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

[Pons Asinorum]

"I was a Panelist on "Libel Law under Tribal Law" presentation. I was invited to speak regarding a case that I had worked on involving a novel area of Indian law - prior restraints and freedom of the press. Certain tribal members had sued other tribal members for defamation in tribal court. As part of their claims for relief, they requested that the tribal court enter an injunction forbidding discussion of their family's alleged non-Indian ancestry which the lower tribal court granted.

This tribal court action was in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act. I served as lead counsel on that case in the appellate court where the Tribal Court of Appeals vacated the lower court judgment."

How does this sound?

Your post history doesn't indicate that you are a JD; unless you are, putting you were "lead counsel" will be problematic. When I see it I start looking for legal training; adcomms will do the same thing, and may cast a question mark over the experience. Just my $0.02.

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[LizzyM]

"I was a Panelist on "Libel Law under Tribal Law" presentation. I was invited to speak regarding a case that I had worked on involving a novel area of Indian law - prior restraints and freedom of the press. Certain tribal members had sued other tribal members for defamation in tribal court. As part of their claims for relief, they requested that the tribal court enter an injunction forbidding discussion of their family's alleged non-Indian ancestry which the lower tribal court granted.

This tribal court action was in violation of the Indian Civil Rights Act. I served as lead counsel on that case in the appellate court where the Tribal Court of Appeals vacated the lower court judgment."

How does this sound?

That's interesting but it is sprinkles on the cupcake. The cupcake itself should be your employment as lead counsel. Of course, what everyone looks at first is the frosting ... your volunteer work, clinical exposure, and research experiences.

 

[sector9]

The 700 character limit is hard to work with especially when discussing legal issues.

Basically, I am a lawyer. Based on the work that I had done, I was invited to speak about it to the Indian Law Section of my State Bar. We are likely the first case in this area of the law. Indeed, my work made the law. Free speech rights in Indian courts are governed by a different set of laws than state or federal courts.

I don't know what a "mock-up scenario" is.

If your work was so important, then why not mark it as one of your most meaningful experiences?

 

[Dartmouth2005]

Your post history doesn't indicate that you are a JD; unless you are, putting you were "lead counsel" will be problematic. When I see it I start looking for legal training; adcomms will do the same thing, and may cast a question mark over the experience. Just my $0.02.

It's in my app that I am a JD. I don't think there is any way of avoiding it. My work as a JD is what lead me to apply to medical school, and I took Gen Chem and Bio while I was in law school. That will be discussed in my personal statement.

The point I would like to stress in my overall app is that I am not some screw up ambulance chaser who is fleeing the law and that I legitimately deserve to go to medical school.

 

[Dartmouth2005]

If your work was so important, then why not mark it as one of your most meaningful experiences?

The places that I have worked as a lawyer span more than just one entry on the AMCAS primary. I believe I have three or four entries. This is the one I am most unsure how to word.

This is of course in addition to volunteer, shadowing, etc.

 

[n3xa]

Damn just goes to show how much I paid attention in hs. I have 6 AP credits on my UG transcript and I can't remember if I actually passed the US history test or not or if all 6 credits were from Statistics?

And it doesn't even matter because I ended up re-taking stats in college. Sigh. Facepalm.

 

[WhizoMD]

I just finished my disadvantaged "essay", and I feel that it covers everything, but it's only ~250 characters long. Should I make it longer?

 

[sdsoccer]

so i am trying to print the letter request form... im on firefox 3.5

BUT it wont let me

when i click print letter request form link it opens a pop up that says please wait... this may take up to 2 minutes... but it never finishes loading and then there is a pop up for a file download generatePDF.cfm...

which if u open it up it just opens in firefox or whatever browser and then the download box pops up again...

how does the pdf actually get generated? and or how can i print the form?

 

[Pons Asinorum]

so i am trying to print the letter request form... im on firefox 3.5

BUT it wont let me

when i click print letter request form link it opens a pop up that says please wait... this may take up to 2 minutes... but it never finishes loading and then there is a pop up for a file download generatePDF.cfm...

which if u open it up it just opens in firefox or whatever browser and then the download box pops up again...

how does the pdf actually get generated? and or how can i print the form?

I replied in the LOR thread. Please don't cross-post in multiple threads.

 

[Slack3r]

For multiple work activities spanning numerous years, who should be listed as the contact person? Myself?

 

[SteveJMarist]

Your transcript should be separated into two different parts -- with one part saying you were an undergrad and one part saying you were a grad student (or seeking a graduate degree at the time). If your transcript is all just one giant list of grads -- with no indicate of what degree you were seeking, then you would list it all as undergraduate coursework.

If your transcript does separate your grad coursework from undergrad coursework, then you would list your school twice. The second time you list it, for degrees earned, use "No degree expected" [That should be an option]

Conclusion - Look at your transcript. See if it knows you were enrolled into two different programs.

My transcript does indeed separate the undergrad stuff from the grad stuff. So I guess I will list the school twice and hope that AMCAS does not expect two separate transcripts.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

My transcript does indeed separate the undergrad stuff from the grad stuff. So I guess I will list the school twice and hope that AMCAS does not expect two separate transcripts.

They won't.

 

[LJ1000F]

Can you submit your transcript to the AMCA before you have submitted your primary? Say I want to submit on June 15th because I want to work on my personal statement more but have everything else filled out. Can I have my transcript submitted before I have confirmed/sent in my primary?

 

[mauberley]

Can you submit your transcript to the AMCA before you have submitted your primary? Say I want to submit on June 15th because I want to work on my personal statement more but have everything else filled out. Can I have my transcript submitted before I have confirmed/sent in my primary?

Yes.

 

[hurricane123]

Is there not a classics or general humanities category? That's what I would but it under. When I think foreign language, I think reading texts in the native language. English also doesn't seem quite right, but I think that would be better than foreign language.

In the amcas instructions it lists "comparative literature" under the Foreign language category. There is no classics or general humanities category but I guess I could list it under "other."

In terms of prereqs, the two classes I am using for the English requirement are technically comparative literature. Will it be a problem if they aren't marked "English Language and Literature" ?

 

[SteveJMarist]

They won't.

Perfect. I appreciate it, thank you.

 

[UMICHPremed]

In the final tab of the AMCAS app, there is a section for other tests you have taken (i.e. GRE, DAT...) I am wondering if its a good idea to report your SAT/ACT score.

People who applied last year told me that on some of the secondaries they ask for your SAT/ACT score so why not just write it in on the AMCAS app right? Especially if you did well since med school want to see continued excellence in standardized testing in hopes that you will perform well on the USMLE.

 

[ChipFT]

Hi all, long time lurker here. I'm a current graduate student and have listed my expected degree as a Masters, and included the specific title of my degree as the "major" I declared. We also have what my school calls certificate programs which allow us to have a concentration in different departments/ fields of study - would it be acceptable to include this as a "minor" on AMCAS? The certificate programs usually require approximately 20 credit hours of course work and are pretty similar to the requirements of a minor at an undergraduate level. Or should I just include it as one of my Activities/ EC's?

 

[cwaranch]

So if I have my whole app submitted say in June but my pre med advisory committee will not have my letter of recommendation until September how does this affect me? Can I apply to all the schools i want and then send them that letter later than everything else? Also I am applying to the umkc md only program and they want everything including letters by august 1. Does this mean that i cant include my pmac letter in that application?

 

[mauberley]

So if I have my whole app submitted say in June but my pre med advisory committee will not have my letter of recommendation until September how does this affect me? Can I apply to all the schools i want and then send them that letter later than everything else? Also I am applying to the umkc md only program and they want everything including letters by august 1. Does this mean that i cant include my pmac letter in that application?

You would not be considered as having a complete application at schools until your secondary letters are in. If you don't get your letter until September, you'll very likely be at a heavy disadvantage compared to applicants who completed prior to that.

For your specific question, that would mean that you can't include your committee letter with your UMKC application, unfortunately.

 

[iluv3]

...

 

[fizzgig]

The question that asks you to break down how you paid for post secondary education: if you have education beyond undergrad that's obviously also post secondary, should you be estimating for the whole deal? Like if you did undergrad then law school, you should break down the total of both combined in to a pie chart?

And second question: coursework for grad students - do we need to list every term that we did masters/phd research as a course even though they're all X or S grades? i'm assuming we do since other people list pass/fail/no credit work too right? even though there's no useful information in there..

 

[Laplace]

I did a search on this but failed to find a definitive answer. As far as entering AP credit goes, what are we supposed to put for the grade? My school only gives credit but no letter grade for AP credit. Should I just leave it blank?

 

[Strawberries]

Do Med Schools send paper copies of secondaries or do they just email you and you have to print them out? Thanks!

 

[mauberley]

I did a search on this but failed to find a definitive answer. As far as entering AP credit goes, what are we supposed to put for the grade? My school only gives credit but no letter grade for AP credit. Should I just leave it blank?

Leave the grade blank and designate the course as "Advanced Placement." These courses will not factor into your GPA.

Relevant sections from the AMCAS instruction manual: page 8 (Grades and GPA Calculations), page 39 (Transcript Grade), page 41 (Special Course Types).

 

[mauberley]

Do Med Schools send paper copies of secondaries or do they just email you and you have to print them out? Thanks!

Nearly all schools' secondary applications are completed and submitted online. A few schools will require you to complete them online or print out forms and then submit by mail. I'm not aware of any schools that send secondary application materials by snail mail.

 

[IntoTheWest]

Question about the Letter of Recommendations. If we are sending our letters to AMCAS through Interfolio do we still need to print the Letter Request Form?

 

[mauberley]

I went to CC for 3 years and then transferred to a 4-year university as junior.
How should I distinguish my freshmen and sophomore years? do I go by units? or first CC year as freshmen and last 2 years at CC as sophomore?

Thanks!

Per page 37 of the AMCAS instruction manual (Year in School), your CC courses should be Freshman or Sophomore. Courses taken at the CC beyond 64 semester hours should be listed as Junior. Your classes at the 4-year university should be assigned Junior or Senior as appropriate.

Junior/Community College courses (e.g., associate degree course work) should usually be listed as FR or SO if you took them before you attended a four-year institution. For attendance longer than two years at the same school refer back to the Year in School section.

 

[mauberley]

Question about the Letter of Recommendations. If we are sending our letters to AMCAS through Interfolio do we still need to print the Letter Request Form?

No.

 

[Drenthe]

Do schools screen applicants based on stats? I have no idea whether I should submit my AMCAS ASAP with my current metrics (3.4 cGPA, 3.0 sGPA, 30Q MCAT) or hold out until after I retake the MCAT in August.

To elaborate, I was stupid and was not fully prepared when I took it the first time. I literally took two practice tests (averaging 10-11 per section) and that was it. On the actual MCAT, I got 11V 8P 11B. I know I can do much, much better, at least on the physical science... So my current plan is to prep seriously this time for two months and retake in August. In short, I'm banking on a much higher MCAT this second time - hopefully something 35+.

I know getting the AMCAS out early is key...but I'm worried that the more competitive schools would reject me way before they ever see my second MCAT score come September. Should I hold off submitting until I get my second score?

 

[user123456]

I am trying to print out the letter request form, but what I download is a document in .cfm which I don't know what program to use to open it. Is there no pdf version to print out?

 

[mauberley]

I am trying to print out the letter request form, but what I download is a document in .cfm which I don't know what program to use to open it. Is there no pdf version to print out?

Configure your browser to directly open PDFs in whatever viewing application you use.

 

[iluv3]

Per page 37 of the AMCAS instruction manual (Year in School), your CC courses should be Freshman or Sophomore. Courses taken at the CC beyond 64 semester hours should be listed as Junior. Your classes at the 4-year university should be assigned Junior or Senior as appropriate.

Thanks for your reply and sorry for asking again, so since I took beyond 2 years at CC (same school, all before 4-yr univ.) I should go by the table on page 37 correct? which would mean my 2 years at the 4-yr univ are considered as senior?

 

[mauberley]

Thanks for your reply and sorry for asking again, so since I took beyond 2 years at CC (same school, all before 4-yr univ.) I should go by the table on page 37 correct? which would mean my 2 years at the 4-yr univ are considered as senior?

How did your credit hours break down?

 

[iluv3]

How did your credit hours break down?

well, I actually have over 90 semester units at CC... so literally from FR to SR at CC?

 

[spongedavid]

super newb here

so can we send in transcripts now to be verified? should we mail the requests now???

the actual date we send in is june 1st? we just edit it until then???

sorry super newb here...

 

[coffeekid15]

Is anyone else stunned by the fact that childhood information section the family income breakdown maxes out at 75,000+? There is a huge difference between a family income of 75,000 and one of 120,000, and one of 200,000. It surprises me that that distinction is not made.

 

[mauberley]

well, I actually have over 90 semester units at CC... so literally from FR to SR at CC?

If that's what happened, that's what happened.

super newb here

so can we send in transcripts now to be verified? should we mail the requests now???

the actual date we send in is june 1st? we just edit it until then???

sorry super newb here...

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/147526/amcas_2010_faqs-6.2.html

You can send in your transcripts. However, since you can't submit until June, nothing will be done with them until then.

Is anyone else stunned by the fact that childhood information section the family income breakdown maxes out at 75,000+? There is a huge difference between a family income of 75,000 and one of 120,000, and one of 200,000. It surprises me that that distinction is not made.

I'm not.

 

[Shakespeare37]

My undergraduate institution had a schedule that is not supported by AMCAS. We took one class at a time, for 3.5 weeks, for 1 credit hour. Thus, we were on a 'semester' system where you could only take 4 classes a semester. It took 32 credits to graduate. How do I report credit values in AMCAS for these classes? After I graduated from that school, I took classes at 5 other institutions (non-trad/military), and the credit hours from those schools are easy to report. Anyone have any suggestions for this?

 

[mauberley]

My undergraduate institution had a schedule that is not supported by AMCAS. We took one class at a time, for 3.5 weeks, for 1 credit hour. Thus, we were on a 'semester' system where you could only take 4 classes a semester. It took 32 credits to graduate. How do I report credit values in AMCAS for these classes? After I graduated from that school, I took classes at 5 other institutions (non-trad/military), and the credit hours from those schools are easy to report. Anyone have any suggestions for this?

Can you contact your undergraduate institution's registrar for advice on this? They would provide the best answer to this, as they will most likely provide the same explanation on the transcript they send to AMCAS.

 

[Shakespeare37]

Can you contact your undergraduate institution's registrar for advice on this? They would provide the best answer to this, as they will most likely provide the same explanation on the transcript they send to AMCAS.

Will do. Thanks, hadn't thought of that.

 

[iluv3]

...

 

[kexy]

I have a quick question about course classification. If we list a course as BCPM and AMCAS disagrees, will fixing this delay our application in a significant way?

I took an upper division philosophy course called Development of Physical Science. The course was focused entirely on special relativity; the lectures and assignments consisted mainly of thought experiments that, with simple algebra, help us derive the effects of special relativity. It was not a philosophy course in any typical sense; then again, we weren't exactly solving problems like in a normal physics class. Could I count this as BCPM? Or would AMCAS hate me and think I'm full of crap? I would love to add this to my BCPM GPA, but if attempting to do so and having to justify it with the syllabus/change it if AMCAS disagrees will delay my application, I don't want to bother.

Thanks so much for any insight

 

[cookiemonster12]

I have a quick question about course classification. If we list a course as BCPM and AMCAS disagrees, will fixing this delay our application in a significant way?

I took an upper division philosophy course called Development of Physical Science. The course was focused entirely on special relativity; the lectures and assignments consisted mainly of thought experiments that, with simple algebra, help us derive the effects of special relativity. It was not a philosophy course in any typical sense; then again, we weren't exactly solving problems like in a normal physics class. Could I count this as BCPM? Or would AMCAS hate me and think I'm full of crap? I would love to add this to my BCPM GPA, but if attempting to do so and having to justify it with the syllabus/change it if AMCAS disagrees will delay my application, I don't want to bother.

Thanks so much for any insight

It may delay it. I'm in the same boat. They list "anthropology" as a behavioral science, but this was evolutionary anthropology and was VERY biologically heavy. If they disagree, they may just change how they factor your GPA. But in my mind, I'm just going to put mine as a behavioral/social science and not risk a potential delay.

 

[cookiemonster12]

Hi! I know it's very advantageous to submit on June 1st. However, I attend a school on the quarter system and my Spring grades won't post until June 14th. I really want my Spring grades to be factored into my science GPA, but this would mean waiting to submit until June 14th. That would mean I could only send my institution the transcript request letter on that day, and that AMCAS probably would not receive transcripts until the last week of June. That could mean a month of processing. (But maybe it wouldn't because the end of June is still early?)
I'm wondering what you guys think about submitting on June 14th versus June 1st. I have my fingers crossed for a few rolling schools (Case, Mount Sinai, and Michigan in particular) and I know that the early bird gets the worm. Does submitting June 14th hurt me?

 

[cookiemonster12]

Do schools screen applicants based on stats? I have no idea whether I should submit my AMCAS ASAP with my current metrics (3.4 cGPA, 3.0 sGPA, 30Q MCAT) or hold out until after I retake the MCAT in August.

To elaborate, I was stupid and was not fully prepared when I took it the first time. I literally took two practice tests (averaging 10-11 per section) and that was it. On the actual MCAT, I got 11V 8P 11B. I know I can do much, much better, at least on the physical science... So my current plan is to prep seriously this time for two months and retake in August. In short, I'm banking on a much higher MCAT this second time - hopefully something 35+.

I know getting the AMCAS out early is key...but I'm worried that the more competitive schools would reject me way before they ever see my second MCAT score come September. Should I hold off submitting until I get my second score?

If you tell AMCAS that you are retaking (there's that spot under standardized tests) then it won't consider your app complete until you actually take the test and have scores. I think your stats may be too low even with the 35+ because there is a GPA screen regardless of MCAT score. Are you opposed to taking a gap year to take a bunch of science classes to raise your GPA? I'm not saying that to upset you, and certainly a great MCAT score is always helpful and I'm sure you have fantastic activities. I'm someone who took a gap year is why I'm suggesting it-- the average accepted GPA for med school is 3.7. The average applicant applies with a 3.5.

 

[spongedavid]

never mind

 

[capn jazz]

nevermind, found my answer

 

[WHOIER]

just checking-

biostatistics would be categorized as 'other' in the coursework section as opposed to 'math'?

thanks.

 

[mauberley]

Hi! I know it's very advantageous to submit on June 1st. However, I attend a school on the quarter system and my Spring grades won't post until June 14th. I really want my Spring grades to be factored into my science GPA, but this would mean waiting to submit until June 14th. That would mean I could only send my institution the transcript request letter on that day, and that AMCAS probably would not receive transcripts until the last week of June. That could mean a month of processing. (But maybe it wouldn't because the end of June is still early?)
I'm wondering what you guys think about submitting on June 14th versus June 1st. I have my fingers crossed for a few rolling schools (Case, Mount Sinai, and Michigan in particular) and I know that the early bird gets the worm. Does submitting June 14th hurt me?

I can tell you that I submitted on June 16th and was verified four weeks later. How much will your GPA change if you have your spring grades available?