* * 2009-2010 Application Season * * Post AACOMAS Questions HERE!!!

[beckhunter116]

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So when I said "additional academic..." I meant either work experience or extracurricular, since additional academic, while sounding wonderful, is actually just looking for your osteopathic background. I lose 🙂

Seriously though, where would you put an unpaid internship?
help me out 😀

I'm putting my internship under EC.

 

[kypreos]

how elaborate do you have to be on the extracurricular section? I find myself only filling in about 200-300 characters out of the 750 allowed?

Also is this were you would be placing the shadowing you did? and what would you call that cause all I can think of is "shadowing Nuerosurgeon".

also if you are economically disadvantaged how would you go about getting the primary applications waved or try to have them waved? I had an EFC of about 500 bucks the past couple years so Im hoping I can get some help.

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[swamprat]

how elaborate do you have to be on the extracurricular section? I find myself only filling in about 200-300 characters out of the 750 allowed?

Also is this were you would be placing the shadowing you did? and what would you call that cause all I can think of is "shadowing Nuerosurgeon".

also if you are economically disadvantaged how would you go about getting the primary applications waved or try to have them waved? I had an EFC of about 500 bucks the past couple years so Im hoping I can get some help.

any help is greatly appreciated.

I have a few that go to 500+ characters but many are in the 200-300 range. I basically just gave the points of what I did or saw and did not reflect, that was saved for my PS.

 

[beckhunter116]

how elaborate do you have to be on the extracurricular section? I find myself only filling in about 200-300 characters out of the 750 allowed?

Also is this were you would be placing the shadowing you did? and what would you call that cause all I can think of is "shadowing Nuerosurgeon".

also if you are economically disadvantaged how would you go about getting the primary applications waved or try to have them waved? I had an EFC of about 500 bucks the past couple years so Im hoping I can get some help.

any help is greatly appreciated.

Don't drag things out if you have nothing else to say with the character limits.
For shadowing I put the title as Shadowing, then the organization was Dr John Smith, DO Neurosurgeon.
Last, for economically disadvantage here is the link.
http://www.aacom.org/InfoFor/applicants/Pages/FeeWaiver.aspx

 

[Semicolon]

Hours are not required on the EC's portion either. If you don't enter them, that slot doesn't show up. Only a start date is required. Awards doesn't allow you to put in any explanation. Heck I can't even fit the whole organization title in for most of them.

I didn't mean required by the application, but rather required out of authenticity. How could you have done an EC if you never spent time on it? 😀

For institutional action, what does it mean when it says "if yes, were you ever denied readmission?" Idk whether to put "no" or "n/a" ?

You may need to explain your situation a bit more. If the question is non-applicable, I would just put "no"...

I know that for AACOMAA they have grade forgiveness, if you do bad in a class and retake it they replace the first grade with the second NO averaging. But for this to occur do I have to take the class at the same school? I took calculus 1 the first time at my university but did very bad in it, I took it again at a community college and did much better. Will this work or do I need to take it at the original institution? Thanks.

You can retake the course at any school as long as the course is equivalent and is worth the same or more credits than the original.

How long does it take AACOMAS to recieve/process your transcripts? I had my transcripts sent to both AACOMAS and AMCAS at the same time about 2 weeks ago. AMCAS recieved my transcript within 6 days and sent me an email confirming that they recieved it, while I've heard nothing from AACOMAS. I'm not really worried about this, but I was just curious how long it took for other people.

It'll take quite a long time for AACOMAS to do anything compared to AMCAS. It's a bad idea to try to use the AMCAS timeline with AACOMAS; it'll usually take weeks for them to do something that would take days with AMCAS, it seems. 😛

 

[Black Adder]

I've shadowed a few doctors and I will be listing those under my "EC's/Volunteering" section, but I also spent 40 hours shadowing/volunteering for an optometrist in his practice. Would you guys mention non-medical shadowing experiences? While I was there I took patient histories and the optometrist let me, on occasion, look at different ocular diseases of patients through the ophthalmoscope. This seems like it's something medically relevant, but I'm not sure if I should mention this. When I shadowed this optometrist I was considering optometry as a profession but after seeing what it was really like I changed my mind pretty fast. Just curious if you guys would think this would be something beneficial to list or would this detract from my app by bringing up questions over my desire to pursue medicine.

 

[Black Adder]

It'll take quite a long time for AACOMAS to do anything compared to AMCAS. It's a bad idea to try to use the AMCAS timeline with AACOMAS; it'll usually take weeks for them to do something that would take days with AMCAS, it seems. 😛

Yeah, I'm starting to get that impression about AACOMAS. I emailed them a question like 2 weeks ago and I just got a response to my question 5 minutes ago. I emailed a question about something in my app to AMCAS... I got a detailed response to my question the next day.

 

[chocolaterie]

I wanted to mention I believe it also depends on the question. I emailed aacomas yesterday and received a response today. I'm guessing amcas might have more resources ($$$). Someone asked about transcripts, they've posted a few of mine.

 

[beckhunter116]

I've shadowed a few doctors and I will be listing those under my "EC's/Volunteering" section, but I also spent 40 hours shadowing/volunteering for an optometrist in his practice. Would you guys mention non-medical shadowing experiences? While I was there I took patient histories and the optometrist let me, on occasion, look at different ocular diseases of patients through the ophthalmoscope. This seems like it's something medically relevant, but I'm not sure if I should mention this. When I shadowed this optometrist I was considering optometry as a profession but after seeing what it was really like I changed my mind pretty fast. Just curious if you guys would think this would be something beneficial to list or would this detract from my app by bringing up questions over my desire to pursue medicine.

I would list it.

 

[scummie]

Hey guys, I saw this question asked before on the threads, but I would like a more definitive answer if possible. Like many others, I'm going to be retaking some classes over the summer (Phys/Orgo) and it's really going to help my GPA. At this point, without those grades, I don't think I'm going to get screened out anywhere because of the cutoff, but my GPA will be a lot lower than I'd like (>3.0). Those new grades aren't going to be available until July/mid-August.

Should I submit now and update later? Some people have said that if you do submit now, then get verified and send AACOMAS your new transcripts you still have to send all the schools your new transcripts. Does AACOMAS recalculate your GPA every time you send a new transcript? Or, should I submit in August when all my grades are in? Thanks!

 

[francais7979]

quick question, in the aacomas application,

under the application tab, and then if you go to colleges and coursework,

I entered all my classes and coursework and grades, but i don't see a gpa for non-science, and science. Will aacomas calculate that for me once they receive my official transcripts?

the thing is last night i was filling out the course work and when i was done, I DID see a gpa calculated but then i had to make a revision and after i submitted the revision, the gpa is not there anymore.

is anyone else having an issue with this?

 

[engineeredout]

It should update based upon what you put in (at least it was there last year), but once you're verified you'll be able to view the GPA they came up with.

 

[swamprat]

quick question, in the aacomas application,

under the application tab, and then if you go to colleges and coursework,

I entered all my classes and coursework and grades, but i don't see a gpa for non-science, and science. Will aacomas calculate that for me once they receive my official transcripts?

the thing is last night i was filling out the course work and when i was done, I DID see a gpa calculated but then i had to make a revision and after i submitted the revision, the gpa is not there anymore.

is anyone else having an issue with this?

That happened to me too. For a while it was there and now its magically gone. Oh well, my grades are still showing though.

 

[MSUSpartan642]

Alright I'm confused on how to enter a grade for AACOMAS.

Summer 2005,FR,PHY 111,General Physics,Physics,4,4.0,4.0

The last three numbers are the Semester hours, the Grade, and the AACOMAS Grade. But if this class was 4.0 credits, do I enter it as 4 semester hours?

What about when I have taken a lab that was 1.0 credit, but we met for like 3 hours per week?

This is all so much more difficult than it needs to be 🙁

 

[MSUSpartan642]

And are we supposed to enter all courses we took or just the "Science" type ones?

 

[kypreos]

do you have to list 3 employers? I have about 4 but feel the other too are all juvinile jobs. I just dont that listing that I was a pool attendant was that important of a job between the summer of sophomore and junior year.

 

[Worker Bee]

I found many retake answers but didn't find this one. I really need to retake biochem. If I took it the first time where it was worth 4 credit hours and now I retake it at another school where it is only worth 3, is the grade counted as a retake or is it averaged in. The same with physiology. The first time I took it it was worth 3, but at my new school its anatomy and physiology. Is that averaged?

 

[jkmph]

Hey All,

A few questions.

(1) I entered my AACOMAS courses and was able to view them in the GPA calculator where it has schools in the rows and total at the bottom. Now it is not displaying those cumulative, science and non-science GPAs. Can anyone help me figure out why? They are all still correct when I go to add/edit courses for the respective schools.

(2) For one AP highschool course I sent the following email to AACOMAS with no reply. I need to enter one AP course I took in highschool that is listed on my undergraduate transcript. It's appearance on the transcript is demonstrated below:

Course Description Attempted Earned Grade Points
Eco 120 Econ-Mic(4) 3.00 AP

This is exactly how it looks on my transcript. Now the AACOMAS wants the following information"







Semester
Hours Grade AACOMAS
Grade Classification

It's slightly ambiguous as to what I should put under semester hours, grade, aacomas grade and classification. Please advise.

(3) I realized that I have technically only take one 3-credit english course and tested out of the other. The course I tested out of is not on my transcript but apparently counted towards my B.A. Is there a solution to this besides enrolling in an undergraduate English course in the fall?

Cheers,
John

 

[kypreos]

its not just you its not showing on mine either?🙁

 

[Semicolon]

I found many retake answers but didn't find this one. I really need to retake biochem. If I took it the first time where it was worth 4 credit hours and now I retake it at another school where it is only worth 3, is the grade counted as a retake or is it averaged in. The same with physiology. The first time I took it it was worth 3, but at my new school its anatomy and physiology. Is that averaged?

This has been answered quite a few times. 😉

No, biochem will not be considered a retake because it is worth less credits. Whether anatomy and physiology will count as a retake largely depends on the syllabus and how similar the courses actually are.

 

[chocolaterie]

And are we supposed to enter all courses we took or just the "Science" type ones?

enter all courses. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to calculate your overall gpa🙂

do you have to list 3 employers? I have about 4 but feel the other too are all juvinile jobs. I just dont that listing that I was a pool attendant was that important of a job between the summer of sophomore and junior year.

I would list significant work experience...

 

[Semicolon]

I've shadowed a few doctors and I will be listing those under my "EC's/Volunteering" section, but I also spent 40 hours shadowing/volunteering for an optometrist in his practice. Would you guys mention non-medical shadowing experiences? While I was there I took patient histories and the optometrist let me, on occasion, look at different ocular diseases of patients through the ophthalmoscope. This seems like it's something medically relevant, but I'm not sure if I should mention this. When I shadowed this optometrist I was considering optometry as a profession but after seeing what it was really like I changed my mind pretty fast. Just curious if you guys would think this would be something beneficial to list or would this detract from my app by bringing up questions over my desire to pursue medicine.

It would not hurt your application to enter in that you shadowed an optometrist. If anything, it can help it if you can put a twist on it and say that shadowing in that field showed you that you wanted something else...or something along those lines.

Hey guys, I saw this question asked before on the threads, but I would like a more definitive answer if possible. Like many others, I'm going to be retaking some classes over the summer (Phys/Orgo) and it's really going to help my GPA. At this point, without those grades, I don't think I'm going to get screened out anywhere because of the cutoff, but my GPA will be a lot lower than I'd like (>3.0). Those new grades aren't going to be available until July/mid-August.

Should I submit now and update later? Some people have said that if you do submit now, then get verified and send AACOMAS your new transcripts you still have to send all the schools your new transcripts. Does AACOMAS recalculate your GPA every time you send a new transcript? Or, should I submit in August when all my grades are in? Thanks!

I would submit now and indicate the courses you're planning to take over the summer so they know you are. When the time comes, I believe you only need to send an updated transcript to AACOMAS, not to each individual school.

Alright I'm confused on how to enter a grade for AACOMAS.

Summer 2005,FR,PHY 111,General Physics,Physics,4,4.0,4.0

The last three numbers are the Semester hours, the Grade, and the AACOMAS Grade. But if this class was 4.0 credits, do I enter it as 4 semester hours?

What about when I have taken a lab that was 1.0 credit, but we met for like 3 hours per week?

This is all so much more difficult than it needs to be 🙁

If the class was worth 4 credits, then enter it as 4. Same for the lab; if it was worth 1, then enter it as 1. Semester hours refers to how your school assigns credits; it seems that your school uses semester hours as is, so simply enter it in as you see; no conversion needed.

And are we supposed to enter all courses we took or just the "Science" type ones?

As was already stated, input ALL courses that you have taken and received a grade in as well as courses that you are registered to take (as "planned" courses).

do you have to list 3 employers? I have about 4 but feel the other too are all juvinile jobs. I just dont that listing that I was a pool attendant was that important of a job between the summer of sophomore and junior year.

You don't have to list any employers at all, but it wouldn't hurt to do so.

Hey All,

A few questions.

(1) I entered my AACOMAS courses and was able to view them in the GPA calculator where it has schools in the rows and total at the bottom. Now it is not displaying those cumulative, science and non-science GPAs. Can anyone help me figure out why? They are all still correct when I go to add/edit courses for the respective schools.

(2) For one AP highschool course I sent the following email to AACOMAS with no reply. I need to enter one AP course I took in highschool that is listed on my undergraduate transcript. It's appearance on the transcript is demonstrated below:

Course Description Attempted Earned Grade Points
Eco 120 Econ-Mic(4) 3.00 AP

This is exactly how it looks on my transcript. Now the AACOMAS wants the following information"







Semester
Hours Grade AACOMAS
Grade Classification

It's slightly ambiguous as to what I should put under semester hours, grade, aacomas grade and classification. Please advise.

(3) I realized that I have technically only take one 3-credit english course and tested out of the other. The course I tested out of is not on my transcript but apparently counted towards my B.A. Is there a solution to this besides enrolling in an undergraduate English course in the fall?

Cheers,
John

1. A few people have said that they're having this issue; it's not a fault on your part, so don't worry about it.

2. Isn't there a classification for Advanced Placement? If so, that should solve your problem. For semester hours enter in 3, as that is what the course was worth.

3. You're going to have to speak to the schools about their English requirement and whether they're willing to waive it for you under your situation. Otherwise, you would need to take another English course to meet the requirement.

 

[beckhunter116]

Woo Hoo I know a few people have been asking about transcripts, all of mine have now been received!

 

[HawkGuy]

My grades for this semester have been posted on one of the web pages for our school. I requested transcripts from my school, and I want this semester's grades included...but the school said they wouldn't be sent out until after May 27th if I want them to include this semester's grades. Should I include on my application the classes I took this semester and the grades I received (they are the official grades) even if the transcript I send won't have those grades yet? I want and try and send a transcript as soon as possible...

Thanks for any insight!

 

[fire0023]

I have started the application, will not get actual BS diploma until completion of final credits in late August. Im thinking of re-scheduling MCAT to from 6/18 to mid-July to allow more study time. Will I get verified w/out the actual diploma. Just worried about being verified too late for chance of early inyterviews or am I fine with this. Thanks for any advise.

 

[engineeredout]

Whatever you send in the transcript will get verified, you'll have to send an updated transcript when you finish those final credits in August. You don't need to have the actual degree completed to send off your grades, which is how people apply before finishing college.

 

[beckhunter116]

My grades for this semester have been posted on one of the web pages for our school. I requested transcripts from my school, and I want this semester's grades included...but the school said they wouldn't be sent out until after May 27th if I want them to include this semester's grades. Should I include on my application the classes I took this semester and the grades I received (they are the official grades) even if the transcript I send won't have those grades yet? I want and try and send a transcript as soon as possible...

Thanks for any insight!

Personally, since it is still really early, I would wait til the 27th to send the transcript and include the grades on it now. That's just me.

 

[Black Adder]

Are AP credits calculated into your GPA? My transcript says I received 8 units as transfer credits, but this was AP Biology, and I'm a Biology major so I'm assuming this gives me credit for some introductory biology course meant for non-science majors. Do I have to list this on AACOMAS because it appears on my transcript? If so, what's the grade that I have to enter in (I received a 5)? I'm looking at the CIB pdf and didn't come across any info on this... but I'm sure this question must come up plenty of times.

 

[Longshanks]

Alright, so my undergrad registrar tells me today that they "don't put the AP classes you've taken on the transcript since they can't be verified but do have the total credits at the end". What is that supposed to even mean? Why give me credits if you can't "verify" that I've taken the course. Makes no sense. They told me to get either the college board or my high school to send score reports to aacomas. Do you think that would suffice?

 

[Semicolon]

Are AP credits calculated into your GPA? My transcript says I received 8 units as transfer credits, but this was AP Biology, and I'm a Biology major so I'm assuming this gives me credit for some introductory biology course meant for non-science majors. Do I have to list this on AACOMAS because it appears on my transcript? If so, what's the grade that I have to enter in (I received a 5)? I'm looking at the CIB pdf and didn't come across any info on this... but I'm sure this question must come up plenty of times.

It can only be counted into the GPA if it actually has a grade to count. 😉 I assume your AP courses do not have a grade, so it wouldn't be counted into your GPA. And yes, since it appears on your transcript you need to enter it. I believe you can designate it an Advanced Placement course under "classification".

 

[Semicolon]

Alright, so my undergrad registrar tells me today that they "don't put the AP classes you've taken on the transcript since they can't be verified but do have the total credits at the end". What is that supposed to even mean? Why give me credits if you can't "verify" that I've taken the course. Makes no sense. They told me to get either the college board or my high school to send score reports to aacomas. Do you think that would suffice?

This seems like an issue you should really direct to AACOMAS. Technically if it doesn't show up on your transcript then you don't have to enter it into the application, but I would still contact them about this.

 

[Black Adder]

It can only be counted into the GPA if it actually has a grade to count. 😉 I assume your AP courses do not have a grade, so it wouldn't be counted into your GPA. And yes, since it appears on your transcript you need to enter it. I believe you can designate it an Advanced Placement course under "classification".

Thanks for the response! No, there isn't any grade written on my transcript, just the units. I saw that you can classify the course as "Advanced Placement", so then does this mean I just leave it blank for where it asks for the grade?

 

[lokiperson]

Should we list things like President's Honor Roll and Cum Laude under the Awards, Honors, and Scholarships section?

 

[emno]

Hi,

1. I have completed enterring the course work for community college, but it does not show up what is my GPA/ScienceGPA/Non-SienceGPA in the Colleges and Coursework screen.

2. The 2009 fall comes after the 2009 Spring while dislaying in the application.

3. when I see teh application summary, it shows the AACOMAS Grade as 0 for Advance placement and there it does not show any indication that they are advance placement. how to make sure that that it will not take them 0 for GPA calculations.

 

[chocolaterie]

Should we list things like President's Honor Roll and Cum Laude under the Awards, Honors, and Scholarships section?

Yes.

 

[Semicolon]

Hi,

1. I have completed enterring the course work for community college, but it does not show up what is my GPA/ScienceGPA/Non-SienceGPA in the Colleges and Coursework screen.

2. The 2009 fall comes after the 2009 Spring while dislaying in the application.

3. when I see teh application summary, it shows the AACOMAS Grade as 0 for Advance placement and there it does not show any indication that they are advance placement. how to make sure that that it will not take them 0 for GPA calculations.

As long as you entered in everything correctly, you should not worry about how your information as being displayed as many applicants are having problems such as these. In terms of your AP course, did it have a grade to begin with? Keep in mind that the 1-5 AP scores do not get calculated into the GPA anyway since they do not follow the 0-4.0 GPA/grading scale.

 

[Semicolon]

Thanks for the response! No, there isn't any grade written on my transcript, just the units. I saw that you can classify the course as "Advanced Placement", so then does this mean I just leave it blank for where it asks for the grade?

Yep. 👍

 

[lmnguye4]

On the AACOMAS application, it says only accredited college get calculated into G.P.A..... but I want to make sure. 🙂

According to AACOMAS, the summer college I go to is a non-accredited college. I was hoping those courses would help boost my G.P.A.! Darn, oh well. 🙄

 

[JeetKuneDo]

I have a quick question on regrades. I took one quarter of calculus based physics at my institution, which is a 5 credit class. However, I did not continue on with the series, instead switching to the algebra based physics track. The first quarter for algebra based physics is only 4 credits. How would this factor into my gpa? Would the DO application just act as if I didn't take the calc based? Or would they be factored as two different classes since they have different amounts of credit?

 

[Thomas Hearns]

Wouldn't you be able to just take the second-quarter of the algebra based physics instead of starting over?

 

[PunkmedGirl]

I have a quick question on regrades. I took one quarter of calculus based physics at my institution, which is a 5 credit class. However, I did not continue on with the series, instead switching to the algebra based physics track. The first quarter for algebra based physics is only 4 credits. How would this factor into my gpa? Would the DO application just act as if I didn't take the calc based? Or would they be factored as two different classes since they have different amounts of credit?

Because they are not worth the same credits they will be counted separately.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Wouldn't you be able to just take the second-quarter of the algebra based physics instead of starting over?

Yeah, in retrospec, I could've. I'm actually in my last quarter of the algebra based right now.

Because they are not worth the same credits they will be counted separately.

Thanks. I thought this as well, but wasn't sure.

 

[PunkmedGirl]

Yeah, in retrospec, I could've. I'm actually in my last quarter of the algebra based right now.



Thanks. I thought this as well, but wasn't sure.

Good Luck.

 

[Longshanks]

This seems like an issue you should really direct to AACOMAS. Technically if it doesn't show up on your transcript then you don't have to enter it into the application, but I would still contact them about this.

But those 16 credits still show up on my transcript. That's the worrisome thing, and one of them allowed me to skip the first semester of intro bio (i wasn't thinking about med school back then, if I could do it again I would've just taken the class anyway for the easy A). So I'm worried then if it looks like I didn't do all my pre-reqs. The first semester was just ecology/evolution material, however I've taken upper levels in these. It hasn't seem to be a problem with other applicants from my school in the past, but I'm not sure what they did. I just don't understand why my school's registrar is so inept - this past year they've lost people's social security numbers and sent out thousands of individual's personal information and billing information, both students and alumni, to random e-mail addresses "by accident".

 

[Chocolate Bear]

I have a quick question on regrades. I took one quarter of calculus based physics at my institution, which is a 5 credit class. However, I did not continue on with the series, instead switching to the algebra based physics track. The first quarter for algebra based physics is only 4 credits. How would this factor into my gpa? Would the DO application just act as if I didn't take the calc based? Or would they be factored as two different classes since they have different amounts of credit?

Because they are not worth the same credits they will be counted separately.

Yeah, in order for a retaken class' grade to replace a previous class' grade, the non-first attempt(s) at the class must be >/= the number of credit hours of the original course.

Moving to the AACOMAS Questions thread.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

This has been answered quite a few times. 😉

No, biochem will not be considered a retake because it is worth less credits. Whether anatomy and physiology will count as a retake largely depends on the syllabus and how similar the courses actually are.

Yep.

As for the Anatomy --> A & P issue, if you mark it down as a retake of Physio, AACOMAS will probably not ask you any questions, as long as the second course was >/= the number of credit hours as the first. They tend to take your word for retakes unless it's a glaring mistake/discrepancy.

Moving to the AACOMAS Questions thread.

 

[DoctaDeez]

Are the calculated GPAs still not showing up on the AACOMAS app? Mine still isn't. Just wondering if you guys are still having the same problem.

 

[Ari1584]

If the course title on my transcript is: "Fund Chem", do i write that EXACTLY on the app or do i write "Fundamentals of Chemistry."

Same for some names that got cut off bc of space such as "Citizens and Governanc". Do i write it exactly like that or add on the "e"
(just realized this question seems crazy! sorry!)

Also, i have a class that was called "american diversity" but its really a history class about different cultures. The name on my transcript is SOC, so it stands for sociology...so would i put it under the history section of the app or the social science section?

And one more....i took a statistics class for the business major i used to be...what does that go under, math or business?

thanks! 🙂

 

[IamAriDO]

For the course names I abbreviated the same way it was on my transcript for the most part...sometimes I added the real word if I thought it was going to be a problem. The real classification for the course is done by selecting what category it falls into (inorg chem, org chem, other sci etc). If you feel better putting as much of the actual name then go for it, couldnt hurt.

If the SOC class is listed as a sociology class....then put it under social science/behavioral science. Since you need hours in that for many schools.

IamAriDO

 

[beckhunter116]

So for all the people who said they were going to call/email AACOMAS about things being out of order, have you heard anything?

For the most part all of my stuff is in chronological order, except for like 1 or 2 entries that are mixed in incorrectly.