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

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Under the "Alternate ID" section of "Identifying Information," should we list our school ID numbers used for grades and registration? If so, how can we indicate which schools the numbers correspond to? I'm submitting transcripts from three schools and have three university ID numbers.
 
In the Parent/Guardian page of the biographical info section, I noticed an odd thing.

If you select "Don't Know" for a parent's education, it still gives you the drop down menus that would allow you to name a school. You know, the ones that have you pick a state, then it customizes the school list based on what state you picked.

Even more fun...these drop downs for describing the school you just said you don't know about all have the Red Asterisk of You Must Put Something Here.

Anyone else run into this problem and solved it? Or just want to commiserate? : D I feel like I'm in Catch-22 or something.

EDIT: Several minutes later figured this out: one of the options in the "State" drop down is "Unknown USA." If you choose that, then the "School" drop down has like five options; some schools and also one "Other/Not Listed" type option. I picked that, and then I typed in the "School (If name is wrong correct here)" box, I just typed out "I don't know this parent's education background."

Anyway I emailed AMCAS to see if there's some other way they want us dealing with it. I'll update if they tell me to do something different.
 
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musik2468 said:
Under the "Alternate ID" section of "Identifying Information," should we list our school ID numbers used for grades and registration? If so, how can we indicate which schools the numbers correspond to? I'm submitting transcripts from three schools and have three university ID numbers.
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I had two schools/transcripts; I put my school ID numbers and didn't indicate which came from where. I can't say that it seemed to delay processing at all; so long as a number listed matches a provided transcript, that's all that's important.
 
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mauberley said:
I had two schools/transcripts; I put my school ID numbers and didn't indicate which came from where. I can't say that it seemed to delay processing at all; so long as a number listed matches a provided transcript, that's all that's important.
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musik2468 said:
Under the "Alternate ID" section of "Identifying Information," should we list our school ID numbers used for grades and registration? If so, how can we indicate which schools the numbers correspond to? I'm submitting transcripts from three schools and have three university ID numbers.
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You will want to input all of your ID numbers. When you print a transcript request form for the school, you will be presented with a drop-down list which will include all of the ID numbers you inputted. You just have to choose the ID number from the list that corresponds with that school (it will just show up as a number marked "OTHER"). The number you select will then show up on your transcript request form that AMCAS prepares for you
 
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AMCAS asks you what degree you earned, and "is it spelled correctly?"

Well, Washington University in St. Louis gives its College of Arts and Sciences undegrads an Artium Baccalaurei, so no, Bachelor of Arts isn't spelling it correctly. The above is what shows on my degree, because WashU does latin honors. Better to go with the truth, or should I just write Bachelors of Arts - do I risk being confusing?
 
Catburr said:
In the Parent/Guardian page of the biographical info section, I noticed an odd thing.

If you select "Don't Know" for a parent's education, it still gives you the drop down menus that would allow you to name a school. You know, the ones that have you pick a state, then it customizes the school list based on what state you picked.

Even more fun...these drop downs for describing the school you just said you don't know about all have the Red Asterisk of You Must Put Something Here.

Anyone else run into this problem and solved it? Or just want to commiserate? : D I feel like I'm in Catch-22 or something.

EDIT: Several minutes later figured this out: one of the options in the "State" drop down is "Unknown USA." If you choose that, then the "School" drop down has like five options; some schools and also one "Other/Not Listed" type option. I picked that, and then I typed in the "School (If name is wrong correct here)" box, I just typed out "I don't know this parent's education background."

Anyway I emailed AMCAS to see if there's some other way they want us dealing with it. I'll update if they tell me to do something different.
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I had the same problem. And for my other parent, the high school no longer exists. Wasn't quite sure what to do about that either....I just put another high school with a similar name and changed the city and name to match what used to be the school.
 
Sorry if this has already been asked. I am taking the MCAT for the first time in late May. I won't get my score until late June. If I score "subpar" I probably will opt out of applying to most schools this year. Should I still submit my application ASAP with one school (?) selected so it can be verified and then add more later if the score turns out OK? Is there any benefit to listing them all when submitting the application initially? Hope that makes sense.
 
So is this sufficient explanation for my single misdemeanor? Seems pretty boring.

"One speeding ticket for driving 80 mph in a 75 mph zone in Nevada. All moving violations in Nevada are considered misdemeanors. This occurred in April 2009. I paid the fine."
 
not sure if this question has been asked in the thread yet so excuse me.

Will we still be able to submit our primary application on June 1st if all the letters of recommendations are not yet in?
 
GetSexyRightNow said:
Sorry if this has already been asked. I am taking the MCAT for the first time in late May. I won't get my score until late June. If I score "subpar" I probably will opt out of applying to most schools this year. Should I still submit my application ASAP with one school (?) selected so it can be verified and then add more later if the score turns out OK? Is there any benefit to listing them all when submitting the application initially? Hope that makes sense.
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You don't have to submit the day that submission becomes possible. For sure, it seems like the general consensus around here is that submitting very late, as in closer to the deadline, isn't a great idea. I'm pretty sure that if you get everything ready for submission as soon as your score comes out in late June, you're not going to be negatively impacted. From looking at last years AMCAS verification thread, you can see lots of people submitted after June.

Then if you decide not to submit, you won't have wasted money or turned into a second time applicant for that one school. I guess if you have money to burn and don't care about that school it wouldn't matter so much? I honestly have no idea whether other schools next year would see the evidence of you 'applying' this year, if you went that route. Someone else here will know, I'm sure.
 
sector9 said:
So is this sufficient explanation for my single misdemeanor? Seems pretty boring.

"One speeding ticket for driving 80 mph in a 75 mph zone in Nevada. All moving violations in Nevada are considered misdemeanors. This occurred in April 2009. I paid the fine."
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Totally fine I think, that's basically what I put for mine. That sucks though 80 in a 75?? What a douche.

Nobody gives a crap about them anyway. I actually had one interviewer tell me he thought cops shouldn't be so hard on college kids.
 
Did some reading in the instructions manual and it says you can add more schools later for a fee. You cannot remove or substitute schools. So from a financial standpoint, it's best to list them all at the same time instead of adding later. So that leaves me to decide whether I should wait for my score before submitting!

GetSexyRightNow said:
Sorry if this has already been asked. I am taking the MCAT for the first time in late May. I won't get my score until late June. If I score "subpar" I probably will opt out of applying to most schools this year. Should I still submit my application ASAP with one school (?) selected so it can be verified and then add more later if the score turns out OK? Is there any benefit to listing them all when submitting the application initially? Hope that makes sense.
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GetSexyRightNow said:
Yes. Letters can be submitted later.
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Mhmm, how is this possible if the primary application cannot be "submitted" until all the fields are complete, one of which includes the letters of evaluation.

Do you just submit it with no letters of evaluation in the file and update later?
 
calvnandhobbs68 said:
Totally fine I think, that's basically what I put for mine. That sucks though 80 in a 75?? What a douche.

Nobody gives a crap about them anyway. I actually had one interviewer tell me he thought cops shouldn't be so hard on college kids.
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Agreed👍👍 I thought about driving all the way to stupid Battle Mountain, NV to appear in court and fight it, but the 6 hour drive (each way) 3 months later did not sound like fun... I can't believe this is considered a misdemeanor anyway. Sounds like a great reason never to move to Nevada to me
 
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Catburr said:
I'm pretty sure that if you get everything ready for submission as soon as your score comes out in late June, you're not going to be negatively impacted. From looking at last years AMCAS verification thread, you can see lots of people submitted after June.
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In regards to the question catburr is referring to, no there's no real advantage to putting all your schools on there at once. The schools will get your info as you add them but most of them won't act at all on your app until your MCAT score is in (some might send secondaries though right away? I don't quite remember). Anyway feel free to just put one on there to get it verified and then add the rest later on. The important thing is to make sure you have it verified.

And yeah, if you have your primary verified in June/July you're wayyyyy ahead of the majority of people (except the people on SDN who all seem to verify by the middle of June). Don't worry about early june vs. late june vs. july...that entire timeframe is early.
 
GetSexyRightNow said:
Did some reading in the instructions manual and it says you can add more schools later for a fee. You cannot remove or substitute schools. So from a financial standpoint, it's best to list them all at the same time instead of adding later. So that leaves me to decide whether I should wait for my score before submitting!
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You pay the fee no matter what (at least that's how it was last year). It's like $35 a school or something? The price doesn't go up when you add more later.
 
Slowpoke said:
Mhmm, how is this possible if the primary application cannot be "submitted" until all the fields are complete, one of which includes the letters of evaluation.

Do you just submit it with no letters of evaluation in the file and update later?
Click to expand...

You have to enter in information about who is submitting letters and generate AMCAS letter IDs. That's all that is required to be able to submit the primary. The letters do not have to be received by AMCAS at that time.

Also, about the 80 in a 75 -- I bet he was clocked going faster and this was a generous knocking-down.
 
Yeah, it's 33$ per school after the first one. So, I guess it doesn't matter. I'll just submit to one school so I can get verified. Then I'll add the rest when I get my score. And yeah, I don't think they'll even look at it until the MCAT score comes in anyhow.

calvnandhobbs68 said:
You pay the fee no matter what (at least that's how it was last year). It's like $35 a school or something? The price doesn't go up when you add more later.
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i took the mcat already and received a 30+ but am planning on taking it again in june to try and get a 35+.

should i submit my AMCAS application in june with just my first score in order to get verified ASAP and then update schools with my second score when it comes out?? or should i wait until my second score becomes available before submitting my application?

thanks.
 
WHOIER said:
i took the mcat already and received a 30+ but am planning on taking it again in june to try and get a 35+.

should i submit my AMCAS application in june with just my first score in order to get verified ASAP and then update schools with my second score when it comes out?? or should i wait until my second score becomes available before submitting my application?

thanks.
Click to expand...

I would submit your application ASAP - that way it will verified. I believe in the MCAT section they ask if you plan on taking the MCAT again and if so, when. Depending on your GPA and Ecs, you can either say you aren't -- and then update schools later -- or say that you are, in which case, most schools will wait to review your application when they received your new score. Considering that a 30 on the MCAT is a pretty solid score, unless you have a low GPA or are only aiming for top 30 schools, I don't know why you are re-taking. But since you do feel the need to re-take, I would most likely have school's wait to review your application until they see that new score. I wouldn't want them to put your application in the reject pile before they even see your newest score.
 
WHOIER said:
i took the mcat already and received a 30+ but am planning on taking it again in june to try and get a 35+.

should i submit my AMCAS application in june with just my first score in order to get verified ASAP and then update schools with my second score when it comes out?? or should i wait until my second score becomes available before submitting my application?

thanks.
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Why are you retaking? It won't look good if you end up with a lower score than the first time around.
 
A quick question, that may seem kinda elementary... When it asks for "address" of the letter's author in the lor section, does it actually want their home address? It would seem more likely that it wants their "school" address (office number)...
 
mauberley said:
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.
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Oh no :-(
My school also sends them out in September.
I guess this means I should wait until June 14th to submit my primaries, when I will have my Spring quarter grades, since the delay in processing associated with that would be irrelevant since my recommendations and committee letter won't be sent in by my health advising office until September? The only disadvantage I can see is that I wouldn't be sent secondaries until much later (but I could just go to other student doctor threads to see the prompts...?)
Why do health advising offices take so long to send this stuff out! Grrr 😡
 
vairules said:
A quick question, that may seem kinda elementary... When it asks for "address" of the letter's author in the lor section, does it actually want their home address? It would seem more likely that it wants their "school" address (office number)...
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Put their work/office address. Or the school address if they don't have an office.

cookiemonster12 said:
Oh no :-(
My school also sends them out in September.
I guess this means I should wait until June 14th to submit my primaries, when I will have my Spring quarter grades, since the delay in processing associated with that would be irrelevant since my recommendations and committee letter won't be sent in by my health advising office until September? The only disadvantage I can see is that I wouldn't be sent secondaries until much later (but I could just go to other student doctor threads to see the prompts...?)
Why do health advising offices take so long to send this stuff out! Grrr 😡
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I thought you had to wait til your spring quarter was complete before you could send it transcript grades anyways? Maybe I am mistaken. June 14th is still super early. Even early July is early. You'll start getting some secondaries as soon as you submit (before you are even verified) so just start sending in all your secondaries ASAP. Don't wait for the LORs. I know one school - OSU - does give interviews before LORs are even in.

Additionally, as I am unsure how your advising office works -- if you can submit individual letters from professors/supervisors/ect, I would do that... and just wait on the health adviser letter (mentioning on your secondaries that they don't send it out until Sept.)
 
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Swiss Medical said:
Wow. This is so overwhelming. I am goona go get myself an MSAR....
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Get the MSAR. If you are in school though, your school should have the most current copy and will let you borrow it (though you might not be able to take it out of the office).

Additionally, when you fill out the AMCAS, download the AMCAS instruction pdf and read through it carefully.
 
thanks for the reply. i want to retake it since i have a low GPA to compensate for. i also have the free time to study for it now, so i figure, what the hell.

am i correct in inferring from the response that i can have my AMCAS application verified even though i indicate on my application that i'll be taking the MCAT again at a future date? they won't wait for my second MCAT score to be available before starting the verification process?

thanks.



Avoidthetiger said:
I would submit your application ASAP - that way it will verified. I believe in the MCAT section they ask if you plan on taking the MCAT again and if so, when. Depending on your GPA and Ecs, you can either say you aren't -- and then update schools later -- or say that you are, in which case, most schools will wait to review your application when they received your new score. Considering that a 30 on the MCAT is a pretty solid score, unless you have a low GPA or are only aiming for top 30 schools, I don't know why you are re-taking. But since you do feel the need to re-take, I would most likely have school's wait to review your application until they see that new score. I wouldn't want them to put your application in the reject pile before they even see your newest score.
Click to expand...
 
WHOIER said:
am i correct in inferring from the response that i can have my AMCAS application verified even though i indicate on my application that i'll be taking the MCAT again at a future date? they won't wait for my second MCAT score to be available before starting the verification process
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yes -- they will verify your application before they get your newest score.
From their website:
"Can I submit my AMCAS application without my MCAT scores?

Yes, AMCAS will verify and process your application without your MCAT scores. Once the scores are made available, AMCAS will upload your scores automatically into the application. If your application has already completed verification, AMCAS will send updates to the medical schools indicated in your application informing them of the update."
 
Hi guys🙂,

I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, but I want to know what schools are a "must apply" if you're Hispanic. So far, I've gathered that: Texas, Puerto Rico, Miami, New Mexico, and Chicago (I think). I have the online version of the MSAR but can't seem to be able to search for this stat. Anyone know of other schools? or my list is accurate. It cost so much $$$ to apply so you want to make sure you apply to schools you have a good chance of getting in, right?
 
browneyed girl said:
I hope I don't offend anyone with this post, but I want to know what schools are a "must apply" if you're Hispanic. So far, I've gathered that: Texas, Puerto Rico, Miami, New Mexico, and Chicago (I think). I have the online version of the MSAR but can't seem to be able to search for this stat. Anyone know of other schools? or my list is accurate. It cost so much $$$ to apply so you want to make sure you apply to schools you have a good chance of getting in, right?
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For Chicago I think you mean University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC).It is one of the most diverse med schools in the US. It depends on what you are looking for, when you say "must apply" if you are Hispanic. If you have average stats, you can apply probably anywhere as a URM and have a good chance of being accepted. If you want a more diverse student population (or more Hispanic student population), I believe the schools/regions you listed would provide them -- though hopefully someone can give you a better list.
sexycani said:
Help! How does the AP credit thing work? Do we enter in all our AP courses we took in high school?
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The only AP credit you list is the one that managed to get on your college transcript. Don't list the AP course/credit, just list the class at your college that you received credit for based on your AP scores. Write exactly what is on your transcript, and then in the special course type on the AMCAS, check AP credit.
 
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sector9 said:
You will want to input all of your ID numbers. When you print a transcript request form for the school, you will be presented with a drop-down list which will include all of the ID numbers you inputted. You just have to choose the ID number from the list that corresponds with that school (it will just show up as a number marked "OTHER"). The number you select will then show up on your transcript request form that AMCAS prepares for you
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Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, I already sent off one of my transcript request forms and I just used my SSN as my ID, instead of the school's ID number. Will this be a problem?? Should I still list that school's ID as an alternate ID?
 
Etorphine said:
good day mates.

In high school, I took 1 college course at a community college, and have listed this college under the "colleges attended" section.

I then went to a private university, which was quite a bit more expensive than the community college.

The only thing is, I don't want an adcom member to read the community college first, which is at the top of the list of "colleges attended." The first letter of this college name precedes my private 4 year alma mater, so I think it is listing it in alphabetical order.

Have you guys figured out any tricks to fix this?
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for cereal? Don't over think this. The ADCOMs will know that you graduated from the expensive private school you attended -- they probably won't even give the CC colleges name a second glance.

I don't think you can change this though. It goes based on starting date for attendance.
 
Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum but I was wondering if someone could help me. I just started my med school application and I was wondering if we're supposed to put shadowing, research, volunteer, awards, and work experiences all under the work/activites section? I only see this one section and I guess I had assumed there would be a separate section for research, shadowing, awards, etc...Thanks in advance for any help!
 
I received a speeding ticket in PA and paid it. I reside in Ohio. PA notified Ohio and the citation was "added to my Ohio driving record" with no points assessed. Will I need to list this citation as a misdemeanor since Ohio put it on my record?
 
BShanks said:
I received a speeding ticket in PA and paid it. I reside in Ohio. PA notified Ohio and the citation was "added to my Ohio driving record" with no points assessed. Will I need to list this citation as a misdemeanor since Ohio put it on my record?
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Does PA consider it a misdemeanor? If so, then yes.
 
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do you get to see the AMCAS calculated GPA only after you submit the application? Or is it somewhere I'm not aware of? I entered all my courses, but I don't see a GPA anywhere...
thanks in advance.
 
startoverat40 said:
do you get to see the AMCAS calculated GPA only after you submit the application? Or is it somewhere I'm not aware of? I entered all my courses, but I don't see a GPA anywhere...
thanks in advance.
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You'll see a GPA when your application is verified. AMCAS only calculates a GPA after they have verified what you entered matches what is reported on your submitted transcripts, and that the information is complete.
 
If I am planning to apply next year (for the 2012-2013 cycle), can I still get all my transcripts, recommendations into AMCAS this year, and have this information "rolled over" for next year (i.e. ~ May 6, 2012)?

Bear in mind, I am already out of college so I won't need to update my transcript next year. With respect to recommendations, it won't change a year from now for the same reason. I want to have my transcripts, recommendations letters lined up and taken care of.
 
mauberley said:
You'll see a GPA when your application is verified. AMCAS only calculates a GPA after they have verified what you entered matches what is reported on your submitted transcripts, and that the information is complete.
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if they get the official transcript, then why do they put us through the painful and useless exercise of entering the courses and grades?
 
startoverat40 said:
if they get the official transcript, then why do they put us through the painful and useless exercise of entering the courses and grades?
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Presumably the application process would take much, much longer if the finite staff had to manually punch in everyone's transcripts. (Think of how long it has taken/it is taking/it will take you to enter your grades in, then multiply that time by ~40k to get an idea.) Reviewing and making changes where necessary requires less time in comparison.
 
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