CYMS Clarification

[ibl210]

I am a bit confused on the CYMS policy. As someone holding multiple MD acceptances, I want to make sure that I have received my full financial aid package from each medical school before committing so I can make a fully informed decision. However, I am confused on which rules are hard requirements and which are suggestions.

Is the 3 A's by 4/15 rule a solid requirement? Same question about the 1 A by 4/30 rule. I thought these were both mandatory rules enforced by the AAMC, but now I am not sure whether this is true or if these rules bend to specific school deadlines. Thank you in advance!

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[catorose]

From the AMCAS Choose Your Medical School Tool page:

By April 15: You should narrow your acceptances to no more than 3 medical schools, with no limit on the number of alternate lists you can remain on. Currently, there is no mechanism to enforce this guideline, as medical schools cannot see detailed CYMS reports until April 30, and AMCAS will not notify schools if you hold more than 3 acceptances.

By April 30: You must narrow your acceptances to no more than 1 school. If you select Plan to enroll at this stage, there is no limit on the number of alternate lists you can remain on. If you select Commit to enroll at this stage, you must withdraw all other acceptances and alternate list positions. A decision to select Commit to enroll is intended to be final. You will forfeit your acceptance if you commit to enroll while holding other acceptances or alternate list positions. At this point, medical schools can run detailed reports on all of their accepted and alternate list applicant who have selected either Plan to enroll or Commit to enroll at their school.

Exceptions: The AMCAS CYMS timeline is always superseded by a school-specific timeline. If a medical school requires that you Commit to enroll by April 30, you may not Plan to enroll on that date if you wish to attend that school. If a medical school requires you to Plan to enroll by April 30, you must Plan to enroll at that school or forfeit your acceptance. Many schools have CTE deadlines anywhere between May-July, and they may or may not have PTE deadlines for you to adhere to.

Important privacy information: At no point in the matriculation process can a medical school see:

• where you applied,
• where you were accepted,
• where you were waitlisted, or
• where you were rejected.

Schools can only see who they have accepted or waitlisted, and if an accepted or waitlisted applicant has PTE/CTE to their school or to another (undisclosed) school.

At the very end of the matriculation process, schools can access a private report on the matriculating students of that cycle, including the student's name, undergraduate institution, and the medical school they matriculated at. This report is only available to deans of admission and their offices/staff.

 

[ibl210]

Thank you for your reply @catorose ! I am just a bit confused as I could not find that information on the page you linked. I asked this question in part because I have heard of someone who was allowed to hold multiple acceptances after 4/30. Can a school guideline supersede even that?

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you for your reply @catorose ! I am just a bit confused as I could not find that information on the page you linked. I asked this question in part because I have heard of someone who was allowed to hold multiple acceptances after 4/30. Can a school guideline supersede even that?

The answer is yes, because a common fallacy is that AAMC is the enforcement body. They are not. Only the schools impose requirements, and only the schools enforce. If a school is willing to waive a requirement for you, then it is superseded for you. This is, in fact, exactly what happens if you haven't received your fin aid package in time to make a decision, but ONLY if all schools involved agree.

For example, you hold 2 As on 4/30 and school A hasn't given you your package, so you ask for and receive an extension. This allows you to PTE to school B, which gave you your package, and later drop it if you choose to go to school A after you see your fin aid.

Now, extend the example to add school C, which has also already given you a package prior to 4/30. Now, if either it or school B (or both), have not agreed to give you an extension, you will have to choose between school B and C, because they are both expecting a PTE on 4/30, and you can only choose one.

If you choose neither while waiting for school A, you will lose both of them after the schools rescind you for not meeting their 4/30 deadline. Then you will be attending school A by default, since it will be the only A you have left.

 

[ibl210]

@KnightDoc Thank you, this actually explains so much! I am sorry to bother by asking, but do you have a source for this information/where did you find out about this from? I have never heard of this practice before, so I am just wondering if it is common knowledge or posted somewhere and I missed it. The AAMC site does not seem to indicate this, and I am just scared of getting burnt by schools.

 

[KnightDoc]

@KnightDoc Thank you, this actually explains so much! I am sorry to bother by asking, but do you have a source for this information/where did you find out about this from? I have never heard of this practice before, so I am just wondering if it is common knowledge or posted somewhere and I missed it. The AAMC site does not seem to indicate this, and I am just scared of getting burnt by schools.

No source, other than observing for the past two cycles. There is some persistent misinformation and misunderstanding on SDN with respect to exactly what can be seen by adcoms using the report functionality of the tool.

After 4/30, any school where you hold an A or a WL can see whether you are PTE or CTE elsewhere, but not where. They can never see As or WLs, until the end of the cycle, when they can see where you matriculated. The rest just falls out from that.

The AAMC site does clearly state: "The AAMC American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) created this tool to support medical schools’ enrollment management processes and help applicants communicate their intentions about which medical schools they plan to attend. Schools will only be able to access information about their accepted and alternate-list (waitlist) applicants. Applicants should use the tool at the direction of the schools to which they have applied."

Again, getting an extension or a waiver won't be published anywhere. It is totally at the discretion of the school. If they haven't given you fin aid information, as @gonnif is fond of saying, they are under no obligation to, and they might tell you to pound sand, they want a decision from you by the deadline anyway. I personally think that would be pretty obnoxious, and as you have noted and as I observed last year, plenty of people received extensions while schools prepared aid packages for them.

Once you have an extension, THAT school won't enforce a deadline, but other schools will. That's why it's either important to get all schools on board, release schools you are no longer considering, or, as I suggested, reduce to only one school not on board and PTE that school. Yes, all schools will see the PTE, but the schools that gave you the extension won't enforce the deadline, by definition, so you'll be okay, because the PTE school that is not on board won't be able to see the As with the extensions, since they can't see As or WLs (they can only see PTE and CTE). It's not anywhere for you to see, and maybe it's not common knowledge, but it's common sense.

If there is any doubt, just get it in writing from any school that gives you an extension that they realize that you will be PTE elsewhere while waiting for your package. You don't have anything to worry about for another month. With any luck, all of your issues will resolve themselves by then and you won't need any extensions.

 

[catorose]

Thank you for your reply @catorose ! I am just a bit confused as I could not find that information on the page you linked. I asked this question in part because I have heard of someone who was allowed to hold multiple acceptances after 4/30. Can a school guideline supersede even that?

I'm just echoing exactly what @KnightDoc has said. The AMCAS CYMS tool is always superseded by a school-specific timeline or policy. If a school chooses to grant you an extension, the AAMC/AMCAS cannot arbitrarily revoke your acceptance to that school. However, AMCAS will notify any other schools that you have been accepted or waitlisted to that you are holding more than one acceptance after April 30. Those other schools are within their rights to revoke your acceptance or alternate list position.

If you are seeking an extension for any reason, communicate to all of the schools involved that you are seeking an extension. Most of them should approve the extension if you have a valid reason (e.g., waiting on financial aid packages), but they are not obligated to approve an extension even if another school has approved it.

Regarding where to find this information, please look through the site I linked. The various dropdown tabs have detailed information, and the last tab links to two detailed PDF documents on the CYMS process.

 

[KnightDoc]

I'm just echoing exactly what @KnightDoc has said. The AMCAS CYMS tool is always superseded by a school-specific timeline or policy. If a school chooses to grant you an extension, the AAMC/AMCAS cannot arbitrarily revoke your acceptance to that school. However, AMCAS will notify any other schools that you have been accepted or waitlisted to that you are holding more than one acceptance after April 30. Those other schools are within their rights to revoke your acceptance or alternate list position.

If you are seeking an extension for any reason, communicate to all of the schools involved that you are seeking an extension. Most of them should approve the extension if you have a valid reason (e.g., waiting on financial aid packages), but they are not obligated to approve an extension even if another school has approved it.

Regarding where to find this information, please look through the site I linked. The various dropdown tabs have detailed information, and the last tab links to two detailed PDF documents on the CYMS process.

This is not true. AAMC/AMCAS does not proactively do anything. All they do is make the tools and reports available. AMCAS WILL NOT NOTIFY ANYONE OF ANYTHING AFTER 4/30, other than what is available through the CYMS reporting tool, i.e., whether you have PTE or CTE anywhere. All schools where you hold an A or a WL will be able to access this report.

Again, this report does not show As or WLs -- it only shows PTE or CTE, and is only available to schools where you hold an A or WL. Therefore, no one will know you have more than one acceptance after 4/30, other than the schools that gave you an extension. They will know because they will see the PTE at the other school. You can PTE at a school that did not give you an extension while holding an A at a school that did.

The PTE school will not be able to see the other A, and you don't need their permission to hold the other A!!!!! To them, it is no different than being on a WL, i.e., you have it, they can't see it, and you might end up enrolling there. 🙂