AACOMAS FAQ 2014-2015 Application Cycle

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shim0shim said:
Is anyone else worried about the order to which AACOMAS sorts out the EC's? I have some EC's that are very important, but fall towards the end or the middle of the list. I am afraid that the admissions committee won't have time to go through everything and just look at the first few, and miss some important ones diluted in between the rest. Unfortunately, seems like we can't do anything about it because it is sorted out automatically by aacomas...
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Why not remove some of the less important ones, if you feel they dilute the important ones?
 
Interfolio QuestionL Do the letters have to be sent from the writers directly to Interfolio?

I ask because a writer mailed me a physical copy. Can I scan it and put it in myself, or does it have to be sent to Interfolio from their email directly?
 
Doghead said:
Interfolio QuestionL Do the letters have to be sent from the writers directly to Interfolio?

I ask because a writer mailed me a physical copy. Can I scan it and put it in myself, or does it have to be sent to Interfolio from their email directly?
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I think you need to send them a letter request through Interfolio to their E-mail address, and then the letter writer uploads the document. I think physical copies are required to be sent directly to the school from the letter writer.
 
t5Nitro said:
I think you need to send them a letter request through Interfolio to their E-mail address, and then the letter writer uploads the document. I think physical copies are required to be sent directly to the school from the letter writer.
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Thank you for the timely response t5Nitro.
 
Also, once I receive my letters, what do I need to provide alongside them when submitting to schools? I could not find anything in the instruction manual.

In addition to this, in what format and from what source do find/provide this information? Will there be an option to attach it to me LORs when sending them out?
 
Doghead said:
Also, once I receive my letters, what do I need to provide alongside them when submitting to schools? I could not find anything in the instruction manual.

In addition to this, in what format and from what source do find/provide this information? Will there be an option to attach it to me LORs when sending them out?
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I am guessing we will find out more later. Letters are submitted with or directly after the secondaries from what I gather.
 
So I literally can't find this in the thread, so don't kill me if it's here somewhere.

Hours on Volunteer/ECAs: do you list hours that you'll complete up until medical school begins if you get in this cycle? That's what AMCAS is telling to do. Or do I list current hours I have up until time of application for something that will be ongoing?
 
Only list current hours, never list anything in the future you haven't already done.
 
So what term do courses where I've earned credit for via AP go? Is it just first-term freshman year?
 
nm825 said:
So what term do courses where I've earned credit for via AP go? Is it just first-term freshman year?
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Correct (that's what I did).
 
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Just describe what you observed, your level of participation if any.

You might want to save this for secondaries/PS so it depends, but you might want to briefly indicate a line or two about your overall takeaway from what you saw
 
ah24moosavi said:
Just describe what you observed, your level of participation if any.

You might want to save this for secondaries/PS so it depends, but you might want to briefly indicate a line or two about your overall takeaway from what you saw
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Do secondaries typically ask about your shadowing experiences?? I was unaware
 
csx said:
Correct (that's what I did).

For shadowing experiences...what do we put under description?? Like for example I followed a surgeon around but didn't get to see surgery. Just him talk to a few patients and recommend surgery (or not).
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I wrote about my takeaways from the experience, what I learned and how that impacted my understanding of what a physician does, any insight it gave me to the profession.
 
I have a quick question, Is there any additional cost (other than $35/school) when adding schools after submitting the application?
 
For the work experience section, is it alright to indicate hours per week as "40-60" ? Should I take an average and list just one number? Or go with the lower end? Any advice.
 
Is AACOMAS like AMCAS where if you send them a new mcat score they automatically send it out to the schools you applied to?
 
ggmills said:
For the work experience section, is it alright to indicate hours per week as "40-60" ? Should I take an average and list just one number? Or go with the lower end? Any advice.
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I listed the average and then below elaborated that the hours varied depending on season.
 
Quick question: Should I post each doctor I shadowed as a separate record or should I combine them into one shadowing record with total hours?
 
bflatminor said:
Quick question: Should I post each doctor I shadowed as a separate record or should I combine them into one shadowing record with total hours?
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I combined them into one record. I did total up the hours but within the box, I typed out what type of physician they were, how many hours I shadowed that specific physician for and the date.
 
Should I include the shadowing that I did under extracurricular even if it was a requirement for one of my classes? I don't have it in my application as it wasn't really extracurricular, but I would like the schools to see that I have shadowed different types of specialties.
 
Lost Complex said:
Should I include the shadowing that I did under extracurricular even if it was a requirement for one of my classes? I don't have it in my application as it wasn't really extracurricular, but I would like the schools to see that I have shadowed different types of specialties.
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I would. Not sure if it's totally correct, but I don't see why not.
 
polylux said:
I would. Not sure if it's totally correct, but I don't see why not.
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Thank you for the fast reply! I added it in, but made sure to write in the description that it was required for one of my classes.
 
Lost Complex said:
Should I include the shadowing that I did under extracurricular even if it was a requirement for one of my classes? I don't have it in my application as it wasn't really extracurricular, but I would like the schools to see that I have shadowed different types of specialties.
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If it is part of a course, it is not an EXTRA curricular activity. You cannot include it as a volunteer activity, since you did not do it voluntarily, you were required to do it as part of your course.
 
ggmills said:
For the work experience section, is it alright to indicate hours per week as "40-60" ? Should I take an average and list just one number? Or go with the lower end? Any advice.
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It says in AACOMAS "numbers only" you cannot put any decimals or dashes. So, just put the average of 40 and 60
 
Dr Turkelton said:
Is AACOMAS like AMCAS where if you send them a new mcat score they automatically send it out to the schools you applied to?
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The information is on the AACOMAS instructions. You must send your scores to AACOMAS once it comes out.
 
shim0shim said:
You cannot list any activity and receive credit for it if you have not done it yet.
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You cannot list anticipated hours in an activity you are already engaged in? AMCAS instructs applicants to do this, so I don't think its this preposterous idea..but perhaps AACOMAS is different in this regard.
 
shim0shim said:
The information is on the AACOMAS instructions. You must send your scores to AACOMAS once it comes out.
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Yeah I read the instruction manual, just couldn't find whether they automatically sent it out to schools you already applied to, or it's just included on future applications.
 
shim0shim said:
If it is part of a course, it is not an EXTRA curricular activity. You cannot include it as a volunteer activity, since you did not do it voluntarily, you were required to do it as part of your course.
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He's not listing as volunteer hours, he's listing as shadowing experience. I would list it. It won't come up anywhere else if you don't and shadowing experience is important to have. Sure, maybe it's not exactly "extracurricular" as it was part of a course, but I highly doubt people will begrudge him that. Especially if this is his main shadowing experience, it should definitely be listed.
 
polylux said:
He's not listing as volunteer hours, he's listing as shadowing experience. I would list it. It won't come up anywhere else if you don't and shadowing experience is important to have. Sure, maybe it's not exactly "extracurricular" as it was part of a course, but I highly doubt people will begrudge him that. Especially if this is his main shadowing experience, it should definitely be listed.
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It is upto the applicant's discretion at the end of the day. But, AACOMAS clearly states "EC's, volunteer and community service". A shadowing experience required as part of a course is neither of those.
 
Dr Turkelton said:
Yeah I read the instruction manual, just couldn't find whether they automatically sent it out to schools you already applied to, or it's just included on future applications.
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It's there 😉
 
shim0shim said:
It is upto the applicant's discretion at the end of the day. But, AACOMAS clearly states "EC's, volunteer and community service". A shadowing experience required as part of a course is neither of those.
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I decided to add it in at the last minute because as polylux said, if it's my main shadowing experience then it should be included somewhere. Just by looking at the name of the class, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was any shadowing involved.

I get the impression that AACOMAS is pretty flexible with the extracurricular section because they even tell you: "For example, an applicant who makes the Dean's List each term should enter this only once, AND ALSO note in the extracurricular section that this occurred multiple times." Therefore if we can use the extracurricular section to expand on an award, which clearly does not belong in that section, then I think it's alright to add in my shadowing experience as long as I specify that it was required for a class.
 
Hmm, not to beat a dead horse, but advisors at my undergrad's pre-health mentoring office suggested that I include a description of my gap year job (starting in July) on my application. I basically know exactly what my job is going to entail, so I figured I'd put it there...is it really such a bad thing to do?
 
I have a job starting in July as well. I've left it off my application for now. Saving it as a nice thing to throw onto a LOI in the future, heh. Also, there are some schools that ask you to update your application with your secondaries.
 
polylux said:
I have a job starting in July as well. I've left it off my application for now. Saving it as a nice thing to throw onto a LOI in the future, heh. Also, there are some schools that ask you to update your application with your secondaries.
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Exactly, poly has the right idea. Updating the schools later is a better approach than putting it on there before you have done it. In fact I have read on here of a couple cases where after a solid update (like actually doing something) they immediately received an interview invite.
 
polylux said:
I have a job starting in July as well. I've left it off my application for now. Saving it as a nice thing to throw onto a LOI in the future, heh. Also, there are some schools that ask you to update your application with your secondaries.
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LOI?
 
shim0shim said:
LOI?
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Letter of Intent. Basically an update letter to send after your application is complete saying "hey I love your school please accept me btw I've also added this to my application since we last talked".
 
Question about LoR:
I had all my LoR's sent to my pre-health advising office before realizing Interfolio existed. Should I have my
pre-health office send all LoRs to Interfolio so that Interfolio can then send them out or just have my pre-health office send the LoRs to the schools?
 
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