*~*~* Official AACOMAS Questions Thread 2015-2016 *~*~*

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Has anyone figured out how to enter in repeated experiences yet? I did community service over 2 different semesters 1 year apart. I am not sure if I should enter this twice or if I should make it one entry.

Thanks!
 
vantheman said:
Has anyone figured out how to enter in repeated experiences yet? I did community service over 2 different semesters 1 year apart. I am not sure if I should enter this twice or if I should make it one entry.

Thanks!
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I would make 1 entry. For my hospital volunteering I had breaks when I was at school, so I just deducted that from the weeks/hours and specified in the description ("Volunteered in Summer 2009 and 2010" for example). Not sure if this is the "right" way to do it, but that's what I did!! 🙂
 
i have AP credits under which semester do I place them? also for my independent research the course title is the same, so it repeats for several semesters are these considered courses that are repeated???


also for my letters, they are going to be sent all by one member of the pre-health committee at my school, do I need to fill out evaluation request? or does my pre-health advisory send them straight aacomas?
 
I have a question....

Can I submit my AACOMAS application, and then go back in a month or so and update the evaluations section? I ask because I want to submit my app as soon as possible to CUSOM (where they require LOR with the secondary app) and my references would prefer to submit it online.

Can I submit everything but the evaluations section? And then once I am ready for the secondary application, go back onto my aacomas application and put the evaluator's info in?
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx said:
I have a question....

Can I submit my AACOMAS application, and then go back in a month or so and update the evaluations section? I ask because I want to submit my app as soon as possible to CUSOM (where they require LOR with the secondary app) and my references would prefer to submit it online.

Can I submit everything but the evaluations section? And then once I am ready for the secondary application, go back onto my aacomas application and put the evaluator's info in?
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Yes, you can add those in later. You could also use interfolio and have your evaluators use that system because there have been some issues with LORs in aacomas. I would actually suggest going in that direction and asking your professors to send it there.
 
winterwind_23 said:
I have a question regarding what is acceptable for the Achievements section in AACOMAS. I did two summer research programs (REU, SURP) during undergrad. At the end of each of these programs, I had to present to my peers and the presentation was open to the public. We also had a poster session where all of the summer research students presented their work. Can I list these presentations/poster sessions, even though they were a requirement for the summer research program? I already have these research experiences listed in my Experiences section, though I did not specifically mention the presentations and poster sessions. Do you guys think it would be worth it to add these summer research presentations/poster sessions as "presentations" under the Achievements section in AACOMAS? Or are the "presentations" only reserved for more professional presentations like in the American Chemical Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, etc.?
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Does anyone have insight on this??
 
Under the Prerequisites for each of the programs I am applying to, do I have to add all classes under each subject (Biology, General Chemistry, Physics, etc.) that I have taken, or only the prereqs required by that school? For example, School A requires on year of biology and the biology labs. Should I just include those classes in the Biology Prerequisites? Or should I also include all of my advanced biology classes that I've taken (Immunology, Genetics, Anatomy, etc.)?
 
I just submitted my application! If I were to update the application (adding an Experience, Achievement, Evaluation, or editing an Evaluation), will these updates be reflected in my application to the programs I have already submitted to? Or will the updates only be reflected in my application for new programs that I add?
 
Where is the best place to incorporate the fact that I have a child/dependent on my app? I wasn't planning on talking about it in my PS but as of now that seems like the only place I have to express that fact to the schools I apply to...
 
Did anyone enter in their hobbies/artistic endeavors into the AACOMAS application?
 
So Im waiting to hear back from a SMP program, how do I address this?
 
vantheman said:
Did anyone enter in their hobbies/artistic endeavors into the AACOMAS application?
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I did, but it was pretty easy for me to quantify mine. (bicycle racing team captain, x number hours/week since (date).
 
vantheman said:
Did anyone enter in their hobbies/artistic endeavors into the AACOMAS application?
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Did you receive any distinctions, competition placements, articles written about you? I won some shooting competitions which I listed. I didn't list a 5th place finish in a solo violin contest or being 2nd violin at an Ivy orchestra.
 
bigindian4891 said:
Do I need to tell them Im planning on doing an SMP or can I leave that out?
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I put my SMP classes as In-progress/Planned. You can leave it out if you didn't receive your class list/schedule and send the transcript during the Update period and they'll add it then.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Did you receive any distinctions, competition placements, articles written about you? I won some shooting competitions which I listed. I didn't list a 5th place finish in a solo violin contest or being 2nd violin at an Ivy orchestra.
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No, no distinctions. I just thought they might want to know that I do more than just study, research, volunteer, and work. But maybe its different for the AACOMAS application? haha
 
How did you all classify research?

I did research as a undergraduate so I am assuming I put it as extracurricular activity. But for the last year, I have been doing a research fellowship and I receive a stipend. Would I classify this as paid employment?

The lack of descriptions for activities is a bit frustrating, isn't it?
 
vantheman said:
No, no distinctions. I just thought they might want to know that I do more than just study, research, volunteer, and work. But maybe its different for the AACOMAS application? haha
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Don't let me stop you. If you did it for years, then go for it.
 
Sorry if this was asked earlier, but for the experience section, if it is a current experience with an end date of say May 2016, what do we input for number of weeks and total hours?
Are we allowed to extrapolate like on AMCAS, or should it only be up to the point of your submission date?
 
QueenJames said:
did you happen to find out what to do?
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I called them at some point before I submitted a week or two ago and they said it would be okay because it would show up correctly when they look at it. And in fact when you download your PDF after you submit, you can see it displays the correct date.
 
Has anyone had any more word on whether AACOMAS is now receiving our MCAT scores? I sent mine through AAMC back at the beginning of May, right when the application opened, and still have seen/heard nothing that would indicate they'd been received. I submitted my app in late May and it moved to verifying early last week.
 
I searched this entire thread for the answer to this question, sorry if it has already been asked!

I wanted to know the difference between "completed" and "accepted" for Evaluations. I tried looking it up in the application guide and only found this:

"5. Once they have completed their reference, they must click “SUBMIT EVALUATION” to send it to AACOMAS. This action occurs immediately, and the reference will show up as “completed” on your application with a complete date. Your reference can also click “Preview Evaluation” to create a .pdf copy which they can save for their records."

I'm not sure if my evaluator actually completed the evaluation or if there is some time difference between "completed" and "accepted". Anyone know?
 
bumblebee611 said:
Has anyone had any more word on whether AACOMAS is now receiving our MCAT scores? I sent mine through AAMC back at the beginning of May, right when the application opened, and still have seen/heard nothing that would indicate they'd been received. I submitted my app in late May and it moved to verifying early last week.
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I was just about to ask this as well. Has anyone heard anything? I have been verified since 5/15/15 with no word on official MCAT verification.
 
hey everyone
how do you put in club leadership positions?
thanks
 
Quick Question.
On the experiences section, we have to pick between full time, part time, temporary, or per diem.
Does AACOMAS have specific definitions for each of these (especially the cut off between temporary and part time)?
Also, I looked up the definition of per diem, and it says compensation per day; however, I called AACOMAS to confirm, but the lady said that it means that I did the experience without any compensation. Does anyone know about this?
 
where did y'all find your GPA after being verified? I went to program status, hit the download PDF button thing....looked at the report and my total undergraduate GPA right now includes all hours i have taken and the GPA is without grade replacement....is this normal? they said to wait an hour since i got verification email to look at gpa.
 
Mavs88 said:
where did y'all find your GPA after being verified? I went to program status, hit the download PDF button thing....looked at the report and my total undergraduate GPA right now includes all hours i have taken and the GPA is without grade replacement....is this normal? they said to wait an hour since i got verification email to look at gpa.
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There are several applicants with the same problem. Try this to have them fix it: http://www.forums.studentdoctor.net...e-Replacement-Changes?.1141572/#post-16559115
Good luck and keep us updated.
 
Mavs88 said:
where did y'all find your GPA after being verified? I went to program status, hit the download PDF button thing....looked at the report and my total undergraduate GPA right now includes all hours i have taken and the GPA is without grade replacement....is this normal? they said to wait an hour since i got verification email to look at gpa.
Click to expand...

Look on the course work section and see if your repeated classes were changed (I.e. From 0 hours to some credit hours).
 
How do we know if AACOMAS reclassified some of our courses? It seemed like my science GPA was lower than I thought it was. I calculated it and got a higher value.

Edit: Nevermind.
 
Stephanopolous said:
Look on the course work section and see if your repeated classes were changed (I.e. From 0 hours to some credit hours).
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Yeah, it has actual credit hours for all repeated courses...but does say "repeated" next to all attempts.
 
Mavs88 said:
Yeah, it has actual credit hours for all repeated courses...but does say "repeated" next to all attempts.
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Then you did not get repeat credit.

Were they exact replacements?
 
So quick question. Does my application to AACOMAS not get verified/looked at until my letter of recommendations are in? Like i've submitted already with my requested letters of references but they aren't completed yet.
 
Cawolf said:
Then you did not get repeat credit.

Were they exact replacements?
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I had a micro class and gen chem course that were exact replicas....ochem first time was one class 4.0 hours, second time retook lab and course separately....all retakes were at a different institution. This is a bloody headache we shouldn't have to deal with. GPA went from 3.9/3.8 to 3.65/3.49.
 
bleach121 said:
That's strange because my program status for each school says "awaiting materials" even though all my transcripts are marked as received. None of my evaluations/letters have been received though. Do you know if this means that I will not be marked as "complete" and won't enter the verification process until they are received?
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you ever find out the answer to this question bro? thanks
 
Ugh now I think I just forgot to mark the initial ones as 0 hours. Were we still supposed to put the grade? I emailed them to see if there's anyway they can open it up again.
 
cjfarrell21 said:
I was just about to ask this as well. Has anyone heard anything? I have been verified since 5/15/15 with no word on official MCAT verification.
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I called them yesterday and they said they are still working on loading the MCAT scores. Maybe will start sometime next week.
 
Nontrad8 said:
I called them yesterday and they said they are still working on loading the MCAT scores. Maybe will start sometime next week.
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They literally say that every week. The first time I called they said it should be done the week of May 18th.
 
Is anyone having trouble with AACOMAS right now?
My changes are not saving for my experiences and achievements section.
After I make some changes, I pressed "save this achievement", but when I go back, it doesn't have the recent changes that I made....
I tried it on different browsers, so I'm wondering if anyone else was having this issue??
I tried calling AACOMAS, but the call is not going through..
 
Mavs88 said:
Ugh now I think I just forgot to mark the initial ones as 0 hours. Were we still supposed to put the grade? I emailed them to see if there's anyway they can open it up again.
Click to expand...

Yes, the grade was supposed to be entered as earned.
 
Quick question...when all of your transcripts are received by AACOMAS do they notify you by email? Or do you have to keep checking the website somewhere? What about verification?
 
hu2992 said:
Is anyone having trouble with AACOMAS right now?
My changes are not saving for my experiences and achievements section.
After I make some changes, I pressed "save this achievement", but when I go back, it doesn't have the recent changes that I made....
I tried it on different browsers, so I'm wondering if anyone else was having this issue??
I tried calling AACOMAS, but the call is not going through..
Click to expand...

I was having the same issue, seems to be fixed now though.
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx said:
Quick question...when all of your transcripts are received by AACOMAS do they notify you by email? Or do you have to keep checking the website somewhere? What about verification?
Click to expand...

I got an email confirmation for each school. Not sure about verification though
 
hu2992 said:
I got an email confirmation for each school. Not sure about verification though
Click to expand...
You got an email confirmation from each school saying your transcripts were received?
 
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