PhORCAS

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My two schools both mailed out my transcripts on Nov 30th, one was received/posted on Dec 4th, the 2nd was posted yesterday but was posted as received on Dec 7th.
 
Phorcas requires undergrad transcripts?? Oh my gosh, I need to get my poop together!
 
All my reference writers are having issues uploading their letters...
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
All my reference writers are having issues uploading their letters...
Click to expand...

me too!

PhORCAS is only allowing each recommender to upload ONE file (potential issue for programs wanting a separate form plus a LOR)

Solution: Save separate form as word doc and combine it with LOR & upload as ONE file!

Good luck everyone!
 
Hey guys,

Just a quick question..under Residency Program Designation, and when you click a program you added, there will be several drop-down boxes i.e. Resume, Cover letter, LORs..

I see the drop-down box for resume, cover letter (assuming it's same as letter of intent), but not for personal statement..anyone encounters this problem?

As far as I know, letter of intent and personal statement are different things, correct me if I'm wrong, thanks 🙂!

Sincerely,
 
misaandkira said:
Hey guys,

Just a quick question..under Residency Program Designation, and when you click a program you added, there will be several drop-down boxes i.e. Resume, Cover letter, LORs..

I see the drop-down box for resume, cover letter (assuming it's same as letter of intent), but not for personal statement..anyone encounters this problem?

As far as I know, letter of intent and personal statement are different things, correct me if I'm wrong, thanks 🙂!

Sincerely,
Click to expand...

They are different things but programs are looking for a LOI format only AFAIK
 
so the instruction says that you can personalize your personal statement pretty much means nothing then 😵
 
joetrisman said:
They are different things but programs are looking for a LOI format only AFAIK
Click to expand...

Last year I applied to a program that required letter of intent and a personal statement. I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with PhORCAS. Hopefully residencies will be understanding and people will match.
 
Hello Misaandkira,

Under Residency Program Designations,"click here to attach required documents"

Drop-down box for Resume contain the file(s) you uploaded for "Curriculum Vita/Resume"

Drop-down box for Cover Letter contain the file(s) you uploaded for "Personal Statement/Letter of Intent"

Yes you can upload multiple files for both "Curriculum Vita/Resume" & "Personal Statement/Letter of Intent"; This means you CAN personalize both your CV and Letter of Intent

Hope that helps, Good Luck🙂

misaandkira said:
Hey guys,

Just a quick question..under Residency Program Designation, and when you click a program you added, there will be several drop-down boxes i.e. Resume, Cover letter, LORs..

I see the drop-down box for resume, cover letter (assuming it's same as letter of intent), but not for personal statement..anyone encounters this problem?

As far as I know, letter of intent and personal statement are different things, correct me if I'm wrong, thanks 🙂!

Sincerely,
Click to expand...
 
Transformer said:
me too!

PhORCAS is only allowing each recommender to upload ONE file (potential issue for programs wanting a separate form plus a LOR)

Solution: Save separate form as word doc and combine it with LOR & upload as ONE file!

Good luck everyone!
Click to expand...

None of my references are uploading more than one document; they just can't upload at all. I really REALLY hate that we're the guinea pigs for PHORCAS this year.

I really do hope that programs are understanding of all the difficulties that are going on. I'm trying to get everything done early and on time, but this system is preventing me from doing so.
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
None of my references are uploading more than one document; they just can't upload at all. I really REALLY hate that we're the guinea pigs for PHORCAS this year.

I really do hope that programs are understanding of all the difficulties that are going on. I'm trying to get everything done early and on time, but this system is preventing me from doing so.
Click to expand...


GoldfishPharmD, I understand it sucks that we're the guinea pigs but it is what it is. We can still get through it and succeed!

I wasn't able to upload anything on PhORCAS yesterday but today, everything seems to be fixed. Have your recommender try uploading the letters again.
 
big question, should I submit before all references have been submitted? From the FAQ, it seems PhORCAS allows this as long as the planned references are stated.
 
lactonerx said:
big question, should I submit before all references have been submitted? From the FAQ, it seems PhORCAS allows this as long as the planned references are stated.
Click to expand...

Yes! Phorcas will send your app to the program. We can see when all the LOR are in.
 
Transformer said:
GoldfishPharmD, I understand it sucks that we're the guinea pigs but it is what it is. We can still get through it and succeed!

I wasn't able to upload anything on PhORCAS yesterday but today, everything seems to be fixed. Have your recommender try uploading the letters again.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm trying to stay positive and make sure I get everything done. It's just frustrating. It'll be nice to get this process over and submit the application then let fate run its course.
 
The support is awful with PHORCAS. I've emailed with no response, and I've called with no help either. I was just asking if they could tell from their end documents had been uploaded by my reference writers. The person was like 'if they uploaded it, it should be there" and basically was trying to get me off the phone.

Yes in a perfect world, if you did something it should be there, but I've had multiple people tell me they were having issues, and I just wanted some verification. I guess what ever system they are using isn't letting them see if documents have been uploaded or not. I guess I'll call back next week.
 
One of my reference writers finished uploading everything today. I received emails from PhORCAS each time he completed a recommendation and it shows up as "complete" on PhORCAS. Since you waived your right to see anything reference writers uploaded, PhORCAS may not be able to tell you if anything is uploaded-I am not sure what the rules are with that.
 
pharmgirl333 said:
One of my reference writers finished uploading everything today. I received emails from PhORCAS each time he completed a recommendation and it shows up as "complete" on PhORCAS. Since you waived your right to see anything reference writers uploaded, PhORCAS may not be able to tell you if anything is uploaded-I am not sure what the rules are with that.
Click to expand...

PhORCAS will send you an email saying it's complete even though the reference writer didn't upload a document since they can submit without uploading anything. One of my references said they submitted it without uploading because they couldn't, so they had to go back and email them to upload it for them.

When I called, she didn't say she couldn't show me because I waived my right but just because their system wasn't working. I don't think it would hurt just to make sure a letter was uploaded with the standard form. You can't see anything they said. Just making sure a document was attached.

I'm just going to call back next week and hopefully someone can tell me something. I'll be so happy to have the application complete and I can breathe. :zip:
 
joetrisman said:
So it can say complete without anything being uploaded? Landing a residency this year will be more about dumb luck than previous years it seems
Click to expand...

Yup. My preceptor was able to do it. It makes sense though since it's not required for them to upload anything since that varies from program to program.

You may be right about the dumb luck. I'm just trying to keep trucking on. 🙂
 
We talked about PhORCAS today with our residency director. It appears to be a mess on both ends. She said that our program will probably have to be a bit more flexible this year in terms of applicant selection because of PhORCAS not working.
 
bacillus1 said:
We talked about PhORCAS today with our residency director. It appears to be a mess on both ends. She said that our program will probably have to be a bit more flexible this year in terms of applicant selection because of PhORCAS not working.
Click to expand...

That's what one of my preceptors were saying. Hopefully programs will be understandable about all the mishaps and work with candidates.
 
This whole process is Tedious! Uploading with descriptions on everything that has already been incorporated on my CV!... It's a pain when you Have a million things to describe... what's the point of posting your CV then?... Anyways... just wanted to Vent. Nothing significant to add to the thread.
 
Just Because said:
This whole process is Tedious! Uploading with descriptions on everything that has already been incorporated on my CV!... It's a pain when you Have a million things to describe... what's the point of posting your CV then?... Anyways... just wanted to Vent. Nothing significant to add to the thread.
Click to expand...

Very tedious! I started entering my stuff a couple of weeks ago, and I took a break and haven't restarted. I copied and pasted all the descriptions into a word document so I can edit from there and make sure I don't have any errors in my grammar. It's such a huge pain.
 
Sites may filter out your application based on the items we have to enter in the extracurricular section. Although it is tedious, it is completely necessary.
 
pharmgirl333 said:
Sites may filter out your application based on the items we have to enter in the extracurricular section. Although it is tedious, it is completely necessary.
Click to expand...

I know some people were saying they were just going to leave this section blank since they were uploading their CV. I wonder how that will play out.
 
I think doing that if someone is applying to large programs will cause them to possibly not get an interview. The smaller programs may not utilize that feature.
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
I know some people were saying they were just going to leave this section blank since they were uploading their CV. I wonder how that will play out.
Click to expand...

Given the competition these days I'm not sure you want to make yourself stick out in that fashion ... aka you didn't put forth the same amount of effort as everyone else applying.
 
patmcd said:
Given the competition these days I'm not sure you want to make yourself stick out in that fashion ... aka you didn't put forth the same amount of effort as everyone else applying.
Click to expand...

agreed, it shouldn't be too bad if you can simply copy/paste sections from your CV and rearrange?
 
patmcd said:
Given the competition these days I'm not sure you want to make yourself stick out in that fashion ... aka you didn't put forth the same amount of effort as everyone else applying.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. Filling in the information isn't going to hurt you but not filling it in possibly could. I wouldn't want to risk it.
 
We have met today to decide what my program's filter critera will be for the initial round.

GPA
Work experience
Rotations

We have specifics within those...but those are the general groups.
 
KARM12 said:
We have met today to decide what my program's filter critera will be for the initial round.

GPA
Work experience
Rotations

We have specifics within those...but those are the general groups.
Click to expand...

When you say rotations, is that filtered from our CVs? because we don't input our rotations into PhorCAS
 
KARM12 said:
We have met today to decide what my program's filter critera will be for the initial round.

GPA
Work experience
Rotations

We have specifics within those...but those are the general groups.
Click to expand...

member0809 said:
When you say rotations, is that filtered from our CVs? because we don't input our rotations into PhorCAS
Click to expand...

rxlea said:
What's your GPA cut off
Click to expand...

In relation to these, are you looking at pharm school gpa only or all gpas? (as phorcas requires all). Does phorcas offer a screening tool based off of input into phorcas or do you still have to look at each app? I'm just curious as my pharm (and mba) gpa's are great, my app is decently well rounded, my pre-pharm gpa is good, but my first year in college I was doing engineering/programming at a different college than my biology degree (pre pharm classes) and that gpa is quite reflective of how much I hate programming (yet I married a programmmer :idea::laugh:)
 
I'm so tired of reading my letter of intent. I've looked at it a million times, and each time I keep seeing things I can change. I'm trying to get everything done tonight to upload tomorrow.
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
I'm so tired of reading my letter of intent. I've looked at it a million times, and each time I keep seeing things I can change. I'm trying to get everything done tonight to upload tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I'm done with those. I just have two supplementary apps and some va gov forms hanging over my head. So much for me submitting last week :laugh:
 
joetrisman said:
I'm done with those. I just have two supplementary apps and some va gov forms hanging over my head. So much for me submitting last week :laugh:
Click to expand...

:laugh: I keep pushing my due dates back. I'm going to get everything turned in by Friday. No more slacking. I can't enjoy my Christmas break until I get everything turned in and off my hands.
 
member0809 said:
When you say rotations, is that filtered from our CVs? because we don't input our rotations into PhorCAS
Click to expand...

We look at the CV's for that information - the "tags" on PhorCAS aren't very good. We can sort by GPA, but any of the other info we want for our program specifically, we need to go into the CV.
 
joetrisman said:
In relation to these, are you looking at pharm school gpa only or all gpas? (as phorcas requires all). Does phorcas offer a screening tool based off of input into phorcas or do you still have to look at each app? I'm just curious as my pharm (and mba) gpa's are great, my app is decently well rounded, my pre-pharm gpa is good, but my first year in college I was doing engineering/programming at a different college than my biology degree (pre pharm classes) and that gpa is quite reflective of how much I hate programming (yet I married a programmmer :idea::laugh:)
Click to expand...

Again, program specific...we only look at PharmD.
 
rxlea said:
What's your GPA cut off
Click to expand...

3.2 for the first round filter, will go down to 3.0 for second round if needed, but likely won't need to. Our matched residents typically have a 3.4+ GPA (most fall into 3.4-3.8 range).

I would not consider us a "top" program, but we are in a geographically desirable location.
 
KARM12 said:
3.2 for the first round filter, will go down to 3.0 for second round if needed, but likely won't need to. Our matched residents typically have a 3.4+ GPA (most fall into 3.4-3.8 range).

I would not consider us a "top" program, but we are in a geographically desirable location.
Click to expand...

whats ur location and what hospital?! lol

annnnd even though I asked my references to upload a formal letter as well as the Phorcas form, is there a way I can double check myself on the site? doesn't seem like it =/

my transcript is still not up on Phorcas, how long did it take you guys to see it? My undergrad and pharm are all in one school, so I only send in one transcript cause everything is on there, hope thats okay... I guess I did take 2 elective classes at a CC, but I don't think I need to list that or I hope I don't have to

holy diggity, my 100th post lol
 
Deja said:
whats ur location and what hospital?! lol

annnnd even though I asked my references to upload a formal letter as well as the Phorcas form, is there a way I can double check myself on the site? doesn't seem like it =/

my transcript is still not up on Phorcas, how long did it take you guys to see it? My undergrad and pharm are all in one school, so I only send in one transcript cause everything is on there, hope thats okay... I guess I did take 2 elective classes at a CC, but I don't think I need to list that or I hope I don't have to

holy diggity, my 100th post lol
Click to expand...

Don't make the mistake of not checking the status tab. PhORCAS said they were going to put the date next to the school for transcripts, but the only place I've found that shows they received your transcripts is in the status tab.

As far as making sure if your references uploaded a formal letter, I haven't been able to find a way. I'm going to call them before I submit and ask again. I emailed them, and they didn't even answer my question. They answered something I didn't even ask. I called and was told if the system told them the document uploaded, it should be there. Their system was down when I called so they couldn't double check, and I don't think she wanted to even if she could check it.

Pretty much everyone told me they had issues when uploading a formal letter, so I just want to be sure that one has been uploaded with the form.
 
to test the system out, i sent a reference request to myself (via another email), filled it out, uploaded a test document, submitted, etc.

When I tried to preview the reference, it downloaded a PDF with nothing on it (aside from name, PGY-#, phorcas ID- but did not have the dummy file I uploaded.

...has anyone else tried this and experienced this? Or was this just my dumb luck?
 
rl123 said:
to test the system out, i sent a reference request to myself (via another email), filled it out, uploaded a test document, submitted, etc.

When I tried to preview the reference, it downloaded a PDF with nothing on it (aside from name, PGY-#, phorcas ID- but did not have the dummy file I uploaded.

...has anyone else tried this and experienced this? Or was this just my dumb luck?
Click to expand...

One of my reference stated they uploaded and submitted with no problem. When they went to go look at the upload, it was blank. They were told if it uploaded with no problems, it should be there. Hopefully, this is the case.
 
GoldfishPharmD said:
Don't make the mistake of not checking the status tab. PhORCAS said they were going to put the date next to the school for transcripts, but the only place I've found that shows they received your transcripts is in the status tab.

As far as making sure if your references uploaded a formal letter, I haven't been able to find a way. I'm going to call them before I submit and ask again. I emailed them, and they didn't even answer my question. They answered something I didn't even ask. I called and was told if the system told them the document uploaded, it should be there. Their system was down when I called so they couldn't double check, and I don't think she wanted to even if she could check it.

Pretty much everyone told me they had issues when uploading a formal letter, so I just want to be sure that one has been uploaded with the form.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just checked the status tab, never thought about it b4 ha looks like they got my transcript...so now I'll just wait for them to attach it to the application(?) I guess let me know how ur recommendation issue works out too!
 
Looking at my program portal, I can see the letters uploaded by reference writers. They were not there last week.
 
Man this platform is buggy. I'm having trouble uploading supplementary docs like everyone else, but I'm also having trouble selecting docs under the program designations. Half of them won't update when I hit save 😕

Edit: Just as suspected. If you delete the program designation and then readd it, it will allow you to save on the problem ones. It seems it only fixes it for that one save and then you have to delete and readd it again.
 
Last edited:
I am having a difficult time uploading my CV. It wont let me upload the pdf format which is 430kb but will let me upload the word doc 103kb. However when PhORCAS converts the word document to a pdf file after I upload it the formatting is messed up. what to do?
 
Did anyone have a hard time uploading letters of intent. This stupid system is not letting me upload any as word of pdf...
 
balab said:
I am having a difficult time uploading my CV. It wont let me upload the pdf format which is 430kb but will let me upload the word doc 103kb. However when PhORCAS converts the word document to a pdf file after I upload it the formatting is messed up. what to do?
Click to expand...

The format on mine is messed up as well (I uploaded a word file). I tried to save as pdf, but the format is still slightly off.

Try uploading the pdf version using a different browser.
 
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