AACOMAS FAQ 2014-2015 Application Cycle

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Like you withdrew then retook the class? Sorry, I'm confused as to what you're asking.
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keels99 said:
Like you withdrew then retook the class? Sorry, I'm confused as to what you're asking.
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So summer of 2012 I was taking a class that I took an incomplete for
Summer of 2013 I finished that I and it replaced it with a grade in summer of 2012.
Do I have to let them know it was incomplete in summer 2012 and then I retook and completed it in Summer 2013?
 
Yes. It will be on your transcript as an incomplete and it will need to match up. So you have to record the incomplete in 2012, then record your retake in the appropriate semester.
 
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keels99 said:
Yes. It will be on your transcript as an incomplete and it will need to match up. So you have to record the incomplete in 2012, then record your retake in the appropriate semester.
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Ok, Cool, thank you so much. Glad I didnt submit. Will make that correction and submit now. Thank you.
 
ggmills said:
Where are people entering poster presentations/conferences? Is this even worth entering??
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it is absolutely worth putting in. I just put it in the volunteer/EC section (since its not like I was getting paid, even though it was after a paid research position). Poster presentations are just a step down from publishing, they are definitely good to have on there.
 
I talked with someone from aacomas but i wanted to clarify:

I am taking an online course through a CC here in town right now and another one starting in september. they are both philosophy credit courses to finish the liberal arts requirement of my UG degrees. i asked for a transcript exemption and was denied and their explanation made it sound like i have to send a transcript now showing i'm in the class and then an updated one when it is finished?? seems redundant. or am i just analyzing it incorrectly? do i just not send one now and wait until i'm done then send it? by that time i should be hopefully getting interviews though...
 
baxt1412 said:
I talked with someone from aacomas but i wanted to clarify:

I am taking an online course through a CC here in town right now and another one starting in september. they are both philosophy credit courses to finish the liberal arts requirement of my UG degrees. i asked for a transcript exemption and was denied and their explanation made it sound like i have to send a transcript now showing i'm in the class and then an updated one when it is finished?? seems redundant. or am i just analyzing it incorrectly? do i just not send one now and wait until i'm done then send it? by that time i should be hopefully getting interviews though...
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Thats what you have to do... transcript exemption is more or less for more extreme cases or when things are really goofy. Most people who are currently taking classes have to send their current transcript, which shows that they are taking the course but obviously with no grade. And then will have to update them with another transcript when they have completed the course. Its pretty standard I am afraid, AACOMAS was correct.
 
Is there any way to speak to an actual human being at aacomas? I call their contact number and all I can do is leave a voice mail....
 
yanks26dmb said:
Is there any way to speak to an actual human being at aacomas? I call their contact number and all I can do is leave a voice mail....
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Nah I have had my best luck through the messaging thing within your application. They usually get back to me within a day or so. A lot of their answers are vague so if you keep pressuring them (like I will ask the same question essentially 4 different ways/times) you will keep concrete clarification.
 
Awesome Sauceome said:
Nah I have had my best luck through the messaging thing within your application. They usually get back to me within a day or so. A lot of their answers are vague so if you keep pressuring them (like I will ask the same question essentially 4 different ways/times) you will keep concrete clarification.
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this, i asked a question about my community college courses that i mentioned above and got a response back within a few hours.
 
@Awesome Sauceome how would I treat my study abroad courses then? It was through my UG institution. They responded:

Your exemption request has been denied. When AACOMAS receives the transcript from your home institution indicating the completion of the US sponsored study abroad courses, it will satisfy that requirement. Please email us when that transcript has been received and we will review it.
Thank you
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So do I just ignore the study abroad institution on my list for right now and then wait for my UG institution to send the transcript and then AACOMAS will figure it out on their own or what?
 
baxt1412 said:
@Awesome Sauceome how would I treat my study abroad courses then? It was through my UG institution. They responded:



So do I just ignore the study abroad institution on my list for right now and then wait for my UG institution to send the transcript and then AACOMAS will figure it out on their own or what?
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So I dont know much about study abroad stuff, but it seems like technically you were still attending your home institution. Like even though you are at an abroad institution, the course itself was through your home college. So I imagine just your transcript from the home school is good enough.
"When AACOMAS receives the transcript from your home institution indicating the completion of the US sponsored study abroad course, it will satisfy that requirement."
Just reads to me like the course counts as a course taken at a home institution. Even though it was technically somewhere else, it was technically completed via your original college. But I dont know, if you find another way to ask the question, I would definitely him them up again haha. Like I said, getting concrete evidence via pestering is the safest bet.
 
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Awesome Sauceome said:
So I dont know much about study abroad stuff, but it seems like technically you were still attending your home institution. Like even though you are at an abroad institution, the course itself was through your home college. So I imagine just your transcript from the home school is good enough.
"When AACOMAS receives the transcript from your home institution indicating the completion of the US sponsored study abroad course, it will satisfy that requirement."
Just reads to me like the course counts as a course taken at a home institution. Even though it was technically somewhere else, it was technically completed via your original college. But I dont know, if you find another way to ask the question, I would definitely him them up again haha. Like I said, getting concrete evidence via pestering is the safest bet.
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Will pester away! Thanks haha. Like you said, I just want concrete evidence because I don't even know how I would begin getting a transcript from that abroad institution
 
ggmills said:
Where are people entering poster presentations/conferences? Is this even worth entering??
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Made a separate entry for it! I think it is worth noting especially depending on the type of conference presented at. I.E. Big well-known conference = worth noting.
 
If I had a course that was offered through the Biology department titled "Research Design & Analysis" and was primarily statistics based, should I be putting it as a math course? I don't want a red flag to come up to delay my application since it is going to have a BI prefix but be listed as a math course. I listed it as a math course on AMCAS

http://www.aacom.org/Documents/AACOMASInstructions.pdf page 18 says biostatistics should be under math, but just wanting to make sure


I have credits for research as well. Listed as "Research" "CH480" for 1.00 credit hour one semester and 2.00 credit hours for another semester. It was organic synthesis research, should I list it as organic?
 
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QUESTION!

For the fee waiver, do we submit our 2013-2014 SAR? I mean it is asking for the current year...
 
If I have a retake planned/in-progress do i still list the original course as a repeat #? or would i leave the classification blank until the repeat was completed?
 
How long does it take for your MCAT score to show up on DO apps? The MCAT THx has already shown the request as completed, but its still not up on my application. :dead:
 
Typically how long does it take to receive secondaries after your application has been released? I know every school is different, but don't know whether to expect days or weeks
 
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hossle12 said:
Typically how long does it take to receive secondaries after your application has been released? I know every school is different, but don't know whether to expect days or weeks
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1-2 weeks they will being coming in constantly.
 
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If I applied to one set of schools, then want to send another batch in. Can I update my personal statement with the new batch and not cause issues with the first batch?
 
bigtex22 said:
If I applied to one set of schools, then want to send another batch in. Can I update my personal statement with the new batch and not cause issues with the first batch?
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Yes and No.

The new batch will only see the updated PS, but the old batch will get the updated PS too...
 
I don't think it would look bad but i'm no expert.

Would it make your application have to get reprocessed though? That is the more important question
 
I won't be sending it in for 3 or 4 more months so time wouldn't be of the essence. Wouldn't be early so it's just a matter of getting them in.
 
Why? I had 5 friends apply in February and they all got in. Most are open til March. Not sure I understand your logic.
 
bigtex22 said:
Why? I had 5 friends apply in February and they all got in. Most are open til March. Not sure I understand your logic.
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and most are on rolling admissions and state that they will accept applications UP UNTIL that date IF seats are available.


why are you waiting so long?
 
bigtex22 said:
Why? I had 5 friends apply in February and they all got in. Most are open til March. Not sure I understand your logic.
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It is just risky is all... for your 5 friends that you have, you could find 100 people on here who had no such luck while applying that late. Plus you are doing yourself a disservice because you have a better shot at better schools earlier in the cycle.

Not saying its impossible, just questioning why you would go so late. You would likely be better off waiting a couple more months and just applying with an even more killer application in the next cycle. You will likely end up with more choice in what school you are attending.
 
I've never heard of a DO school filling all their seats in November and December (please correct me if I'm wrong). I would take the chance they aren't. I already sent in applications to 10 schools (complete at 6) but considering sending in a second round when I save the money/if I haven't gotten in at that point.
 
bigtex22 said:
I've never heard of a DO school filling all their seats in November and December (please correct me if I'm wrong). I would take the chance they aren't. I already sent in applications to 10 schools (complete at 6) but considering sending in a second round when I save the money/if I haven't gotten in at that point.
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Ahh gotcha, well then you are solid.

Sure they dont fill up by then, but we are talking about getting the best bang for your buck. If you are working hard to save up that money, you want to make sure it is going towards giving yourself the greatest chance at getting you in. But if you already sent in your app to 10 schools, you are good to go.
 
bigtex22 said:
I've never heard of a DO school filling all their seats in November and December (please correct me if I'm wrong). I would take the chance they aren't. I already sent in applications to 10 schools (complete at 6) but considering sending in a second round when I save the money/if I haven't gotten in at that point.
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It's not that they fill up by then, but by the time they send out an ii they might have (just from personal experience with last cycle)
 
This may have already been asked butttttt.....

Does anyone know how long it takes for processing/verification and transmitting to the schools? (assuming applications have been submitted within this month of July)
 
PhysToMed said:
This may have already been asked butttttt.....

Does anyone know how long it takes for processing/verification and transmitting to the schools? (assuming applications have been submitted within this month of July)
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It takes about 30 days to get it verfied from day you submit your app or date of yor last transcript received. Aacomas release apps to schools every Tuesday. So if you are verified by Monday of a week, it gets released the very next day. If you are verified on a Tuesday afternoon or later (like myself..), it gets released the following Tuesday

Follow the verification thread if you want track the verification status timeline!
 
Hey,
does anyone know if you can submit MCAT future test date after submitting AACOMAS? I might have to re-take so if the schools will see #1 MCAT scores and that there is still #2MCAT to be taken, will they review my application?
Thanks!
 
I ended up calling and talking to a pretty helpful individual. She said that if the courses did not match closely enough, the verifying representative would either undeliver the application to me to make a change (or make an appeal for replacement), or just use their judgement and correct it. I got the impression that they would only make the adjustment without contacting the applicant when it was an obvious mistake, not an honest attempt at replacement. They said there would be no penalty or change in position in the queue in the event the replacement proposal was not accepted.
In my case, I never heard back from them, and they accepted my replacement. These courses have since changed, but I was prepared to present material supporting my claim just in case.
Hope this is helpful for someone else.
ALF85 said:
I took both courses you are talking about, and I listed mine as separate (non-repeating) courses. My AACOMAS app was not held up for any reason. Also, the courses were similar, but the material was covered in a different way so I personally would not considered them duplicates of each other.
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nontrad78 said:
I've already submitted, and I decided to go ahead and list them as retakes. I figured the worse that could happen would be that they would just reject the retake proposal and list them separately. It wouldn't kill my application if they are listed separately, but it would help some if they weren't. I'm just hoping if there is a change that has to be made, it won't lengthen the transmission.
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Quick question, for the transcript, do I have to send the transcript request form? I'll be requesting my transcripts online so I'm not sure how I can include the form
 
K1NG said:
Quick question, for the transcript, do I have to send the transcript request form? I'll be requesting my transcripts online so I'm not sure how I can include the form
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It doesn't matter. If you do it online your transcript request software should have a way of attaching documents. Just attach a PDF of the transcript request form.

The transcript request speeds up the whole process. But you'll still be fine without them
 
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emagavin said:
It doesn't matter. If you do it online your transcript request software should have a way of attaching documents. Just attach a PDF of the transcript request form.

The transcript request speeds up the whole process. But you'll still be fine without them
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Thank you sir! Going to request them now, hopefully shouldn't take too long
 
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Hi guys, I apologize if this has been discussed before. I'm curious about the disadvantaged question that asks if I consider myself medically or economically disadvantaged. I can think of two possible meanings for medically disadvantaged, and I really don't know which they mean.
1 - I would be medically disadvantaged if I were handicapped in some way: missing one leg, one eye, etc.
2 - I would be medically disadvantaged if I came from a rural area with poor access to health care.

The second seems most likely, and would apply. However, I do not want to show up to an interview and have someone ask me what my physical disability or my illness is when I don't have one.
 
mike222222222222222 said:
Hi guys, I apologize if this has been discussed before. I'm curious about the disadvantaged question that asks if I consider myself medically or economically disadvantaged. I can think of two possible meanings for medically disadvantaged, and I really don't know which they mean.
1 - I would be medically disadvantaged if I were handicapped in some way: missing one leg, one eye, etc.
2 - I would be medically disadvantaged if I came from a rural area with poor access to health care.

The second seems most likely, and would apply. However, I do not want to show up to an interview and have someone ask me what my physical disability or my illness is when I don't have one.
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The second meaning is more appropriate to the definition of medically disadvantaged. Here's a great article to help you at.

It is very unlikely that your interviewers will ask you about disabilities in regards to your status as being medically disadvantaged.
 
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Should I add more schools? My stats are 3.3cGPA/3.5sGPA/3.9 post-bacc/30MCAT

Do I need a safety or two? Conversely, are there certain DO schools which consistently have exceptional match lists?

I've applied to:

CCOM
Touro CA/NY
NOVA
AZCOM
SOMA
Western
LECOM-bradenton
Rocky Vista
 
yanks26dmb said:
Should I add more schools? My stats are 3.3cGPA/3.5sGPA/3.9 post-bacc/30MCAT

Do I need a safety or two? Conversely, are there certain DO schools which consistently have exceptional match lists?

I've applied to:

CCOM
Touro CA/NY
NOVA
AZCOM
SOMA
Western
LECOM-bradenton
Rocky Vista
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I believe AZCOM has a stellar match list. Here's some of the allopathic programs that their grads matched into (via their website):
  • other allopathic programs — including Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Yale, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Loyola University Medical Center, UC Davis, Thomas Jefferson University, George Washington University, Drexel University,

 
Hey guys I have a question,
I am pretty much ready to submit my application but theres something that is stopping me. I am going to be part of a volunteer program at a Children's hospital near me in the coming weeks. I'm not sure how I can go about including this in my application. Should I write it in now that I am a part of this program? Is there anyway I can edit my AACOMAS application once it is submitted? (probably a dumb question).
Not sure how to go about this, as I will have more stuff I can add to my application by the years end.
Thanks! :D
 
I just submitted my application to 1 school while I wait for my MCAT score (I plan on adding the more schools after receiving my score), what I wanted to know was if I should release my MCAT score before or after I receive it?
 
What is the appropriate response tot he question regarding parental education level if neither had a high school degree? Is it no answer?
 
would i be able to submit for verification if they haven't received my transcripts yet?
 
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