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- Apr 24, 2006
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If you need:
👍 **The Official Personal Statement Guide** Often you need to PM these people directly. When I was editing I would respond with my email address so people could send it. Some people want you to put it in the PM. Whatever you do, thank your editor.
*Should I talk about the fact that I'm gay in my PS? (Credit: GoodDoctor) IF you wanna read the rest of that thread, click on the thread title in the upper-right hand corner.
👍 *^~*~^* The Official What Are My Chances/Where to Apply Thread AKA: Can I get into Georgetown with my 3.7 and 38 MCAT? What schools should I drop? How many schools should I apply to? It helps if you have an mdapplicants profile, so people can see what state you're in, where you went to school, etc. You can sign up for one at www.mdapplicants.com.
👍 To know what the 2007 Secondary Essay Prompts are. Alternately, you can PM people that you know have them. If you "know" the person. You can get to know more people here.
👍 To know how long it is taking people who have submitted their AMCAS to get verified
👍 To know what schools have sent out email invitations to secondary, posted secondaries online for everyone, or are sending out screening notices
👍 What to wear on interview day
👍 Help using SDN's search tools (Well, when search is working anyhow.)
👍 To find someone who got into the school you want to, or want to check up on the class of 2010 ('06 successful applicants).
👍 Information on Applicants, Matriculants and Graduates by Race, Sex, State.
👍 How do I handle a troll?
General AMCAS Info:
1. AMCAS is NOT going to let you indent your personal statement. This is normal. You don't indent. It doesn't let you. Don't waste your spaces trying to space bar it out. This will look funny on the PDF version* of your application. Hit return twice. Also: If you cut and paste from MS Word, you're going to get a lot of funny symbols and crap. This is true for some secondaries, too. Use notepad, or be old-school and retype it in there.
*You can print your application by going to the main menu and selecting print application. This PDF will also tell you on what day and at what time you submitted, and then when you are verified. You will get an email when you're verified. Once you're verified (not before) you can see your GPAs as calculated by AMCAS on your PDF.
2. For those pesky "What course gets designated as what?" questions, check the HELP menu on AMCAS. Copy it and paste it into a word document. They have a whole list of what courses go under what designation. The more compliant your application is, the easier (and quicker) it is for them to process. It doesn't matter that Biochemistry was out of the biology department for your school, for example. AMCAS wants it listed as CHEM. Why argue with these people?*
*also: Don't put stuff on your AMCAS that is not on your transcript. The admin verifying your app doesn't know that your class had a special name. Also request an official transcript to work from (YES, for YOU!) as your school may list more complete info on it. Do this when you're requesting the initial transcripts be sent.
3. For payment, AMCAS doesn't accept credit cards other than Mastercard or Visa. Sorry, AMEX. I know, I wanted to use mine, too.
4. After you're verified, you can add more schools if you need to..but you can't remove schools! Sorry! Submit is forever, people.
5. Make sure the email you gave as your contact information is the email you're checking for secondaries. TIP! I made a new gmail account just for applications, and downloaded Gmail Notifier. This way, I know if something comes into my "special" medschool account. And since that email isn't anywhere else, it doesn't freak me out with SPAM!
6. Get those transcripts sent to AMCAS as soon as possible. You'll get an email when they get them--you don't have to have submitted yet. They cannot verify you without your transcripts, and if you hit submit before they have them, you will basically be ON HOLD until they do.
What is Interfolio?
If your school doesn't offer a committee letter (if it does, USE IT!) or a letter service (often times if you are a grad they won't let you do it), it would help you (and your writers) to make an Interfolio account.
1. www.interfolio.com is the official website. You can create a one-year account for $15. If you need it for longer, you can renew it.
2. To set up your account, you just have to "Add documents" and you create a unique name for each document (i.e. Prof Jones Med School LOR), and Interfolio will give you a special page to give to the professors. This special page has a barcode and a special code and they need the author to include this document with your letter so they can match it. The barcode page also indicates if you have a CLOSED file (Waived right of access) or not.
3. When Interfolio gets a letter from a writer, they email you. (Hint:Use the same email you gave AMCAS to save yourself confusion!)
4. When one or more letters are in, you can send them in a packet to your schools. The pricing starts at $4 for electronic delivery (only certain schools) or $5 for US Mail. It goes up to $40 for next-day service.
5. The letters* are sent with a cover page that has your SSN and AMCAS ID, so make sure you give those to Interfolio when you sign up.
*When you are creating deliveries of letters, it is ONE PRICE (the $4 or the $5) for all of your letters (up to 20 pages). So if you have five letters, two pages each (10 pages total), Interfolio will send them all together with your cover sheet to your schools.
6. Any more questions about Interfolio they have an amazing HELP section on the site and are very responsive to Q's.
TIP! Even if you have had your letters sent individually by the professors, I would recommend that you set up an interfolio account as a BACKUP so when schools misplace or do not receive letters (Think about it: 3 profs times 15 schools times all of those files at the schools...) you can dispatch them electronically or next day to become complete. Put it to the professors like this: if they fax in your letter with the special interfolio page, you won't have to bother them every time a school misfiles something.
👍 **The Official Personal Statement Guide** Often you need to PM these people directly. When I was editing I would respond with my email address so people could send it. Some people want you to put it in the PM. Whatever you do, thank your editor.
*Should I talk about the fact that I'm gay in my PS? (Credit: GoodDoctor) IF you wanna read the rest of that thread, click on the thread title in the upper-right hand corner.
👍 *^~*~^* The Official What Are My Chances/Where to Apply Thread AKA: Can I get into Georgetown with my 3.7 and 38 MCAT? What schools should I drop? How many schools should I apply to? It helps if you have an mdapplicants profile, so people can see what state you're in, where you went to school, etc. You can sign up for one at www.mdapplicants.com.
👍 To know what the 2007 Secondary Essay Prompts are. Alternately, you can PM people that you know have them. If you "know" the person. You can get to know more people here.
👍 To know how long it is taking people who have submitted their AMCAS to get verified
👍 To know what schools have sent out email invitations to secondary, posted secondaries online for everyone, or are sending out screening notices
👍 What to wear on interview day
👍 Help using SDN's search tools (Well, when search is working anyhow.)
👍 To find someone who got into the school you want to, or want to check up on the class of 2010 ('06 successful applicants).
👍 Information on Applicants, Matriculants and Graduates by Race, Sex, State.
👍 How do I handle a troll?
General AMCAS Info:
1. AMCAS is NOT going to let you indent your personal statement. This is normal. You don't indent. It doesn't let you. Don't waste your spaces trying to space bar it out. This will look funny on the PDF version* of your application. Hit return twice. Also: If you cut and paste from MS Word, you're going to get a lot of funny symbols and crap. This is true for some secondaries, too. Use notepad, or be old-school and retype it in there.
*You can print your application by going to the main menu and selecting print application. This PDF will also tell you on what day and at what time you submitted, and then when you are verified. You will get an email when you're verified. Once you're verified (not before) you can see your GPAs as calculated by AMCAS on your PDF.
2. For those pesky "What course gets designated as what?" questions, check the HELP menu on AMCAS. Copy it and paste it into a word document. They have a whole list of what courses go under what designation. The more compliant your application is, the easier (and quicker) it is for them to process. It doesn't matter that Biochemistry was out of the biology department for your school, for example. AMCAS wants it listed as CHEM. Why argue with these people?*
*also: Don't put stuff on your AMCAS that is not on your transcript. The admin verifying your app doesn't know that your class had a special name. Also request an official transcript to work from (YES, for YOU!) as your school may list more complete info on it. Do this when you're requesting the initial transcripts be sent.
3. For payment, AMCAS doesn't accept credit cards other than Mastercard or Visa. Sorry, AMEX. I know, I wanted to use mine, too.
4. After you're verified, you can add more schools if you need to..but you can't remove schools! Sorry! Submit is forever, people.
5. Make sure the email you gave as your contact information is the email you're checking for secondaries. TIP! I made a new gmail account just for applications, and downloaded Gmail Notifier. This way, I know if something comes into my "special" medschool account. And since that email isn't anywhere else, it doesn't freak me out with SPAM!
6. Get those transcripts sent to AMCAS as soon as possible. You'll get an email when they get them--you don't have to have submitted yet. They cannot verify you without your transcripts, and if you hit submit before they have them, you will basically be ON HOLD until they do.
What is Interfolio?
If your school doesn't offer a committee letter (if it does, USE IT!) or a letter service (often times if you are a grad they won't let you do it), it would help you (and your writers) to make an Interfolio account.
1. www.interfolio.com is the official website. You can create a one-year account for $15. If you need it for longer, you can renew it.
2. To set up your account, you just have to "Add documents" and you create a unique name for each document (i.e. Prof Jones Med School LOR), and Interfolio will give you a special page to give to the professors. This special page has a barcode and a special code and they need the author to include this document with your letter so they can match it. The barcode page also indicates if you have a CLOSED file (Waived right of access) or not.
3. When Interfolio gets a letter from a writer, they email you. (Hint:Use the same email you gave AMCAS to save yourself confusion!)
4. When one or more letters are in, you can send them in a packet to your schools. The pricing starts at $4 for electronic delivery (only certain schools) or $5 for US Mail. It goes up to $40 for next-day service.
5. The letters* are sent with a cover page that has your SSN and AMCAS ID, so make sure you give those to Interfolio when you sign up.
*When you are creating deliveries of letters, it is ONE PRICE (the $4 or the $5) for all of your letters (up to 20 pages). So if you have five letters, two pages each (10 pages total), Interfolio will send them all together with your cover sheet to your schools.
6. Any more questions about Interfolio they have an amazing HELP section on the site and are very responsive to Q's.
TIP! Even if you have had your letters sent individually by the professors, I would recommend that you set up an interfolio account as a BACKUP so when schools misplace or do not receive letters (Think about it: 3 profs times 15 schools times all of those files at the schools...) you can dispatch them electronically or next day to become complete. Put it to the professors like this: if they fax in your letter with the special interfolio page, you won't have to bother them every time a school misfiles something.
