Random musings from a frustrated applicant

[md2be06]

So I call AMCAS again today. I'm only on hold for 30 minutes waiting to speak with a specialist, not bad, I was expecting at least 45. So, I tell the lady that I faxed an additional score report almost a month ago to have my MCAT scores forwarded to a non-amcas school, and that the request hasn't been processed yet. She tells me that she has to transfer me to the MCAT department. I requested the direct number to the MCAT department from her, because I called last week and I was forwarded to someone's voicemail who never returned my call. Anyways, she says that's confidential and she can't give that number out. She tries reaching the one and only lady in the MCAT department(since when does one person constitute a department?). Well, it turns out the lady has gone home for the day, at yes, 4 p.m! Good to know that AMCAS has people working so hard to make sure this transition is nice and smooth. No wonder my request hasn't been processed yet. I can understand all the technical glitches that AMCAS is experiencing, but I refuse to accept the people at AMCAS not even being available when they are supposed to be. This is getting ridiculous. My entire file is complete, all this school is waiting on is for my MCAT scores to be released to them. Anyways, just needed to get that off my chest.

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[emdeetwobee]

I have the same problem. Columbia never received my score. Darn.

 

[MoeDaMan]

hi I had the same problem!!

Of course, mine only took 3 months to get processed...aint that nice

I faxed on average 11 times, and on the last one I just begged the person to take care of it....(of course she thought I was a fruitcake)....anyway

each time they said, we will get ur number and name and she will call u....she never even bothered once....

so at the end I just gave up....I begged the school to take a copy of my mcat scores that I had, until they receive teh official. They accepted it! needless to say, two days afterwards, I got a letter in the mail saying my score was sent

oh and md2be06..one more thing....we shouldn't at all complain...because if we want to be good doctors as some pple have mentioned here. Then we should be "patient, and understanding, and realize that we are all in the same boat, and complaining and whining won't do anything"

of course, if u didnt realize it, I was being extremely sarcastic......

I promise u after I get accepted to medical school. I will write a huge letter of complaint and I will demand that I get recompensated for at least my DAMN phone billl....no way in hell i am paying 45$ dollars in phone fees!!!!m I think everybody else should too!!

 

[md2be06]

Thanks for the response Moe. I guess I'll be faxng this ASR request to AMCAS again tomorrow. I only pray that it doesn't take 3 months. Yeah, I sensed the sarcasm in your post. Like I said in my original post, I can understand the technical glitches, because those can be atrributed to the programmers dealing with a brand new system; however, I wish that the people at AMCAS would take their job more seriously. When I am a physician, I sure as hell am not going to leave for home when I still have 2 or 3 patients to see in the hospital. How the hell do you leave work at 4 pm when you're being paid to be there till 5? It's irresponsible to say the least, and it's about damn time somebody called AMCAS on it!

 

[grasshopper]

Then again, it could also be that the aforementioned MCAT specialist was a 9-month pregnant mother-to-be who worked at AMCAS through the first 7 hours of her labor before finally being forced by her coworkers (who apparently don't exist, but never mind that) to abandon her precious pre-med applications and go to the hospital to deliver. In this case one wonders why it is that AMCAS hadn't noticed the burgeoning life inside their only MCAT specialist and made accomodations to fill her place for a while . . .which just goes to show that it's a good thing *they* aren't the ones that want to be doctors around here.

 

[MoeDaMan]

grasshoper that was really funny

 

[Dylann FMD]

Originally posted by md2be06:
•Like I said in my original post, I can understand the technical glitches, because those can be atrributed to the programmers dealing with a brand new system; however, I wish that the people at AMCAS would take their job more seriously. When I am a physician, I sure as hell am not going to leave for home when I still have 2 or 3 patients to see in the hospital. How the hell do you leave work at 4 pm when you're being paid to be there till 5? It's irresponsible to say the least, and it's about damn time somebody called AMCAS on it!•

Unless you have seen the worker's time card, I really doubt you know whether she is being paid till 5. As far as one employee is concerned, there can be a lot of valid reasons to leave work early. I know because I had to do it myself today. I don't believe it is right to get upset at her specifically, since you don't know the reason why she left. However (before Moe jumps down my throat), I do feel that there certainly should be more than one person in a department and somebody should be able to help you if the one and only person of a "department" leaves for the day. My condolences.

And Moe, no, I do not work at AMCAS, I actually work at Mayo.

 

[grasshopper]

Speaking of Mayo, Dylann, I realize you're not on the MN campus, but any idea if they're going to bypass AMCAS for us any time soon?

 

[md2be06]

Well Dylann, I think it's safe to infer that if there is ONLY ONE person in the MCAT department, AND AMCAS states that they are open until 5, AND the specialist wanted to transfer me to that department, that the lady is supposed to be there until 5. Hence, I deduced that she is being paid to be there until 5. I don't think my logic is too
difficult to follow. The more I think about it, the more I believe this to be a daily occurence at AMCAS. As I stated in my original post, I had called about a week ago and was just forwarded to her voicemail. For all I know, she could have left early that day as well. Really, you shouldn't just accept things the way they are if you don't like them. Just because AMCAS is negligent towards its responsibilities to applicants, doesn't mean we should just shrug our shoulders, accept it, and move on. When you are a physician, and a patient's HMO is denying approval for a potentially life saving procedure, are you going to go back to the patient and shrug your shoulders and say "sorry, but you have to die because your hmo won't approve this procedure?" Or are you going to fight the HMO to ensure
your patient receives the treatment which you deem medically necessary. I know I sure as hell am going to speak out on behalf of my patients, and I would hope others on this board would have the dedication and determination to do the same.

 

[sandflea]

frankly i get tired of people on this board constantly trying to equate their perceived negligence of others to the medical field and how medicine is somehow above all of this. what are you trying to do, prove your worth as a pre-med and your potential in medicine? one word: RELAX. so the MCAT woman went home early--don't turn this into something it isn't. md2be06, you really have no way of knowing *why* the MCAT woman left early, or why she has been doing so lately, if she indeed has. maybe her child is sick and she had to rush home to her/him. maybe she is caring for a sick parent. maybe her car is being fixed and she needed to take public transportation. think of the multitude of legitimate reasons why she may have to leave early. i think your complaint is overly petty. things like this happen every day--yes, even physicians are guilty of this from time to time, believe it or not!--and while you're right in saying we *shouldn't* have to deal with them, put things into perspective and just move on with your life. the obvious solution for you would be to simply call earlier in the day before she's had a chance to slip out the door. don't let your frustration with AMCAS extend to a personal level. you don't know this woman and you have no right to pass any judgment.

 

[md2be06]

Well, I just got off the phone with AMCAS again. Turns out they never received my ASR request because they decided to change their fax number, but opted against changing the fax number listed on the ASR forms on the internet. So, is that a legitimate gripe? As for your suggestion of calling earlier in the day, it may not be feasible for everyone who is taking a full load of courses while working to wait on hold for at least 30 minutes in the morning in hopes of getting through. I have no need to prove my worth as a premed or my potential as a physician. The only thing I'm committed to is obtaining a medical education and becoming the best physician I can be. It gets frustrating when you have done everything you can on your part, but your application is being delayed by careless mistakes on the part of others. Sandflea, I think you're reading way too much into my comments. I never said physicians are infallible. I merely stated the professional manner in which I would conduct myself if certain situations were to arise. We all have different professional standards I guess. I'm not lowering mine, and apparently others refuse to raise theirs.

 

[Dylann FMD]

Originally posted by md2be06:
•Well Dylann, I think it's safe to infer that if there is ONLY ONE person in the MCAT department, AND AMCAS states that they are open until 5, AND the specialist wanted to transfer me to that department, that the lady is supposed to be there until 5. Hence, I deduced that she is being paid to be there until 5. I don't think my logic is too
difficult to follow.•

Actually I would say it is hard to follow. You don't know these people, you don't know what kind of schedule they have or how they are paid, you don't know if they have personal time, etc. Keep fighting with your claim, because it is legit, but listen to yourself before you post things on here. I repeat, you didn't see her time card, you don't know if she is being paid to be there till 5. Your logic is really not that great on this issue. As for HMO's and patients dying, there is a big difference between having a late application and having a patient die, and I think it is deplorable you would even suggest something such as that. Sandflea--I concur completely. And Grasshopper--not sure about Mayo, they don't really seem to be too restless right now.

 

[Retro]

Honestly, I have to say that I think AMCAS is by far the most incompetent organization I have ever seen, whose magnitude of officious-ness far surpasses the federal government. My school sent three official transcripts to AMCAS through certified mails and through UPS, and every one of them were received and signed for by AMCAS; and now they are telling me that they have never received it in the first place. I have a mental image of people in AMCAS eating potato chips and gossiping with each other incessantly instead of doing work. I have no sympathy for the problems AMCAS are experiencing and I whole-heartedly agree with the original poster.

 

[sandflea]

the extreme one-sidedness to some of the opinions here is simply appalling. no one is arguing that AMCAS can be highly inefficient; heck, they flat-out LOST my app the first time i applied. we do pay a lot of money for their service and we have every right to expect top-notch service...but we don't get it. it's a shame.

but remove yourself from your privileged pre-med life for a second and put yourself in the shoes of the AAMC. think of what a *tremendous* service they provide for medical school applications. they collect transcripts (often multiple) from approximately 40,000 candidates, match them up with their apps, and forward them to the appropriate combination of about 120 medical schools. if you think about the sheer logistics of these tasks, it's really not surprising that things go wrong from time to time. if they didn't resolve them, then you'd have a real problem. but you already got your answer as to how to solve your problem, md2be06, so move forward with your life.

no one is saying that we should weep for AMCAS's woes (i'm as annoyed about the web app problems as the next person) but you really overstep your boundaries when you make it a personal issue. md2be06, i sympathize with your MCAT issues, but i begin to lose pity for you when you argue that all you're trying to explain is 'the professional manner in which [you] would conduct yourself' yet you accuse this woman of being 'irresponsible' and 'not taking her job seriously' when you don't even have any clue as to why she may not be at her job any longer. frankly, if i had to deal with such bitter pre-meds who can't see the big picture on a daily basis, i'd probably leave work early too.

perspective, people--that's what it's all about. don't be so quick to judge and perhaps indulge in a little optimism from time to time--i guarantee you that it will get you farther in life than released MCAT scores will.

 

[md2be06]

No point arguing whether or not she was supposed to be there until 5. The specialist told me she must have left early and all that I could do was leave a voicemail message, so that's what I'm going on. The bottom line is that someone should be there, that's not an unreasonable expectation, and often times no one is present. By all means feel free to defend AMCAS as much as you want. The reality of the situation is that a lot of people are giving AMCAS hundreds of dollars and are subsequently being screwed over. I'm pretty sure people have worked pretty damn hard to get to this stage in their lives. I know I have. I'm just not as apathetic as others I guess. I'm putting everything I have into this application. If I get in on my first try, great. If not, then I'll go through this process again. However, what I refuse to do is let others impede my chances of acceptance. No one should accept that! If a school sends 3 transcripts via certified mail to AMCAS which are received and signed for, is it too much to expect AMCAS to be able to locate them? What should Retro do if his transcripts aren't located until November? Obviously, his chances for acceptance this cycle are significantly diminished. Is it fair? No. Is it his fault? Of course not. Someone should be held accountable.

 

[Retro]

A perfect analogy about AMCAS and us applicants will be: a highly ambitious and competent individual, who has worked hard all his life to reach the social ladder that he currently enjoys, was shot and killed by a low-life on the street who simply wanted his watch. What AMCAS is doing to us is comparable to that...

 

[sandflea]

huh?! how is that even in the ballpark of a 'perfect analogy'? do you honestly believe that AMCAS is deliberately, purposely trying to thwart every pre-med's dreams? that's the implication from your analogy: your low-life thug killed the guy on purpose (for his watch), not due to unpredicted problems that he was feverishly working to resolve. see, this is what i was referring to by 'extreme one-sidedness' in the opinions here.

like i said (but was conveniently ignored), i am not exactly a fan of AMCAS right now either. i can't fathom how they could possibly go live with a program that is so full of errors. but what you need to remember is that *everyone* is suffering from similar trouble--it's not as if you were singled out. even if someone was able to complete their application, release MCAT scores, etc, etc, with no trouble, his or her app STILL hasn't been transmitted, just like everyone else. we're all in the same boat here, whether we're apathetic or overly aggressive. to be honest, i don't think such a thing as an 'apathetic pre-med' exists. also take into account that while the application has been a disaster overall, it has improved *dramatically* since it was first made available for access. i started working on my app in may and it is not even the same program now as it was then.

md2be06, what you don't seem to realize is that i agree with you on many points. yes, it is bad customer service to not have anyone staffing the phones. but what i took great issue with was your decision to pass judgment on a woman you have never met. take a moment to think about the fact that others besides you may have problems greater than your own--isn't that what practicing medicine is all about? while no one can say for sure why this woman left, your refusal to consider that she may have actually had a legitimate reason to leave is very closeminded.

try to see the bright side to all this, folks. that's all i'm trying to say. every single medical student before you has had to deal with AMCAS--and look where they are now.

 

[Retro]

Surprisingly, the AMCAS indeed seemed to be more competent in the recent week... I was only put on hold for 8 minutes before they told me that all my transcripts have been received, a problem that was giving me stomach ulcer for 3 weeks. Now I have to call my registrar's office to rescind my scornful transcripts request sent to them.