AAMC transcript conversion policies

[positivetension-]

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This is kind of an unusual case but maybe someone has been in a similar situation. My initial undergraduate program was a type of "work/study" program, where you would be matched with internships after a certain number of semesters. After the internship, you would write a report and submit it to your faculty. For some reason, these reports are considered separate courses, and they appear on the transcript. The thing is, the values on the transcript are not meant to be a grade; they are basically symbolic and for internal use only. On the transcript, it clearly states "This course is not included in the GPA", and they are given a number corresponding to if they were incomplete, complete, or "excellent". All of mine were just "complete", and the number this is given is equivalent to a C by the AAMC scale.

Long story short, when my transcripts were evaluated, these courses were included. They were given a lower weight than a regular course, but were considered a C (again, despite explicitly stating they are not included in the GPA). This did not have a huge impact on my AMCAS GPA due to the low weight, but if anyone was quickly glancing at my application, they might have noticed several Cs from these "courses". I'm mostly worried about the subjective impact that might have on my application for someone glancing at it quickly without reading it carefully.

All this to say: is there anything I can do about this if I reapply next year? Did AAMC make a mistake when converting my grades because they are given no weight at my institution and clearly meant to be an internal system? Thanks.

 

[Ismet]

This is why everyone really should read the AMCAS Instruction Manual cover to cover when applying.

On page 9 of the current manual, under the heading "Academic Change Request" you have 10 days after verification to submit a request to remove or change courses that you feel were not verified appropriately, with a chance to adequately explain why you think they should be changed.

 

[positivetension-]

This is why everyone really should read the AMCAS Instruction Manual cover to cover when applying.

On page 9 of the current manual, under the heading "Academic Change Request" you have 10 days after verification to submit a request to remove or change courses that you feel were not verified appropriately, with a chance to adequately explain why you think they should be changed.

I actually did read this and submitted a change request. They said the courses were converted properly and no changes would be made, but I'm pretty sure they did not understand what I was talking about. I was too busy at that point in the term to continue to follow up with them, so I decided to let it slide this year (possibly to my detriment), but if I reapply I want to avoid it happening again if possible. For example, is there something I can include in my AMCAS application itself to draw attention to it for the verifiers and make sure they don't include it?