AMCAS Never Submitted a girl's Application

[DemonDeacon]

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One of my friends applied to around 20+ schools last summer. She got an "error" message when submitting the application, so she called AMCAS on several occasions and they repeatedly confirmed her application was fine and it went through the system.

Few months later, in Februrary, she finds out from one of the schools that they never received her application.

Turns out not a single school received her application, thanks to AMCAS. Of course now she is re-applying and is a year behind because of them.

But has this happened to anyone? AMCAS is not giving back her money, should they? Thanks!

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Time to get lawyered up, and set that SUMMONS.

 

[DemonDeacon]

She really doesn't want to mess with the lawyers, tho.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

They don't transmit when they say they will and they refuse to refund? This is a person's life here. They deserve a summons, but I guess she can just threaten to sue, that might have some effect.

 

[DemonDeacon]

Wasn't this on the news last year that it happened on numerous apps?

 

[zinjanthropus]

i don't really understand how a person could let that happen. amcas gives you so many status updates along the way via the website. plus, you get information from the schools letting you know that they've got your application and some schools send secondaries to everyone. wouldn't you find it a little weird that after 8 weeks or so, you never heard anything from any school?

 

[Fermata]

Wasn't this on the news last year that it happened on numerous apps?

Say hi to Dr. Van **** for me. 😀

 

[firegirl]

i am 2006, and actually it did happen a bunch, cuz i think that was the first year it was totally online. and good point, you do know something is up, but you have to stay on it. i submitted the FIRST day we could, and it still happened to me. i also got error messages, and at one point they tried to make me pay again (keep those credit card statements and canceled checks!) i had to keep calling and emailing to get everything done, but if i hadn't been following up so diligently once i heard there were problems, i don't think a couple of my schools would have ever received my stuff.

 

[efex101]

WEll that is why YOU have to call the schools after a week or two after submission and ask. There is no excuse for amcas BUT you pay for this so make sure that you CALL and find out. I had an excel program with all my schools that I applied to 32! and submission from amcas date, when i sent the check date, when the check was cashed date, when lor was sent date, when lor was received date, when secondaries were received date...etc...I always always made sure to call after a decent amount of time and made sure that YES they did receive my LOR. It is up to YOU not amcas not your advisor not anyone but you.

 

[elephunt]

WEll that is why YOU have to call the schools after a week or two after submission and ask.

When you say "a week or two after submission", what timeframe do you mean for the initial application? I've heard that the AMCAS doesn't go out to schools until July (seen this in a couple of posts on SDN.) Is that true? If so, when did you call to confirm receipt of the AMCAS? End of July? Middle of July? I don't want to annoy admissions officers. 😱

 

[efex101]

When you go into amcas there is transmission dates to the schools. What I did is call about two weeks after that transmission date to make sure that everything was cool. I have heard that "some" schools do not download the amcas until July but not all...last year was also different for we could not submit until later. This year it seems that everything started earlier but I started receiving secondaries really early like at the end of June....

 

[efex101]

I just went back to look at my amcas. Last year the applications were NOT accepted until June 25th and I remember folks were ticked off because some had completed everything ready to submit on June 1. Anyways...mine was processed on July 11th and it was transmitted to most schools a week later. So I do not know if this July theory is just because the 2004 amcas was "late".

 

[efex101]

Also...remember that you are PAYING for medical schools to review your application so do not feel like you do not have the right to call and make sure that everything is there. Just be extremely polite to the person answering the phone even if they are rude.

 

[TRUE]

efex101: the earliest day for transmitting to schools (all schools, that is), was July 14th last year. There was a whole big post last year with users keeping track of their AMCAS on one big thread, and no one transmitted an application before July 14th. Are you sure that last year was a "late year"? Where did you get that from?

 

[efex101]

Yes because amcas last year did not ACCEPT you could not click SUBMIT until much later than what happened this year. They were accepted at the end of June look at my date above when we could finally click on the submit button. This year it went really well you guys submitted at the beginning of June like it should be so that is why I am guessing that the statement about schools not taking amcas until july was due to last year...btw you can check this on your amcas it *will* say on there when the application was transmitted to each school you chose.

 

[efex101]

Also there were some schools that already had their secondaries up online even before they received our amcas. Yale comes to mind and Wash U...these schools give everyone a secondary and I am pretty sure that I filled the secondary out even before my amcas was transmitted to them...go to individual websites and check this out. And yes, some schools did say that you COULD fill out the secondary right away.

 

[i61164]

Yes because amcas last year did not ACCEPT you could not click SUBMIT until much later than what happened this year. They were accepted at the end of June look at my date above when we could finally click on the submit button. This year it went really well you guys submitted at the beginning of June like it should be so that is why I am guessing that the statement about schools not taking amcas until july was due to last year...btw you can check this on your amcas it *will* say on there when the application was transmitted to each school you chose.

I just want to make sure that I understand you correctly. First, the applicant "submits" their app. AMCAS then "verifies" grades against transcripts. Upon completion of the verification, the status of you app will be "processed" (this much I know). Can an app be "processed" but not yet "transmitted?"

 

[camstah]

here's some advice to future and current applicants..if there is ANYTHING you think may be wrong with your application, call AMCAS two or three times a week...they usually give you this lineof we'll look into it don't call us for three weeks deal....and that's b.s....it happened to me, i called, they told me they would fix it and don't call for three weeks...after three weeks they still hadn't fixed the problem, so i go through this wait three weeks/fix it thing three more times...for a total wait time of 12 weeks (although it was more like four months!!!)...my app didn't get transmitted until JANUARY....which, of course, is useless...then i was out all that money (i had applied to like 30 schools) and AMCAS wouldn't give it back....and i was also out another year of my life.....i went to grad school for two years, so really, it translated into two years because of that mistake by them.....
lesson to be learned: GET ON THEIR CASE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT...call schools if you think it hasn't been transmitted....then call AMCAS...A LOT.........

 

[DemonDeacon]

here's some advice to future and current applicants..if there is ANYTHING you think may be wrong with your application, call AMCAS two or three times a week...they usually give you this lineof we'll look into it don't call us for three weeks deal....and that's b.s....it happened to me, i called, they told me they would fix it and don't call for three weeks...after three weeks they still hadn't fixed the problem, so i go through this wait three weeks/fix it thing three more times...for a total wait time of 12 weeks (although it was more like four months!!!)...my app didn't get transmitted until JANUARY....which, of course, is useless...then i was out all that money (i had applied to like 30 schools) and AMCAS wouldn't give it back....and i was also out another year of my life.....i went to grad school for two years, so really, it translated into two years because of that mistake by them.....
lesson to be learned: GET ON THEIR CASE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT...call schools if you think it hasn't been transmitted....then call AMCAS...A LOT.........

Hey, are you going to ask for your $ money back?

 

[SaltySqueegee]

Hey, are you going to ask for your $ money back?

Hey! Better yet, sue for lost wages as a future doctor! 😀 👍

 

[camstah]

Hey, are you going to ask for your $ money back?

this was four years ago...i have a feeling that they won't give it back...although i could really use that $1700 or $1800.......

 

[efex101]

Someone asked:

I just want to make sure that I understand you correctly. First, the applicant "submits" their app. AMCAS then "verifies" grades against transcripts. Upon completion of the verification, the status of you app will be "processed" (this much I know). Can an app be "processed" but not yet "transmitted?"


The answer is yes...you CAN be processed and not yet transmitted. Here is how it "usually" goes. The individual schools will DOWNLOAD electronically ALL AMCAS applications were students selected that school THAT is when you will see on your AMCAS that your application was transmitted to such and such school. A few schools have to receive the AMCAS via SNAIL MAIL from AMCAS then you will NEVER see transmitted on your AMCAS because it was not done electronically. I am guessing that by this year MOST schools will download electronically BUT some schools will do it before others and hence the different transmission dates. Also the transmission dates kept changing on some of my schools...for example for one school it would say transmitted 30 June then I would see transmitted 10 July...I called and asked and the school said that they can "pick and choose what they electronically download" so this school one day just downloaded biographical info and then another day downloaded something else...