I don't want to throw more gasoline on the fire, but after reading the comments since the last time I responded, I feel like a really need to speak up.
To AmyBeth and others who said you have a right to complain, you must realize that if you have the right to complain about AMCAS, others have the right to complain about you and your complaint. By saying these things on this forum, you open yourself up to criticism, just as I am sure plenty will do to my comments.
With this being said, as an outside observer to your comments I truly feel many of you are being unreasonable and unforgiving. I think it is wonderful that AMCAS has finally gotten around to bringing the application process into the 21st century. However, technology is not infalliable. There were problems, as there is with any technology. It would have been nice had they worked out the bugs before hand. They didn't. Well, what does that mean for us. It means med schools will get our applications 12 months prior to matriculation rather than 14. So it has shortened a long, overly drawn out process. Personally I think of that as a Godsend!
AMCAS was well meaning in its intention (to bring the application up to the time period), and it is trying its best to work out the problem. Yet it can't attempt to fix it with the thousands of calls, e-mails, and visits from neurotic premed-ers. I guess for the past couple days people have not been able to get ahold of the office by phone. However, our MCAT scores suddenly have shown up on the application. Do you think that is some sort of coincidence? Without the constraints of paranoid premed-ers, the good people at AMCAS have been able to make some progress. I am hoping they lay off the phones for a little while longer! If you read my previous post on giving the specialists a break, you can find out more about that.
The costs of AMCAS are not as overpriced as they seem. Personally, I think they are not out of line at all. So the basic fee per school is about $35 to $60 a piece. If we were to apply separately to each school, there would likely be an increase in application fees, probably around $25. Additionally, we would have to send official transcripts and MCAT scores to each school. Each of these would cost $10 (or more). Then, there would be the extreme amount of time spent filling in the hundreds of pages of repeated information. I remember in high school I paid my sister $100 to fill out my undergrad applications because I couldn't stand typing in repeated information. And those applications were a quarter the work of these! I know I didn't have to pay that, but my time is too valuable to spend typing in my address 10 or 15 times. I don't think many of you guys realize what a time saver AMCAS is (IF YOU LET IT BE!) for both us and the medical schools.
Seeing as those AMCAS is non-profit, and have spent a large amount of money on the new technology and trying to fix it, I think asking for a refund or class action suit is pretty ridiculous. However, if they were to overcharge your checkcard and you bounced checks because of it, well, then as a good business they should cover that, I agree. However, here is a helpful hint--call and verify your balance after any large charge. I do this whenever I make a charge over $200 (including AMCAS)--its just a smart business practice to stop things early. As far as spending so much time on the phone, I think maybe half of the phonecalls to AMCAS are valid, which would cut the wait time in half. Plus e-mail is available. That doesn't cost anything. If you use the correct title names they are pretty good about responding back (within a few days, which I think is reasonable). If you don't get a reply in a week, e-mail again. Its not like your application (or anyone else's) is going anywhere.
As far as lost transcripts, my philosophy is (and many will disagree), don't send the transcripts in until you have completed the application. Sending them in 6 weeks ahead of time may insure they get there, but they have nothing to match them with, so they are apt to get "lost" in the clutter. I think it is just sensible not to confuse a business like that. If I were processing 30,000 applications, and 10,000 people sent (sometimes multiple) transcripts in early, that would be quite a pile that would develop. It would be several people's job just to go through it each day to try and see if the people who submitted that day had previously sent in their transcripts. I really think it is just a good practice to hold off sending in your transcripts until around the time you submit.
Patience and understanding are virtues. Sometimes things get screwed up, and there is nothing we can do about it. This is just one situation. So what are our options? Sit around, scream, yell, threaten lawsuits, spend half the day on hold long distance? Or how about relax, realize that everyone is in the same boat, no one has an advantage/disadvantage, and enjoy our summer and free time that might have been spent filling out secondaries. In life, we need to be able to roll with the punches, not sit and cry about them. I am sorry to be blunt, but as someone who is going through the same issue, I see all of you having these intense anger and disgust. These are not feelings of good doctors or prospective doctors. They are very negative and unproductive. They will get you no where. You have the right to complain all you want, but the only person you are hurting is yourself.
