AACOMAS fee waiver program

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jsnuka

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Recently, I read on SDN somewhere that someone asked if AACOMAS (the osteopathic medical colleges application service) has a fee waiver program. I asked the question of tehm and the following is their response.

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Thank you for your email. Please note that AACOMAS has its own fee waiver program. Please send your documents for the AACOMAS fee waiver in June of 2007.





Application Fee Waiver

A limited number of application fee waivers are available. Please call or e-mail the AACOMAS Office if you would like to know if fee waivers are still available. Fee waiver requests must be received and processed prior to submitting an AACOMAS application. Processing for fee waivers takes approximately 2-4 weeks from the date of receipt so applicants should take this into consideration when planning submission of an AACOMAS application.

To be considered for an AACOMAS fee waiver, you must submit a copy of the Student Aid Report (SAR) for the current year you received back from the Department of Education if you filed the FAFSA form.

As a rough guide, you may wish to apply for a fee waiver if your annual income level is within the U.S. Bureau of Census’ low-income threshold for your family’s size. The number of fee waivers is limited, however, and financial need does not guarantee a fee waiver. Equally, not everyone who submits a fee waiver application will qualify financially for one.

If you receive a fee waiver, you may apply it to a maximum of three osteopathic colleges. If you receive a waiver, but wish to apply to more than three colleges, beginning with the fourth designation, you must pay the standard application fee. For example, to apply to one additional college (four total), you must pay the standard AACOMAS fee for one college; to apply to two additional colleges (five total), you must pay the standard fee for two colleges.

The AACOMAS application fee waiver is for the AACOMAS fee only. If you receive an AACOMAS fee waiver, your name is forwarded to the osteopathic medical colleges in the event they grant a waiver of their supplemental application fee. Applicants who apply for a fee waiver and qualify financially but are too late to receive an AACOMAS waiver will also have their names forwarded to osteopathic medical colleges requesting such information. Meeting AACOMAS’ eligibility criterion for a fee waiver, however, does not guarantee a waiver will be granted for the supplemental fee.

To be considered for an AACOMAS fee waiver, applicants should do the following:

Submit a copy of the Student Aid Report for the current year received from the Department of Education if you have completed and submitted the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) for aid to a previous institution. Sign and date the copy of the form in blue or black ink and submit the copy along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:

AACOMAS
Fee Waiver Application
5550 Friendship Blvd., Suite 310
Chevy Chase, MD 20815


The copy must include your estimated family contribution (EFC) usually located in the upper right-hand corner of the first page of the SAR. If you were selected for verification (usually noted by an asterisk next to the EFC) also submit either your recalculated EFC obtained from your financial aid officer or attach supporting documents plus an explanation. Additional verification may be required.

Be sure to follow the instructions above carefully in order to avoid any delays in processing. If you did not complete the FAFSA or do not have a copy of your Student Aid Report, please contact the AACOMAS Office.

Upon receipt of the SAR, AACOMAS will make a determination of your eligibility for a fee waiver. Do not submit your application to AACOMAS until you have received a determination on your fee waiver request. Submission of an AACOMAS application prior to receiving the determination nullifies any fee waiver the applicant would receive.

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;) AAMC also has a fee waiver program that allows you to apply to up to 10 medical schools for free. It is also good to get the fee waiver as some med schools will waive their secondary application fees as well. :sleep: :idea:
 
;) AAMC also has a fee waiver program that allows you to apply to up to 10 medical schools for free. It is also good to get the fee waiver as some med schools will waive their secondary application fees as well. :sleep: :idea:

INDEED!!!!!!!!!

Information on the AAMC Fee Waiver Program is available here.

AAMC Fee Assistance Program.
 
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what do they mean by SAR for the current year? Is it the current school year that was filled out last year or the new SAR that we just got for the next school year?

Thanks
 
AAMC allows for 12 free schools and the MCAT $85. I'm sure it is very helpful. When I contacted AACOMAS about the fee waiver earlier this year they told me the funds were exhausted. :mad: I am going to send it anyway just in case.
 
AAMC allows for 12 free schools and the MCAT $85. I'm sure it is very helpful. When I contacted AACOMAS about the fee waiver earlier this year they told me the funds were exhausted. :mad: I am going to send it anyway just in case.

How early is earlier this year? :confused:

Maybe they misunderstood you and thought that you meant 2006-2007, that is, for the 2007 application cylce and not for the current 2008 application cycle. I cannot imagine that funds for the fee waiver program are dried up this soon. Although it could mean that they havea really stringent set of criteria for who does and does not get funding though.

Let us know how it goes for you. Good Luck!!!:luck:
 
Hello all. just to recap on the AACOMAS fee waiver I just sent in the information to be considered. I believe the current year refers to 06-07 fafsa, at least I hope so b/c that's what I sent. :D I feel bad b/c I wanted to have my app in to be in line for review. Oh well what's done is what's done. I asked about the fee waiver back a little before June and Jsnuka I think you were right in saying they thought I was talking about last years cycle. :mad:
 
Hello all. just to recap on the AACOMAS fee waiver I just sent in the information to be considered. I believe the current year refers to 06-07 fafsa, at least I hope so b/c that's what I sent. :D I feel bad b/c I wanted to have my app in to be in line for review. Oh well what's done is what's done. I asked about the fee waiver back a little before June and Jsnuka I think you were right in saying they thought I was talking about last years cycle. :mad:


Ok, so you sent in the FAFSA that you just completed (for financial aid awards in 2007-2008 academic year) to them for the AACOMAS fee waiver for this application cycle?:confused:

Let us know how it goes this time around. it would be nice if they had a similar process to the AMCAS one. It seems that the AMCAS one is much more straight forward.

Good Luck:luck:
 
Nope! I sent them the one for '06-'07 school year because they said for the current year. I will let you know how it goes and I don't have any doubt that I'll get it. jsnuka what's going on with you?
 
i'm thinking that the funds were exhausted very early. I got the AMCAS fee waiver and used it all my primaries, and all of the secondaries so far.

I did not get the AACOMAS fee waiver (applied for it in July), and subsequently did not apply to any osteopathic schools. :(
 
That's ok. Just do good with the schools you applied to.
 
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