AMCAS Questions - Post Secondary Experiences & Coursework

[Assembler]

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I took the August MCAT last Saturday, and just started filling out the AMCAS app today.

I have a few questions though, so if someone is willing to help me out, that would be great.

I know that AMCAS asks specifically for post-secondary experiences, however the bulk of my clinical experience (hospital volunteering) came during my last year of high school. I was wondering if it was possible to put this down, and if any other people in my situation have done so. I feel I really need to put it down otherwise my application would look somewhat incomplete by not listing it. Also, for the post-secondary experiences section, has anyone else included things that were not completely medicine-related? When I was in high school (yes, again), I accumulated about 21 ISO9001 certifications related to networking, security, tcp/ip, computer administration, support, etc. (as you can see, I was obsessed with them at the time). Well, they were nationally recognized by major corporations and valid for 3 years, but they are gone now. I still have hard copies of the certificates to show that I was formally certified. I was wondering if I could briefly list these in the post-sec experiences section. They are somewhat noteworthy to me. I do have quite a bit of other stuff after high school, but I'm mainly worried about those two things.

Also, for coursework - did you receive your transcripts first before you started this section? Or, would it be OK for me to go ahead and enter them as they appear on the unofficial transcript? I'm trying to work as fast as possible on this, so I can get it cranked out within the next 1 week; 2 at most.

Lastly, about calendar designations - I know that there are some odd things about the winter term for quarter systems, but I am also somewhat confused about the winter term for semester systems. I don't know if I would necessarily call the semester system I was on a trimester system, because both fall and spring were 18 weeks each, but winter intersession was like a summer session (it was 5 weeks total). So, what course designation would I use for those winter intersessions where I still got semester credit?

Thanks a lot everyone. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Assembler]

bump

 

[docjolly]

I took the August MCAT last Saturday, and just started filling out the AMCAS app today.

Also, for coursework - did you receive your transcripts first before you started this section? Or, would it be OK for me to go ahead and enter them as they appear on the unofficial transcript? I'm trying to work as fast as possible on this, so I can get it cranked out within the next 1 week; 2 at most.

Hi Assembler, I can only help you with your second question..The first and the third I'm not so certain about, and will leave that for the SDN experts 😉

You will need your transcripts to be sent directly to AMCAS. However, you will also need them to put in the course title, course ID, # pts., etc. I strongly suggest getting an OFFICIAL COPY of each of your transcripts, just so that you can check to make sure that you have entered all of your course info. correctly..I collected all of my transcripts before even starting this section..It's a little difficult to fill this section out w/o that info.

I hope this helps!

 

[Iamajew]

I'll try to answer what i can:
1. I'm not sure if you are allowed to include high school activities/achievements on the AMCAS, but if you are allowed and you have noteworthy accomplishment in high school then do so. However, I would definitely FOCUS on your college work as this is much more recent and relevant to who you are today.
2. You need to complete the grade-inputting section of the AMCAS either simultaneously or before you request your transcript be sent to AMCAS. All AMCAS does is verify the grades you inputted. Your unofficial transcript should have the same grades as your official one.
3. The help section of the AMCAS website does a pretty good job at explaining what they mean by the different semester systems that colleges use...try that.

Good luck!

 

[aparecida]

Also, for the post-secondary experiences section, has anyone else included things that were not completely medicine-related?

Yes. They want to know that you're an active, involved person. They don't just want to know that you've dedicated the past four years to Your Journey Toward Becoming A Doctor. I put down all of my significant extracurriculars, including writing for the student newspaper.