Official AMCAS LOE Thread

[spicynoodle21]

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sorry.lame question. is the LOR distribution service by amcas free? i use my school LOR system and it costs $8 ($20 express) to send to each school.

I'm still not clear WHY we shall use AMCAS system over our regular LOR storing service. Or shall we?

NVM. It's free and for participating schools, we have to use that service.

I am still not sure if we can selectively pick and choose letters if they come in as a package. I spoke to AMCAS rep and she said 'No". She said the schools will look at the letters they want.

 

[spicynoodle21]

NVM. It's free and for participating schools, we have to use that service.

I am still not sure if we can selectively pick and choose letters if they come in as a package. I spoke to AMCAS rep and she said 'No". She said the schools will look at the letters they want.

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/amcaslettersfaq.htm

Please note: If your advisor is sending a committee/letter packet to AMCAS, the entire committee letter/letter packet will be sent to the schools you've designated to receive this letter. AMCAS will not remove a letter from your packet once it has been received. Therefore, if you wish to send a letter specifically to one medical school, you should enter this as an individual letter and have it sent separately from the packet.

An individual letter refers only to a letter authored by, and representing, a single letter writer.

It's indeed a pain in the butt. I like how it's free though, but i only applied to 3 out of 20 participating schools. Too bad, i won't save much.

 

[seven87]

Does anyone know when AMCAS will be sending letters to the schools?

Mine have been in AMCAS since June and none of the schools I have submitted secondaries to have received the letters...

 

[utahjazz]

Does anyone know when AMCAS will be sending letters to the schools?

Mine have been in AMCAS since June and none of the schools I have submitted secondaries to have received the letters...

According to their site: "Letters received by AMCAS after your application has been processed will be made available to your designated schools as soon as they are received."

"My letters are uploaded but the medical school has not received them, what should I do?
First, check to make sure your application is processed, as letters will not be sent until your application completes processing Then check the letters or medical school summary screen in your application and make sure the letters were added to that specific school. Finally, if it has been over a week since your application was processed and your letters were uploaded and submitted to the medical school, contact the medical school directly."

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/amcaslettersfaq.htm

Make sure that you re-certified your app after you designated which letters went to which school. I didn't do that and it did not save the information.

 

[seven87]

According to their site: "Letters received by AMCAS after your application has been processed will be made available to your designated schools as soon as they are received."

"My letters are uploaded but the medical school has not received them, what should I do?
First, check to make sure your application is processed, as letters will not be sent until your application completes processing Then check the letters or medical school summary screen in your application and make sure the letters were added to that specific school. Finally, if it has been over a week since your application was processed and your letters were uploaded and submitted to the medical school, contact the medical school directly."

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/faq/amcaslettersfaq.htm

Make sure that you re-certified your app after you designated which letters went to which school. I didn't do that and it did not save the information.

I had the letters designated before I submitted for verification which was complete on June 5th. I emailed AMCAS about it so hopefully they will know...

 

[rowerlauren]

I just called AMCAS since my letters that have been submitted to Virtual Evals weren't yet up. They thought at first that my undergrad input things wrong, but that's not so, everything is right on their end.

After an hour of talking to 3 different people in AMCAS they sent my issue to the manager who should "figure out the problem" in ~3 business days and will then call me to try to solve it.

Ugh!!! Everything is entered in correctly, but it still doesn't work? Seriously?
I just had to vent.

 

[UVAbme2009]

I just called and they said they are entering letters that were received on the 2nd. I had mine submitted the 30th and I haven't had mine marked. I'm submitting again even though the guy told me to wait 15 business days. I'd rather not wait almost two more weeks to find out they messed up. How hard is it to enter an ELECTRONIC delivery?

EDIT: I submitted again. Except this time there was a page to enter the ID #s for the letters. Last time that wasn't there and I sent in the LOR request form from AMCAS that has the ID # on it. If that's why my letters haven't been marked, I'll be pretty pissed off. Thanks Interfolio and AMCAS. I guess it doesn't pay to be early in this case.

 

[happygirl]

Ok, so my AMCAS is already verified and, finally, all of my letters are uploaded into Interfolio so I'm going to send them over to AMCAS now. I have already designated letters to each one of the schools. My question is, does AMCAS automatically send the letters to the schools I've designated, or do I have to manually communicate to them "please send my letters to Columbia" (or push submit button or whatever)? I ask because what if I decide not to go forward with a school, will they still get my letters because I already designated it and AMCAS automatically sends it? Also, I havent received all of the secondaries yet, so if AMCAS automatically sends it, they'll get my LORs maybe even before I get a secondary (this particular school doesn't screen, so it doesn't really even matter...but just curious).

Also, now I'm confused about the letter ID #. All of my letters were written before I even started the AMCAS process, so the letter ID# isn't included in my letters. Does it have to be? Or is this only for VirtualEvals and not Interfolio?

Thanks!

 

[happygirl]

anyone? =)

 

[Davnport]

For those of you using Interfolio and who have already entered your LOE info into AMCAS for INDIVIDUAL letter writers:

when AMCAS asks for an address, do you give the letter writer's address or do you give Interfolios address? Does amcas need to know where the letter is coming from (ie interfolio) or where the letter writer is (ie the writers contact address).

Thank you for clarification!

 

[UVAbme2009]

For those of you using Interfolio and who have already entered your LOE info into AMCAS for INDIVIDUAL letter writers:

when AMCAS asks for an address, do you give the letter writer's address or do you give Interfolios address? Does amcas need to know where the letter is coming from (ie interfolio) or where the letter writer is (ie the writers contact address).

Thank you for clarification!

I gave the letter writer's address. I can't look back now, but wasn't that optional anyways? The most important thing to have is the ID # for the writer.

 

[happygirl]

I gave the letter writer's address. I can't look back now, but wasn't that optional anyways? The most important thing to have is the ID # for the writer.

Did everyone have their letter writers include the letter ID# in their letters? None of my letters have that. Is that going to be a problem? I'm using Interfolio where I've uploaded that AMCAS cover sheet to be sent out with each letter. Isn't that sufficient?

Also, once I submit the letters to AMCAS and designated all of the schools, is there anything else that I need to do, or will AMCAS automatically send the letters out? Do I have to communicate to AMCAS that I received a school's secondary and to please send my letters to this school? is it all automatic?


thanks for the helP!

 

[Davnport]

Did everyone have their letter writers include the letter ID# in their letters? None of my letters have that. Is that going to be a problem? I'm using Interfolio where I've uploaded that AMCAS cover sheet to be sent out with each letter. Isn't that sufficient?

Also, once I submit the letters to AMCAS and designated all of the schools, is there anything else that I need to do, or will AMCAS automatically send the letters out? Do I have to communicate to AMCAS that I received a school's secondary and to please send my letters to this school? is it all automatic?


thanks for the helP!

I believe that uploading the cover sheet that amcas gives you into your Interfolio account will be enough. Amcas just needs to have a way to quickly identify which letter is coming in and from whom. At least that is what I read in the earlier part of this thread and the FAQ on LOE for amcas.

as for your 2nd question this is what I read:

"15. Will all my letters be sent to the medical school at the same time?
No, we will not "hold" letters until all are received. Any letters received by AMCAS at the time your application completes AMCAS processing will be sent to your designated schools in your application. Letters received by AMCAS after your application has been processed will be made available to your designated schools as soon as they are received."

 

[happygirl]

I believe that uploading the cover sheet that amcas gives you into your Interfolio account will be enough. Amcas just needs to have a way to quickly identify which letter is coming in and from whom. At least that is what I read in the earlier part of this thread and the FAQ on LOE for amcas.

as for your 2nd question this is what I read:

"15. Will all my letters be sent to the medical school at the same time?
No, we will not "hold" letters until all are received. Any letters received by AMCAS at the time your application completes AMCAS processing will be sent to your designated schools in your application. Letters received by AMCAS after your application has been processed will be made available to your designated schools as soon as they are received."

Ok, thanks for the response!!! =)

re: question 2, I read that before too, but I guess since it didn't directly answer my question, I just disregarded it. But, I guess it does indirectly answer my question and say that the letters will be automatically sent to the schools. So, if this is the case, I guess all of these schools do not screen for secondaries? and if i choose not to continue applying to one of the schools, they'll get my LORs anyways?

 

[Dr2Dr]

Hi Everyone. I sent my LOEs to AMCAS via Interfolio on July 3rd. As of July 13, they have not been received by AMCAS. Does anybody know how long it takes for ACMAS to mark the letters as received? The website says 15 days, but I was wondering what the actual wait time was? Thank you in advance for the help. Best wishes

 

[unsung]

Did everyone have their letter writers include the letter ID# in their letters? None of my letters have that. Is that going to be a problem? I'm using Interfolio where I've uploaded that AMCAS cover sheet to be sent out with each letter. Isn't that sufficient?

Also, once I submit the letters to AMCAS and designated all of the schools, is there anything else that I need to do, or will AMCAS automatically send the letters out? Do I have to communicate to AMCAS that I received a school's secondary and to please send my letters to this school? is it all automatic?


thanks for the helP!

I'm using Interfolio, and there's an option to send LORs directly to AMCAS (electronically). All you need to do is enter the AMCAS letter ID # for that letter, and it costs $1/letter. I'm not sure where the cover sheet thing comes in, since it's just an electronic delivery.

 

[UVAbme2009]

Hi Everyone. I sent my LOEs to AMCAS via Interfolio on July 3rd. As of July 13, they have not been received by AMCAS. Does anybody know how long it takes for ACMAS to mark the letters as received? The website says 15 days, but I was wondering what the actual wait time was? Thank you in advance for the help. Best wishes

You should have your's marked very soon, probably this week.

I just had mine marked! I wonder if it was the first or second batch. They probably saw the second batch and said, oh, I guess we should mark his.

 

[justdoit31]

I entered all my letters in yesterday and then sent via interfolio... when I checked it today the letter information I had entered were gone anyone know about this?

 

[THX]

I entered all my letters in yesterday and then sent via interfolio... when I checked it today the letter information I had entered were gone anyone know about this?

The same thing happened to me, it's because we did not click the 'submit' button again (stuff isn't saved until we 'submit'). Now I'm debating what to do because obviously interfolio's ID#s do not match the AMCAS #s anymore.

 

[PseudomonasPAO1]

The same thing happened to me, it's because we did not click the 'submit' button again (stuff isn't saved until we 'submit'). Now I'm debating what to do because obviously interfolio's ID#s do not match the AMCAS #s anymore.

I did the same thing..I just re-entered them and sent again from Interfolio with the newly assigned IDs. I didn't want any more possible delays, especially with the possibility of 15 days processing time. I'm still shocked that AMCAS would add another bottleneck to the app process 😕

 

[Dr2Dr]

You should have your's marked very soon, probably this week.

I just had mine marked! I wonder if it was the first or second batch. They probably saw the second batch and said, oh, I guess we should mark his.

Hi UVAbme2009. Thanks for the post. I'm glad to hear that your LOEs are marked. By the way, did you receive an email from AMCAS when your LOEs were marked as received, or did you just log in and find the change in status? I get an email every Friday reminding me that my letters have not arrived yet, but I was wondering if they update us when they do arrive? Many thanks.

 

[beancounter21]

The same thing happened to me, it's because we did not click the 'submit' button again (stuff isn't saved until we 'submit'). Now I'm debating what to do because obviously interfolio's ID#s do not match the AMCAS #s anymore.

i did the same exact thing...i called them up and they said that you can re-enter the letter with a different letter ID, and when they receive your letters it will just appear as separate items, and then you can just drop them into the letter you created.

 

[Dr2Dr]

Hi UVAbme2009. Thanks for the post. I'm glad to hear that your LOEs are marked. By the way, did you receive an email from AMCAS when your LOEs were marked as received, or did you just log in and find the change in status? I get an email every Friday reminding me that my letters have not arrived yet, but I was wondering if they update us when they do arrive? Many thanks.

Happiness and joy...My LOEs were received by AMCAS 7/17 (they were mailed by Interfolio on 7/7). I did receive an email from AMCAS notifying me that they received them.

 

[happygirl]

i think i saw this question somewhere else, but can't seem to find it now....

even though it's taking AMCAS a while to mark our letters as received, are the schools getting them first? or, if our letters are not yet marked, does that mean that AMCAS hasn't even touched them yet so schools obviously won't be getting them until they're marked?

 

[chad5871]

i think i saw this question somewhere else, but can't seem to find it now....

even though it's taking AMCAS a while to mark our letters as received, are the schools getting them first? or, if our letters are not yet marked, does that mean that AMCAS hasn't even touched them yet so schools obviously won't be getting them until they're marked?

I think that's true. They have to be marked as received (i.e. connected to our AMCAS application) before they are transmitted to the schools.

By the way, my advisor uploaded my LORs to VirtualEvals yesterday afternoon (about 1:00 pm), and AMCAS received them this morning (at 8:30 am). So it looks like whatever technical problems they were having before have been straightened out.

 

[happygirl]

I think that's true. They have to be marked as received (i.e. connected to our AMCAS application) before they are transmitted to the schools.

By the way, my advisor uploaded my LORs to VirtualEvals yesterday afternoon (about 1:00 pm), and AMCAS received them this morning (at 8:30 am). So it looks like whatever technical problems they were having before have been straightened out.

what??!? that's awesome! =)
i wonder whats up with mine.....anyone else still waiting?

 

[serikk85]

what??!? that's awesome! =)
i wonder whats up with mine.....anyone else still waiting?

Me. I uploaded via VE on 7/8. Still not a peep from AMCAS.

 

[coffeeeandtea]

select the "Committee Letter/Letter Packet" when choosing the type of letter it is, generate an AMCAS letter request page for your school's letter service, and send it to your school so they can include it when they send out all the LORs..

 

[azuldelcielo]

what??!? that's awesome! =)
i wonder whats up with mine.....anyone else still waiting?

I asked my pre-med advisor to send the committee letter via snail mail in mid-June. It has not been received yet. I have this strong feeling that he forgot...I'm going to ask the secretary to send them in again.

 

[Davnport]

I want to send my LOEs to AMCAS. I have all my letters and all of my 'letter request forms (provided by AMCAS)' uploaded to my Interfolio account. while checking out, a page appears for me to enter the Letter ID for each page/document being sent - the problem is that the page won't let me go forward if I don't give the actual 'letter request forms' a letter ID. Will it cause confusion for amcas if I give the request forms the ID that was assigned to the LOE. (ie. request letter from prof XX - 12345, LOE from prof XX - 12345). OR, should I just not use the uploaded request forms and instead type in the letter IDs on the page that requests them during the check out process?

Thank you for any help!

 

[mimimi]

If I had my LORs submitted to AMCAS and to all the schools on VirtualEvals, does that mean some schools will get it twice? Also, does VE send letters via standard mail if it's not on their list of schools?

 

[happygirl]

For those who already have their LOEs marked by AMCAS, how long did it take for your letters to be complete at the schools you applied to which are participating in this pilot service?

Mine have been marked for almost a week, and I'm still not complete at any of the schools.

 

[AA225]

My pre-health advisor uploaded my letters to virtualevals about two weeks ago and I just got the following email from amcas:

---
AMCAS received a letter request form without a letter for the following author(s) and letter ID(s):

Author: ********
Letter ID: ******

As no letters are received for the author(s) above, we will be unable to apply the letter to your application. To have the letter applied to your application, please do one of the following: a). Contact the letter author(s) to supply a complete letter, or b). Provide AMCAS with a letter of explanation indicating that a letter will not be received for the author(s) and letter ID(s) listed above. A letter of explanation may be provided via email at: [email protected].


Thank you for using AMCAS and best wishes during your medical school admissions process.
---

AMCAS says there was no letter attached but when I asked my pre-health advisor he said it was there and other schools (non-AMCAS LOE) were downloading it without any problems. I've contacted AMCAS but they just reply with vague answers...I guess I should call them. has anyone else had this problem?

 

[RafaTech]

Anyone know if you have to designate a school to receive your LOE on AMCAS after they have already been received by AMCAS? I'm asking because I finished the temple secondary a couple of weeks ago, but they still haven't received my LOE even though they've been on AMCAS for a while.

 

[chad5871]

Anyone know if you have to designate a school to receive your LOE on AMCAS after they have already been received by AMCAS? I'm asking because I finished the temple secondary a couple of weeks ago, but they still haven't received my LOE even though they've been on AMCAS for a while.

If your LOEs were already "assigned" to Temple, then no. As long as they're "assigned" to the school, they are sent directly to the school when they're received at AMCAS.

 

[RafaTech]

I called AMCAS and figured it out. I hadn't assigned the schools to the LOE packet. Thanks for the help!

 

[Bretzel]

So I already have my committee letter up on the amcas letters program, but I wanted to add a letter from my research advisor from this summer. I mistakenly had my advisor send a physical letter to all of my schools (including schools in the pilot program). Does anybody know if all of the schools on the pilot program will ignore physical letters? cornell emailed me saying that since they are in the pilot program, they will not look at the physical letter he sent them....just wondering if this is the standard protocol for pilot schools

 

[utahjazz]

So I already have my committee letter up on the amcas letters program, but I wanted to add a letter from my research advisor from this summer. I mistakenly had my advisor send a physical letter to all of my schools (including schools in the pilot program). Does anybody know if all of the schools on the pilot program will ignore physical letters? cornell emailed me saying that since they are in the pilot program, they will not look at the physical letter he sent them....just wondering if this is the standard protocol for pilot schools

I accidentally mailed my letters to Temple and they showed up on my status check page. I think the other schools are pretty strict about it though.

 

[stixx]

Anyone know how long it's taking for submissions to be processed by AMCAS these days? I'm uploading mine electronically via interfolio.

 

[pjg]

A question: I designated my letters to the various medical schools. One of my letters that I designated has not yet been received by AMCAS. When I check the various medical schools they of course have received all letters but this one. Will AMCAS automatically send the late letter to the designated schools when they receive it or do I have to do something else to get them to send that one?

 

[linguini]

Lately I've relived Christmas morning excitement whenever Interfolio sends me an email confirming that one my letters has come in...

Waiting on one more person...it's brutal!

 

[unsung]

Lately I've relived Christmas morning excitement whenever Interfolio sends me an email confirming that one my letters has come in...

Waiting on one more person...it's brutal!

I'm waiting on one person too. It is really annoying. My other letters were verified weeks ago since I sent them to AMCAS early. But this one letter from a prof I JUST received at Interfolio a week ago, so I JUST sent it to AMCAS on 8/12.... so now of course it's going to take another 2 wks before they mark that *electronic delivery* as received. :roll:

It's electronic! Afaik, isn't that delivered practically instantly? AMCAS is really goading me.... they need to employ more people if they can't get these things done in a timely fashion.

 

[saa09]

i think this might have already been covered in the thread, but I'm still not clear on it

When I requested that my school submits my letter to AMCAS I was required to attach the AMCAS request form. Of course, to get that form I had to put my letter information into AMCAS.
But since than I can't see any sign of AMCAS expecting those letters, and when I click on the LOE tab it takes me to the same service explanation as before and does not list the letter packet that I indicated would be coming soon. Is this normal or should it should my expected letter packet?
I think my school mailed out my letter on Monday, if it gets there and my AMCAS doesn't have any info about the packet, will it be thrown out?

 

[ChemGrad08]

i think this might have already been covered in the thread, but I'm still not clear on it

When I requested that my school submits my letter to AMCAS I was required to attach the AMCAS request form. Of course, to get that form I had to put my letter information into AMCAS.
But since than I can't see any sign of AMCAS expecting those letters, and when I click on the LOE tab it takes me to the same service explanation as before and does not list the letter packet that I indicated would be coming soon. Is this normal or should it should my expected letter packet?
I think my school mailed out my letter on Monday, if it gets there and my AMCAS doesn't have any info about the packet, will it be thrown out?

Did you resubmit your application to AMCAS after you added the letter, I know one of my letters disappeared that way and I had to make it again, I don't know what to do if you sent that particular cover letter and can't see it now. I would call/email AMCAS to ask what to do

 

[saa09]

Did you resubmit your application to AMCAS after you added the letter, I know one of my letters disappeared that way and I had to make it again, I don't know what to do if you sent that particular cover letter and can't see it now. I would call/email AMCAS to ask what to do

Thank you! I redid it and submitted it, and after I logged out and logged back in I could see the letter assignment.



Does anyone know how long it takes AMCAS to process the letters?
My letters were sent on 8/15 and I just figured out that AMCAS didn't save the info about my letters til today, 8/22. So I'm somewhat concerned that my letters got to the AMCAS office but were thrown out or something

Thanks!

 

[ChemGrad08]

Thank you! I redid it and submitted it, and after I logged out and logged back in I could see the letter assignment.



Does anyone know how long it takes AMCAS to process the letters?
My letters were sent on 8/15 and I just figured out that AMCAS didn't save the info about my letters til today, 8/22. So I'm somewhat concerned that my letters got to the AMCAS office but were thrown out or something

Thanks!

I sent a bunch of letters through interfolio on 8/15 and they haven't been uploaded yet. But, I would be worried that the numbers wouldn't match from the two times that you made the letters.

 

[Dr Lyss]

So I'm a little confused. On the primary app some of the pilot program schools had the LOE icon and allowed you to choose which letters they received. However, the list of schools my school told me had access to my electronic LORs includes more schools than AMCAS is showing. Can I choose which LORs these other schools receive?

 

[ChemGrad08]

So I'm a little confused. On the primary app some of the pilot program schools had the LOE icon and allowed you to choose which letters they received. However, the list of schools my school told me had access to my electronic LORs includes more schools than AMCAS is showing. Can I choose which LORs these other schools receive?

maybe your school is using virtualevals?

 

[Dr Lyss]

yes they are but I also have a letter coming from an individual writer that was sent to AMCAS. How do I get this letter also sent to these same schools or do I have to have him mail it

 

[saa09]

how long should I wait before paying my career center to resubmit the letters?

I sent a bunch of letters through interfolio on 8/15 and they haven't been uploaded yet. But, I would be worried that the numbers wouldn't match from the two times that you made the letters.