*~*~Official AACOMAS Questions Thread 2020-2021~*~*

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PapaGuava said:
Please use this thread to ask any questions specific to the AACOMAS application for the 2020-2021 cycle.

Ask away and good luck!

Last year's AACOMAS question page can be found HERE
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Hi everyone. I accidentally wrote that I worked for 15 weeks at my clinical job when I really worked 30. I can't go back and switch it because its been verified. What do I do? is it a big deal should I make a duplicate activity?
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How do you label summer classes for AACOMAS in terms of year? If it was the summer between end of sophomore and beginning of junior year , what year would be the "academic status" for that class- Sophomore or Junior ?
 
laurenjcole said:
Hi everyone. I accidentally wrote that I worked for 15 weeks at my clinical job when I really worked 30. I can't go back and switch it because its been verified. What do I do? is it a big deal should I make a duplicate activity?
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I wouldn’t make a duplicate activity. You could ask AACOMAS to see if they can edit it, but if not, don’t sweat it too much.

AwJeezRick said:
How do you label summer classes for AACOMAS in terms of year? If it was the summer between end of sophomore and beginning of junior year , what year would be the "academic status" for that class- Sophomore or Junior ?
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When I did it, I’d label the summer as part of the current academic year. For example, if you took summer courses after the spring of your sophomore year, it would still be included with that academic year.
 
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How soon do schools send out secondary after your application is verified? My MCAT is in one month and I'm scared that if I submit now, I would have too much on my plates (work/MCAT/secondaries etc.) and wouldn't be able to do my best on them.
 
uri-qua said:
How soon do schools send out secondary after your application is verified? My MCAT is in one month and I'm scared that if I submit now, I would have too much on my plates (work/MCAT/secondaries etc.) and wouldn't be able to do my best on them.
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It varies. Some schools are sending out secondaries right now, while others may wait until July. I'd say at the very least have your application verified so when your MCAT scores are reported you are ready to send out your primary applications.
 
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PapaGuava said:
If the transcript is verified, you’re all good to go! I wouldn’t worry about it unless there was a credit change and it affected your GPA.
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I had a GPA change due to the category of a course being changed. Do schools see this change or is it too late if my app has already been downloaded on their end?
 
doapp110 said:
I had a GPA change due to the category of a course being changed. Do schools see this change or is it too late if my app has already been downloaded on their end?
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Was it a course that was changed from sGPA to non-science? I would check this list to see if it was changed because of AACOM's designations. AACOMAS Course Subjects
 
Can someone please clarify the general AACOMAS application timeline? I am a little worried because I submitted on June 9th but had to resubmit due to a transcript issue (which I fixed immediately), and I'm still waiting to get verified. I know secondaries came out on June 15th so I'm nervous that I may not get verified/submit secondaries until mid-July or August, but I heard that's still "early" for DO? Is that true? Just confused on how it's so different from AMCAS. Thanks!
 
moonrocket23 said:
Can someone please clarify the general AACOMAS application timeline? I am a little worried because I submitted on June 9th but had to resubmit due to a transcript issue (which I fixed immediately), and I'm still waiting to get verified. I know secondaries came out on June 15th so I'm nervous that I may not get verified/submit secondaries until mid-July or August, but I heard that's still "early" for DO? Is that true? Just confused on how it's so different from AMCAS. Thanks!
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Hi Moonrocket, I moved your question to the current AACOMAS question thread :).

To clear your first question up, no, you will not be late if you are verified in mid-july/early August. June 15th was the official date for colleges to begin receiving primary applications, and many of them will send secondaries in the next three weeks, but there is also some that will wait until July (it varies school to school). You will not miss the application train at all with your current verification timeline. I hope this helps! Good luck in the application cycle!
 
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Hello all! 2 simple questions:
1. when writing SAT scores: should we superscore or report best scores in all categories in 1 sitting?
2. do we actually need to report address for all activities?
 
soroe said:
Hello all! 2 simple questions:
1. when writing SAT scores: should we superscore or report best scores in all categories in 1 sitting?
2. do we actually need to report address for all activities?
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I would try to report an address for your extracurricular activities but if you don't have one then there is nothing you can do about that part of it. I'm not completely sure about the SAT protocol, so I'll let someone else chime in about that.
 
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@PapaGuava
For publications in the achievement section, when it says "name of presenting organization", does that mean the journal it was published in, or the company/hospital we did the work for the paper in?
 
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Hey everyone. Does anyone know if I can submit to be verified and then add my LORs after submission?
 
Is there a way to delete the evaluation that has already been submitted to AACOMAS? My professor put my AAMC id on the AACOMAS letter. I was wondering if that will look bad to DO schools?
 
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A little confused about the overall AACOMAS application- I expected AACOMAS to be similar to AMCAS, but it seems like after you fill out your application, you have to write several essays for the specific schools you are applying to. For example, RVUCOM asks "Why do you want to attend RVUCOM and become a DO?" which sounds an awful lot like a secondary type of question. Am I misunderstanding the process? MUST I fill out the additional essays in order for my app to be sent AACOMAS for verification of my course info/experiences/etc, or is there a way to submit for verification before writing all these essays? Are there secondaries in addition to these essays?

Also- in this same page, it asks for your clinical and academic recommenders...if I am getting a committee packet, what do I write here? Of course I have selected recommenders to send letters to the committee, but the committee will ultimately choose the most supportive letters for my packet. So if I just wrote Dr. A and Dr. B, there's a chance one or both were not selected for the packet.
 
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PapaGuava said:
I would try to report an address for your extracurricular activities but if you don't have one then there is nothing you can do about that part of it. I'm not completely sure about the SAT protocol, so I'll let someone else chime in about that.
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Do you HAVE to include your SATs? Aren't they kind of irrelevant at this point?
 
abw07 said:
A little confused about the overall AACOMAS application- I expected AACOMAS to be similar to AMCAS, but it seems like after you fill out your application, you have to write several essays for the specific schools you are applying to. For example, RVUCOM asks "Why do you want to attend RVUCOM and become a DO?" which sounds an awful lot like a secondary type of question. Am I misunderstanding the process? MUST I fill out the additional essays in order for my app to be sent AACOMAS for verification of my course info/experiences/etc, or is there a way to submit for verification before writing all these essays? Are there secondaries in addition to these essays?

Also- in this same page, it asks for your clinical and academic recommenders...if I am getting a committee packet, what do I write here? Of course I have selected recommenders to send letters to the committee, but the committee will ultimately choose the most supportive letters for my packet. So if I just wrote Dr. A and Dr. B, there's a chance one or both were not selected for the packet.
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Not sure about what to put for recommenders, but as for verification, I'd submit your application with one DO school that doesn't require essays with the primary to get verified while you work on essays. I don't know if it's the same for RVU, but UNECOM has essay questions with the primary and (as far as I know) does not send a separate secondary.
abw07 said:
Do you HAVE to include your SATs? Aren't they kind of irrelevant at this point?
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I don't know what the general consensus is, but I'm not sending mine. Don't even think I know how to access them anymore. Maybe if you had like a really stellar GR, that might be worth inputting.
 
caterwaiter said:
Not sure about what to put for recommenders, but as for verification, I'd submit your application with one DO school that doesn't require essays with the primary to get verified while you work on essays. I don't know if it's the same for RVU, but UNECOM has essay questions with the primary and (as far as I know) does not send a separate secondary.

I see. Thank you for that. Do you by any chance know any that don't have essays?

I don't know what the general consensus is, but I'm not sending mine. Don't even think I know how to access them anymore. Maybe if you had like a really stellar GR, that might be worth inputting.
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Thanks!
 
Hello!
I was wondering if it's considered "on time" for submitting the AACOMAS primary app by July 10th. I am more familiar with the TMDSAS timeline but wasn't sure about AACOMAS.

Thanks in advance!!
 
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Hello Again! I had a couple more questions
1.) I was wondering if it is appropriate to list hobbies on the AACOMAS app? I couldn't find a separate section for it like there was on TMDSAS and AMCAS. If so, would I list it under the Extracurricular section?
2.) I participated in my university's alternative spring break trip. For the supervisor and organization information would I put my uni or the organization I completed the volunteering at?


Sorry if these questions seem self-explanatory. I just wanted to double-check and be thorough in the application process!
 
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How long should it take for transcripts to be mailed? I had one sent out a week ago today and AACOMAS hasn't received it yet. Should I resend it or wait a little longer?
 
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Airvino47 said:
Hello Again! I had a couple more questions
1.) I was wondering if it is appropriate to list hobbies on the AACOMAS app? I couldn't find a separate section for it like there was on TMDSAS and AMCAS. If so, would I list it under the Extracurricular section?
2.) I participated in my university's alternative spring break trip. For the supervisor and organization information would I put my uni or the organization I completed the volunteering at?


Sorry if these questions seem self-explanatory. I just wanted to double-check and be thorough in the application process!
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1. Yes I would just put them in the extracurricular section if they were significant. I wouldn’t list every hobby under the sun haha.

2.I would just the organization’s information but either or would be fine since they were related.
1ightningz said:
How long should it take for transcripts to be mailed? I had one sent out a week ago today and AACOMAS hasn't received it yet. Should I resend it or wait a little longer?
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AACOMAS probably already received it but haven’t uploaded it to your account. I’d give it a few more days or so, but you could always contact them if you wanted to ask about it.
 
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Does AACOMAS classify all Psych header classes as non-science regardless of course title? Trying to figure out if they'll change a few of my classes from science to nonscience. Based on past threads it seems this is the case but i'm not sure. Here are the classes that i'm concerned about:

Cognitive Neuroscience - listed as Neuroscience
Genes, Environment, and Human Behavior - listed as Genetics
Biopsychosocial Aspects of Eating Disorders and Obesity - listed as Biobehavioral Health
 
If I am reporting an activity like independent tutoring, can I report myself as the contact?
 
Great idea! Also, does anyone know if healthcare-related research can count as a healthcare experience?
 
Study of all "street medicine" programs - healthcare programs that provide healthcare to unsheltered homeless people around the world. The study looked at the descriptive characteristics (funding, scope of practice, etc.) of all programs.
 
soroe said:
Study of all "street medicine" programs - healthcare programs that provide healthcare to unsheltered homeless people around the world. The study looked at the descriptive characteristics (funding, scope of practice, etc.) of all programs.
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It doesn't sound like it required presence during patient care so I would label it as Research/Extracurricular rather than a Healthcare Experience
 
Does anyone know if AACOMAS starts processing apps on weekends?
 
Hey Papaguava,

For MD applicants the earliest that Schools can notify them of if they’ve been accepted or not is October 15. However, since the DO cycle runs later I’m guessing that would not be the earliest we can hear back. Do you happen to know what the earliest date students hear back from as to whether they have been accepted or not?

Thank you!
 
There were people who were accepted as early as the first week of September in past. It really all depends when schools are interviewing, but most DO schools generally notify you 2-3 weeks after your interview in the early part of the cycle. I'm not sure if Covid-19 will affect this at all.
@AquaticSunrise13
 
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I know many osteopathic schools require a physician LOE and prefer a letter of recommendation from a DO, however, I recently made the decision to cast my net to osteopathic schools and do not have this. I do have a strong letter of reference from an APRN and was wondering if this will suffice? I also have a parent who is a naturopathic doctor who has completed OMT and I have shadowed - but I know this will not be an acceptable LOE.

I am open to reaching out to a DO in California to see if they would allow me to shadow over the next month or so and could possibly obtain a letter from them by September. Any thoughts/advice will be much appreciated!
 
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I'm trying to input my classes into AACOMAS. At my college, all freshman had to take a class for study habits, etc. It was under the course abbreviation "UNIV" (as in the subject "university"). I'm not sure what to put as the subject for my course as there seems to be no subject that would be appropriate for this. Any suggestions? EDIT: As I go along I'm confused as to whether I should be putting the department that my institution classified a class under, or the actual subject if a more accurate subject is available in the drop-down. For example, another conundrum is that my college offered Genetics through the Botany department, but the class was not specific to botanical genetics (one of the many idiosyncrasies of attending an agricultural college).

Also, in regards to the physician letter, I already have a letter from one of my professors who is an MD PhD. Does this technically count, or are they specifically interested in a physician that can speak to my experience in a clinical setting?
 
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Hey so I turned in my primary app a month or so ago. I feel like I messed up on the activities section. I only really wrote briefish descriptions for my activities. Will this impact my application? I'm scared that I won't get any interviews because I didn't elaborate on my activities
 
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