On Interfolio and Amcas

[bored]

Hello, I was wondering what your views are on Interfolio.
I was not sure if its beneficial or not. I am planning on applying next year. I have 8 letter writers in my mind, 4 of whom already have prepared a letter for me.

Do you think it would be beneficial for me to get Interfolio and get those letters on there so I don't have to work hard at getting my letters next year?

I assume interfolio works with the laws of amcas, so we can't see the letter and how ti looks like. Is there any way of verifying if the formatting and stuff was kept in order?

Please feel free to share any stores.. I am just starting to get to know that system and basically about to decide if I should invest in the 3-5 year plans for interfolio or a service like interfolio that potentially can make my life and my reference letter writer's life easier.

much thanks!

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[AnthonyBourdain]

I used Interfolio and am very happy with it. It makes it very easy for your LOR writers to send in and they can do it very early on, no need for the AMCAS to open up in May.

LOR writers are notious for being slow so I requested mine in January and used Interfolio to keep track of them until the application opened up in May.

Also, yes it is confidential. You cannot view your own LORs.

Get those letters now! At least one will be late and if you wait until May and one of your LOR writers takes 3 months, you will be compete a lot later than is ideal.

 

[DAPI]

i used interfolio and am very happy with it. It makes it very easy for your lor writers to send in and they can do it very early on, no need for the amcas to open up in may.

Lor writers are notious for being slow so i requested mine in january and used interfolio to keep track of them until the application opened up in may.

Also, yes it is confidential. You cannot view your own lors.

Get those letters now! At least one will be late and if you wait until may and one of your lor writers takes 3 months, you will be compete a lot later than is ideal.

+1

 

[deleted346323]

I recommend Interfolio. It's really easy to use and makes it pretty easy for your writers.

 

[cwrig14]

+1

+2

 

[anguisette]

Also highly recommend Interfolio. You can see when letters have been submitted, so I was able to catch a missing letter from a prof who thought he sent it already. The transition to AMCAS was painless too. I think Interfolio claims it'll check signatures and letterheads for you, but I'm not sure they really do. Individual schools will usually catch those issues and let you know though.

Yes, confidential BUT you can see how many pages a letter is. I actually used this to help me select certain letters to upload to AMCAS and which ones to drop.

 

[BABSstudent]

If you school offers to hold your letters for you, then I recommend doing that since it will save you money.

My school holds our letters for us throughout undergrad for no cost. When we apply, they submit all the letters to AMCAS at no cost. All my letters were received by AMCAS within three days of sending.

However, before you go this route, you should ask people at your school if they would recommend using your school. I understand each school may be different.

 

[bored]

Sounds like a really great system for American applications. I think I will buy their 3 year or 5 year service.
And ask my referees to send their letters directly onto there.

We don't have any premed advisors at my school but I'll check with the registrars to see if they hold letter of reference.

Thanks guys!

 

[DAPI]

Sounds like a really great system for American applications. I think I will buy their 3 year or 5 year service.
And ask my referees to send their letters directly onto there.

We don't have any premed advisors at my school but I'll check with the registrars to see if they hold letter of reference.

Thanks guys!

Why get the 3-5 year plan? Just get whatever you need that's long enough to get them all into AMCAS. Interfolio archives the letters for a few years ( it says on the website somewhere) so that if you cancel your plan for 2 years or something, but then need them again, you can just sign up again and they'll be there.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile.

 

[bored]

Oh ok, didn't know that,

Then I guess I'll just get it for 1 year or so.

Thanks

 

[bored]

I've come Across another question and would appreciate some insight.

If I ask my refrees to send in their letter to interfolio right now, then it would be dated as "october 15",

Wouldn't this look bad if in July 2013, during applications, I'm sending a letter to amcas that is dated October 2012?

 

[dsoz]

I've come Across another question and would appreciate some insight.

If I ask my refrees to send in their letter to interfolio right now, then it would be dated as "october 15",

Wouldn't this look bad if in July 2013, during applications, I'm sending a letter to amcas that is dated October 2012?

Letters should be less than 2-3 years old. If it is only one year, it is not a problem.

The other good thing about interfolio, IF you don't succeed your first cycle, you can use the same letters (with some additions) for your second cycle.

Also, if your transcripts have not changed, you can send your transcripts to interfolio, then use the interfolio site to send them out from there. This would have been a good lesson for me to have learned before this application cycle. I have SEVEN colleges that I need to send transcripts from. If I would have had them all send in transcripts to interfolio then I would have only had to pay $5 to get them ALL sent out, instead of $5 from this one, $10 from that one, $15 from this other one... Don't forget that the medical school that you get accepted to does not get your official transcripts from AMCAS, so they need to be sent to each college. Interfolio works for doing this (or so I have been told).

dsoz

 

[b0142654]

Also there is at least one school, Duke, but there may be others that does not use AMCAS letters. They want letters sent to them directly, and will accept interfolio letters. Using interfolio means not having to ask writers to send out letters more than once.

 

[anguisette]

Wouldn't this look bad if in July 2013, during applications, I'm sending a letter to amcas that is dated October 2012?

That's fine. I think some schools (Creighton comes to mind) require a letter dated in the last year, but one from 2012 would still be ok when you apply in 2013.

Letters should be less than 2-3 years old. If it is only one year, it is not a problem.

Also, if your transcripts have not changed, you can send your transcripts to interfolio, then use the interfolio site to send them out from there. This would have been a good lesson for me to have learned before this application cycle. I have SEVEN colleges that I need to send transcripts from. If I would have had them all send in transcripts to interfolio then I would have only had to pay $5 to get them ALL sent out, instead of $5 from this one, $10 from that one, $15 from this other one... Don't forget that the medical school that you get accepted to does not get your official transcripts from AMCAS, so they need to be sent to each college. Interfolio works for doing this (or so I have been told).

I did NOT know that. Darn it, that would have been a good strategy for me too. I had 6 transcripts and had to pay for two copies of each (one for me and one for AMCAS).

 

[bored]

Hi guys, It's me again,

Could someone who have used the process of interfolio can take me through how the process works?

Is it just me asking my profs/ref letter writers to send the letter to interfolio and come application, I would ask interfolio to send the specific letter to amcas?

Much thanks!

 

[DAPI]

Hi guys, It's me again,

Could someone who have used the process of interfolio can take me through how the process works?

Is it just me asking my profs/ref letter writers to send the letter to interfolio and come application, I would ask interfolio to send the specific letter to amcas?

Much thanks!

That's exactly how it works.

 

[anguisette]

Hi guys, It's me again,

Could someone who have used the process of interfolio can take me through how the process works?

Is it just me asking my profs/ref letter writers to send the letter to interfolio and come application, I would ask interfolio to send the specific letter to amcas?

Much thanks!

Pretty much. Tell your profs to expect an email from interfolio with a link to upload their information and letters. You can send to AMCAS as soon as it opens up in May (and make sure you link your AAMC ID number).

 

[amad01]

Pretty much. Tell your profs to expect an email from interfolio with a link to upload their information and letters. You can send to AMCAS as soon as it opens up in May (and make sure you link your AAMC ID number).

How exactly does the transition from interfolio to AMCAS work? Is it just simply going in and clicking boxes and submitting them to be sent?

 

[IncognitoGuy]

How exactly does the transition from interfolio to AMCAS work? Is it just simply going in and clicking boxes and submitting them to be sent?

You need to generate an AMCAS Letter ID#, which is how AMCAS tracks letters. You then assign this ID# to an Interfolio Letter and they will make sure everything matches up and is sent from then on. Quick, painless and organized.

 

[bored]

Much thanks guys,

is it possible go send the letter to interfolio by mail instead of uploading it?

I think some of my profs might not like technology..

 

[Fivo]

Much thanks guys,

is it possible go send the letter to interfolio by mail instead of uploading it?

I think some of my profs might not like technology..

Yes. It gives you the option to email the request or print it. Once you print it, their return address is already on the request form. Print out the form, put it in envelope with self-paid postage, and hand it to your professor.

 

[bored]

Yes. It gives you the option to email the request or print it. Once you print it, their return address is already on the request form. Print out the form, put it in envelope with self-paid postage, and hand it to your professor.

Awesome, thanks

 

[EnginrTheFuture]

One of the best parts about interfolio was their call center. I called them and they were happy to check my letters for physical signatures and letterheads. I didn't want to pay to send the letters to AMCAS and pay to resend them if they didn't have letterheads/sigs. One of the many reasons it was worth ever cent.