*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2020-2021 *~*~*~*

[username1000]

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[mlmmmsmith]

Hi, I have heard conflicting views on two things:

1. Should we avoid putting names of people (i.e. doctors we have shadowed or interned for) into out personal statement and anecdotes in the work/activities section?

2. Should we avoid mentioning specialties in our personal statement and the work/activities descriptions? Both of what we hope to pursue and of doctors we have worked with?

Thanks!

 

[Bavestry]

Not sure if this is the right place for this question, but how important is the length of the personal statement? I feel I have gotten my point across, but I only have about 3500 characters. Would a personal statement of this length be detrimental to my application or would it be worse to try and add more "fluff" to my essay?

 

[Neuro244]

Just to confirm, there’s no point in submitting your primary application to AMCAS until they have received all of your transcripts right?

 

[Bavestry]

When entering repeated coursework, should I label both the first time and second time I took the course as "repeated" or just the first?

Also, I have a lot of courses that weren't exactly lectures or labs, how should I label them? Im talking things like a bowling class, field work credit, music lessons courses, etc. There was no lecture, but I don't know if they should be called a lab either.

Another question: As for planned/current courses, do I need to put every class I plan on taking or just the ones that I am currently enrolled in for next fall? Like should I put in all my planned courses for spring of 2021?

 

[DaOddOne]

When filling out coursework, the Applicant Guide says to input the course name exactly as it appears on your transcript. The only clear exceptions to this are including "and lab" at the end of the course name and/or abbreviating the course name if it does not fit in AMCAS as it is written on the transcript.

For my transcript, the course codes for General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II are listed on the transcript as "CHEM 121a" and "CHEM 121b", respectively. However, the course names as they appear on the transcript are both listed as "General Chemistry" with no designation of I vs. II. In this case, should I add "I" and "II" to the end of their respective course names? This lack of designation occurs on multiple courses that are taken in succession including organic chemistry I and II. My concern is that it would be unclear to medical schools whether or not I have taken all of their required courses.

 

[eartharte]

For letters of rec, am I supposed to put a home address of my writer for the entry, or is the institution address good enough?

 

[DaOddOne]

For letters of rec, am I supposed to put a home address of my writer for the entry, or is the institution address good enough?

I wrote whatever address coincides with their title with respect to me. If it was a professor, I wrote the schools address. If it was a lab supervisor, I put the lab's address. If it were someone who I did work for around their house, I'd put their home address.

I suppose if I were to interact with one of my old professors most frequently outside of school then I might consider putting their home address.

 

[eartharte]

Thanks! What about for the phone number?

For the entries that are not necessary, will it hurt you at any way (e.g. possibly delay processing) if you don't fill them out?

 

[DaOddOne]

Thanks! What about for the phone number?

For the entries that are not necessary, will it hurt you at any way (e.g. possibly delay processing) if you don't fill them out?

For phone numbers, I used the same thought process as I did for address and email address. I used whichever is most appropriate for your relationship with them.

Not sure about a delay.

 

[aspiringphysician190]

ok so this morning I clicked submit on my application. immediately after I received an email from AMCAS saying that my application is "on hold" and no further processing can be made until they receive my transcript. back story: I had to enter two schools; my undergrad for normal classes and my undergrad study abroad edition for those courses. I only have one transcript because the study abroad courses were put on by my undergrad university, so I only submitted them once. this is what I was instructed to do by AMCAS when I called weeks ago. but then I think because it technically says transcripts "not received" for that school, then it put my app on hold. I have been trying to call all day and have emailed but when called it just hangs me up and I can't even stay on hold to talk to someone. basically I am wondering, I am not even in the queue for processing now even though I submitted my app? I don't really know what to do at this point

 

[wysdoc]

ok so this morning I clicked submit on my application. immediately after I received an email from AMCAS saying that my application is "on hold" and no further processing can be made until they receive my transcript. back story: I had to enter two schools; my undergrad for normal classes and my undergrad study abroad edition for those courses. I only have one transcript because the study abroad courses were put on by my undergrad university, so I only submitted them once. this is what I was instructed to do by AMCAS when I called weeks ago. but then I think because it technically says transcripts "not received" for that school, then it put my app on hold. I have been trying to call all day and have emailed but when called it just hangs me up and I can't even stay on hold to talk to someone. basically I am wondering, I am not even in the queue for processing now even though I submitted my app? I don't really know what to do at this point

A few posts above this you will find your answer: your app enters the Queue when your transcripts and app are submitted.

 

[MilitaryRedAndWhite]

I did research during my last year in college that I was able to obtain credit for on my transcript. I ended the research prematurely, so I got a P grade on my first quarter, but then an I grade in winter quarter that lapsed into an NP for spring quarter? Does AMCAS count this in my overall GPA? Should I worry about this?

 

[Premedstudent149]

Hi I have two quick questions about entering in my coursework:

1) My transcript does not specify which courses my AP credits come from, so I distributed them according to the AP tests I took as advised. I was just wondering when classifying my AP credits from calculus, would I list the course classification as "math" or "other"? The answer to this questions is probably obvious, but I just want to avoid issues technical issues during verification.

2) I just want to confirm that there is no need to list future course, even though they appear on my official transcript?

I would greatly appreciate feedback on this, thank you.

 

[Goro]

1) If it part of a college certificate program then you need to report the classes and have a transcript sent
2) I would consider it clinical . @LizzyM @Goro opinions?

I'd call it clinical

 

[aspiringphysician190]

A few posts above this you will find your answer: your app enters the Queue when your transcripts and app are submitted.

thank you!

 

[Maybedoc1]

Looking to submit my app today and I had a question about family income/# in household. My parents are divorced, but I grew up spending equal time between their houses. Do I put 2 or 3 for "number in household" and do I combine their incomes even though they were separated? I'm an only child too

 

[gluconeo10]

I heard some ppl are only adding 1 school to get verified, then adding more. Does it matter when you add the schools up until July 10th? Will it put you in a better position at the schools to put them all when you verify rather than verifying with 1 school then adding more before July 10th?

 

[flightless_bird]

A few questions - I took a handful of AP classes (as well as college classes) during high school at a program designed for high school students to take college-level classes. I took the AP tests, but my undergraduate university accepted some of the credits as transfer classes rather than AP credits.

1) For the classes listed as transfer credits by my undergrad (the transcript has a T grade with credit hours), would I list them with the high school program (the transcript has a grade but no credit hours) and not cite the credit transfer?
2) One of the classes shows up on the high school program's transcript (as an AP class) and was accepted by my undergrad as AP credit. Would I only mention it as AP credit under my undergrad?

 

[Maybedoc1]

2

Thanks! Do I combine their incomes?

 

[dholida]

Hi all,

I'm new on here and I tried to sift through previous posts on study abroad coursework but couldn't find anything to help me. I've also tried to call AMCAS over the past 3 days at different times, but the call gets automatically disconnected because I guess they just aren't taking calls. I've also tried to carefully read the 2021 Applicant Guide, under the "Conversion to Semester Hours Not Provided, Credit Transferred" section, but I'm still confused. Anyways, here's my dilemma:

I studied abroad in Scotland in Spring 2018, sponsored by a U.S. institution. The credits and grades were transferred as equivalents to the courses I would have taken at my home institution. They were O-Chem II + Lab, Physics II + Lab, and Calculus II. However, my undergrad institution does not list that coursework on my official transcript. It literally just says "Study Abroad" under Spring 2018. However, the grades and credits were transferred and calculated into my undegrad cumulative GPA. Now, I have ordered an official transcript from abroad, which was delivered to AMCAS this morning but still needs to be uploaded into my application. But on the abroad transcript, it lists the Scottish clock hours and grades, followed by a "Suggested American Equivalent" of the Scottish grades. It does NOT provide a suggested transfer equivalent for the clock hours. But I do know for a fact that my 30 clock hour course was transferred as an 8 credit class, and my 15 clock hour course was transferred as a 4 credit class - it just doesn't say this anywhere on the transcript.

Given this:
- How to enter this coursework into AMCAS? Under which school?
- Do I mark "Yes" to the question "Does AMCAS require a transcript from [study abroad] institution?
- Is there a letter or supporting documentation that my university can provide to show how the credits were transferred over? I'm really worried that AMCAS won't include this in my GPA because of the lack of U.S. credit hours on either of my transcripts, and process it as P/F, which med schools might not accept especially because two of the courses are prerequisites.
- Do I even need to be this stressed out? Does AMCAS automatically convert study abroad grades into U.S. credit hours? It seems like they really just do their own thing when reassigning and converting credit hours. I know there's plenty of sources out there that convert Scottish grades into American grades - but my school doesn't provide that with the transcript and I don't know if AMCAS just automatically knows how to calculate the credits.

 

[Maybedoc1]

I will revise my answer, if you fully count both incomes from both parents. then you have a household of 3

Okay thank you!

 

[flightless_bird]

if you had actual college classes (not AP classes) in HS, then the credits should be listed on the original transcript from whatever post-secondary school sponsored these classes (perhaps a local community college). You would NOT list transfer credits from your UG


Yes

Thank you for the response! However - the classes were AP classes and I did take the AP tests. I took them from an online provider, and they show up on that transcript as AP. My undergrad just accepted them as transfer credits rather than AP credits, since the online provider is associated with a different undergrad institution. Does this change the fact that I should list them under the institution where I took them?

 

[newolduser]

How do I classify classes that were multidisciplinary, but had a strong biological or mathematical basis to them? I'm specifically thinking of two classes I took as a graduate student - right now I have them as "biology" and "math." I read the guidance on the AAMC website, but I'm worried about my verification being held up. I need the sGPA boost from these classes (and the one I'm currently taking that I'm holding off on submitting the app for).

 

[flightless_bird]

AP classes do not matter. They are not accredited college classes.

It only matters that you:
A) took AP exams and B) a college gave you credit for them. You are permitted to list AP credits from any college that gave you credit for them. Just note the transfer credits as “AP Bio, AP Chem,” etc and distribute the credits appropriately.

Makes sense - thank you for the tips.

 

[dholida]

First of all, thanks for your reply! My apologies for posting twice - I didn't see this official AMCAS question thread until I created my own, then couldn't figure out how to delete the other one so there weren't duplicates. Sorry about that :/

How does your UG incorporate grades and credits if they are not reported? Does the study abroad have a lump credit total

I remember looking at my university's online grade portal and I saw that the 30 clock hours course was transferred in as 8 credits and the 15 clock hour courses were transferred as 4 credits. There are a few other Scottish universities that provide this conversion (some of these are floating around online), but not mine. There is a little blip about this on the bottom of page 16 of this program information pamphlet. This information just isn't listed on my either of my transcripts. I reached out to my university registrar's office and asked if they could provide a letter explaining how they transferred in the grades. They will send it out on Friday. Once they send the letter, how should I enter my coursework? Should I list it with the clock hours from abroad, the credits/grades explained in the letter, or both?
NOTE: they don't have my abroad transcript yet because it's sitting in their inbox somewhere, waiting to be attached to my application. Same thing applies to the letter explaining how the coursework was transferred - probably 7-10 business days wait time for processing. The rest of my UG transcripts are already uploaded to my app.

They will do it fine, quit stressing

So, just to clarify, will they just do the transfer equivalency from UK to US by themselves? Which then means that the letter from my Registrar is not needed...?

 

[onelastshot]

Has anyone who sent their transcripts via mail been marked received? because I sent mine 25 days ago and it is still not in and I can't even get a hold of them to ask

 

[rooted.grounded.love]

Hi, thank you for all your help! If I attended an unaccredited language school in another country for a semester, should I include that on AMCAS? It was not an official semester abroad because my school did not have any school-sponsored study abroad trips to that country.

Also, currently I am in a post-graduate religious program that combines classes with community service but is not accredited. Both the language school and the religious program have transcripts of my classes, but they are for in-house use more than anything. I don't think I need to list either of them, but I wanted to double-check!

 

[FrontegaChickenPanini]

Hello! I have two questions regarding inputting AP/IB coursework.

1. My university awards a maximum of 40 credit hours for AP and IB coursework. On my transcript, this is indicated by the university course that the AP/IB course covered, as well as the earned hours for that university course. However, I entered with excess credit hours from taking additional AP/IB classes in high school, and as such, anything over the 40 credit hours did not count. On my transcript, this is reflected by the respective university course (again), but the earned credit hours is 0 for these entries. How should I indicate these 0-credit classes on the AMCAS? Do I mark them as AP/IB and leave the credit hours blank, or should I mark these courses as exempt?
   
   
2. On my transcript, the courses from AP and IB credits are separated into two categories, but there are instances where a university course appears in both categories (ex, Intro to Chem). One of these instances is marked as a repeat on the transcript. On the AMCAS, should I mark both instances of the course as repeat, or follow my transcript and only mark one of them as repeat?

 

[sfg123]

I took an EMT course over a summer, but I did not receive college credit for it. Is there a place to put this on amcas? I know aacomas has a continuing education section to put it but I believe amcas doesn't have such a section?

I have the same question, did you ever get an answer?

 

[dholida]

Since you say these credits/grades are part of your schools GPA, they MUST appear on your transcripts. Do You have a entry on your OFFICIAL American school transcript that says "study abroad" with any grades or credits?
If so, you can then list the scottish classes there with the appropriate grade distribution

No, and that's the dumb thing about my transcript. I've confirmed with the registrar office to make sure I understood this properly. This is why I'm a little worried about my transcripts and how to enter the coursework

 

[youngking]

Hi I'm reading through these posts and just wanna clarify - my school still hasn't released final grades from this semester yet so I haven't been able to request a transcript yet. When I do request it, should I wait until AMCAS receives my transcript before I send out my primary app?

 

[Hzreio]

Has anyone who sent their transcripts via mail been marked received? because I sent mine 25 days ago and it is still not in and I can't even get a hold of them to ask

This is like everyone lol

 

[youngking]

Also, I accidentally didn't enter some of my courses in the exact order as listed on my transcript - all the semester/year info is correct though, just a little out of order. Does that matter?

 

[Jtang1107]

I have inputted courses for classes I took abroad and submitted my app. These classes are routed through a separate university in the states so I can get transfer credits at my regular university. However, I just found out this other university won’t get my transcript for another 8-10 weeks, well after the deadline and the transcript is required as it’s through a US school. What do I do? Thank you in and for the help!!

 

[EverythingWillWorkOut]

Is AMCAS already getting started on those apps that are "submitted - ready for review," or is there a set date in the future that reviewers start to verify completed applications with received transcripts? Just wondering if they are giving it a couple of days for apps to pile up a bit or not.

 

[Hzreio]

No, it does NOT matter which gets there first. Until BOTH your primary application AND ALL your transcripts have been received, your application will bot be processed

So we should hold our submission until transcripts are received correct?

 

[youngking]

There is no “just a little” here
Are they in order as per official transcript? Yes or No?

Sorry. There are a few that are not in the order of the official transcript, though most are. I would say 2 or 3 classes aren't in order

 

[Jtang1107]

Lets see if I understand this
1) you took classes independently overseas
2) you have had the overseas school send transcripts to US school “B” (not your home school) in order to get US school grades
3) you have had requested transfer of credits from US school “B” to US school “A” (your home schoo)
4) you have already submitted your primary application with these overseas courses submitted
5) what I am confused about is which school’s transcript wont get where in 8-10 weeks?

Thank you for replying! To clarify, I took classes through a study abroad program unaffiliated with a US university, but I get credit and grades through “School B” and only transfer credit at my home university. Therefore, I must submit a transcript from School B for spring 2020 in addition to my regular transcript from before. School B’a transcript is the one that will be late.

 

[newolduser]

AMCAS classifies courses SOLELY on course content so classify them as such. However, graduate GPA wont influence UG sGPA

Thanks so much for your reply. I don't know why I didn't realize that.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[blueisthecolorof]

Hi! I studied abroad Fall 2019 and was set to graduate Spring 2020. Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine measures, my host institution has been unable to send my study abroad transcript to my home university, thus delaying my graduation till Summer 2020, potentially Fall 2020. I'm not taking any classes during this period because I've already finished my degree. How will this be viewed by medical schools when I apply?

 

[dholida]

This makes no sense.
1) Grades/Credits appear on transcript
2) Grades/Credits are part of GPA

Either BOTH conditions exist or NEITHER conditions exists. You cant have one without the other. Else, I could wonder why credits/GPA do not match. You have to call AMCAS on this one

Yes I've tried to call them multiple times but I get disconnected after hearing a message about extended hold times and high call volume. This is also why I requested a letter from my Registrar's office to explain this discrepancy. I think I'm just going to go ahead and submit with grades listed as exactly on transcript and see what happens. Thank you for your insights and advice anyways.

 

[stayathomemom]

In regards to the disadvantaged essay...
When I was in high school in the late 90's, early 00's in a podunk rural state, I had a bad case of "you don't know what you don't know." I had no idea that I could get student loans or grants. (We had declared bankruptcy at some point and my family never did any kind of fancy banking apart from having one checking account, so I may have just been under the assumption that loans were for normal people, not us poor people.) My high school was not great. I had only ever seen my high school counselor be utilized as an emotional support, but never as a resource for information about college; I was young and dumb and didn't think to ask them. Nor do I ever remember my high school breaching the subject of post-secondary education in an informational way, like telling us how to get into college. I just knew college was a place for me to go to get out of here and it cost a lot of money that somehow normal people come up with because they just have that kind of money laying around I guess? I don't know. Neither did anyone close to me in my family.
By an act of God, I took the ACT early (didn't study, as I was unaware of its importance) and wound up with a high enough score to trigger an automatic full tuition scholarship from the state to any in-state college that was only able to be triggered on that one specific testing day. (Though it worked out for me, it would have been great to know about that program in advance [*cough cough* school counselors *cough cough*]; I found out later it is a yearly thing the state does for all students so there was really no excuse.) I was still under the impression I had to pay for all of my living expenses on my own and so I worked two jobs during all four years at that state school. No one ever told me to fill out a FAFSA, and I had no idea that I could get loans to pay my living expenses.

All this to say, does any of this matter in regards to being disadvantaged? And even if it does, it feels really hard to talk about this without portraying myself as an absolute idiot. What kind of numskull doesn't even know to ask? And in the end, it worked out and I got my education, but I'll always wonder if I had known more, would I have ended up at a better college with a financial aid package and better opportunities? Or is that moot?

 

[MJaM16]

This is probably too specific of a question, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone at the AAMC after calling the past 3 days so if you have any opinion on the matter I would greatly appreciate it.

My school does a Fall semester, a Winter semester (everyone else's Spring semester) and then has a Spring term (first half of summer) and a Summer term (last half of summer) that are both half as long as a normal semester, but classes taken during the terms are still as many credits as those same classes taken during semesters.

My issue is trying to match the Coursework section of AMCAS to my transcript. The option that my university instructed puts my classes out of chronological order so I'm not employing their advice. I have resorted to listing all of the classes I took in either the Spring or Summer term at my school under the Summer Semester tab on AMCAS to keep everything in chronological order, but there is one problem. I got credit for my research lab during both the Spring and Summer terms, 2 credits each term. Since the research credit is under the same course name for both Spring and Summer term, I don't know if I should just list them twice, separately, under the Summer Semester tab with 2 credits for each one, or if I should combine them into one class for the total of 4 credits (which isn't what my transcript says, but the math for my GPA and credits taken will not change due to combining the two). I am also considering using the Quarter System option from AMCAS to list Spring and Summer terms from my university as separate and quarters, but I don't know if that sets off a red flag in AMCAS that I switched between their Semester and Quarter classifications.

No worries if this is too niche of a question for a response, I just thought I'd give it a shot. I obviously do not want my application to get sent back once I submit it simply due to a misclassification of my courses.

 

[MJaM16]

1) list all the courses in the same order that they appear on the official transcript
2) list your winter and spring as spring (else AMCAS will question it and it will delay your application
3) list the summer as summer
4) list the research course twice

Thanks so much for the reply. Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, when you say to list my winter and spring as spring, do you mean to list my winter semester classes as spring semester and list my spring term classes as the spring quarter? And then list summer term as summer quarter as well?

 

[ConfusedApplicant12321]

Hi guys,

My school is not established with AMCAS for eTranscript delivery but does offer students eTranscripts (via Parchment)
Given COVID exceptions, I am planning on using the Parchment but don't know what to put for the recipient email
Any tips for where to send the transcript?

 

[blueisthecolorof]

Hi! I studied abroad Fall 2019 and was set to graduate Spring 2020. Due to COVID-19 and the subsequent quarantine measures, my host institution has been unable to send my study abroad transcript to my home university, thus delaying my graduation till Summer 2020, potentially Fall 2020. I'm not taking any classes during this period because I've already finished my degree. How will this be viewed by medical schools when I apply?

Hi @gonnif I was wondering if you could comment on this situation?

 

[sr4b]

What is going on if I am receiving the "you have called outside of business hours" message when calling during the stated hours?

 

[onelastshot]

Hi! my school just started offering emailing transcripts. And, when I went on National Clearinghouse to request an electronic, it asked me to put down recipient email so can I put down [email protected]? Thank you

 

[onelastshot]

Thank you and yeah normally I agree with you and this is what they have on their website now