*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*

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No, they will not send your application to schools without verification. They will send your application after it has been verified/processed and thus, most likely after the 17th. They can send the application though without the MCAT score. And that is then automatically sent to the schools you chose after. Hope this helps!

edge of desire said:
but i won't be verified by then (the 17th)...they send my data to schools w/o verification?
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edge of desire said:
but i won't be verified by then (the 17th)...they send my data to schools w/o verification?
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Some limited data are available to schools. You may receive invitations to complete secondaries in advance of having actually had your application fully processed (verified).
 
docntrainin said:
Do you know if they update the received date immediately as they come in or if they update the received date when they start the verification process. i'm asking this because on their website it says processing transcripts received on xx. I hope that just cause they didn't update that they received my transcript over a week ago, I don't get pushed back to a much later date for verification...
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The two that they have received from me got there on 6/2 and they were just posted this morning. They are very behind. They don't verify anything until they receive all of your transcripts as far as I know.
 
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therunner12 said:
The two that they have received from me got there on 6/2 and they were just posted this morning. They are very behind. They don't verify anything until they receive all of your transcripts as far as I know.
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Yeah they won't start verifying until you have submitted and have the 'status' received for your transcripts.
 
I'm looking for some advice as to how I list my degrees earned.

I am receiving two degrees from my institution, a BS in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry and a BA in Music. These are from two colleges, so it's two different degrees but many of my courses counted for requirements on both degrees, etc. I'm finishing both in May 2012.

On AMCAS it says the following:
If you were awarded or expect to be awarded multiple degrees
at a single institution, create a separate entry for each degree.

Should I create two institution entries for these degrees, or list them as one? It makes more sense to do two, but then what do I do about my coursework? List it for just one?

Any input is appreciated!
 
So I am looking at applying right now. I have all of my LoRs accounted for and everything is written and ready. The only thing I am waiting for right now is a paper that was submitted to Journal of Virology May 12th. Should I wait until it gets published so I can add it to my work/activities, or should I just submit now to get ahead of the curve?
 
HINKLO said:
So I am looking at applying right now. I have all of my LoRs accounted for and everything is written and ready. The only thing I am waiting for right now is a paper that was submitted to Journal of Virology May 12th. Should I wait until it gets published so I can add it to my work/activities, or should I just submit now to get ahead of the curve?
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I say apply. Do you have any idea what the typical delay is for getting a paper accepted to that journal? In my experience, it takes months for the referees to provide their input, so you would be waiting a while, and there's no guarantee that it would be accepted anyway
 
HINKLO said:
So I am looking at applying right now. I have all of my LoRs accounted for and everything is written and ready. The only thing I am waiting for right now is a paper that was submitted to Journal of Virology May 12th. Should I wait until it gets published so I can add it to my work/activities, or should I just submit now to get ahead of the curve?
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Apply now and in the activity description explain what the status of the paper is. They are going to trust what you write there.
 
Journal of Virology's turnaround is (according to my coordinator) 6-8 weeks...so I am guessing end of June to mid-July. I was leaning towards applying early. I will sit on it for a day or two before I make a final decision. I still feel like at this point I would be well ahead of the major rush of applicants.
 
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docntrainin said:
i was just taking a look at the official verification thread and it seems that everyone on there had a date when their transcripts were received. i submitted my transcripts over a week ago and amcas still says waiting on transcripts, how long did it take for amcas to acknowledge receipt of the transcripts?

thanks!🙂
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Hi, it depends on when your school sends the transcripts out to AMCAS. Once I requested my transcripts at my university it took about 1-2 weeks until I saw the "received" status update.
Are your transcripts on hold for Spring grades? or for a degree to post? that can cause a delay....
 
browneyed girl said:
Hi, it depends on when your school sends the transcripts out to AMCAS. Once I requested my transcripts at my university it took about 1-2 weeks until I saw the "received" status update.
Are your transcripts on hold for Spring grades? or for a degree to post? that can cause a delay....
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Called my school. They mailed it out over a week ago. Still waiting for amcas Status to change and say transcript received. But will the date for this say the real day they received or the day they type it in. I hope the former!! :xf:
 
Can we add more schools after being verified? Does AMCAS restart the same verification process? How long does it take after adding more schools?
 
I have submitted my application. Obviously, it is not verified yet. I want to add another school to my application because one of the schools I initially picked told me that my MCAT is not valid for them when I contacted them by email (they replied too late but according to MSAR my MCAT was valid.

I was reading the AMCAS instruction manual, which said that after adding additional schools, I need to re-certifiy and re-submit my application.

My question is whether I should add additional schools now OR wait till my application is verified. I am worried if I add more schools and re-submit then it will put me back in line to the last spot for verification purposes. Thanks for answering!!!

Also, can I do anything regarding the MCAT issue? Basically, according to MSAR, my MCAT is valid but according to the school, it is not. They have asked me to contact them by phone but the email suggested that they do not give any sort of MCAT date waivers.
 
If you are taking a summer class, will AMCA wait to receive that transcript to process your application, or will they process without it? It says they are waiting for that transcript right now...Thanks!
 
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ceng2doc said:
Can we add more schools after being verified? Does AMCAS restart the same verification process? How long does it take after adding more schools?
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Yes you can. AMCAS doesn't restart verification. It takes at most a business day.
gt3rs said:
I have submitted my application. Obviously, it is not verified yet. I want to add another school to my application because one of the schools I initially picked told me that my MCAT is not valid for them when I contacted them by email (they replied too late but according to MSAR my MCAT was valid.

I was reading the AMCAS instruction manual, which said that after adding additional schools, I need to re-certifiy and re-submit my application.

My question is whether I should add additional schools now OR wait till my application is verified. I am worried if I add more schools and re-submit then it will put me back in line to the last spot for verification purposes. Thanks for answering!!!

Also, can I do anything regarding the MCAT issue? Basically, according to MSAR, my MCAT is valid but according to the school, it is not. They have asked me to contact them by phone but the email suggested that they do not give any sort of MCAT date waivers.
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Your first question: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/147904/aftersub_shared_2.1.html
Your second question: I don't think you can do anything, but I don't know. What school is it and when is your MCAT from?
kdh1988 said:
If you are taking a summer class, will AMCA wait to receive that transcript to process your application, or will they process without it? It says they are waiting for that transcript right now...Thanks!
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They won't wait if they already have your transcript. Your summer class will be marked as future/current and they'll ignore it. Did you already send the transcript?
 
Hey, I am trying to get my transcripts verified by a reasonable date. However, I will not have both my MCAT score or committe letter until late-ish July. What do you need before submitting your application (LORs, transcripts, MCAT score?) so that I can get the ball rolling on verification? If I submit before all of the components are in, will the med schools get my application and wonder where the missing component(s) are?

Thanks for clarifying this; I'm really confused 👍
 
sibitrum said:
Hey, I am trying to get my transcripts verified by a reasonable date. However, I will not have both my MCAT score or committe letter until late-ish July. What do you need before submitting your application (LORs, transcripts, MCAT score?) so that I can get the ball rolling on verification? If I submit before all of the components are in, will the med schools get my application and wonder where the missing component(s) are?

Thanks for clarifying this; I'm really confused 👍
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You don't need your LORs or MCAT score to submit and be verified. They do need your transcripts of course or they will have nothing to verify.

It's fine to submit before your MCAT and LORs are in. Most schools will send you their secondary before they get your MCAT or LOR. Your secondary won't be complete without them though
 
sector9 said:
Yes you

They won't wait if they already have your transcript. Your summer class will be marked as future/current and they'll ignore it. Did you already send the transcript?
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I had no idea about that. So now I have to send them a transcript with no grades on it at all? I'm taking summer classes at a place I've never attended before.
 
My family is very well off and we live in a large house. I have had a fortunate upbringing and I have received full medical and dental care growing up.

But on AMCAS when it said if I lived in a medically undeserved area I typed in my address (in California) and apparantly I do. (http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/GeoAdvisor/ShortageDesignationAdvisor.aspx).

I don't want to provide the actual address or county to remain anonymous but I feel really dumb checking "yes" for that question on AMCAS when I live in a freaking Country Club. Should I just check "I don't know"? If I hadn't had looked up my address I would have checked "no" without even thinking twice. Does it matter to adcoms or affect my chances in any way? I don't want to make it look like I grew up in the ghetto or in a remote area and didn't have access to medical care when I always had access to medical/dental care....
 
I didn't realize that I lived in an underserved area either. I knew we had physician shortages so I answered don't know. I think that the question asks for your impression if the area was underserved. I would answer "no" in your case since you didn't feel underserved.
 
flatearth22 said:
My family is very well off and we live in a large house. I have had a fortunate upbringing and I have received full medical and dental care growing up.

But on AMCAS when it said if I lived in a medically undeserved area I typed in my address (in California) and apparantly I do. (http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/GeoAdvisor/ShortageDesignationAdvisor.aspx).

I don't want to provide the actual address or county to remain anonymous but I feel really dumb checking "yes" for that question on AMCAS when I live in a freaking Country Club. Should I just check "I don't know"? If I hadn't had looked up my address I would have checked "no" without even thinking twice. Does it matter to adcoms or affect my chances in any way? I don't want to make it look like I grew up in the ghetto or in a remote area and didn't have access to medical care when I always had access to medical/dental care....
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woah. Awesome link. I grew up in a medical underserved asian community. There's also a primary care physician, mental health, and dental shortage.

And yet, I'm within 5-minutes from a hospital, 10-minutes from a primary care doctor, and 15-minutes from my favorite dentist (though there are closer ones). I wouldn't say I lived in a health care shortage area - maybe for some lower income individuals - but I have always regularly gone to the doctor and dentist. Yet, I know many people in my neighborhood has a hard time getting to a health care professional - either they lacked insurance, or money, or easy transportation. So I think it is up to you whether you want to mark yes or no. You weren't at a disadvantaged -- but if Amcas is asking about your community, than yes it was.

EDIT.
Found it in instructions:
--Childhood info section--
"Underserved: Based on your own experiences or the experiences of immediate family and friends, you may believe that the area in which you grew up was "underserved" if there was an inadequate number of available health care providers, this may include physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care services."

For me, the area wasn't underserved... it only ways because people in the area had trouble affording the service. But there was enough health care providers despite what the above link says. If you think there was enough providers and the lack of coverage came more for people's inability to pay, I would check no. But really --it's based on your experience.

And despite what NickNaylor says, I doubt you would be laughed at -- you aren't marking yourself disadvantaged in the new AMCAS. You are just talking about your childhood and the neighborhood you grew up in. After marking these answers, you can later mark if you are a disadvantaged student -- which I would not say yes to in your case.
 
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It's meaningless. If you mark disadvantaged because of that, you'll be laughed at. And I don't think this is the kind of thing they're looking for when you're asked if you're from a disadvantaged area with respect to medical care. I was from a disadvantaged area but didn't answer that question on the application.
 
For the work and activites when I put in bullet points, the PDF preview has them in a list, but the HTML preview seems to ignore the line breaks and just clumps them together. Which one is right, slash how do I alleviate this problem?

While we're at it, what's consensus on list vs paragraph descriptions? mine are half and half right now.
 
pokemoniscool said:
For the work and activites when I put in bullet points, the PDF preview has them in a list, but the HTML preview seems to ignore the line breaks and just clumps them together. Which one is right, slash how do I alleviate this problem?

While we're at it, what's consensus on list vs paragraph descriptions? mine are half and half right now.
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Your first question was just answered in the appropriate thread.

It doesn't matter if you decide on lists or paragraphs. This is answered in the FAQ at the beginning of the appropriate thread.
 
Okay, so I didn't expect that this would come up, but... the high school category is red-asterisked!

What's the procedure for putting in a GED?? They want school name, location, graduation date, and other such information that is of little use to those of us who Didn't Do The High School Thing. I tried looking for the name of the technical college where my test was administered, but no dice. It's driving me nuts.

EDIT: Owait, never mind. I found it in the instruction manual. "[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]If you received your General Educational Development (GED) certificate, please list the state and county where the certificate was awarded. In the School field, choose "Other (Not Listed)." In the box provided, type "General Education Development certificate," then enter the city where you took the test, and the year the certificate was received.:"..
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]
..
 
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NickNaylor said:
It's meaningless. If you mark disadvantaged because of that, you'll be laughed at. And I don't think this is the kind of thing they're looking for when you're asked if you're from a disadvantaged area with respect to medical care. I was from a disadvantaged area but didn't answer that question on the application.
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This. I think they want to know if you, personally, felt at a disadvantage whether due to a shortage of medical care or socioeconomic status. If you were living in a country club, I don't think that counts.
 
kansaskid said:
This. I think they want to know if you, personally, felt at a disadvantage whether due to a shortage of medical care or socioeconomic status. If you were living in a country club, I don't think that counts.
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Country clubs can be disadvantaged...
 
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Where will it say "Waiting on transcripts?" can't seem to find it

Also, I'm taking the MCat august 12th and there are 2 august 12ths for some reason
 
iceman132 said:
Where will it say "Waiting on transcripts?" can't seem to find it

Also, I'm taking the MCat august 12th and there are 2 august 12ths for some reason
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It's on the Main Menu page, click on the Details link under Status on the left hand side.

I don't know about the MCAT. Maybe they have a morning and afternoon test administration? I would imagine that it doesn't matter which one you pick
 
If you see your 2nd MCAT score and you don't want the schools to see it, then can you not indicate that test date on the AMCAS app? Or do you have to?
 
My AMCAS application was recently verified and I just noticed that one of the medical schools I selected is marked as though I have previously applied there.

I haven't previously applied to any medical schools, but I must have accidently clicked 'Yes'. Should I be worried about this? Is it worth emailing the school to clarify? Can I contact AMCAS and have them correct the error?
 
ZooeyGlass said:
My AMCAS application was recently verified and I just noticed that one of the medical schools I selected is marked as though I have previously applied there.

I haven't previously applied to any medical schools, but I must have accidently clicked 'Yes'. Should I be worried about this? Is it worth emailing the school to clarify? Can I contact AMCAS and have them correct the error?
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I would first contact AMCAS to see if you can correct it. If you can't, then clear it up with the school directly.
 
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Hey guys, quick question:

- How would I list learning a language as an activity? Is this something you can list? (I am Arabic but I am currently learning Bangla.)
 
duke2121 said:
Has anyone been able to indent paragraphs in your personal statement on the actual AMCAS?
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I would go with the standard business letter block format - no indentations, skip a line between paragraphs. That way, it's only 1 extra empty char per paragraph.

ohshxtsaty said:
Hey guys, quick question:

- How would I list learning a language as an activity? Is this something you can list? (I am Arabic but I am currently learning Bangla.)
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If it's a class through an institution, then list it in the course work section.

If it's something you are doing on your own time (like studying out of books) and for fun, then list it as a hobby/other activities in the work/activities section and give a brief description. It's probably also OK to list yourself as a contact.
 
I submitted on June 1st and am still waiting on transcripts. When they get my last transcript will I move to the front of the verification line or will I have to take my place at the back becaus of horrible junior college admission centers?

Also, how long does it take AMCAS to fix a problem? I emailed then two days ago about not needing a transcript from the college I'm taking classes from this summer and they responded yesterday morning saying that they were beginning to work on it.
 
therunner12 said:
I submitted on June 1st and am still waiting on transcripts. When they get my last transcript will I move to the front of the verification line or will I have to take my place at the back becaus of horrible junior college admission centers?
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I believe the AMCAS verifies applications in the order that they are transitioned to "Ready for Review" status. You get to the "Ready for Review" stage when the AMCAS confirms that it has all the required transcripts and you've certified and submitted your application.
 
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