put ANY courses that you have taken. and sorry, I don't remember where you put degrees earned. I think that goes after you add a school and list info for that school
 
I just thought I would mention this because it struck me as odd.

I submitted my application 6/20 and my final transcript was marked as received on 6/22 (and I know it was not sent out until 6/19). As of 6/23 my application was finalized, included my GPA and their changes, says it is available to my designated schools, etc.

I was expecting a long wait, given the 4-6 week process time disclaimer.

Has anyone else had their application processed this fast?
 
RagingMoose said:
I just thought I would mention this because it struck me as odd.

I submitted my application 6/20 and my final transcript was marked as received on 6/22 (and I know it was not sent out until 6/19). As of 6/23 my application was finalized, included my GPA and their changes, says it is available to my designated schools, etc.

I was expecting a long wait, given the 4-6 week process time disclaimer.

Has anyone else had their application processed this fast?
Click to expand...

Were you an EDP applicant?
 
I figured someone would have already asked this question, but I have spent 30 min looking on here and couldn't find an answer, so I will ask here:

On AMCAS Course Work, do I put courses I plan to take in future semesters before graduating? I will be graduating Spring 2010, do I need to put Fall 09 and what I think I may take in Spring 10 as well?

Thanks for your help!
 
Polycarp said:
I figured someone would have already asked this question, but I have spent 30 min looking on here and couldn't find an answer, so I will ask here:

On AMCAS Course Work, do I put courses I plan to take in future semesters before graduating? I will be graduating Spring 2010, do I need to put Fall 09 and what I think I may take in Spring 10 as well?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

It has been asked before. You can if you want. It's recommended if you haven't taken the pre-reqs yet. Otherwise, not really necessary.
 
won't he have a better shot if he only puts mexican cause isn't that an URM?
or would being asian and asian being an ORM hurt? or balance it out?

interesting.
 
cc5409 said:
how do i specify that i am biracial in my app.. i am half mexican and half chinesse.. do i just click mexican in the ethnicity and then in race put asian and click chinesse and should i also put the other box and put chinesse and mexican..or is that unnecessary.. HELP
Click to expand...

Merging with the AMCAS questions thread.

I'd click both boxes.
 
I'm sorry if thishas been answered.. I've used the search function and have read several pgs of this thread and haven't found the answer I'm looking for..

When we submit our app to be verified.. This is after they've received the transcripts and I have completed the whole app? I took the june 18 mcat and scores won't be out until july 21.. However I'm missing a couple LORs that will be in by next week and 1 transcript that should be in sometime soon.. Can I submit for verification without having finished my personal statement and - 2 LORs? Just to get that verified asap? And I can't really get a good gauge of the time its taking for verification at the moment from the verification thread.. How long is it running now?

If I submit next week for verification.. Will I be verified by the time my scores come out?
 
I had sent transcript to amcas in May-09 which does not have spring quarter grades. I have not submitted amcas application yet, and spring grades are out now. What are my options. My spring grades are quite good and about same as the rest. I rather not go thru sending transcript again. Should I show spring courses with grade in amcas or leave spring grade blank in amcas as current/future. Thanks
 
medschool2010 said:
I had sent transcript to amcas in May-09 which does not have spring quarter grades. I have not submitted amcas application yet, and spring grades are out now. What are my options. My spring grades are quite good and about same as the rest. I rather not go thru sending transcript again. Should I show spring courses with grade in amcas or leave spring grade blank in amcas as current/future. Thanks
Click to expand...

hmm i'm also having the same dilemma...except my spring quarter grades includes a retake that i did well in. should i fill in the grades for spring quarter and send in another transcript request? will this delay the verification process significantly? Thanks!
 
bonoz said:
Question: If one of my classes had a recitation as part of that class, do I make mention of that in the course title? "Analytic Geometry and Calculus with recitation"?

Also, if I tested out of a class and got credit for it, how do I report it? the transcript doesn't give it any date or involve it with any particular semester. It just states it on the top. What do I do?
Click to expand...

CielloStelatto said:
Part 1: I wouldn't change the course title unless you really feel adamantly about it. Leave it as either the official title, or what it's listed as in your transcript. If you were strongly impacted by this recitation thing, then you can bring it up elsewhere.

Part 2: Report it exactly as it says it in your transcript. There is no reason why a med school would want to know / care the date that you tested out of some class.

have fun.
Click to expand...

What if my transcript does not have it in under any semester or year? What 'year' and 'semester' do I pick for this class? just fit it in any where?
 
But my question is whether it is proper to leave spring grades blank in amcas, when in reality spring grades are out and official now. Once again, transcript was sent before spring grades came out. The second part of question is how to leave spring grades blank (in case it is proper to leave them blank). There is a current/future option in filling classes: do I use that? But really doesn't sound right to use that option, since spring grades are not current/future any more. That applies to class underway (or, planned for future) whose grades are not yet known. Thanks if someone can comment.
 
IkeBoy18 said:
I'm sorry if thishas been answered.. I've used the search function and have read several pgs of this thread and haven't found the answer I'm looking for..

When we submit our app to be verified.. This is after they've received the transcripts and I have completed the whole app? I took the june 18 mcat and scores won't be out until july 21.. However I'm missing a couple LORs that will be in by next week and 1 transcript that should be in sometime soon.. Can I submit for verification without having finished my personal statement and - 2 LORs? Just to get that verified asap? And I can't really get a good gauge of the time its taking for verification at the moment from the verification thread.. How long is it running now?

If I submit next week for verification.. Will I be verified by the time my scores come out?
Click to expand...


help.. anyone?
 
I just got verified and was surprised that my study abroad courses counted for my overall and BCMP GPA...even though my home institution just includes them as P/F on my transcript. Is this normal? I sent along my study abroad transcript that lists letter grades (A, B, C format). This was not an American sponsored program...I was taking courses at a foreign university that transferred credits to my home university. Suffice to say, my study abroad grades were awesome so this is sort of a positive. They also inadvertently listed a eight credit pharmacology course from my study abroad as HEALTH instead of BIOLOGY...it was a medical school class on drug design and the cellular pathways they target. Should I submit an academic change request?
 
mdeast said:
I just got verified and was surprised that my study abroad courses counted for my overall and BCMP GPA...even though my home institution just includes them as P/F on my transcript. Is this normal? I sent along my study abroad transcript that lists letter grades (A, B, C format). This was not an American sponsored program...I was taking courses at a foreign university that transferred credits to my home university. Suffice to say, my study abroad grades were awesome so this is sort of a positive.
Click to expand...

Yeah similar situation happened with me, I was 🙂 though because my grades were good as well. I wouldn't complain/inquire any further.
 
GoSpursGo said:
Yep, this is the usual result.

Merging with the AMCAS Questions thread.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to my post? I was wondering if I should inquire about the course being changed from HEALTH to BIOLOGY. I didn't realize HEALTH didn't count for BCPM, and this was clearly a bio class...I spent 1/2 the semester reperfusing rat hearts in vitro and learning cardio anatomy. It'd raise my BCMP about .03.

Can anyone refer me to the post that details which courses count in which category?
 
Last edited:
Work/Activities:

1) Does any one know of any good guides online that guide you how to best write the work/activities stuff?

2) Can I put in works which I haven't started yet but will start in a few weeks?

3) If say I have a job, but it's more of a teaching job do I put it down as a paid non military job? or as a teaching activity? similarly, if I worked in a biology lab, but it was a non-research lab job, do I put it as a paid non military job or under Research/lab?

Thanks
 
As I was filling out my AMCAS app, I assigned all of my LORs to all of my schools. I'm pretty confident they are all good, and so I assumed I would want all of my schools to see them all. I have one committee letter (has 5 letters, but one summary letter) from my undergrad, three LORs from my grad professors, and 1 from a past employer = 5 total. I didn't even think about the fact that some schools might not want so many. And now I can't change letter assignments since I submitted AMCAS.... Do you think this is a big problem?
 
bonoz said:
What if my transcript does not have it in under any semester or year? What 'year' and 'semester' do I pick for this class? just fit it in any where?
Click to expand...

then I would just put the year that you took the test. if amcas doesn't like it, they'll just change it. no harm done.
 
What kind of jobs or things should I not mention on the application?

What about things like me working at Toys R Us as a sales associate? or a work study position where I worked in a video studio?
 
IkeBoy18 said:
I'm sorry if thishas been answered.. I've used the search function and have read several pgs of this thread and haven't found the answer I'm looking for..

When we submit our app to be verified.. This is after they've received the transcripts and I have completed the whole app? I took the june 18 mcat and scores won't be out until july 21.. However I'm missing a couple LORs that will be in by next week and 1 transcript that should be in sometime soon.. Can I submit for verification without having finished my personal statement and - 2 LORs? Just to get that verified asap? And I can't really get a good gauge of the time its taking for verification at the moment from the verification thread.. How long is it running now?

If I submit next week for verification.. Will I be verified by the time my scores come out?
Click to expand...

First things first - to submit your application you MUST have finished all of the written portions of the app. This includes all courses taken, work descriptions, and any personal statements that apply to you. These CANNOT be edited after you submit your application. So no, you cannot submit before you finish your p.s. Once you've done your part, you can submit to be verified. Your transcript cannot be verified without your transcript being received, but you are welcome to click "submit" before they get it, and then just wait until they do. On the other hand, you can add schools and LORs any time before or after you are verified. AMCAS doesn't care about LORs, only schools do. So just make sure that you have your LORs in by the time schools ask for them (usually when the secondary is due).

But if you do finish and submit your app soon, you should probably be verified by the time your mcat scores are released. However, if they aren't released yet, it's not a big deal. Schools will wait for your scores.
 
CielloStelatto said:
First things first - to submit your application you MUST have finished all of the written portions of the app. This includes all courses taken, work descriptions, and any personal statements that apply to you. These CANNOT be edited after you submit your application. So no, you cannot submit before you finish your p.s. Once you've done your part, you can submit to be verified. Your transcript cannot be verified without your transcript being received, but you are welcome to click "submit" before they get it, and then just wait until they do. On the other hand, you can add schools and LORs any time before or after you are verified. AMCAS doesn't care about LORs, only schools do. So just make sure that you have your LORs in by the time schools ask for them (usually when the secondary is due).

But if you do finish and submit your app soon, you should probably be verified by the time your mcat scores are released. However, if they aren't released yet, it's not a big deal. Schools will wait for your scores.
Click to expand...


thank you so much for your help! i really appreciate it.
 
I previously asked how to let schools know that I have done some shadowing after sending in my AMCAS. The responses were to mention it on secondaries or an update letter. As for an update letter, since some schools don't ask for any new info or have a question that where it would fit, what exactly would be the format for such a small update? Email, snail mail and to who? Thanks
 
Toadsworth said:
I previously asked how to let schools know that I have done some shadowing after sending in my AMCAS. The responses were to mention it on secondaries or an update letter. As for an update letter, since some schools don't ask for any new info or have a question that where it would fit, what exactly would be the format for such a small update? Email, snail mail and to who? Thanks
Click to expand...

i'm interested in the answer to this question too.
 
If I create an entry for an LOR and designate that it be sent to school XYZ but the letter is never submitted to AMCAS for whatever reason, will that hold up my application at school XYZ? Should/can I hold off on designating which schools receive which letters until they send me their secondaries so I can wait to see if all my anticipated letters are sent to AMCAS?
 
I recently submitted my application, is it too late to make minor changes?
 
only things you can do are add schools or make an academic change request.
 
Hello all...I have a question. I submitted my app a few days ago, and I found out that I made an error with the course number listing. I only put the number without the course abbreviation (for instance: 101 instead of CHEM 101). Do you think this will be a huge issue for the verifiers? Has anyone done this before w/o any problems?

Thanks
 
mdeast said:
Are you referring to my post? I was wondering if I should inquire about the course being changed from HEALTH to BIOLOGY. I didn't realize HEALTH didn't count for BCPM, and this was clearly a bio class...I spent 1/2 the semester reperfusing rat hearts in vitro and learning cardio anatomy. It'd raise my BCMP about .03.

Can anyone refer me to the post that details which courses count in which category?
Click to expand...

If you think it should be classified as Biology, it couldn't hurt to ask I suppose. I honestly have no clue how they do the classification. But honestly, .03 isn't going to make or break your application.

Toadsworth said:
I previously asked how to let schools know that I have done some shadowing after sending in my AMCAS. The responses were to mention it on secondaries or an update letter. As for an update letter, since some schools don't ask for any new info or have a question that where it would fit, what exactly would be the format for such a small update? Email, snail mail and to who? Thanks
Click to expand...

I personally think email is fine; in this day and age, they can't that against you I don't think. Take however much space as you need to adequately explain your new information; however, be succinct and don't give them irrelevant information. Tell them what you've done and what you've gotten out of the experience, and that should be enough; think about what you'd put if it was an activities description on the AMCAS.

Incidentally, you might want to wait until after an interview to send an update letter, that way you can make it a combined update/letter of interest.
 
I noticed that amcas or tmdsas or one of them have my transcript going to interfolio.. will they get the transcript when interfolio does..or do i have to have it then delivered? also.. these LORs and transcripts they get.. these are sent electronically to the schools i choose? or by us mail? and if by us mail are they just copies or what.. thanx
 
Hi,

I have a question regarding the "coursework" portion of my AMCAS. I just finished listing all my courses, and noticed something strange: All my summer classes are listed BEFORE my Spring classes for any particular year. I was assuming AMCAS arranges everything chronologically.

Maybe my mistake is that I am putting down the wrong academic year for the Summer classes. I always thought that the Summer semester came AFTER the Fall/Spring for that Academic year. For example, I thought that Summer 2008 is part of the 2007/2008 academic year and not the 2008/2009 year. Is this an incorrect assumption?

Or does it even matter at all that my AMCAS courses do not appear in a chronologically correct manner? I mean, AMCAS will get my official transcripts from my schools so does it even matter?

Any help will be highly appreciated!
 
strummin said:
Hi,
For example, I thought that Summer 2008 is part of the 2007/2008 academic year and not the 2008/2009 year. Is this an incorrect assumption?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, Summer 2008 is part of the 2008/2009 academic year. So if you took X course the summer after your freshman year, you would classify yourself as a sophomore at the time.... hence listing it under the next year. I think I read it somewhere in the AMCAS help section.
 
i *think* it's fine. schools can only see the ones you designated to them, so if you have a LOR that you didn't designate to any school and it doesn't get there, that should be ok. If, however, you said you're sending letter X to school Y, and somehow it falls through, that could be a problem. In that case I'd email the admissions people at school Y to let them know they shouldn't wait for that letter.
 
AMCAS has instructions on this. I believe you have to cancel the letter yourself if you've told AMCAS it is coming. Otherwise they wait until it arrives before they send your letters out.
 
InNotOf said:
If I create an entry for an LOR and designate that it be sent to school XYZ but the letter is never submitted to AMCAS for whatever reason, will that hold up my application at school XYZ? Should/can I hold off on designating which schools receive which letters until they send me their secondaries so I can wait to see if all my anticipated letters are sent to AMCAS?
Click to expand...

I think the above response is correct.

Merging with the AMCAS Questions Thread.
 
texaslily said:
As far as I know, Summer 2008 is part of the 2008/2009 academic year. So if you took X course the summer after your freshman year, you would classify yourself as a sophomore at the time.... hence listing it under the next year. I think I read it somewhere in the AMCAS help section.
Click to expand...

After seeing your response, I went through the AMCAS help files and found this:

"These fields show the academic year and term for which you have indicated you wish to enter specific course information. Courses taken in the summer should be entered with the next academic year, even if your institution considers them in the previous year. For example, if you took a course in the first summer session of 2009, you should enter it as 2009-2010 even if your school considers it in the 2008-2009 academic year."

So you were right. Thank you. I probably should've gone thru the help files before I posted here, but hopefully my post will help someone else.. Thanks again!
 
My Committee Letter supposedly contains my individual letters of recommendation. Do I also have to list each separate letter, or will selecting Committee Letter be enough?
 
I searched several times and don't think this has been asked yet, I apologize if I missed it.

I understand there's a $160 fee and then $31 for every additional school. But suppose I submit my AMCAS today with 7 schools, then a couple days later decide to add 4 more schools. Do I get charged the $160 fee both times, or only the first?
 
I have always heard that shadowing is an informal way to state your experience, when working with a doctor. Does anyone know how I should list that experience in my activities?
 
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