*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2017-2018*~*~*~*

Get Your Med School Admissions Questions Answered!
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mdboy15 said:
I saw on some other threads that you can manually enter AMCAS address as below, and it would suffice. Rather than sending the Transcript Request Form (TRF).. It said TRF was only necessary to match you up with AMCAS ID. (Q1) Is this true?

I did the electronic request w/o the TRF like this last week. (Q2) Should I be worried?
AMCAS - ATTN TRANSCRIPTS
AAMC Med School APPL SVC
PO BOX 57326
AMCAS ID 12345678
WASHINGTON, DC 20037-0326
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Just wanted to let you know that I couldn't figure out how to send the transcript request form to one of my schools, so I had transcripts sent without it and they were matched with my account within just two days of requesting the transcript, no problem.

On the other hand, as we get later into the cycle, AMCAS has more transcripts they have to deal with, so it's easier for them to match your transcripts with your application if you include it.
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Not sure if this has been answered but I did a search and couldn't get an answer.

My question is do our classes have to be 100% in order when we list them? For example if a summer semester says Bio 1, Chem 1, Physics, is it alright if we list it out of that order or it must be exact? (example - listing order as Chem 1, Bio 1, Physics.)

I am asking because I have my unofficial transcript and am waiting on official still. I believe the order is the same on both but just in case it's not I don't want a problem later on.

Thanks!
 
Bionista said:
Not sure if this has been answered but I did a search and couldn't get an answer.

My question is do our classes have to be 100% in order when we list them? For example if a summer semester says Bio 1, Chem 1, Physics, is it alright if we list it out of that order or it must be exact? (example - listing order as Chem 1, Bio 1, Physics.)

I am asking because I have my unofficial transcript and am waiting on official still. I believe the order is the same on both but just in case it's not I don't want a problem later on.

Thanks!
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I talked with the people at AMCAS and apparently they want it in order by semester - the actual order within each semester does not necessarily matter. In fact, a few of us have had issues with classes rearranging themselves within a semester and no matter how many times we have tried to delete them and start over, they do it again.

I just sent my application in and will let people know if I have any issues with that.
 
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Bionista said:
Not sure if this has been answered but I did a search and couldn't get an answer.

My question is do our classes have to be 100% in order when we list them? For example if a summer semester says Bio 1, Chem 1, Physics, is it alright if we list it out of that order or it must be exact? (example - listing order as Chem 1, Bio 1, Physics.)

I am asking because I have my unofficial transcript and am waiting on official still. I believe the order is the same on both but just in case it's not I don't want a problem later on.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Have you asked the registrar what the difference is between the unofficial and the official? I asked about ours and the only difference was biographic data. I've heard some schools have almost entirely different transcripts. I still freaked out and got a copy of mine before submitting the application (and verified that, yes, it was just a difference in biographical data - unofficial did not include my full name or details).

Also, I noticed my classes were in alphabetical order by course number. You may notice a similar trend
 
gonnif said:
The official instructions and policy of AMCAS is below. Relying on a phone call to AMCAS that can't be attributed is questionable at best

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/10/36/103622d0-fd80-40f0-a61b-93833218d2b7/2018_amcas_instruction_manual_web.pdf#page=35 (emphasis added)
Coursework Details
Enter courses in chronological order exactly as they appear on the official transcript of the school where they were originally attempted.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...2018_amcas_instruction_manual_web.pdf#page=21

View attachment 219984

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/10/36/103622d0-fd80-40f0-a61b-93833218d2b7/2018_amcas_instruction_manual_web.pdf#page=22 (emphasis added)
We also strongly recommend that you request personal copies of your official transcript(s) for your use in completing the Course Work section of your application.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...2018_amcas_instruction_manual_web.pdf#page=33
Section Four: Course Work
Request a personal copy of your official transcript(s) to use as a reference while entering your coursework to help ensure that your data is complete and accurate. Some in formation that appears on your official transcript may not be shown on an unofficial transcript.
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When I asked about that, she said that chronological order referred to the order of the semesters (ours are listed alphabetically within semesters). But - I agree that depending on a phone call is not the best policy. On the other hand, I entered my courses in the exact order they appeared in the transcript and they kept rearranging no matter how many times I deleted, so I gave up.
 
gonnif said:
I have gone over this "bug" or "feature" with AMCAS several times and I will do it again.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU. Drove me crazy. The oddest part was they kept rearranging in the same rearranged order.
 
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I submitted 6/1 of the application cycle and still haven't been verified (submitted around 9:30 PM). Should I be worried? I realize it says 1 - 2 weeks, but what could be holding up my application? Have asked a question or two in this thread trying to figure it out.

My transcript has been verified for those wondering (all of my LoR letters as well).
 
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DBC03 said:
When I asked about that, she said that chronological order referred to the order of the semesters (ours are listed alphabetically within semesters). But - I agree that depending on a phone call is not the best policy. On the other hand, I entered my courses in the exact order they appeared in the transcript and they kept rearranging no matter how many times I deleted, so I gave up.
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I had the same issue and submitted as it rearranged them. Has anyone gotten verified with this issue? Worried they'll send the app back
 
@gonnif Alright, I'll follow your advice. *Slowly inhales*

I should clarify and say that my transcripts have been received and that my application is currently in line to be reviewed by a verifier. You're right, LoR's play no part in the primary application being verified. Looking at the verification thread has me confused (and anxious). I won't call AMCAS unless 3 - 4 weeks have passed.

I think I'm going to need to take your advice and be more patient. May need to take a step back from checking SDN so often.
 
@gonnif

Thanks again for the perspective. Trying to put myself in the best possible position during this cycle, but need to accept that many things are simply outside of my control. Appreciate the wise advice.
 
J_da123 said:
I had the same issue and submitted as it rearranged them. Has anyone gotten verified with this issue? Worried they'll send the app back
Click to expand...

Mine seemed to be an issue only with my Advanced Placement classes. Not sure if it's a bug in that system, but it's a lot of classes in one semester and they are REALLY out of order. But after three tries and the same out of order rearrangement, a fourth try would appear to prove the idiot theorem.
 
Can I list a service award as one of my most meaningful experiences?
 
For the AMCAS activities/experiences part. I've "shadowed" various physicians but they were through different experiences. For example, (experience #1) volunteering at an urgent care, taking vitals for patients but I also shadowed providers when we went in the room to see the patient. (experience #2) medical mission trip for taking vitals and translating, and I was right there shadowing the physicians when care was administered.

And then, there was one physician that all I explicitly did was shadow, and it was for about 50 hours or so. He was pulmonary intensivist and sleep medicine doc. Saw the various parts of his job he was involved in and I can talk about it for days. Would there be an issue of making this its own experience under "shadowing" and only putting 50 hours? Or should I combine this with another of the aforementioned experiences of when shadowing took place? Thanks
 
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The high school that I attended has changed its name slightly since I graduated. While I enter in my high school info on AMCAS, should I list the current name of the high school (which is what shows up in the drop down menu on AMCAS), or fill in the blank with the original name (what it was when I graduated and what shows up on my unofficial transcript)?

Thanks!
 
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Under biographic info, do we mark No when it asks if we are a legal resident of the US if we are international students. I'm not sure if it is asking if we are permanent residents or not, because I am not a permanent resident but I do reside in the US legally.

Also, I received AP credit for english I and listed it in my community colleges section. In the uni that I transferred to I also have that AP credit listed on my transcript but I'm not going to list it since I already did so for the CC. However, my uni also has a policy where if you score well on the english portion of the ACT, you receive credit for english I. So, I basically have english I listed once as AP on my CC's transcript and twice (once as AP and once as the ACT credit) on my uni's. Should I add english I on my uni classes section because of the ACT thing even though it's already listed on my CC as AP?
 
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Hey guys, when entering the courses in the 4. Course Work Tab, does it matter what order we enter the courses in within each semester? How are the courses eventually organized in the AMCAS-verified GPA Spreadsheet?
 
gonnif said:
International.



I am a little confused. I believe you are saying you got credit for English for AP at CC. You then got credit for English twice in Uni, once for AP and once for ACT. I would presume that either CC or Uni or both do not list a specific course you got credit for but rather just "English 3 credits."
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But the part where it asks about my citizenship (which is where I indicated international) comes before the legal resident part. The legal resident part just asks directly "Are you a legal resident of the US?" "Yes or No". I'm just confused what they mean by legal resident.

And for the credits thing, I didn't receive the credits twice, it just shows up twice (if that makes a difference), once as AP and once as ACT. I was just wondering if I should list it again as "Exempt" credit or something like that despite mentioning it as AP on my CC section.
 
this may vary by school/admin committee but I was wondering if selecting the "Combined Degree: Graduate" could have a negative effect on your application or make it harder for you to be accepted? I am interested in applying to a few combined MD/MSCR programs but many of them you can apply to the Master's after acceptance into the med school.

the main reason I ask is because I know by selecting MD/PhD, your app is typically sent to a separate committee and then not considered for regular MD admissions until after the MD/PhD committee has rejected you. Is it a similar process for other dual degrees?
 
gonnif said:
A "legal resident" of the United States is anyone who is a citizen or who has permanent legal resident (Green Card) status. Any other form of educational, work, or asylum visa does not make you a "legal resident" So, you are not a legal resident for the purposes of AMCAS



I wouldnt list either AP or ACT from the Uni transcript
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Thank you!
 
I took adjunct courses both semesters with my gen chem classes (5A and 5B). And my official transcript says "Adjunct for Chemistry 5A" for the first semester but on the second semester, my official transcript says "Adjunct for Chemistry 5" - rather than "Adjunct for Chemistry 5B" like my schools website. It was just cut off, but it looks weird.

What should I enter on my AMCAS app, the one as "5" (like how my off. transcr says so) or the one as "5B" (to compensate for the text being cut off)?
 
2 courses, 2 questions:

At my uni, I take orgo lab as a class on its own. It's named "Organic chem lab". Do I have to add "and Lab" because it had a lab component along with lecture?

I got credit for doing research. My transcript says "Undergrad Research".. AMCAS says to add "and Lab" to if it was combined lecture & lab. But this was only lab, no lecture. How should I go about naming it?
 
When adding a letter of recommendation in AMCAS, is it necessary to enter the primary contact's email and phone? I'm using Interfolio to manage my letters so I only entered the bare minimum information (fields that have a red asterisk) needed to generate a letter ID. Thanks!
 
gonnif said:
it would be better if you did; you can probably find out the info on a school web page. However, since most writers will include contact info in their letter, it is not a big issue
Click to expand...

Ahh looks like I can't edit the entries and Interfolio already delivered the letters.
 
Note sure if this has been asked and I apologize in advance if it has. But...

On my transcript it says that I have 40+ transferred AP credits. But, I never substituted any of my required courses in college with any of my AP credits. I took the equivalent classes again. If this is this case, then do I still have to list my AP classes on the AMCAS course information or not? I'm just scared during verification AMCAS will see that there is AP credits listed on my transcript (no specific classes) and this will cause an error since I have not indicated any of my AP classes.

Also, gonnif, you are the best!!! Words cannot describe how grateful we all are for your help. :D
 
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How does the process of course classification disputes/discussion work, if there is even any? I took a course called "Peer-Learning" that involves students working on worksheets of the subjects they excel at so they can tutor others. My subject was immunology, others had chemistry, calculus, physiology. The course number was an upper division course in Science & Math department, but my course content was biology, so I am going to classify it as BIOL...

Will AMCAS change it without any question to what ever they please or will they contact me, so I can prove to them its biology?? I have this course on my transcript for four semesters.
 
Hi! Quick question. The AMCAS manual says to list CLEP credit received when your freshman year starts as freshman credit. However, I took the CLEP exam at the end of my freshman year. When should I chronologically list this exam?
 
Quick question y'all! So I'm embarassed to say that it took me 6 years to graduate due to family circumstances. Would this be the correct way to assign my classes?

Year 1: Freshman
Year 2: Sophmore
Year 3: Junior
Year 4: Senior
Year 5: Senior
Year 6: Senior

Thank you in advance!
 
Brah of Science said:
Quick question y'all! So I'm embarassed to say that it took me 6 years to graduate due to family circumstances. Would this be the correct way to assign my classes?

Year 1: Freshman
Year 2: Sophmore
Year 3: Junior
Year 4: Senior
Year 5: Senior
Year 6: Senior

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Yes.
 
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Couple of questions:

Got my AMCAS app verified today and under the SES Disadvantaged section it says "NA" and I'm not entirely sure what that means. My parents make way below the poverty line and have recieved government assistance. Also, under "First Generation" it says "Unknown", why? Both my parents, as I indicated on my application completed less than a high school equivalent in education in Mexico, the only reason I can think of is not indicating the name of the school either attended, since I don't know and it was probably some rural nowhere school in Mexico. Any insight? Thanks!
 
I took a course between my sophomore and junior years, and am applying straight through.
What should I put for: Academic Year, Academic Term, and Year in School?
I currently have 2016-2017, Summer Semester, and Junior.

Is this correct?
 
So I am a treasurer of an organization that tutors and mentors high school students. Should I list the Treasurer and the organization itself as two separate experiences?
 
For a repeating activity, I plan on continuing it once school start back up in August, but AMCAS won't let me put a starting date in the future. Should I just list it from the time I started to the date I plan on finishing?
 
gonnif said:
Depends if you have enough duties, activities, experiences that warrant such listing. If you have personally done 50 or 100 hours of tutoring yourself, then maybe. Treasurer can be leadership but of a local school organization it isnt the most important position. So ask yourself
1) Do you have enough information that can warrant 2 listings without looking like fluff?
2) Do you need the additional tutoring hours for yourself to show a specific community service?
3) do you have leadership elsewhere in the application?

@Catalystik may be better to expand on this
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Good answer.
drdeezly said:
For a repeating activity, I plan on continuing it once school start back up in August, but AMCAS won't let me put a starting date in the future. Should I just list it from the time I started to the date I plan on finishing?
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gonnif said:
Yes, but be clear in narrative what that means
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Be sure to indicate the dates of involvement in the narrative for each school year (or to add the words "Academic Year" to the name of the activity, so it's clear it's not year-round invovlement), and to specify whether you included future hours (give the number) in your grand total, or if they are "in addition to the above."
 
I was looking through my submitted AMCAS app, and just noticed I forgot to list a contact for one of my work/activities!!!
It's a hobby, so the contact would most likely have been myself... they haven't processed my app yet, is there a way to get this fixed? Would they return the app just because of this mistake?
 
pre-medgal said:
I was looking through my submitted AMCAS app, and just noticed I forgot to list a contact for one of my work/activities!!!
It's a hobby, so the contact would most likely have been myself... they haven't processed my app yet, is there a way to get this fixed? Would they return the app just because of this mistake?
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Hobbies don't require a Contact. You're fine.
 
There are course equivalents listed on my transcript for the AP credits I got. When inputting coursework, do I simply write "AP Credit: US History" or do I write the actual course equivalent that the credit satisfied. On my transcript I got a P for every course satisfied by AP credit.

Thank you kindly.
 
I have about 700 extra characters in my essay. Should I use this space to talk about anything that may be a red flag if it doesn't flow with the actual essay? Like a low CARS score (high overall).
 
I just got my MCAT score today and it's 508, which is not optimal because I want to stay in California, and my GPA is 3.78. Should I take it again in the end of July to try for a better score? I was afraid something like this would happen, so I never really stopped prepping for MCAT in the past month. If I do take it again, when should I submit my AMCAS? It is almost ready and I can submit it as soon as possible, but how would schools consider my application if I have my current score and a future test date?
 
mdboy15 said:
How does the process of course classification disputes/discussion work, if there is even any? I took a course called "Peer-Learning" that involves students working on worksheets of the subjects they excel at so they can tutor others. My subject was immunology, others had chemistry, calculus, physiology. The course number was an upper division course in Science & Math department, but my course content was biology, so I am going to classify it as BIOL...

Will AMCAS change it without any question to what ever they please or will they contact me, so I can prove to them its biology?? I have this course on my transcript for four semesters.
Click to expand...

Bump.
 
gonnif said:
Where are the CLEP credits listed on your transcript?
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They're listed in the beginning after my AP credit but before my transfer credit. They don't list a year or semester
 
Hi, I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but one of my grades now says OT under "transcript grade". I've searched the manual extensively to figure it out and still can't. Can someone help me with this? I'll call AMCAS if I can't figure it out, but they are closed now
 
gonnif said:
So now you are between a rock and hard place. This is one of the reasons I tell students, only after you get an MCAT score back should you apply.

So if you submit now, with a score and a planned exam, schools are not required to wait for new score before making a decision
If you submit later like when your score is back, that would August and make you moderately late.

Frankly I would advise retake and apply next cycle. However since you arent going to do that, I would submit now and note planned exam.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response. If I note planned exam and submit now, am I still considered early? Is there a chance I wouldn't get secondaries until August from schools that think my 508 is good enough in the first place?
 
BachDoc said:
Thank you! On the printout view, it looks like they changed the grade to P/F even though the transcript has a grade, so I'm not sure what's going on. It is marked with X so they did change it during verification, just doesn't makes sense to me. Thanks for your help!
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I actually have one more question, please. For an AP category class, it says my AMCAS grade is G. I was thinking that was incomplete? Not sure if I'm wrong on that. Do you think that could be an error too? thanks for all your help!
 
gonnif said:
Are you you planning to specialize in spinal conditions with your screen name?
The first piece of music I wrote my music theory class, based on Johann Sebastian's rules was entitled
"You Baroque my heart so I am not coming Bach" dedicated to my Chiropractor
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That's an awesome name, I love it! :D Hadn't even though of that, I'm just a music major and Bach rhymed with Doc and I was out of username ideas. Haha! Cool that you've done music theory too, it's good stuff.
 
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