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*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2011-2012*~*~*~*
Started by CougarMD
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If you're enrolled at School A to get your bachelor's degree, have you taken college-level classes anywhere else? Have you taken college-level classes while you were still in high school?
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Hi. I had to void my test today, and I'm thinking about retaking during August. I have a MCAT score ready from the last year, and I am still deciding whether I should mark on the primary app (will submit it early next week) that I'm going to be taking MCAT in August or don't indicate at all.
If I indiciate that I'll be retaking MCAT, and after I submit secondary apps, will my applications be held in pending files until the August exam score gets released (early September)? or will some schools review them based on my last year's MCAT score? and if they think it's high enough, would I be invited for an interview?
I'm trying to weight whether having a higher MCAT score (last year, I got 32O: 12/9/11) or having my secondary application reviewed as early as possible would yield a better chance in getting an interview. I wanted to retake the mcat becuase the score I got on the real MCAT was much lower than what I had been getting on practice FL's. I'll be applying to my state school as well, but I also wanted to have at least a decent shot at some of the top schools.
If I indiciate that I'll be retaking MCAT, and after I submit secondary apps, will my applications be held in pending files until the August exam score gets released (early September)? or will some schools review them based on my last year's MCAT score? and if they think it's high enough, would I be invited for an interview?
I'm trying to weight whether having a higher MCAT score (last year, I got 32O: 12/9/11) or having my secondary application reviewed as early as possible would yield a better chance in getting an interview. I wanted to retake the mcat becuase the score I got on the real MCAT was much lower than what I had been getting on practice FL's. I'll be applying to my state school as well, but I also wanted to have at least a decent shot at some of the top schools.
32O is a very solid score, unless it was incredibly unbalanced. Mind giving us the breakdown? If it was fairly balanced, then I wouldn't retake unless you know you can smash 32 EVERY time, and based on your voiding I would say that's probably not the case. Honestly, submitting earlier will probably get you more interviews than an extra 2-3 points on an MCAT, but that depends on the school, your GPA, strength of your ECs...etc.
I don't think they will hold your app until the score comes in...at least at AMCAS. Individual schools might hold your app until they get the score that you indicated they should be expecting on the primary. I honestly don't know though, this is just my best guess. I'm sure there are people here who know.
I don't think they will hold your app until the score comes in...at least at AMCAS. Individual schools might hold your app until they get the score that you indicated they should be expecting on the primary. I honestly don't know though, this is just my best guess. I'm sure there are people here who know.
Yes, AMCAS will send you an e-mail when your transcripts are received, when your payment is received, and when you're officially verified (unlike TMDSAS 🙁).
Someone has already mentioned this, but I just want to make sure after reading the amcas instructions.
If I submit with only one school ($160) and then resubmit with additional schools, I only have to pay the $33 per school, and no additional fee for having to re-certify and resubmit?
The part that's confusing me is this: "To designate additional schools once you have submitted your application to AMCAS, go to the Medical Schools section of the application, select the additional schools you wish to designate, and re-certify and resubmit your application to AMCAS. You must re-certify and resubmit your application with the additional designated schools by the stated deadlines of the schools you wish to add. Deadlines may differ for different program types. There is a fee for electing to apply to additional medical schools"
If I submit with only one school ($160) and then resubmit with additional schools, I only have to pay the $33 per school, and no additional fee for having to re-certify and resubmit?
The part that's confusing me is this: "To designate additional schools once you have submitted your application to AMCAS, go to the Medical Schools section of the application, select the additional schools you wish to designate, and re-certify and resubmit your application to AMCAS. You must re-certify and resubmit your application with the additional designated schools by the stated deadlines of the schools you wish to add. Deadlines may differ for different program types. There is a fee for electing to apply to additional medical schools"
This is my understanding.
just got my things verified.
Anyone else thinks the AMCAS verifiers are incompetent? they counted some of my independent study courses as 4.0 hours and the others as 3.0 hours. there are other issues also and I had to send them a change request. arrrgghhhh!!!!!
Anyone else thinks the AMCAS verifiers are incompetent? they counted some of my independent study courses as 4.0 hours and the others as 3.0 hours. there are other issues also and I had to send them a change request. arrrgghhhh!!!!!
a typo?
Er, i just realized (post submission) I foolishly forgot to list the AP credits that were given an equivalent course name from my university. Also I didn't list the equivalency for two bio classes I took at a different university that were transferred to my main uni (although i also sent that raw transcript to amcas)....that's def a problem right? lol, so should i wait for them to tell me i messed up and fix it, its going to delay verification im guessing, fuuu, what a careless mistake 😳
Quick question regarding my submitting of coursework. So my situation is a little special as I have been in school for a looooong time to finish my undergrad which included one 4 year university, two community colleges, and my last 4 year university. My question is what do I put down as my years in college? I pretty much started over as a freshman when I went from the first college to the community college (did the two years and transferred as a junior) but technically since I never stopped going to school for no more than a semester would I just go in succession and be a senior for extra years or what?
I have a quick question on double-majoring. I was initially minoring in anthropology, I really liked it, and was almost done with my bio major, so I talked with an advisor, and decided to pick up a BA in anthropology. However, this has to be undeclared still, since although I have taken upper level anthropology courses, I haven't finished all of the pre-reqs for the major (I will be done this summer). I definitely want to include my major in anthropology, but since it is still undeclared and won't show up as an expected degree on my transcript until the end of this summer, I can't include it right?
Is there anything I can do to still let the adcoms know about my added on major?
Is there anything I can do to still let the adcoms know about my added on major?
Honestly, I think that most schools look at Citizens and Permanent Residents the same way. I wouldn't really worry too much about it. You have the same chances.
I just don't know if you want to mess with anything MID-APPLICATION just because I wouldn't want your application to be kicked out by an automated system due to semantics. Fixing it takes time, and the more time that has passed, the less chance you have of getting in to your desired school due to rolling admissions. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter WHY your application was delayed. It is a risk.
I just don't know if you want to mess with anything MID-APPLICATION just because I wouldn't want your application to be kicked out by an automated system due to semantics. Fixing it takes time, and the more time that has passed, the less chance you have of getting in to your desired school due to rolling admissions. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter WHY your application was delayed. It is a risk.
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If you're truly concerned about it, just mention it at interviews. Usually interviewers will give you the chance to give them any extra information that wasn't on your application otherwise.
Not much else you can do.
Use the guide in the instruction manual to map your credits earned to years in school.
score breakdown, not date I'm assuming
I don't know that your transcript has to include information about your expected degree(s). Call AMCAS to find out.
Does anyone know how long it will take AMCAS to send your app to the additional schools if you take this route and only submit with one school initially so that you can get verified?
Assuming you've already been verified, not long. Probably on the order of a day.
I have a question, which OP might also be interested in. My family immigrated to the U.S. when I was young, and I am currently a neutralized citizen. But I'm still using my name at birth, and I was wondering how this would affect my chances. I know that there's a section in AMCAS where I can indicate that I'm a U.S. citizen, but is there any chance that some schools would pay not enough attention to this section and rather make a blind guess from looking at my name that I'm an international applicant?
Plenty of American-born citizens have foreign-sounding names. I don't think this is an issue at all.
Hey guys,
So I took a "SRP 180 - Neurology" research for units and a grade, and I was wondering whether it counted towards the BCMP science gpa. Thing is, the department is under my school's medical school (and I heard med classes don't count towards the science gpa).
note: main reason why I'm so concernced is that I might be given a B because my "pace is slow with the computer" - though I received no feedback my entire time working at the lab thus far.
So I took a "SRP 180 - Neurology" research for units and a grade, and I was wondering whether it counted towards the BCMP science gpa. Thing is, the department is under my school's medical school (and I heard med classes don't count towards the science gpa).
note: main reason why I'm so concernced is that I might be given a B because my "pace is slow with the computer" - though I received no feedback my entire time working at the lab thus far.
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If
{
Grade in course > BCPM GPA;
List as BCPM
else
List as non-BCPM
}
{
Grade in course > BCPM GPA;
List as BCPM
else
List as non-BCPM
}
You can contact AAMC and get your name on your MCAT officially changed. I had to do this too since I got citizenship two months after taking the MCAT. They require documentation of the name change, but otherwise it's a pretty easy fix. You might as well do this in addition to listing it on AMCAS, since the MCAT uses your AMCAS ID #.
thank you. yes, i plan on listing as non-bcmp, but what if amcas changes it? thing is, there isn't any syllabus for the "course"
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This sounds horrible! Why did you take the course?
I should've taken it as units instead of grade.
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Put what you want and if they change it count your losses and carry on. You can appeal but that delays verification (ie - not worth it).
okay thanks! is it possible to write some feedback when inputting my grade?
and what research is inputted into "bcmp"? ie: is imaging stuff considered bcmp?
this is frustrating.
and what research is inputted into "bcmp"? ie: is imaging stuff considered bcmp?
this is frustrating.
No feedback - just list the course number and name EXACTLY as they appear on your transcript and classify it in the drop-down menu. Remember AMCAS says to classify by course content so just use your best judgment and if they change it move on and don't worry about the 0.03 points they took from your BCPM GPA...
Oh AMCAS says to judge by course content? Thank goodness. Yeah, I might send my transcript really early, and if they say no, i'll appeal if it takes forever. I'm applying next year.
This sounds dishonest.
Should I just call the AMCAS people and ask them? Or does anyone else have any feedback/experience with this situation?
Mine is going to be longer- I have verification that two transcripts were sent on June 6th and they still haven't been marked as received.
My question- is anyone receiving duplicate notifications emails for the transcripts and LOEs? On wednesday I received an email for one school's transcript, then received another email the following day for the same school. 😕 This also happened for one of my letters- anyone else? They wouldn't receive a transcript or letter from one school but attribute it to someone else would they?
I've tried contacting AMCAS once with a similar question, they state that they will not advise you in categorizing your courses. For this reason I'd say flatearth's suggestion is probably your best bet.
Hey guys I was wondering if anyone been able to use firefox 4 user to do their amcas application. I hate Internet explorer and hate even more that after I installed IE9, i had to uninstall it because amcas is not compatible with it...
i dont wanna have to downgrade my firefox version, and i also dont want to upgrade to IE 9 just hoping that amcas has fixed the issue, so if others are able to use it with IE9 lemme know!
i dont wanna have to downgrade my firefox version, and i also dont want to upgrade to IE 9 just hoping that amcas has fixed the issue, so if others are able to use it with IE9 lemme know!
List of compatible browsers:
Internet Explorer 8.0, 7.0, 6.0, and 5.5
Netscape 7
Mozilla Firefox 3.6, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.5, and 1.0.2
Look for an old release, install it, submit your application, uninstall the browser, move on with your life.
Internet Explorer 8.0, 7.0, 6.0, and 5.5
Netscape 7
Mozilla Firefox 3.6, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.5, and 1.0.2
Look for an old release, install it, submit your application, uninstall the browser, move on with your life.
Does anyone know when schools generally begin reviewing secondary apps? I know that it depends on schools, like Stanford for instance is infamous for doing it so late in the cycle, but generally, would it be accurate to say that schools usually begin the reviewing process from early August?
I completed the whole AMCAS application with no problems using Firefox on Linux and User Agent Switcher. It seems to work fine. You can even turn User Agent Switcher off after getting to the main menu, as only the login screen checks for IE/Windows or Mac.
AMCAS seems to be fairly well-written and simple, I think only maybe a very old browser would have problems with it. I think they're just trying to save themselves the effort of actually testing it with other browsers.
AMCAS seems to be fairly well-written and simple, I think only maybe a very old browser would have problems with it. I think they're just trying to save themselves the effort of actually testing it with other browsers.
Yes OP, you should install a partition for Red Hat or Ubuntu so that you may successfully complete your app 🙄.
Incorrect. As OP suggested, in Windows IE9 won't work on AMCAS: "Unsupported Browser - Please click here to view a list of browsers currently supported by AMCAS. Need help? Contact us at [email protected]."
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lol ill have to go with ubuntu when the crap that will be windows 8 is released. i was just asking because freakin windows update keeps popping up asking me to install ie9, thanks for letting me know imma stick with IE8 and **** slap windows update back to Redwood.
I know that AP classes we received credit for are considered part of the first semester of college course work, but what about AP classes taken in high school we did not take an AP test for and therefore did not receive credit? I was under the assumption that we do not include any high school course work.
I'm confused because the 2012 instructions say
I'm confused because the 2012 instructions say
but the help section of the AMCAS itself says (about high school classes)
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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That sure would be nice. However, if you did not take the AP exams - or even if you DID take them but failed to report your to your undergraduate registrar's office - then no cigar. In short, if the credit for an AP course does not appear as transfer credit on your collegiate transcript, it cannot be listed on AMCAS. Your second quotation says this fairly explicitly.
As regards the instructions cited in your first quote, my high school offered specialized "CollegeNOW" classes whereby you were issued college credit for some advanced math and science classes. These were taken at the high school, but grades were reported to a local community college, and all participating students received a transcript from that college detailing the pertinent credits. I think that's the sort of non-AP college coursework they're referring to.
As regards the instructions cited in your first quote, my high school offered specialized "CollegeNOW" classes whereby you were issued college credit for some advanced math and science classes. These were taken at the high school, but grades were reported to a local community college, and all participating students received a transcript from that college detailing the pertinent credits. I think that's the sort of non-AP college coursework they're referring to.
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