law suit, complain to better business bureu? what can we do about amcas?

[jmejia1]

this is just absolutely unexcusable! i can't believe amcas could be so incompetent. **** it's going to get to the point that there will be no medical school classes for our year. med schools will get applications so late, that all schools will rely heavily on formulas to screenout the masses, and only concentrate on those that made the numbers cut. is there any law students or law-savvy people out there that know what action we can take. for god's sake some of us still can't enter our course information; and yes I tried an endless array of browsers (e.g. IE 5.5, Netscape 6.1, AOL 6.0). I've found myself forced to make the long distance call various times to talk to them, but they are as lost as I am. They should at least refund our phone bill charges.

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[Popoy]

That would be interesting.... I wonder if it'll fly.

 

[Popoy]

Just to add... These constant problems and error as unexcusable. They knew this was the first time they were going to have the on-line application yet did not anticipate the problem... They should have done some test run before making it public.... It's really sad that you folks are all going through it.

I wonder if there is a way to do any type of lawsuit.... But that too takes time and money.... Make sure it's something that you folks want to pursue and dedicate your time to....

"Medical School applicants vs. AAMC".... I'm sure that if it flies, it'll be in the history books

 

[gower]

If it helps you to vent, OK, but a lawsuit against AAMC won't fly. Besides, you have more important things to do now than get involved in a law suit against a large, professional organization with powerful hired guns to fight their legal battles.

Just about anything created new, including a computer program, a new jet airliner, a new model auto, is full of bugs. It takes real life experience to discover the flaws, many of which are not apparent even in test runs.

 

[anna]

I think the BBB only acts in case of fraud.

AMCAS has always been a problem -- even with paper applications. Actually, they do a pretty good job considering they process tens of thousands of applications. But there are always mistakes. Fortunately, most of those mistakes tend not to affect the applications status of an individual to a great extent.

I am a prime example. I did the unthinkable: I applied in Sept. with late MCATs; THEN only half of my application was transmitted by AMCAS. However, I am happy to report I got into my first choice school, first choice residency, and about to start internship in 10 hours.

Anyway, I know it's tough, and all the "road bumps" are frustrating. Hang in there and do your best!

Ana

 

[Popoy]

One more thing.... your energy will be better well spend on other things.... trust me. Besides, I think almost everyone is on the same boat.

Hey, if it makes you feel any better.... just keep on venting through posting here....

I sincerely wish you luck!!!

 

[Big Bill]

My question to you is if they dont do it who will? they are the only people we have to do this. It will work out trust me.

 

[Florida_style]

Did they promise you anything that they didn't deliver? I have a second question: did they accept any fee from you before you had these problems? Or is the application process on the web a free process?

 

[Hopkins2010]

Originally posted by Florida_style:
•Did they promise you anything that they didn't deliver? I have a second question: did they accept any fee from you before you had these problems? Or is the application process on the web a free process?•

I dont think they specifically promised anything to the applicants beforehand. In fact, most of their concern seems to be more directed at the medical school side instead of the applicant side (i.e. they are really more interested in what suits the medical schools the best).

The web process is definitely not free (i wish). It varies on the number of schools, but in my case its going to be around $1000.

Gower still insists that this money is not enough to cover the application process costs incurred on AMCAS, but frankly I find that hard to believe.

I dont think any lawsuit will really be viable against the AAMC, unfortunately. It would be interesting to see what happens if a class action was brought against them, but in the end it would probably get shot down by the courts.

The main failure on the part of the AAMC was to jump headstrong into this new web app WHILE OFFERING ABSOLUTELY NO BACKUP PLAN. They were really shortsighted in this regard. I get the impression that their web designers just assumed that their web app would work with minimal to no problems.

The AAMC provides a valuable service, but I think they need to revamp things somewhat in the AMCAS division. I'd much rather go through a central application process than write out separate applications to twenty different schools (although secondaries still require that to some extent). If the AAMC can use this as a learning experience and substantially rework the web application design to make it more robust and capable of handling the massive network traffic, then I wont fault them too much. However, if they fail to make changes next year and we see the same problems all over again, then I think its time for AMCAS to undergo a serious re-evaluation.

Since most of us are in the same boat, at least it tends not to favor one group of applicants over another. One exception is the low SES group, which tends to not have access to the high speed internet connections which have become so vital with this web app.

 

[Big Bill]

Originally posted by baylor21:
[QB]
The web process is definitely not free (i wish). It varies on the number of schools, but in my case its going to be around $1000.
B]

That is a lot of money, they used to have a flat fee for all the schools you could apply to. I wish they would go back to that.

 

[Popoy]

How old are you Big Bill? Just wondering because I know you've posted on issues of "older students".... Also, you mentioned a flat rate, I don't think I've heard of that before.... Can you kindly tell me when you last saw this "flat rate" to be true? It would be interesting to know.... Thanx

 

[praying4MD]

I already posted this on another thread, but just to reiterate, my personal frustration with the system would definitely stand in court as severe mental anguish. I HATE THIS SYSTEM.

 

[Big Bill]

Im 35, and on the flat rate they used to send you a disk that you could put on your computer. You could load it, fill it in then print it. You paid I think 50 bucks per app up to 15 then you just paid a flat rate of like 400 and apply to as many as you want. So 15 and above would be 400 dollars. Im not sure of the details could have been more or less. It really worked out if you could apply to as many schools as possible. I nearly applied a few years back
and that is what it was like.

 

[pete.]

Hey guys, this should make you feel better.

We're having all these problems now, but just think about the people trying to get on the last two weeks to apply - they'll be shi**ing eggrolls! (I won't feel sorry for them one bit)

... and I really doubt that under the circumstances, any great premium is going to be placed on an ap received the first day versus the first 2 weeks.

- Lastly, I am an internet project manager. Putting sites like the amcas site on the web is what I do for a living. It's my understanding that they were aware of many bugs, but were operating under some constraints that didn't give them the option to go live with anything else. They'll get it up and running in time - be patient. Oh, and if any of my sites worked like this one, I'd have been fired a long time ago...