AAMC Investigation

[BillrothI]

Hey Everybody,

I had an issue with my MCAT registration that has somehow lead to a fraud investigation.

I was registered for an upcoming MCAT and received an e-mail saying that I had to consolidate two accounts. I think I must have created an account with a different e-mail address when I purchased the MSAR a year or so ago.

Anyway, I consolidated the two accounts per the instructions, and then when I returned to log in to my MCAT page, it said that I was not registered for the MCAT. I thought I might have lost my spot when I merged the two accounts, so I re-registered for the same date at a nearby location. It was a weekend, and I figured it would be better to make sure I had a spot and call in on Monday to clear everything up.

I called in on Monday, and was told that I was now double-booked and that it would trigger an investigation. I said I would like to cancel one of the bookings (obviously) and hopefully get a refund so I wasn't paying for two MCATs. The gentleman I spoke to suggested it was no big deal, and said that they would e-mail me as soon as everything got worked out.

I called in again today because a spot opened up much closer (there's only one testing center in my area) and I wanted to grab that seat and make sure everything else had been cancelled. The person I spoke with today said they would go ahead and cancel the double-booking, but seemed to imply that the fraud investigation was a major problem.

In any case - what can I expect moving forward? This was clearly an honest mistake; I can't imagine how booking two tests at the same time on the same day could possibly be construed as attempted fraud. However, I'm worried that this will show up on my record and hurt my chances of acceptance.

Please let me know if anyone has any insight into this. I'll probably call AAMC again if I don't hear back by Friday, but I'd like to know if anyone has experienced anything like this before.

Thanks.

- Bill R.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

I have no experience with this, but in general something called a fraud investigation is bad.

 

[ReadyToRumble]

While this sounds really bad, I think you'll be okay. It was an honest mistake and they didn't do a good job of communicating what would happen to your initial registration (especially since the system deleted it on your end). Once they sort everything out you'll be in the clear, just cooperate and be in touch with them until then.

Download this if you want to read official policy (MCAT Essentials): https://www.aamc.org/students/download/63060/data

Look at pages 10 (Identification) and 26 (Violations and Investigations). Accidentally making a second AAMC ID isn't that big of a problem, many people do it and they'll just consolidate things, like you said. Double registration is the bigger issue but seeing as you tried to do it as the same person (i.e. you weren't trying to take an exam for someone else) and it was after you thought everything was consolidated they'll probably note that there was no malicious intent.

If anyone has had experience with this I hope they chime in and alleviate some of your anxiety. Side note: wow, the fact that you've been able to get this many spots when it seems that virtually all spots are taken for the next few dates is amazing, luck is on your side.

 

[BillrothI]

While this sounds really bad, I think you'll be okay. It was an honest mistake and they didn't do a good job of communicating what would happen to your initial registration (especially since the system deleted it on your end). Once they sort everything out you'll be in the clear, just cooperate and be in touch with them until then.

Download this if you want to read official policy (MCAT Essentials): https://www.aamc.org/students/download/63060/data

Look at pages 10 (Identification) and 26 (Violations and Investigations). Accidentally making a second AAMC ID isn't that big of a problem, many people do it and they'll just consolidate things, like you said. Double registration is the bigger issue but seeing as you tried to do it as the same person (i.e. you weren't trying to take an exam for someone else) and it was after you thought everything was consolidated they'll probably note that there was no malicious intent.

If anyone has had experience with this I hope they chime in and alleviate some of your anxiety. Side note: wow, the fact that you've been able to get this many spots when it seems that virtually all spots are taken for the next few dates is amazing, luck is on your side.

Thanks, RtR! You are really on top of all of this stuff.

Indeed, I did accidentally register two AAMC IDs. Pretty sure this happened because I purchased the MSAR a while back, long before I registered for the MCAT. I consolidated accounts as soon as I received the e-mail from AAMC, though, and that's where the confusion began. Frankly, this close to the exam, I think it's understandable why I would try to grab a seat when it appeared as if my seat had been lost.

Anyway, really hope you're right. I hope it is clear that I was not intentionally trying to do anything fraudulent. I guess someone might try to register so that they could take two exams a week apart or something, but that was not the case here; rather, I was just trying to ensure that I was able to take the exam as originally planned.

Thanks again! Your assistance in this matter is very much appreciated.

- Bill R.