AMCAS questions

[JCW]

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Hello all! I'm new here but I've been looking around the forum a lot and it's fantastic that there's such great advice being shared by students with regards to applications and what it's like in programs and such! =) I realise I'm late in the game (for reasons I could not control unfortunately) for rolling application cycles, but I have a couple of questions for the application this year (for entry fall 2012). I apologize if they've been asked before, but I didn't find a thread about these these last couple years so it would be great if I could get some advice/answers?

1) I completed a Bachelor's in Canada (I am Canadian) and did a Master's in science in Europe. I am completing this Master's this year, so I included it as a college on my AMCAS. Do I need to send in the transcript from the school where I did my Master's? I don't understand if the rules for "foreign credits, non-transferred" apply here because this is not an undergraduate study abroad program in which case I should fill out a transcript exclusion request. AMCAS says it doesn't want foreign transcripts, so how should I proceed?

2) Could someone confirm for me whether I should submit my AMCAS application first now, and my referees will use the letter service within the next week/my transcripts will arrive and when everything is together, AMCAS will mark my application as complete and send them to the schools? Is that ideal, or should I wait for AMCAS to receive letters and transcripts before I click submit? Also, I see many schools do not consider letters of recommendation except during the secondary part of the application. In that case, if transcripts arrive and the AMCAS is submitted, will my application be "complete" and considered by schools even if letters of recommendation have not arrived yet?

 

[ablavar]

Can't speak about your first question, but I very vaguely recall you have a transcript exclusion.

As for your second - verification is a VERY long process that can take up to a month and change. You are bit mistaken in thinking that all it takes for AMCAS is to receive your submitted application and transcripts - there are hundreds of people ahead in line of you. Take a look at this thread for questions http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=823760 and this thread for how long verification has taken for other students http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=820933.

I believe your transcripts must be in order before your application will be even put in line to be verified, but recommendations DO NOT need to be received by AMCAS at this point. You can send in your recommendations whenever you want.

Submit your transcripts and application immediately. Good luck!

 

[SBR249]

If you have not sent your transcripts to AMCAS, do so immediately and I would ask for the quickest shipping method available. Then, submit your AMCAS if it's ready whether or not your references or transcript have arrived.

AMCAS will only place you in the queue to be verified once your transcripts and AMCAS are both on file and the verification process itself can take 3-6 weeks. So it's critical that you get the ball rolling ASAP because you are coming up on the deadline for many programs.

Reference letters do not need to be submitted in order for your AMCAS to be verified and sent to the schools. However you should get them submitted as soon as convenient as well since most schools will only consider your application and ready to evaluate once they have your AMCAS, secondary, application fee, and letters of reference. AMCAS will send your verified primary app and your letters of reference separately as soon as they receive or process them so you don't need to worry about one holding up the other.

Just focus on getting those things in ASAP.

Finally, even though AMCAS may not need to see your foreign transcripts, it may be worthwhile to get them evaluated by a transcript translation/evaluation service as some schools may ask for them individually.

 

[PfNO22]

AMCAS will not accept transcripts from abroad.

** You may not use classes outside of the US or Canada (unless transfered) for prerequisites because they do not appear in AMCAS.**

Do not send foreign transcripts to AMCAS. You enter all the courses as you would enter other courses, but you do not mark the credit hours or the grade points.

Finally, the school you apply to may ask for your foreign transcripts. In this case, they will need to be translated into English and may have to be "credit evaluated." These are both very expensive but quick.

The transcript exclusion is something that is automatically authorized. Send in your application. AMCAS will not take your foreign transcripts. I have first-hand knowledge of this process.

 

[JCW]

Thanks for your help! I have a couple of other questions:

1) In my freshman year I took a science program that fulfilled BCPM requirements (one year of each subject) but rolled the marks into ONE final mark with a year's worth of credits. It is impossible to get the individual marks for each subject, so I only have one averaged mark for most of my prerequisite marks. How should I enter this into AMCAS? I will send them an email clarifying the situation - there's a sentence about it in my transcript as well.

2) I did my high school on campus (I did not take any AP or college courses in high school though!). This is listed on my transcript because we had to be "registered" in a section to get a university library card, etc. In any case, my transcript therefore has me registered in several sessions with no attempted credits/credit hours. Do I need to/how do I list this in AMCAS for the coursework section?

3) I went on exchange for a research internship. NO CREDITS WERE ATTEMPTED! I did not take any courses - I went to a lab and did a project. However, I am listed under study abroad with no attempted credits on my transcript (it was required so the university knows who is on exchange at the moment). How do I document this properly in the Course Work section? And do I need to declare that I studied abroad even though I did not take credits? Of course I will mention my research experience in the essays, but I just don't want AMCAS to delay processing because I haven't documented this properly.

Thanks again so much!

 

[PfNO22]

You should call AAMC and ask them these questions. You have many very specific questions.

 

[ablavar]

Agreed, call up AAMC. Good rule of thumb is, get a copy of your transcript, and any line with a course name goes into the Course Work section. Foreign work will unfortunately make your life much harder.

 

[justgo]

I don't mean to be a negative nelly, but I think you might be out of luck for this app season. You have about 6 weeks until the application deadline at most schools, you have 4 weeks until the application deadline at some schools. Based on the time to verification being seen (there is a thread in the pre-allopathic forum) I don't think you are going to get your primaries verified before the deadlines much less get transcripts and secondaries out in time to get any interviews......which at most places end in January and are already filling up into December.

It's a lot of money to apply.....so maybe you should just wait till next season and not waste money. At a lot of places I feel your app just won't even be seen.

You could still apply to McGill though as their app just recently opened up and you could be competitive.

Good luck.

 

[JCW]

Thanks for the replies! Yes - I do realise I'm late in the game, but I thought the AMCAS *submission* deadlines (not verification deadlines, right?) were in 4/6 weeks? Is the problem (besides interview spots filling up?) that the secondaries are due just about the same time/soon after so it's possible I may not have verification before the secondaries are due? Aren't secondaries sent out automatically once verification is done?

I will call AMCAS tomorrow and should be ready for submission the day after - transcripts have been ordered to arrive in 2-4 business days. Hopefully it works out in any case! :S

Thanks for the advice on McGill - I am applying there as well!

 

[justgo]

Schools all have their own deadlines and these deadlines are for when the application is COMPLETE with them......not when you submit it to AMCAS. So I still think you are going to miss out on a lot of schools. Good Luck.


And no, therefore as I understand it, these are NOT submission deadlines, these are verified and COMPLETE application deadlines (ie transcripts, LORs to the school....everything). I know for certain that this is the case at many schools to which I applied....that you must be COMPLETE (ie primary and secondary in and DONE) before the start of Novmember/end of October. Really look into this before you dump down thousands of dollars. My guess is that unless you are mother teresa and linus pauling all wrapped into one it is going to be difficult for you to get a spot in next years class......

 

[altruistss]

Can the foreign transcripts be evaluated from WES or ECE and then sent to AMCAS. Will they consider it then ? Do you have any experience in this regard ?