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Emil Chuck, PhD
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Transcripts are essential for graduate or professional school applications, and their delivery determines how smoothly the process begins. This article outlines basic steps to ensure your application avoids unnecessary processing delays. While I write from the AMCAS and AADSAS application perspective, similar strategies apply to other central application services.
Applicants must include all academic records of post-secondary courses taken. This includes “dual enrollment” courses where a high school student takes community college or undergraduate courses before graduating with their diploma. Transcripts from US military colleges, US-accredited institutions outside the United States (possibly including study abroad), or institutions offering correspondence coursework for credit are also generally required. Guidance is available from AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, and other central application services.
Grading policies at universities are not identical. While most schools employ a 4-point system for an institutional grade point average, each registrar may follow different policies to calculate it. Many universities may employ “forgiveness” so that poor grades in one’s first year of college (or later) can be excluded from the GPA calculation if one repeats the course successfully. Other registrars post grades without a “plus/minus” designation, while others (primarily Canadian universities) offer a 4.33 for every A+ mark. Some post numeric grades, and others use narratives. Universities may also calculate your course hours differently. The application services create standard GPA rules for these differences so admissions committees can compare academic records and preparation.
Each central application service documents each university’s current and past grading policies. Typically, by the start of the calendar year, each registrar may communicate these policies to the application services so the latter can set up any automated processes to help with grade verification and GPA calculation. The most common procedures are documented in a publicly posted Grade Conversion Guide (AMCAS). Use these Guides to calculate your application GPA so you can notice if there is a discrepancy after your transcripts are verified.
While submitting your transcripts early with your application is tempting, you should wait until all grades for current in-progress courses are posted so that your application GPA reflects your current academic record. Most services do not accept new transcripts until late April or early May (for those who are not current students). You should not submit your transcripts to TMDSAS until prompted via email, as the service will not keep unsolicited transcripts on file.
Applicants should also pay attention to specialized application GPAs. Coursework contributing to a “science” GPA may differ among services, especially when classifying engineering or health sciences. Use each service’s coursework definitions: AMCAS, TMDSAS, AADSAS, AACOMAS, and VMCAS for your “science” GPAs; you may be surprised by how different each application’s GPA is.
Before the urgency of applying, take advantage of opportunities and policies to address past coursework by pursuing retroactive withdrawals of eligible failed grades. Learn how this works:
GPA Repair and Management for Pre-Health Applicants
Once the application service offers applicants a chance to access the application, take your time entering coursework. Access your student records system at each school for your unofficial transcripts; alternatively, have any final transcripts sent to you. The course information must be identical to how it appears on your transcript. Each entry must be accurate for institution, school status, department prefix, course number, year, term, course name, lecture/lab status, original transcript grade, and original transcript hours. Verification software matches your entry with the appropriate transcript; even minor deviations may raise a flag that delays your application processing.
Central applications on the Liaison platform (AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, CASPA, PharmCAS, OptomCAS, PTCAS, etc.) offer Professional Transcript Entry. Applicants with multiple transcripts and not currently taking classes may consider taking advantage of this, where you pay a specialist (presumably a human with minimal genAI help) to enter the information for you. Applicants must still enter any in-progress courses or those taken at non-accredited institutions, and they should review the accuracy of the PTE specialist. In general, SDN forum members felt it was worth saving money and enter their grades themselves.
With a central processing service, programs rely on the central application service to calculate over a dozen application GPAs (overall, science, year in school, subject, prerequisite, etc.). AMCAS processes over 130,000 transcripts and 200,000 letters for over 50,000 candidates (AAMC presentation March 2025), so matching documents with the right application is the highest priority.
Delivering your primary application to your desired programs involves four general stages.
Overall, an application completes this process within 2 months (9 weeks), but it depends on how many transcripts an applicant must submit. Applicants must ensure appropriate coordination of transcript delivery with multiple registrar offices for document confirmation, and completing a transcript verification depends on the accuracy of the coursework taken. Many application services have a policy to “undeliver” an application back to the applicant if too many mistakes are detected.
You can use HPSA’s AMCAS Tracker to anticipate how long it will take your transcript to be verified based on AMCAS data and crowdsourced information.
Aggregated crowdsource data from CycleTrack (and other sources) show how early primary application submission results in quicker verification and delivery to programs.
LiaisonCAS applicants taking classes during their application cycles should also pay attention to timing windows for academic updates, such as when they can add grades from courses previously listed as in-progress or planned in the initial primary application. Transcripts may be sent to the application services during those eligible times, and the revised verified primary application data will be made available to one’s designated schools. Every program treats academic updates differently (some may not consider it while others will reconsider an applicant’s screening status for interviews), so make sure the programs disclose their policies before or early during the application cycle.
Primary applications cannot proceed to verification without all of the expected transcripts. When contacting each registrar’s office, provide them with the central application service’s matching forms. The form should instruct the registrar to include data to help match the transcript to the applicant: an applicant identification number, a transcript identifier, and a confirmation of the application cycle (entering year). Without this information, transcript matching is more difficult and causes processing delays. This includes academic updates.
Secured electronic transcript delivery has become highly preferred among registrars and central application services. Each registrar’s office may already have a contract with a secure transcript delivery service that the application service uses; with the matching identifiers, an official transcript can be sent to the application service quickly. Transcript delivery by secure email, expedited delivery, or standard postal service is also available, but those services are generally slower and less safe.
Complete the academic history section as soon as the appropriate application cycle opens (usually in May). Print out the transcript matching forms from your application for each school where you have taken courses. Contact each registrar’s office (in the way they prefer for transcript requests) and supply them with the matching transcript information or form.
Currently enrolled students should ask about delaying transcript delivery until after final grades from the spring term are posted. For those on quarter systems, your application may not be ready for submission until June.
If the central application service returns your undelivered application, turn in a corrected course entry as soon as possible. Most programs are notified when an undelivered application is returned so that the programs can suspend screening your application. This information is usually not shared with the overall admissions committee, so the only penalty is delaying your file’s screening.
Don’t forget to confirm the GPA calculations. You should immediately contact the application service to challenge any differences discovered after verification. You never know if they misclassify a science course, which could affect your science GPAs.
Applicants must pay heightened attention to detail when entering their courses and calculating their GPAs at the beginning of application season. Minor oversights can jeopardize their potential application success.
The post How to Manage Transcripts for Your Application appeared first on Student Doctor Network.
Continue reading...
Transcripts are essential for graduate or professional school applications, and their delivery determines how smoothly the process begins. This article outlines basic steps to ensure your application avoids unnecessary processing delays. While I write from the AMCAS and AADSAS application perspective, similar strategies apply to other central application services.
Get and Keep a Copy of All Unofficial Transcripts.
Applicants must include all academic records of post-secondary courses taken. This includes “dual enrollment” courses where a high school student takes community college or undergraduate courses before graduating with their diploma. Transcripts from US military colleges, US-accredited institutions outside the United States (possibly including study abroad), or institutions offering correspondence coursework for credit are also generally required. Guidance is available from AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, and other central application services.
Calculate Your Application GPAs.
Grading policies at universities are not identical. While most schools employ a 4-point system for an institutional grade point average, each registrar may follow different policies to calculate it. Many universities may employ “forgiveness” so that poor grades in one’s first year of college (or later) can be excluded from the GPA calculation if one repeats the course successfully. Other registrars post grades without a “plus/minus” designation, while others (primarily Canadian universities) offer a 4.33 for every A+ mark. Some post numeric grades, and others use narratives. Universities may also calculate your course hours differently. The application services create standard GPA rules for these differences so admissions committees can compare academic records and preparation.
Each central application service documents each university’s current and past grading policies. Typically, by the start of the calendar year, each registrar may communicate these policies to the application services so the latter can set up any automated processes to help with grade verification and GPA calculation. The most common procedures are documented in a publicly posted Grade Conversion Guide (AMCAS). Use these Guides to calculate your application GPA so you can notice if there is a discrepancy after your transcripts are verified.
While submitting your transcripts early with your application is tempting, you should wait until all grades for current in-progress courses are posted so that your application GPA reflects your current academic record. Most services do not accept new transcripts until late April or early May (for those who are not current students). You should not submit your transcripts to TMDSAS until prompted via email, as the service will not keep unsolicited transcripts on file.
Applicants should also pay attention to specialized application GPAs. Coursework contributing to a “science” GPA may differ among services, especially when classifying engineering or health sciences. Use each service’s coursework definitions: AMCAS, TMDSAS, AADSAS, AACOMAS, and VMCAS for your “science” GPAs; you may be surprised by how different each application’s GPA is.
GPA Management and Repair
Before the urgency of applying, take advantage of opportunities and policies to address past coursework by pursuing retroactive withdrawals of eligible failed grades. Learn how this works:
GPA Repair and Management for Pre-Health Applicants
Remember: Enter Your Coursework Precisely as it Appears on Unofficial Transcripts.
Once the application service offers applicants a chance to access the application, take your time entering coursework. Access your student records system at each school for your unofficial transcripts; alternatively, have any final transcripts sent to you. The course information must be identical to how it appears on your transcript. Each entry must be accurate for institution, school status, department prefix, course number, year, term, course name, lecture/lab status, original transcript grade, and original transcript hours. Verification software matches your entry with the appropriate transcript; even minor deviations may raise a flag that delays your application processing.
Central applications on the Liaison platform (AACOMAS, AADSAS, VMCAS, CASPA, PharmCAS, OptomCAS, PTCAS, etc.) offer Professional Transcript Entry. Applicants with multiple transcripts and not currently taking classes may consider taking advantage of this, where you pay a specialist (presumably a human with minimal genAI help) to enter the information for you. Applicants must still enter any in-progress courses or those taken at non-accredited institutions, and they should review the accuracy of the PTE specialist. In general, SDN forum members felt it was worth saving money and enter their grades themselves.
Understand What Happens After You Press Submit (and Pay).
With a central processing service, programs rely on the central application service to calculate over a dozen application GPAs (overall, science, year in school, subject, prerequisite, etc.). AMCAS processes over 130,000 transcripts and 200,000 letters for over 50,000 candidates (AAMC presentation March 2025), so matching documents with the right application is the highest priority.
Delivering your primary application to your desired programs involves four general stages.
- Payment confirmation: the central application service acknowledges receiving your payment and your primary application.
- Document collection: the service has received and matched your required documents (specifically transcripts) to begin the coursework verification process. Receipt of letters of recommendation/evaluation is independent of transcript verification.
- Verification completed: the service has confirmed information on your transcripts and calculated your standardized application GPAs
- Application delivered: the verified application is available to the schools/programs you have designated. Each program should send applicants a receipt acknowledgment. If an applicant designates additional programs after this stage, their primary application is delivered after payment for adding new programs is processed.
Overall, an application completes this process within 2 months (9 weeks), but it depends on how many transcripts an applicant must submit. Applicants must ensure appropriate coordination of transcript delivery with multiple registrar offices for document confirmation, and completing a transcript verification depends on the accuracy of the coursework taken. Many application services have a policy to “undeliver” an application back to the applicant if too many mistakes are detected.
Tracking Your Transcript
You can use HPSA’s AMCAS Tracker to anticipate how long it will take your transcript to be verified based on AMCAS data and crowdsourced information.
Aggregated crowdsource data from CycleTrack (and other sources) show how early primary application submission results in quicker verification and delivery to programs.
Consider Academic Updates.
LiaisonCAS applicants taking classes during their application cycles should also pay attention to timing windows for academic updates, such as when they can add grades from courses previously listed as in-progress or planned in the initial primary application. Transcripts may be sent to the application services during those eligible times, and the revised verified primary application data will be made available to one’s designated schools. Every program treats academic updates differently (some may not consider it while others will reconsider an applicant’s screening status for interviews), so make sure the programs disclose their policies before or early during the application cycle.
Always Include Your Document Matching Information.
Primary applications cannot proceed to verification without all of the expected transcripts. When contacting each registrar’s office, provide them with the central application service’s matching forms. The form should instruct the registrar to include data to help match the transcript to the applicant: an applicant identification number, a transcript identifier, and a confirmation of the application cycle (entering year). Without this information, transcript matching is more difficult and causes processing delays. This includes academic updates.
Secured electronic transcript delivery has become highly preferred among registrars and central application services. Each registrar’s office may already have a contract with a secure transcript delivery service that the application service uses; with the matching identifiers, an official transcript can be sent to the application service quickly. Transcript delivery by secure email, expedited delivery, or standard postal service is also available, but those services are generally slower and less safe.
Contact the Registrar When Applying.
Complete the academic history section as soon as the appropriate application cycle opens (usually in May). Print out the transcript matching forms from your application for each school where you have taken courses. Contact each registrar’s office (in the way they prefer for transcript requests) and supply them with the matching transcript information or form.
Currently enrolled students should ask about delaying transcript delivery until after final grades from the spring term are posted. For those on quarter systems, your application may not be ready for submission until June.
Finally, Immediately Address and Correct Transcript Issues.
If the central application service returns your undelivered application, turn in a corrected course entry as soon as possible. Most programs are notified when an undelivered application is returned so that the programs can suspend screening your application. This information is usually not shared with the overall admissions committee, so the only penalty is delaying your file’s screening.
Don’t forget to confirm the GPA calculations. You should immediately contact the application service to challenge any differences discovered after verification. You never know if they misclassify a science course, which could affect your science GPAs.
Applicants must pay heightened attention to detail when entering their courses and calculating their GPAs at the beginning of application season. Minor oversights can jeopardize their potential application success.
The post How to Manage Transcripts for Your Application appeared first on Student Doctor Network.
Continue reading...
