AACOMAS FAQ 2014-2015 Application Cycle

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I've been searching other threads about credit hours and grade replacement. So far, it seems like the new class needs to have more credit hours to be a replacement. Is there any way to get by that? Because my previous UG had mostly 5-6 hour credits for science courses and the state school I am are only about 3-4 except for maybe a few. I'm just concerned because I failed physics I at my UG which was a 5 credit course and the retake is 4 credits.
 
booboofah said:
I've been searching other threads about credit hours and grade replacement. So far, it seems like the new class needs to have more credit hours to be a replacement. Is there any way to get by that? Because my previous UG had mostly 5-6 hour credits for science courses and the state school I am are only about 3-4 except for maybe a few. I'm just concerned because I failed physics I at my UG which was a 5 credit course and the retake is 4 credits.
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No, sorry. Equal or greater number of credits. 🙁
 
StarFall said:
Now the contemplation begins..wait until I start and add it or submit earlier..ahah.
Since it's a clinical volunteering position, I might just wait and add it. Thank you for the input.
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Honestly, it probably won't make a difference to them because you won't have very many hours when you do apply. It'll look like you're fluffing your application.
 
booboofah said:
I don't know what to do from here :/. Does this mean I have no chance of improving my GPA because of these credit hour rules
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Either go back to your UG or find one that has equal or greater credits. How many courses do you need to retake?
 
medickdb said:
Either go back to your UG or find one that has equal or greater credits. How many courses do you need to retake?
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My UG was expensive so my only solution is state schools or community college. I already completed some "retakes" but now I see that they aren't really retakes since the credit hours don't match. I pretty much have to retake all the premedical prereqs. Right now I'm enrolled in a second degree program in biology.
 
booboofah said:
I've been searching other threads about credit hours and grade replacement. So far, it seems like the new class needs to have more credit hours to be a replacement. Is there any way to get by that? Because my previous UG had mostly 5-6 hour credits for science courses and the state school I am are only about 3-4 except for maybe a few. I'm just concerned because I failed physics I at my UG which was a 5 credit course and the retake is 4 credits.
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booboofah said:
I don't know what to do from here :/. Does this mean I have no chance of improving my GPA because of these credit hour rules
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I think I've read that they'll take the average of the 2 courses. If you've taken it more than 2 times, I'm not sure either..average of the 3? If averaging won't work, I'd suggest doing a postbacc program or doing a masters. Look into it more though.

medickdb said:
Honestly, it probably won't make a difference to them because you won't have very many hours when you do apply. It'll look like you're fluffing your application.
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Hmm I can understand that.. but starting from July 1 to Oct 1 let's say it's 10 hours a week (I think it's more), it'll come out to 130-140 hours. Wouldn't that be enough to talk about in interviews though?
 
StarFall said:
I think I've read that they'll take the average of the 2 courses. If you've taken it more than 2 times, I'm not sure either..average of the 3? If averaging won't work, I'd suggest doing a postbacc program or doing a masters. Look into it more though.
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I've read that as well. Right now I'm in a second degree program but I'm pretty much taking pre-med prereqs and my major requirements. The thing is, my previous UG used 1s to calculate GPA as in 1.25, 1.50, 1.00. The school I go to interpreted 1.00 as 4 credit hours. Do you think AACOMAS will do the same?
 
StarFall said:
I think I've read that they'll take the average of the 2 courses. If you've taken it more than 2 times, I'm not sure either..average of the 3? If averaging won't work, I'd suggest doing a postbacc program or doing a masters. Look into it more though.


Hmm I can understand that.. but starting from July 1 to Oct 1 let's say it's 10 hours a week (I think it's more), it'll come out to 130-140 hours. Wouldn't that be enough to talk about in interviews though?
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You plan on applying in October? You can't put down future hours, but what you can do is state exactly that, I volunteer 10 hours/ week. You should also supply an update letter if you have more to tell the school after interviewing.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
If my school has an online system that says "send transcripts to aacomas" do I need to print out that link and bring it to the registrar still?
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Why would you need to print out a link for your registrar? Can't you just place an online order for the transcript to be sent?
 
SynapticDoctah said:
If my school has an online system that says "send transcripts to aacomas" do I need to print out that link and bring it to the registrar still?
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DoctorCupcake said:
Why would you need to print out a link for your registrar? Can't you just place an online order for the transcript to be sent?
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I think he's talking about the transcript request form that AACOMAS provides. And the answer is no, that form is not necessary to have with your transcript. They just provide it because it has your AACOMAS ID and stuff on it for easier identification and slightly faster verification.
 
polylux said:
I think he's talking about the transcript request form that AACOMAS provides. And the answer is no, that form is not necessary to have with your transcript. They just provide it because it has your AACOMAS ID and stuff on it for easier identification and slightly faster verification.
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Okay, so as long as the school sends in my grades, it doesn't have to have my AACOMAS Id then?
 
Correct. Your transcript will still have identifying information like your birthday and full name. AACOMAS recommends using the form because it makes things easier on their side, which means it makes things faster for you. But it really won't make that much of a difference.
 
I didn't use that form, and I was verified in two days. But, it makes it easier for the AACOMAS staff, especially later on when they have thousands of applications to verify.
 
My transcripts were mailed 5/2 and I released MCAT scores same day. My application does not reflect either has been received. What gives?
 
1drfulJL said:
My transcripts were mailed 5/2 and I released MCAT scores same day. My application does not reflect either has been received. What gives?
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It takes time. There isn't someone personally waiting for your material. I think it took a couple of weeks for one of my transcripts to update as received. Don't worry.
 
Ok thanks that's what I thought just wanted to make sure I wasn't behind ! What about the MCAT release to AACOMAS? I made sure to enter my AAMC ID.
 
1drfulJL said:
Ok thanks that's what I thought just wanted to make sure I wasn't behind ! What about the MCAT release to AACOMAS? I made sure to enter my AAMC ID.
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That's pretty quick, but again, it depends. Trust me. If you have everything submitted to AACOMAS now, you'll be fine. It just takes them time for them to update the system. There will be a million threads in a month of people asking why their applications haven't been verified after a few days. It's not instantaneous. Also, it doesn't matter. Most secondaries aren't sent out until the end of June - mid July, or later.
 
Just want to let those who are stressed about their transcripts know that my transcript was just received today (May 13th). I sent my transcript on May 6th through regular mail from Canada. Took about a week.
 
s5260205 said:
Just want to let those who are stressed about their transcripts know that my transcript was just received today (May 13th). I sent my transcript on May 6th through regular mail from Canada. Took about a week.
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To piggyback on the above, mine was mailed out by the school on May 6th via first class USPS and logged as received on the 12th.
 
On the topic of transcripts, I have a question:

If you took an online college class during high school and received a grade in that class, but did not end up going to that institution for college after high school, would I have to send a separate transcript from the institution I took a class at during high school?

I know that for AMCAS I would but I was just wondering if AACOMAS requires this as well. Thanks!
 
JimmyB123 said:
On the topic of transcripts, I have a question:

If you took an online college class during high school and received a grade in that class, but did not end up going to that institution for college after high school, would I have to send a separate transcript from the institution I took a class at during high school?

I know that for AMCAS I would but I was just wondering if AACOMAS requires this as well. Thanks!
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Every institution ever attended.
 
Hello, my first semester in college I took 1st semester Russian. The following semester I placed into 6th semester Russian by taking a placement exam. I couldn't read/write Russian before, but after taking one semester I could. I got retro credits for the second through fifth semester. So, I have grades for 1st and 6th semester, but how do I input the retro credits in AACOMAS? Do I just put them as AP type? That is what they say to do for the MD app.
 
hawkeye3211 said:
Hello, my first semester in college I took 1st semester Russian. The following semester I placed into 6th semester Russian by taking a placement exam. I couldn't read/write Russian before, but after taking one semester I could. I got retro credits for the second through fifth semester. So, I have grades for 1st and 6th semester, but how do I input the retro credits in AACOMAS? Do I just put them as AP type? That is what they say to do for the MD app.
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Put them in as Passes or Clep if it offers.
 
Hey guys, I am wondering where or if you should put in individual sports that you did outside of schools, and also if and where you should place patents that you developed?
 
Ratler123 said:
Hey guys, I am wondering where or if you should put in individual sports that you did outside of schools, and also if and where you should place patents that you developed?
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Definitely put the sports. Anything you got paid for falls under work experience, anything you didn't get paid for will fall under ECs.
 
How do people describe their research activities on AACOMAS? Should I go into details about the research project I did? I did some wet lab research with fruit flies, and I am uncertain if I should describe what the specific project is about and what I did.
 
s5260205 said:
How do people describe their research activities on AACOMAS? Should I go into details about the research project I did? I did some wet lab research with fruit flies, and I am uncertain if I should describe what the specific project is about and what I did.
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Say what you did and what you learned/why it has been important on your journey. I think the details of the project itself should be mainly your responsibilities and growth, not necessarily the details of an experiment you did or whatever. But you will likely get a different response form every person here on SDN. Its a very grey area.
 
s5260205 said:
How do people describe their research activities on AACOMAS? Should I go into details about the research project I did? I did some wet lab research with fruit flies, and I am uncertain if I should describe what the specific project is about and what I did.
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It's a personal preference thing. Like awesome said, you can do it several different ways. I also did fruit fly research and ended up writing a very brief abstract of my research. Worked out fine for me.
 
So, the instructions say to code retakes "in sequence". This summer, I am retaking several courses that I took in 2002-2003. So, I put in that those courses are RNY, along with the retakes that I am registered to take in the summer. However, I have also retaken a few other courses ( from 2004 that I retook last year). If I understand the instructions correctly, I only code in sequence the courses that I have already retaken, and I don't leave numbers out (as in, I don't code my 2004 class as "R-04", even though there are 3 RNY codes chronologically before that one). Basically, I code all my completed retakes in order, and don't leave placeholder Repeat numbers for the ones I haven't completed yet. Is that right? I hope that question makes sense...

Also, if I have courses that I'm retaking for grade replacement (in my case, this summer), and the course titles don't match up AT ALL, should I send in copies of the course description that explains that they are the same class? For example, a course is called Biology: From Molecules to Organisms at my first university, and Intro to Biology at the second one. To make things worse, the first university called it BIO 301, even though it's a freshman level course; they number according to how many credits it is, not the course level. 3 credit hours makes it a 300 course, which is totally confusing, since it's not "junior level", but freshman.

If I should send in that info, anyone know how to go about it?
 
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How competitive is TCOM for non-resident students? I have a 3.53 cGPA based on TMDSAS scale and 37 MCAT. The school looks super attractive with its low tuition, even for non-resident students.
 
s5260205 said:
How competitive is TCOM for non-resident students? I have a 3.53 cGPA based on TMDSAS scale and 37 MCAT. The school looks super attractive with its low tuition, even for non-resident students.
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I think your 37 MCAT is going to get you places... Although with those stats I think most people would say to drop all but a few DO apps and apply broadly MD.
 
s5260205 said:
How competitive is TCOM for non-resident students? I have a 3.53 cGPA based on TMDSAS scale and 37 MCAT. The school looks super attractive with its low tuition, even for non-resident students.
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Just remember, Texas schools reserve 90% of their slots for in-state residents, so it's REALLY difficult to get in from OOS. Not that your MCAT won't help, but Texas really makes it hard on OOS students. The reason tuition is so low in Texas is because it's largely subsidized by the state government (hence, the requirement that 90 out of 100 students are in-state). I'd say go ahead and apply, but just be aware that the residency cap means there are only ~15-20 slots for OOS students.
 
s5260205 said:
How competitive is TCOM for non-resident students? I have a 3.53 cGPA based on TMDSAS scale and 37 MCAT. The school looks super attractive with its low tuition, even for non-resident students.
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TCOM is one of the best DO schools, 37 MCAT would get a look from them. Apply thorugh TMDSAS
 
I am having trouble entering the grades I received for this past semester. For some reason it lets me enter the course/semester/cred hours but it will not let me enter the grade and aacomas grade. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I tried looking in the aacomas manual as well as changing some settings in my browser. It just wont let me show the grades for THIS semester, it lets me edit previous semesters.
 
rizkid92 said:
I am having trouble entering the grades I received for this past semester. For some reason it lets me enter the course/semester/cred hours but it will not let me enter the grade and aacomas grade. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I tried looking in the aacomas manual as well as changing some settings in my browser. It just wont let me show the grades for THIS semester, it lets me edit previous semesters.
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I'm assuming it's because most people don't have final grades as of yet. It won't matter once you send in your official transcripts, though (unless you were wanting this semester to boost your grade)
 
Is there anywhere to describe the research experience gained from a senior thesis ? I spent about 700 hours in the lab. It wasn't voluntary, nor was it a job and was for course credits -- I feel that it would be weird putting it as ECs.
 
nolimits1 said:
Is there anywhere to describe the research experience gained from a senior thesis ? I spent about 700 hours in the lab. It wasn't voluntary, nor was it a job and was for course credits -- I feel that it would be weird putting it as ECs.
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yea just put it in your EC, basically, paid stuff goes under work, and everything else goes under ECs. I have about 1500 research hours going in EC, its all good. They will see it either way.
 
Awesome Sauceome said:
yea just put it in your EC, basically, paid stuff goes under work, and everything else goes under ECs. I have about 1500 research hours going in EC, its all good. They will see it either way.
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No, things related to school work don't count as ECs. It is for your course.
 
nolimits1 said:
Is there anywhere to describe the research experience gained from a senior thesis ? I spent about 700 hours in the lab. It wasn't voluntary, nor was it a job and was for course credits -- I feel that it would be weird putting it as ECs.
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It is not an EC, it is for coursework. You can bring it up in an interview, but to put it as an EC is incorrect.
 
I just wanted to see if anyone here encountered this issue here before I contact AACOMAS. So I filled out all my course work on AACOMAS using an unofficial transcript this online. Just yesterday I ordered and picked up an official transcript. I noticed that on the unofficial transcripts, it actually list my AP courses by name (Basket weaving 101, 8credits, Government 101, 6 credits). When I checked my official transcript it just says Ehrs 14 credits). I know the rule is, it should be exactly how it is on the transcript. Should I put Ehrs as course name and 14 credits AP? I'm sure it is the latter one but just want to make sure.
 
Fedxup said:
I just wanted to see if anyone here encountered this issue here before I contact AACOMAS. So I filled out all my course work on AACOMAS using an unofficial transcript this online. Just yesterday I ordered and picked up an official transcript. I noticed that on the unofficial transcripts, it actually list my AP courses by name (Basket weaving 101, 8credits, Government 101, 6 credits). When I checked my official transcript it just says Ehrs 14 credits). I know the rule is, it should be exactly how it is on the transcript. Should I put Ehrs as course name and 14 credits AP? I'm sure it is the latter one but just want to make sure.
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Yep, the latter. It really sucks to have to go back and change...every. single. class. Totally feel your pain. =/
 
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