PhORCAS

[balab]

Anyone noticing changing deadline dates in phorcas? It seems as thought programs are extending their deadlines maybe due to problems with phorcas? I'm just wondering if this is happening with other programs. I've emailed the RD to confirm the real deadline, but I plan on submitting tonight anyway.

I noticed it too. At first I thought I was imagining things not sure if this is for real. Let us know when you hear back from the RPD.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[KARM12]

Anyone noticing changing deadline dates in phorcas? It seems as thought programs are extending their deadlines maybe due to problems with phorcas? I'm just wondering if this is happening with other programs. I've emailed the RD to confirm the real deadline, but I plan on submitting tonight anyway.

We changed ours to give a few days extra because of all the issues, but really you should be making your best effort to submit by the deadline.

 

[bacillus1]

Anyone noticing changing deadline dates in phorcas? It seems as thought programs are extending their deadlines maybe due to problems with phorcas? I'm just wondering if this is happening with other programs. I've emailed the RD to confirm the real deadline, but I plan on submitting tonight anyway.

Apparently the system closes at 12:01AM on the day of the deadline. Thus some programs could be extending by a day, so applicants can still submit on the day of the deadline. Just because a deadline is extended DOES NOT mean that you should be submitting after the actual deadline, unless you're one of those people who PhORCAS screwed over and you told the residency program beforehand about why you're submitting late.

 

[spamm1e]

Apparently the system closes at 12:01AM on the day of the deadline. Thus some programs could be extending by a day, so applicants can still submit on the day of the deadline. Just because a deadline is extended DOES NOT mean that you should be submitting after the actual deadline, unless you're one of those people who PhORCAS screwed over and you told the residency program beforehand about why you're submitting late.

Agreed. I was more wondering about one program I decided I was not ready to submit to, so I accepted the fact I would be missing out. However, the program extended their date by 1 whole week....which I found odd. That's the main reason I emailed the RPD because I didn't want to submit if it would reflect poorly on me.

I'm basically trying to find out if the extension is only for those who contacted the program before the original deadline (those who were having issues) or if they are in fact continuing to accept applications.

 

[transzincIIB]

I feel unsatisfied with my e-submit :-(. With the new Phorcas system, it is anticipated that there's an increase in the number of application. As much as i don't wanna bother them, should I just wait for the program and assume that they have received my application or programs love hearing f/u from applicants??

 

[jadedpharmer]

Quick question - I e-submitted on Saturday, as the deadline for the application was Saturday. I also submitted hard copies of everything the residency required and dropped it off at the hospital. This included my transcript. I didn't realize I needed to send my transcript to PhorCAS, since I thought I could just put a hard copy in the packet with the rest of the required documents. And as for the Recommendation Letters, the residency program had their own forms that were slightly different from the ones PhorCAS sent out, so i had asked the people to fill out and fax over the hospital program's letters and ignore the PhorCAS ones.

So basically I think the residency program has all the documents they required, but my PhorCAS status says it's missing my transcripts and my 3 LOR. Will this affect anything? Does this prevent the residency program director from actually seeing my info and PhorCAS profile stuff since PhorCAS seems to think it's incomplete? Will it affect the Match if I'm already registered for the Match?

And also, the PhorCAS wants 2 transcripts - one from my pharmacy school, and another one from my non-pharmacy related undergrad, but there's only a red dot next to the Pharmacy school program thingy. I was hoping I wouldn't have to submit transcripts from undergrad, as it's extra tedious. But PhorCAS is saying I have 0 out of 2 transcripts submitted... can I just mail them the Pharmacy school transcript?

What would happen if I didn't submit anything else to PhorCAS and leave it as is... despite having submitted everything in hard copy to the actual residency program itself?

 

[Garfield3d]

Quick question - I e-submitted on Saturday, as the deadline for the application was Saturday. I also submitted hard copies of everything the residency required and dropped it off at the hospital. This included my transcript. I didn't realize I needed to send my transcript to PhorCAS, since I thought I could just put a hard copy in the packet with the rest of the required documents. And as for the Recommendation Letters, the residency program had their own forms that were slightly different from the ones PhorCAS sent out, so i had asked the people to fill out and fax over the hospital program's letters and ignore the PhorCAS ones.

So basically I think the residency program has all the documents they required, but my PhorCAS status says it's missing my transcripts and my 3 LOR. Will this affect anything? Does this prevent the residency program director from actually seeing my info and PhorCAS profile stuff since PhorCAS seems to think it's incomplete? Will it affect the Match if I'm already registered for the Match?

And also, the PhorCAS wants 2 transcripts - one from my pharmacy school, and another one from my non-pharmacy related undergrad, but there's only a red dot next to the Pharmacy school program thingy. I was hoping I wouldn't have to submit transcripts from undergrad, as it's extra tedious. But PhorCAS is saying I have 0 out of 2 transcripts submitted... can I just mail them the Pharmacy school transcript?

What would happen if I didn't submit anything else to PhorCAS and leave it as is... despite having submitted everything in hard copy to the actual residency program itself?

I would say that you should be fine so as long as you have communicated to the residency director that all of your requisite materials have been dropped off at the hospital. So, if you haven't personally spoken to the residency director about your materials, then I would send him or her an e-mail stating when you dropped the materials off at the hospital. Even if you have a friend or colleague who has spoken to the program director about a similar situation, I would still talk to the director so that he or she knows that your application is in.

Ultimately, though, the residency director is the only person who can accurately answer this question. If you're asking SDN, then you're only going to get supposition and possibly even anecdotes from other programs. But, none of that information is going to be specific to your program, much less your application.

As for the undergraduate transcripts: This is a question that is actually addressed on the PhORCAS FAQ and discussed heavily on this thread already. PhORCAS is going to tell you that you do need to submit transcripts for all of the schooling that you have ever done, but some programs don't care about your undergrad work and you could probably just remove all schools except your pharmacy school to get around it in PhORCAS. As for whether or not your specific application needs your undergrad transcript... again, this is a residency specific question, and you should pose that question to the program's residency director. I would bet that they don't want your undergrad transcript, but I did meet a few programs who wanted to see all transcripts.

Importantly, when you request your transcript from your school, you need to include their specialized PhORCAS form with the transcript request to your school. If you don't include the PhORCAS form, then the processing of your transcript at the PhORCAS office is going to get delayed pretty heavily.

In short: You probably should have asked the program director all of the questions back in the first two weeks of December. I don't mean to sound crass with that last sentence, but we're talking about a pretty big determining moment in the future of your professional development. This is something that you want to get straight from the horse's mouth.

If it comforts you a bit, I have had one residency director tell me that if I had problems with PhORCAS, I could bypass the system altogether and get the materials to him some alternative way. So, PhORCAS isn't an absolute necessity so as long as the residency program is aware of where to expect your application. Simply dropping off your application doesn't constitute a firm communication with the program. Make sure that they know (but don't give them a swan song).

--Garfield3d

 

[Just Because]

Our progam asks mostly behavioral based questions..."Tell me about a time when -----" For these there really isn't a right or wrong answer.

For the presentation we may ask questions and my best advice if you don't know the answer - say what you do know and where you would find the information that you do not know. For example if it is an antibiotic question about HAP and you can't remember what drugs - "I know there is a concern for MDR pathogens, including pseudomonas- so I would use the hospital antibiogram to help aid my decision in empiric therapy."

You are a Genius!!! Thank you for putting that so delicately!. Hopefully I have the answers to the questions whilst on interview.

 

[confettiflyer]

A few thoughts:

1) Our applicant pool is up over last year.

2) We love being able to review applications as they trickle in and remotely. Some of the residents and RAC reviewers are off-site, much easier to give them log-ins to review apps.

3) I see applications initially pop into the "incomplete" pile and 15 minutes later magically pop into the "completed" section for no apparent reason.

4) I see incomplete applications in the "complete" pile -- I can't tell whether PhORCAS messed it up or the applicant really submitted a blank LOI or one that cuts off randomly mid-sentence. Very few - we've been contacting them individually and giving them the benefit of the doubt.

5) As a PGY1, I'm amazed how bad some students are, and how amazingly great others are... I thought most pharmacy students were more or less the same and high performing. Boy, was I wrong.

6) My program as well as a few around me are being extra generous with everything - we are not penalizing applicants in areas of LOR's, transcripts, or other weird PhORCAS stuff.

But if your application isn't at least in the "incomplete" pile by the deadline...you'll be penalized, unless we're contacted first.

 

[thephoenician88]

well it turns out that some of my references didn't upload a letter. How that's possible, i'm not sure. I sent all 3 the same email and only 1 uploaded the letter. Not to mention i called/gave them several notices.

will call

 

[thephoenician88]

well it turns out that some of my references didn't upload a letter. How that's possible, i'm not sure. I sent all 3 the same email and only 1 uploaded the letter. Not to mention i called/gave them several notices.

will call

apparently the reference has to call phorcas to have it fixed. I can't do anything about it.

 

[zelman]

explain to me how those are important?

If i had webmaster as a position, how important would it be for me to insert what I did as webmaster. If there's something interesting, they'll ask you about it at the interview. Your description won't be the reason you get a residency.

One example: I was involved in student government. In different schools that can be something completely different. At some schools, you book comedians to perform. At others, you have a role in student disciplinary proceedings. And there are a dozen types of roles between and beyond those examples. I wouldn't waste space on a pharmacy-oriented CV talking about what I did in student government, or as an RA, or what some non-pharmacy related award was. But if there's another space to provide the info, I'm glad to. They're still things I'm proud of and that I think are important.

As for the fact that they could just ask you about it in the interview, that's valid. That being said, I'd hate for them to ask me about something, then realize 10 seconds into my response that it wasn't what they thought and didn't care as I blathered on for another minute or two. More info is better (as long as you aren't going overboard, which I think the character limit prevented).

 

[jmoini]

5) As a PGY1, I'm amazed how bad some students are, and how amazingly great others are... I thought most pharmacy students were more or less the same and high performing. Boy, was I wrong.

can you elaborate on this with some details (but not too much)?

 

[balab]

It has now been almost a month since I turned in my transcripts (12/13/12) and nothing has been posted by Phorcas. I then resent it on January 2nd. I applied to 10 programs and 7 of my deadlines have now been reached. I am really nervous at this stage. Is it a good idea to contact these programs directly and offer to send my transcripts directly to them?

 

[thephoenician88]

It has now been almost a month since I turned in my transcripts (12/13/12) and nothing has been posted by Phorcas. I then resent it on January 2nd. I applied to 10 programs and 7 of my deadlines have now been reached. I am really nervous at this stage. Is it a good idea to contact these programs directly and offer to send my transcripts directly to them?

did you call phorcas? You should give them a call and tell them you resent it. If they say it will need till next week, you may just want to mail them transcripts.

I did that for a few sites when I thought phorcas was going to die on me...

 

[MackerelRun]

It has now been almost a month since I turned in my transcripts (12/13/12) and nothing has been posted by Phorcas. I then resent it on January 2nd. I applied to 10 programs and 7 of my deadlines have now been reached. I am really nervous at this stage. Is it a good idea to contact these programs directly and offer to send my transcripts directly to them?

Definitely give PhORCAS a call. I mentioned to them my transcript was sent [how long ago], and couple days later it got posted.

 

[confettiflyer]

can you elaborate on this with some details (but not too much)?

maybe i just had awesome friends or a small class, but i felt like most of us were pretty much the same and generally high performing (except for a few outliers).

Now going through dozens of CV's and LOR's/LOI's, you start to see patterns emerge and a clear distinction between those who have their stuff together and have actual things to write about vs. those who have none and are stuffing their application with fluff and general sucking up.

And the level of articulation on the LOI's is so wide...some are poised, focused, specific, and speak of maturity. Others sound like they're grasping at fog trying to put a story together for you...and it ultimately falls flat or comes across as insincere or like you're reading a promotional flier.

 

[Just Because]

maybe i just had awesome friends or a small class, but i felt like most of us were pretty much the same and generally high performing (except for a few outliers).

Now going through dozens of CV's and LOR's/LOI's, you start to see patterns emerge and a clear distinction between those who have their stuff together and have actual things to write about vs. those who have none and are stuffing their application with fluff and general sucking up.

And the level of articulation on the LOI's is so wide...some are poised, focused, specific, and speak of maturity. Others sound like they're grasping at fog trying to put a story together for you...and it ultimately falls flat or comes across as insincere or like you're reading a promotional flier.

Lol, very interesting... But what do you mean that some are adding "fluff" to their cv's

 

[confettiflyer]

Lol, very interesting... But what do you mean that some are adding "fluff" to their cv's

Like listing every single minor presentation they did on rotations...really, I don't care. Give me something of substance, like a poster at a regional or national conference.

Or when people go into detail about what they did on retail rotations...again, I'm smart enough to figure out you probably typed prescriptions, called for transfers, and counseled patients. Spare me the effort.

It's worse on LOI's I think...when candidates expend 3-4 sentences in explaining why pharmacy is for them but end up fluffing up why clinical practice is so great. They didn't actually tell me WHY they are interested in it.

Grumble grumble.

 

[cuedee]

.

 

[howyoudoin450]

Hi all,
I'm just wondering how much undergrad gpa matters when applying to a pharmacy residency program? Do they mostly look at pharmacy gpa?

 

[rxlea]

Like listing every single minor presentation they did on rotations...really, I don't care. Give me something of substance, like a poster at a regional or national conference.

Or when people go into detail about what they did on retail rotations...again, I'm smart enough to figure out you probably typed prescriptions, called for transfers, and counseled patients. Spare me the effort.

It's worse on LOI's I think...when candidates expend 3-4 sentences in explaining why pharmacy is for them but end up fluffing up why clinical practice is so great. They didn't actually tell me WHY they are interested in it.

Grumble grumble.

What if we list only a unique aspect of a rotation/intern position?

 

[thephoenician88]

Like listing every single minor presentation they did on rotations...really, I don't care. Give me something of substance, like a poster at a regional or national conference.

Or when people go into detail about what they did on retail rotations...again, I'm smart enough to figure out you probably typed prescriptions, called for transfers, and counseled patients. Spare me the effort.

It's worse on LOI's I think...when candidates expend 3-4 sentences in explaining why pharmacy is for them but end up fluffing up why clinical practice is so great. They didn't actually tell me WHY they are interested in it.

Grumble grumble.

honestly i did not even go into that much detail on my letter. I said why i want to do a residency, what my goals are, why i want to do one at that location, a little about myself + my quick run through experiences. nothing too specific. it's a letter of intent.

But who knows, I could be wrong. People realize that when someone here says something, that's ONE PERSON from ONE SITE, and you should not try to extrapolate that to every site.

Yes do your best and use tools you find, but don't hang on every word everyone in here is saying. Yes, listen to it and learn from it, but don't act like your life depends on it.

 

[Just Because]

honestly i did not even go into that much detail on my letter. I said why i want to do a residency, what my goals are, why i want to do one at that location, a little about myself + my quick run through experiences. nothing too specific. it's a letter of intent.

But who knows, I could be wrong. People realize that when someone here says something, that's ONE PERSON from ONE SITE, and you should not try to extrapolate that to every site.

Yes do your best and use tools you find, but don't hang on every word everyone in here is saying. Yes, listen to it and learn from it, but don't act like your life depends on it.

Lol. True

 

[confettiflyer]

honestly i did not even go into that much detail on my letter. I said why i want to do a residency, what my goals are, why i want to do one at that location, a little about myself + my quick run through experiences. nothing too specific. it's a letter of intent.

But who knows, I could be wrong. People realize that when someone here says something, that's ONE PERSON from ONE SITE, and you should not try to extrapolate that to every site.

Yes do your best and use tools you find, but don't hang on every word everyone in here is saying. Yes, listen to it and learn from it, but don't act like your life depends on it.

this is true too, you get a lot of different opinions out there. i'm an impatient inpatient reviewer, we're busy....you apply to a mostly academic situation, i'd butter things up a bit.

 

[confettiflyer]

What if we list only a unique aspect of a rotation/intern position?

this is what i did and what i prefer...if you rotated for GSK and helped raid illegal counterfeit drug factories in India, then yeah you should probably write that down.

 

[balab]

So Phorcas has officially failed me. After numerous emails and phone calls trying to figure out why my transcripts that I sent in on 12/13 hadn't been uploaded, I finally got someone today who told me that they had my transcript and she would forward it to a supervisor to upload ASAP. Apparently a high school diploma is not required for this job. Someone dropped the ball. My school's name is XXU HSC SOP, whoever received the transcript was confused and thought the transcripts were from XXU and didn't upload them. They updated my status as I was typing this reply and it says my transcripts were received 12/19. All this time wasted!!!!!! I am sure we would all agree that we could have done a better job turning in our applications than Phorcas is doing..... rant over........

 

[thephoenician88]

So Phorcas has officially failed me. After numerous emails and phone calls trying to figure out why my transcripts that I sent in on 12/13 hadn't been uploaded, I finally got someone today who told me that they had my transcript and she would forward it to a supervisor to upload ASAP. Apparently a high school diploma is not required for this job. Someone dropped the ball. My school's name is XXU HSC SOP, whoever received the transcript was confused and thought the transcripts were from XXU and didn't upload them. They updated my status as I was typing this reply and it says my transcripts were received 12/19. All this time wasted!!!!!! I am sure we would all agree that we could have done a better job turning in our applications than Phorcas is doing..... rant over........

Yea apparently all my applications look "incomplete" because they have not uploaded my UNDERGRADUATE TRANSCRIPT- which was sent at the same time as my pharmacy one.

My undergraduate transcript is actually included in my pharmacy school transcript, but I doubt some programs will look at my app because they see "incomplete" when actually all their requirements are there!

 

[sunineyes]

So, since I received one interview invite, I was under the impression that all of my application materials were complete and in order... I did receive info from another program that they had all of my materials and that they would contact me soon.

Come to find out, today I received an email from one program director stating that she can only see one LOR uploaded into the system; application deadline is several days past due. So now I don't know if 2 of my 3 reference writers just didn't upload an actual document, there is an issue with PhORCAS, or both... the one program I have gotten an invite from is one that knows me well, and I almost wonder if they are forgiving a lack of actual letters due to this fact? I have no idea. Of course PhORCAS has been closed since I found out about all of this.

I hate to bother the LOR writers after they have already helped me out so much, and I definitely am not the type to hound people; "did you write my letter yet?" "did you upload a letter" etc, etc... I asked each one of them to please make sure to upload a letter with their recommendation, and I feel like that is enough.

I have sent a nice email to my LOR writers, not knowing whose LOR is the visible one, telling them that there is some issue with the system.

I applied to 10 programs; very upset about all of this and feeling like I wasted money if some of the programs are considering my app incomplete- all but one deadline has passed. PhORCAS really should just require LOR uploads rather than their little form or whatever it is (no idea what it looks like).

Very frustrating and upsetting that this may ruin my chances at something I have been striving for since before pharm school....

 

[Just Because]

So, since I received one interview invite, I was under the impression that all of my application materials were complete and in order... I did receive info from another program that they had all of my materials and that they would contact me soon.

Very frustrating and upsetting that this may ruin my chances at something I have been striving for since before pharm school....

Good luck... Hope the places received your stuff with no problems!

 

[jcb511]

Come to find out, today I received an email from one program director stating that she can only see one LOR uploaded into the system; application deadline is several days past due. So now I don't know if 2 of my 3 reference writers just didn't upload an actual document, there is an issue with PhORCAS, or both...

I hate to bother the LOR writers after they have already helped me out so much, and I definitely am not the type to hound people; "did you write my letter yet?" "did you upload a letter" etc, etc... I asked each one of them to please make sure to upload a letter with their recommendation, and I feel like that is enough.

This happened to me too. 2 of my 3 LOR peeps filled out the PhORCAS recommendation form in great detail but they didn't actually write a formal letter of recommendation. From my end in PhORCAS, i only see that all my references were completed before mid-Dec and cheered about having finished that part early. Then a program contacted me yesterday, saying I'm missing 2 LOR's. After a call to PhORCAS, I realized what happened and had to contact my reference writers, ask them to CALL PhORCAS to re-open their specific reference link, and then upload an actual letter. I felt awful b/c they're all very busy, have other letters to do, and spend a great deal of time for me already. And now they have to deal with PhORCAS on the phone too. Plus, I didn't know how to politely say **please do this ASAP else all my app is thrown out the window **

Wished PhORCAS differentiated between reference forms and reference letters. And good thing that program contacted me, else I wouldn't know I'm missing letters at all~! And now half of the deadlines are past.... and I wonder if I'm out of the running already b/c I'm missing letters without even realizing it.

 

[sunineyes]

This happened to me too. 2 of my 3 LOR peeps filled out the PhORCAS recommendation form in great detail but they didn't actually write a formal letter of recommendation. From my end in PhORCAS, i only see that all my references were completed before mid-Dec and cheered about having finished that part early. Then a program contacted me yesterday, saying I'm missing 2 LOR's. After a call to PhORCAS, I realized what happened and had to contact my reference writers, ask them to CALL PhORCAS to re-open their specific reference link, and then upload an actual letter. I felt awful b/c they're all very busy, have other letters to do, and spend a great deal of time for me already. And now they have to deal with PhORCAS on the phone too. Plus, I didn't know how to politely say **please do this ASAP else all my app is thrown out the window **

Wished PhORCAS differentiated between reference forms and reference letters. And good thing that program contacted me, else I wouldn't know I'm missing letters at all~! And now half of the deadlines are past.... and I wonder if I'm out of the running already b/c I'm missing letters without even realizing it.

yep, exactly my situation too. So, PhORCAS won't let them get back into the system now, unless they make a phone call huh? Perfect. I feel like so many of us worked very hard to get things in on time and/or early, and now we have this to deal with...

I wonder if I should contact the remaining 7 programs I haven't heard form yet and ask them if I can send over electronic references from my writers so they don't have to deal with the PhORCAS drama. ugh, this is awful!

:cry::cry::cry:

 

[confettiflyer]

Yea apparently all my applications look "incomplete" because they have not uploaded my UNDERGRADUATE TRANSCRIPT- which was sent at the same time as my pharmacy one.

My undergraduate transcript is actually included in my pharmacy school transcript, but I doubt some programs will look at my app because they see "incomplete" when actually all their requirements are there!

I know my program figured this out and we are ignoring "complete/incomplete" and reviewing every application that hits our box.

Can't speak for others, but I'm sure they'll get suspicious as to why some of their star students are ending up "incomplete."

 

[Deja]

yep, exactly my situation too. So, PhORCAS won't let them get back into the system now, unless they make a phone call huh? Perfect. I feel like so many of us worked very hard to get things in on time and/or early, and now we have this to deal with...

I wonder if I should contact the remaining 7 programs I haven't heard form yet and ask them if I can send over electronic references from my writers so they don't have to deal with the PhORCAS drama. ugh, this is awful!

:cry::cry::cry:

haha happened to me too, just got it all taken care of, hopefully it's all okay now =/

 

[bacillus1]

I am reviewing forms now. I count the PhORCAS forms as recommendation letters, as some recommenders indeed did not upload actual letters and this is most likely not the applicant's fault. Also, we review all applications, even the ones in the "incomplete" section.

 

[joetrisman]

well it turns out that some of my references didn't upload a letter. How that's possible, i'm not sure. I sent all 3 the same email and only 1 uploaded the letter. Not to mention i called/gave them several notices.

will call

So, since I received one interview invite, I was under the impression that all of my application materials were complete and in order... I did receive info from another program that they had all of my materials and that they would contact me soon.

Come to find out, today I received an email from one program director stating that she can only see one LOR uploaded into the system; application deadline is several days past due. So now I don't know if 2 of my 3 reference writers just didn't upload an actual document, there is an issue with PhORCAS, or both... the one program I have gotten an invite from is one that knows me well, and I almost wonder if they are forgiving a lack of actual letters due to this fact? I have no idea. Of course PhORCAS has been closed since I found out about all of this.

I hate to bother the LOR writers after they have already helped me out so much, and I definitely am not the type to hound people; "did you write my letter yet?" "did you upload a letter" etc, etc... I asked each one of them to please make sure to upload a letter with their recommendation, and I feel like that is enough.

I have sent a nice email to my LOR writers, not knowing whose LOR is the visible one, telling them that there is some issue with the system.

I applied to 10 programs; very upset about all of this and feeling like I wasted money if some of the programs are considering my app incomplete- all but one deadline has passed. PhORCAS really should just require LOR uploads rather than their little form or whatever it is (no idea what it looks like).

Very frustrating and upsetting that this may ruin my chances at something I have been striving for since before pharm school....

This happened to me too. 2 of my 3 LOR peeps filled out the PhORCAS recommendation form in great detail but they didn't actually write a formal letter of recommendation. From my end in PhORCAS, i only see that all my references were completed before mid-Dec and cheered about having finished that part early. Then a program contacted me yesterday, saying I'm missing 2 LOR's. After a call to PhORCAS, I realized what happened and had to contact my reference writers, ask them to CALL PhORCAS to re-open their specific reference link, and then upload an actual letter. I felt awful b/c they're all very busy, have other letters to do, and spend a great deal of time for me already. And now they have to deal with PhORCAS on the phone too. Plus, I didn't know how to politely say **please do this ASAP else all my app is thrown out the window **

Wished PhORCAS differentiated between reference forms and reference letters. And good thing that program contacted me, else I wouldn't know I'm missing letters at all~! And now half of the deadlines are past.... and I wonder if I'm out of the running already b/c I'm missing letters without even realizing it.

haha happened to me too, just got it all taken care of, hopefully it's all okay now =/

Count me in. Mine was taken care of really early in the process (but after many deadlines). Seems this is a systemic Phorcas problem. Ugh.

I am reviewing forms now. I count the PhORCAS forms as recommendation letters, as some recommenders indeed did not upload actual letters and this is most likely not the applicant's fault. Also, we review all applications, even the ones in the "incomplete" section.

Kudos to your program for being so pragmatic about Phorcas apps

 

[KARM12]

I am reviewing forms now. I count the PhORCAS forms as recommendation letters, as some recommenders indeed did not upload actual letters and this is most likely not the applicant's fault. Also, we review all applications, even the ones in the "incomplete" section.

Same here, we reviewed all applications. Most of ours sitting in the incomplete side are missing an undergrad transcript, which we do not look at as part of our screening. Some of these candidates were offered interviews even though they are in the incomplete pool.

Students seem to underestimate the intelligence of programs. Phorcas is new to us too. We aren't going to deny a great candidate because of a technical issue.

 

[Pkm2010]

Issue resolved

 

[patmcd]

Has anyone, successfully, changed a designation from one institution to another after the deadline passed? I mistakenly chose a designation because it had the exact same name as the designation I wanted ( they were right next to each other) and I did not realize it until 8 days after the deadline passed for the program. I just lost the opportunity to apply to a great program.

Seems unlikely that you'll be able to fix this, but your best bet is to start by calling PhorCAS.

Perhaps the program you accidentally applied to is one you would be interested in too?

 

[KARM12]

Has anyone, successfully, changed a designation from one institution to another after the deadline passed? I mistakenly chose a designation because it had the exact same name as the designation I wanted ( they were right next to each other) and I did not realize it until 8 days after the deadline passed for the program. I just lost the opportunity to apply to a great program.

I'm pretty sure this would not be allowed because the program's site "closes" after their chosen deadline.

Attention to detail is an important quality for a resident...If I had a candidate use this as an excuse for not getting their application in, I probably would not accept it.

 

[confettiflyer]

I am reviewing forms now. I count the PhORCAS forms as recommendation letters, as some recommenders indeed did not upload actual letters and this is most likely not the applicant's fault. Also, we review all applications, even the ones in the "incomplete" section.

I actually prefer the phorcas form to an actual letter...it sortof forces the recommender to go straight to the point. When you're sifting through 60-70 applications x 3-4 letters each, straight to the point helps.

Of course when they just use the checkboxes and make no comments, that's a problem.

 

[confettiflyer]

I'm pretty sure this would not be allowed because the program's site "closes" after their chosen deadline.

Attention to detail is an important quality for a resident...If I had a candidate use this as an excuse for not getting their application in, I probably would not accept it.

We debated extending an extra day but keeping our official deadline to account for any weird issues...but we have enough applicants as it is.

The only case I can think of where we'd accept after the deadline is if the applicant was "one of our own" and there was a really really really good reason for it.

Otherwise, tough cookies.

 

[confettiflyer]

Students seem to underestimate the intelligence of programs. Phorcas is new to us too. We aren't going to deny a great candidate because of a technical issue.

I understand the anxiety though, it's a big firewall between programs and candidates and I'm sure they have no idea what we see. I understand if they think an incomplete app goes into a black hole from which there is no return.

At least I think they don't know what we see. Eh.

 

[thephoenician88]

I understand the anxiety though, it's a big firewall between programs and candidates and I'm sure they have no idea what we see. I understand if they think an incomplete app goes into a black hole from which there is no return.

At least I think they don't know what we see. Eh.

what bugs me the most is that phorcas is trying to standardize this process, but this is different than applying to pharmacy school. This is almost a job application, it's specific and unique for everyone.

Regardless, I was looking at my letter of intent and I feel like I should have put a little more story in there, people love stories...

FOR PEOPLE HAVING REFERENCE ISSUES.
It's been mentioned before..
- your reference has to call phorcas to get it cleared
- your reference should not email phorcas because they have a long turn around time
- my reference had such an old computer that her browser wasn't really uploading the document even though she thought it was, so she had to email it to them and call to have it uploaded.

I feel sort of bad for putting my references through all this...hopefully something good comes of it :/ At least I can FINALLY say my phorcas app is "done"...again.

 

[sunineyes]

I am reviewing forms now. I count the PhORCAS forms as recommendation letters, as some recommenders indeed did not upload actual letters and this is most likely not the applicant's fault. Also, we review all applications, even the ones in the "incomplete" section.

good to know! thank you for saying this- i hope at least a few of my programs are doing the same...

 

[confettiflyer]

what bugs me the most is that phorcas is trying to standardize this process, but this is different than applying to pharmacy school. This is almost a job application, it's specific and unique for everyone.

Regardless, I was looking at my letter of intent and I feel like I should have put a little more story in there, people love stories...

FOR PEOPLE HAVING REFERENCE ISSUES.
It's been mentioned before..
- your reference has to call phorcas to get it cleared
- your reference should not email phorcas because they have a long turn around time
- my reference had such an old computer that her browser wasn't really uploading the document even though she thought it was, so she had to email it to them and call to have it uploaded.

I feel sort of bad for putting my references through all this...hopefully something good comes of it :/ At least I can FINALLY say my phorcas app is "done"...again.

Don't forget to get gifts for your letters.

 

[jcb511]

I actually prefer the phorcas form to an actual letter...it sortof forces the recommender to go straight to the point. When you're sifting through 60-70 applications x 3-4 letters each, straight to the point helps.

Of course when they just use the checkboxes and make no comments, that's a problem.

I hope more programs are following your example. My reference writer said she spent a lot of time filling out the PhORCAS recommendation form, putting in a lot of details and specific points about me. But when I had to ask her to write a formal letter, she whipped together a generic letter. From what is described, I would think that what she put on the form sounds better than the letter. Also, if the letter is created from copying & pasting things said in the form, wouldn't there be a lot of redundancy?

 

[thephoenician88]

Don't forget to get gifts for your letters.

YES! I'll send them hand written thank you letters, gift card/money would be weird I think. I'll bake a cake if i get into somewhere .

So an interesting development...I called phorcas about my undergraduate transcript and they said they couldn't do anything till it came in and my application would look incomplete.

I had emailed them about this days ago, and someone responded to my email (on a sunday??) and said they deleted my undergraduate school from my app...huh? So now i'm not sure if it's complete, incomplete, or just completely screwed. great.

 

[confettiflyer]

I hope more programs are following your example. My reference writer said she spent a lot of time filling out the PhORCAS recommendation form, putting in a lot of details and specific points about me. But when I had to ask her to write a formal letter, she whipped together a generic letter. From what is described, I would think that what she put on the form sounds better than the letter. Also, if the letter is created from copying & pasting things said in the form, wouldn't there be a lot of redundancy?

The way it shows up for us is one big PDF file and the form letters are almost the first thing we see, then the LOI/CV, then finally attached LOR's. when initially screening I am sort of fatigued by the time I get there and almost already have my mind made up whether to recommend an interview or not.

The only time I really read into them is when a) we do formal scoring with points to invited candidates or b) when letter writers write "see attached file" in the form letter.

 

[RedRos]

Talking about incomplete applications, does anyone know if a program sees the application as "incomplete" if a transcript (pre-req) is missing. One of the program contacted me saying me my application is incomplete. My pre- pharmacy school has sent out the transcript already, but it is still not up on phorcas. I am very nervous at this point. Almost all my application deadline has passed, now I am wondering if a program just sees the application as incomplete.