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2025-2026 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM-PA)

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wysdoc

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2025-2026 PCOM-PA Secondary Essay Questions (they may appear on the primary when you are submitting)

1. If you selected to be considered for the Philadelphia location of PCOM, please respond to the following question: What one aspect of the PCOM campus mission and/or community resonates with your personality and values? (2000 character max)

2. Use this space if you'd like to address any identified deficiencies in your application. (700 character max)

Good luck to everyone applying!

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Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine at Philadelphia​

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@wysdoc I don't think they have an actual secondary, but extra school-specific essays that are included when you submit your primary through AACOMAS. Here are the prompts I saw:

Brief-Answer Questions​

There is no minimum character limit. However, each answer does have a specified maximum character limit.

1. If you selected to be considered for the Philadelphia location of PCOM, please respond to the following question: What one aspect of the PCOM campus mission and/or community resonates with your personality and values? (2000 character max)

2. Use this space if you'd like to address any identified deficiencies in your application. (700 character max)
 
I am a reapplicant this year, but I logged into their portal and was able to pay the fee. I never got an email.
 
Happy to help! Not sure why they didn’t send anything out to people yet.
 
foxessb1 said:
Happy to help! Not sure why they didn’t send anything out to people yet.
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my portal says my application was submitted 7/16/25 even though I submitted 5/6/25, so maybe they're just starting the app cycle
 
I would highly recommend that people NOT pay any application fee until PCOM sends the link.

1) We have absolutely zero idea if it the payment portal is set-up right now to cross link to your AACOMAS ID or not.

2) It also has the possibility of making you look like a neurotic person to the admissions office. A student who found a "workaround" for a portal that they did not ask you to access. "What else will this student try to circumvent if we admit them?"

I see zero benefit in doing something you were not told to do.
 
notEinstein said:
I would highly recommend that people NOT pay any application fee until PCOM sends the link.

1) We have absolutely zero idea if it the payment portal is set-up right now to cross link to your AACOMAS ID or not.

2) It also has the possibility of making you look like a neurotic person to the admissions office. A student who found a "workaround" for a portal that they did not ask you to access. "What else will this student try to circumvent if we admit them?"

I see zero benefit in doing something you were not told to do.
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Exactly it wouldn't be smart to make and account or even pay for the application if they haven't emailed it to you yet. They might see that as a red flag
 
Well, I had the money to pay yesterday. I might not have been able to pay in the future. I just hope they don't care.
 
There isn't a secondary for this school right? Just the questions they asked us in the primary... I may be totally wrong but I feel like I read that somewhere.
 
This was part of the answer I got when I emailed them May 29 about something: "We have not yet started the application review process for Summer 2026. In the next week, you will receive the application receipt email that includes a link to your PCOM portal. You will then be able to pay the PCOM institutional fee."

I think that means they figure we are going to pay that fee (similar to the secondary fee, I guess) at some point. The real question I guess is why PCOM never sent a formal email about it...
 
bronbron2251 said:
Has anyone actually received a formal email with a secondary payment link?
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Nope, haven't received anything yet. It's best to keep waiting for them to send them out tho. Don't access the portal early and don't pay the secondary fee before they send it to you
 
Anyone know if PCOM will honor the AACOMAS fee waiver? Aka, we show them the waiver and they send us a code to bypass paying?
 
Kobeleo62 said:
Nope, haven't received anything yet. It's best to keep waiting for them to send them out tho. Don't access the portal early and don't pay the secondary fee before they send it to you
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Yeah I agree with this. I went ahead and accessed the portal and made an account but did not pay. Hindsight 20/20, would rather be safe and not have done anything. I doubt there will be any downside to doing it, but it's definitely a rather be safe than sorry type of deal.
 
PreMedRetro said:
Yeah I agree with this. I went ahead and accessed the portal and made an account but did not pay. Hindsight 20/20, would rather be safe and not have done anything. I doubt there will be any downside to doing it, but it's definitely a rather be safe than sorry type of deal.
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I did the same thing if it makes you feel better haha. I did not pay either though
 
frost.byte said:
I did the same thing if it makes you feel better haha. I did not pay either though
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Hey, so I also made an account but didn’t send in my processing fee. I opened my portal today and it no longer gives me the option to pay, anyone else’s portal look like this?
 
choochoo24 said:
Hey, so I also made an account but didn’t send in my processing fee. I opened my portal today and it no longer gives me the option to pay, anyone else’s portal look like this?
Click to expand...

As mentioned earlier in the thread, there is a good chance that the payment processing link in the portal was still setup for last year.

The school probably never thought that people would access a link they were not supposed to and create an account they were not supposed to and then pay a fee they were not asked to.
 
choochoo24 said:
Hey, so I also made an account but didn’t send in my processing fee. I opened my portal today and it no longer gives me the option to pay, anyone else’s portal look like this?
Click to expand...
I think they are probably setting up the payment to connect for this cycle and planning to start sending out the secondary app fee email soon so don't worry.
 
I called them today and they told me they haven't even started processing the applications from AACOMAS yet. So for those who already paid the fee it would be best to give them a call to see what they say about it because it would suck for you guys to pay the fee again.
 
notEinstein said:
As mentioned earlier in the thread, there is a good chance that the payment processing link in the portal was still setup for last year.

The school probably never thought that people would access a link they were not supposed to and create an account they were not supposed to and then pay a fee they were not asked to.
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Someone posted their screenshot of the portal with the payment screen that says “entry term: Summer 2026” on reddit - so it looks to be setup already. Not sure what that would mean for those who paid, but I think it’s an automatic system that gets advanced as application cycles progress. I’m not familiar with the portal they use, but that is how others work.
 
So I took the MCAT in April, have my scores obvi, but put in AACOMAS that I was retaking July 25th (I didn't retake, my dad passed away and I'm unsure if I will retake this cycle). When I logged into the PCOM portal, it says "MCAT score - awaiting." Do I need to send them an update explaining I am not actually retaking (likely)? I removed the future date from my AACOMAS application just now.

Thanks yall.
 
Maveroniandcheese said:
So I took the MCAT in April, have my scores obvi, but put in AACOMAS that I was retaking July 25th (I didn't retake, my dad passed away and I'm unsure if I will retake this cycle). When I logged into the PCOM portal, it says "MCAT score - awaiting." Do I need to send them an update explaining I am not actually retaking (likely)? I removed the future date from my AACOMAS application just now.

Thanks yall.
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So sorry for your loss. Are you sure you sent your MCAT to AACOMAS through AMCAS? It is not enough to list the date you took it or when you were going to take it. You have to log into AAMC and send it to AACOMAS on your own. I didn't know and I just sent it yesterday lol..
 
iwantapetduck said:
So sorry for your loss. Are you sure you sent your MCAT to AACOMAS through AMCAS? It is not enough to list the date you took it or when you were going to take it. You have to log into AAMC and send it to AACOMAS on your own. I didn't know and I just sent it yesterday lol..
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Omg no! I had no idea 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just sent it now. You’re a literal life saver. THANK YOU!
 
My fee waiver was applied automatically. My MCAT and letters are already loaded in automatically. Does this mean my application is officially COMPLETE? I can’t find anything else I have to do on my end when logging in.
 
iwantapetduck said:
My fee waiver was applied automatically. My MCAT and letters are already loaded in automatically. Does this mean my application is officially COMPLETE? I can’t find anything else I have to do on my end when logging in.
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Same for me. I think they have to manually check off letters because mine says waiting for letters even though they’ve been received?

Also for everyone who paid early, mine shows that they received the payment so we don’t have to pay again
 
I sent a letter packet, it shows that I am still missing 2 additional letters, do I need to contact anyone to confirm I am set? Will it seem as my application is not complete?
 
prb345 said:
I sent a letter packet, it shows that I am still missing 2 additional letters, do I need to contact anyone to confirm I am set? Will it seem as my application is not complete?
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Thats normal. Says it will be marked compleetd once it is reviewed.
 
prb345 said:
I sent a letter packet, it shows that I am still missing 2 additional letters, do I need to contact anyone to confirm I am set? Will it seem as my application is not complete?
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Nah don't email them. I think they manually check the letters once payment is received because on the website it says "If you have a single letter of recommendation packet that contains multiple letters, your status will show as "awaiting materials" until your application is processed. Please allow a minimum of 15 business days for processing after your application fee is received or waived."
 
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