## 2008-2009 Application Season ## Post AACOMAS questions HERE!!!

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I know this is posted in some other messages -- but it is one of the biggest issues that we get queries about at AACOMAS.

If you read the instructions linked to the AACOMAS login page, you will see that the only way that AACOMAS can match your MCAT score to your AACOMAS app is with the SSN. So, be sure that you have your correct SSN in your AACOMAS app. If you didn't enter it, login, click the application tab, then the MCAT page. Enter the SSN and save.

There is another possible hangup. For several months in mid 2007, if you did not provide your SSN to MCAT, instead of assigning you a unique 9 digit replacement number that you could provide to AACOMAS, they gave everyone the same number 999-99-9999. So if that is the number in your MCAT record, then AACOMAS can't match the MCAT score to your AACOMAS app. If that is the case, please contact MCAT and give them your SSN or get a unique id and then provide the unique id to AACOMAS. Once that happens your MCAT scores will match within hours.
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I think that is my game plan now. Thanks for the suggestions. I just needed some input. My crappy summer continues! I know I'm not the first person its happened to but I could've done without it being in a pre-req when I'm trying to prove that freshman year was just a fluke!
 
Chocolate Bear said:
Pretty sure it will. 👎
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Gah that sucks. Its actually a pretty decent thing and I can't believe I forgot it. I volunteered at this science fair thing to teach science experiments to inner city middle school/high school kids.

Oh well.
 
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engineeredout said:
Gah that sucks. Its actually a pretty decent thing and I can't believe I forgot it. I volunteered at this science fair thing to teach science experiments to inner city middle school/high school kids.

Oh well.
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No worries. That's not the kind of thing that will make or break an interview invite, but it will be very cool to bring up during an interview, when they're trying to determine whether or not you rock. 👍
 
MossPoh said:
I think that is my game plan now. Thanks for the suggestions. I just needed some input. My crappy summer continues! I know I'm not the first person its happened to but I could've done without it being in a pre-req when I'm trying to prove that freshman year was just a fluke!
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Hey just stay strong with all the rest. If nothing else you can prove that it's an outlier from the rest since freshman year lol.

Again I see no reason to push the issue or call attention to it unless someone asks. And I would bet they would wait to see the fall semester also which means you've got lots of time.
 
I'd say the same. Wait to update grades until they ask, and just keep your grades C or better. I sent you a PM also!
 
Thanks again for all the responses.

The way he organized the class we had 3 exams with nothing else. I did 20 points above the average on the first exam, but since the average was so low he did a special bonus to reward success on the second. Only problem was that I dropped the ball a bit and did slightly below the average, so the people that did 20 points+ below me on the first exam essentially had a higher grade in the class because of the second. (Confusing I know)

Bah. I emailed him in as non-accusatory manner as possible and tried to beg for mercy and hope for a little bit of a bump. I'm really not a whiney grade grubber, but I feel screwed over and felt like the chips just did not fall in my favor. Hopefully I actually did well enough on the MCAT for once. I might have a complete meltdown if I don't.

If I didn't just have to pop a migraine pill I'd strum the hell out of my guitar or take my aggression out on my drums.....I guess comcast ondemand with dexter is the best I can do for now.
 
A little confused: is the C your personal requirement or is the C the grade you received? Because if the grade was a C, don't worry. If the grade was lower than a C, you might have problems with the small phrase in any potential acceptance letter "contingent upon satisfactory completion of all pending coursework" or something about pending coursework has to be around your average performance.
 
Is it to late to submit for AACOMAS NOW?.
I took the mcat on July 18, and though results are not back yet, i know i will be no where near competitive for Allo. med schools. (it's not like i am falling back on D.O, as second best, but i just did not want to go out of state). Anyway, i just don't want to wait another year, and have decided to apply wide D.O. My extracurriculars are OK, and GPA more competitive.

My question is,is it too late to just now start filling the application for AACOMAS? (Be kind, but frank.)
 
dazed1980 said:
Is it to late to submit for AACOMAS NOW?.
I took the mcat on July 18, and though results are not back yet, i know i will be no where near competitive for Allo. med schools. (it's not like i am falling back on D.O, as second best, but i just did not want to go out of state). Anyway, i just don't want to wait another year, and have decided to apply wide D.O. My extracurriculars are OK, and GPA more competitive.

My question is,is it too late to just now start filling the application for AACOMAS? (Be kind, but frank.)
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no way its not too late. Are there a lot of applicants ahead of you? Yes, people are already getting interview invites. But by no means are you out of the game. Get your AACOMAS done as soon as possible w/o losing the quality of your application. Once you submit, you will be waiting aorund 4 weeks to be verified. DO NOT waste that time. You can find the secondary prompts on the pre osteo forum. Get your essays done so that when you begin getting secondaries you can return them on the same day that you get them.

Good luck.
 
ryserr21 said:
no way its not too late. Are there a lot of applicants ahead of you? Yes, people are already getting interview invites. But by no means are you out of the game. Get your AACOMAS done as soon as possible w/o losing the quality of your application. Once you submit, you will be waiting aorund 4 weeks to be verified. DO NOT waste that time. You can find the secondary prompts on the pre osteo forum. Get your essays done so that when you begin getting secondaries you can return them on the same day that you get them.

Good luck.
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WOW! THAT WAS QUICK! thanks for the push. I am half way through filling AACOMAS out, just sitting at this computer for the last two hours. Tomorrow i will fill out all coursework and extracurricular activities, then hit the submit button. I feel quite happy i am not out of the game yet. Good nite!
 
I am wondering how everyone has entered their deans list, chancellors list, honors societies, etc. into the application. Did you do one separate entry for each of the lists (each semester) under honors/awards? Did you put honors societies (i.e. Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Chi) under honors/awards or under extracurricular?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
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Hey all, I submitted my AACOMAS app around June 30th... what is taking so long?

I emailed support 2 weeks ago and they said my application was still processing...

I am not waiting on any MCAT scores, and my transcripts are all in. Are other people seeing such long trun-around times? How much longer should I wait before I really start worrying?

I was hoping to get secondaries done before school began...

Thanks!
 
it's never really too late to apply unless you feel like you could be a stronger applicant. i sent in my primary in december, and here i am. you'll be completely fine. good luck!
 
DtotheIzzo said:
it's never really too late to apply unless you feel like you could be a stronger applicant. i sent in my primary in december, and here i am. you'll be completely fine. good luck!
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Thanks guys!! Congrats D!
 
cire0105 said:
Hey all, I submitted my AACOMAS app around June 30th... what is taking so long?

I emailed support 2 weeks ago and they said my application was still processing...

I am not waiting on any MCAT scores, and my transcripts are all in. Are other people seeing such long trun-around times? How much longer should I wait before I really start worrying?

I was hoping to get secondaries done before school began...

Thanks!
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AACOMAS is ridiculously slow. It took 4+ weeks for them to process apps submitted in May. You should be processed soon. I dont konw about getting your secondaries comletely done before school starts....the schools are slow at sending secondaries as well.
 
So, I have everything filled out on my primary application finally. I wanted to have it in earlier but I got sick. Anyhow, I took my MCAT 18 July and I am waiting for my score. Should I submit AACOMAS ASAP? I only ask because I guess the caliber of school I will apply too is dependent on my MCAT score. When I submit my primary do I have to pick beforehand what schools I want to send it to? Or can/should I do it during/after the verification process? The 18 July scores should be out in 7 days? Should I just wait? How long is the typical AACOMAS verify point this time of the year?
 
jxr902 said:
So, I have everything filled out on my primary application finally. I wanted to have it in earlier but I got sick. Anyhow, I took my MCAT 18 July and I am waiting for my score. Should I submit AACOMAS ASAP? I only ask because I guess the caliber of school I will apply too is dependent on my MCAT score. When I submit my primary do I have to pick beforehand what schools I want to send it to? Or can/should I do it during/after the verification process? The 18 July scores should be out in 7 days? Should I just wait? How long is the typical AACOMAS verify point this time of the year?
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You'll have to weigh the extra week's wait time to be verified (which will be 5+ weeks) versus the slight amount of extra money that it will cost to add schools later. Personally I'd at least submit with one school that you know you'll apply to and eat the $20-$100 extra it'll cost you to add schools after you get the MCAT score (it's based on how many schools you would apply to now vs. later).
 
ShyRem said:
A little confused: is the C your personal requirement or is the C the grade you received? Because if the grade was a C, don't worry. If the grade was lower than a C, you might have problems with the small phrase in any potential acceptance letter "contingent upon satisfactory completion of all pending coursework" or something about pending coursework has to be around your average performance.
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C is abysmal by my personal standards and the grade I received. I'm worrying because I have a few Cs and not many science grades in there already. I was barely crusing above a 3.0 science gpa to begin with.

I just received an email from VCOM today saying they want me to update my aacomas with my current semester's grades.

Any suggestions about that? I won't be submitted for review till I submit my transcripts for a second time evidently. Which is a long frickin process. Last time it took the uni I'm at 2 weeks just to mail them off, and then another 3 weeks for me to be verified. On top of that, I have to wait for the grade to be official and I'm talking to them about it, since it may be changed. So we're talking almost a month and a half before I'd be submitted for review? It seems VCOM eliminated itself from the application cycle so far.
 
I was wondering how long it took for some of you guys' application to be processed by aacomas? I submitted mine on 7/11 and it isn't processed yet. I think they did say that it would take 4 to 6 weeks but I was just wondering how long it has taken for some of yours?
 
I am in the same boat. I sent an email to aacomas today, hopefully I'll hear back by tomorrow. I guess I didn't realize they would take so long to process. I was looking to have my secondaries in before sept but now that deadline is being pushed back.
 
kestrel3386 said:
I am in the same boat. I sent an email to aacomas today, hopefully I'll hear back by tomorrow. I guess I didn't realize they would take so long to process. I was looking to have my secondaries in before sept but now that deadline is being pushed back.
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sit tight and good luck to you guys....I was complete on 6/27 and I am still not verified ( it will be 7 weeks on Friday) I keep e-mailing and calling aacomas but they just keep saying it will be sent to schools in the "next couple of days". It really sucks, but hang in there!!!:luck:
 
it took me around a month to get verified and thats when they said 4-6 weeks...around this time of year, you should probably plan on the 6 weeks or so. It'll be longer due to the high amount of applications they have
 
I submitted ont 7/1 and still haven't been verified. I called monday and they told me "oh, you are going on your sixth week. i'll get your file and give it to the verifiers. it'll be sent to schools by NEXT thursday."

UGGHHH!!! 😡
 
I submitted on 6/11.
AACOMAS Was released 6 weeks to the day 7/23
 
dazed1980 said:
WOW! THAT WAS QUICK! thanks for the push. I am half way through filling AACOMAS out, just sitting at this computer for the last two hours. Tomorrow i will fill out all coursework and extracurricular activities, then hit the submit button. I feel quite happy i am not out of the game yet. Good nite!
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Don't forget to get your transcripts sent to them. It seemed to take forever for them to receive mine; weeks longer than AMCAS, though they were requested together. Good luck!
 
Do you have to report all of your classes on your GPA if:

A) They were taken a long time ago (and if you don't, what's the cut-off time?)

B) You've retaken all of the classes that are applicable to your degree at a different school, and basically started from scratch? Do they need to know you got a bad grade in Biology one, if it was seven years ago, and you've retaken it (and gotten an A)?
 
Mastashake said:
Do you have to report all of your classes on your GPA if:

A) They were taken a long time ago (and if you don't, what's the cut-off time?)

B) You've retaken all of the classes that are applicable to your degree at a different school, and basically started from scratch? Do they need to know you got a bad grade in Biology one, if it was seven years ago, and you've retaken it (and gotten an A)?
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Yes, every class you have ever taken needs to be listed. You could actually hop over to the non-trad forums and see many examples of people who have old grades that were less than spectacular. They still must be listed, but if they have been retaken, only the most current grade will be figured into your AACOMAS GPA.
 
...and if you DON'T report every grade you ever got, your school WILL find out, and then you get kicked out. Usually after you've accumulated your first $100k of debt.
 
I got an email saying I did not put my social in the MCAT sections when I submitted. I put it in, this was two days ago. Does this mean I was sent to the back of the line?
 
DrMidlife said:
...and if you DON'T report every grade you ever got, your school WILL find out, and then you get kicked out. Usually after you've accumulated your first $100k of debt.
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LOL

oh man, that would suck. Is that a statement of fact? Im sure there are people that get by doing this kind of thing ALL the time. Not worth the risk though.
 
SO I have a quick question about the employment section for AACOMAS....the instructions say to enter all full-time and meaningful part time jobs you have had. I've been out of school since June 07 and have worked for Nordstrom (department store) in sales for about a year. How should I describe this job to AACOMAS. It has nothing to do with medicine but its a job that pays the bill. Do I even try to relate it to medical practice (al la customer service, etc)?? Thanks!
 
Just got verified by AMCAS, now just have to wait for AACOMAS.

AMCAS gave me a slightly higher BCPM GPA than I calculated, which is always good 👍
 
SurfnChic6 said:
SO I have a quick question about the employment section for AACOMAS....the instructions say to enter all full-time and meaningful part time jobs you have had. I've been out of school since June 07 and have worked for Nordstrom (department store) in sales for about a year. How should I describe this job to AACOMAS. It has nothing to do with medicine but its a job that pays the bill. Do I even try to relate it to medical practice (al la customer service, etc)?? Thanks!
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Just point out the meaningful things you do, highlighting the ones that might have applications outside of the store. Don't stretch it, by even mentioning medicine, though. In other words, treat it like you're applying for an unrelated job (which you are).
 
Does anyone know which schools have strong preferences to people from that region/state?
 
Chocolate Bear said:
99.9% sure you're in the same spot in line.
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I sent it in a few weeks ago. The only reason I would think I got the notification now is if they reviewed it. It has been 3 days and it has not been verified. I cannot think it takes that long to verify a single app once they start. Hence my worry.
 
First of all, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the great posts. It has been a tremendous help to be able to refer to the SDN for guidance.

I have developed a few questions/concerns of my own that I was hoping to get some help with. First deals with interfolio. I realize that they can send the LOR via snail mail to the schools who are not set up to receive the LOR electronically. However, what about the schools who have a separate student evaluation form that the recommend-er is supposed to fill out? Does the interfolio LOR work in lieu of the evaluation form?

Secondly, I have attended 3 colleges for my undergrad. I had something like 16 credits from the first, 25 from the second, and the remainder from the college that I will receive my degree from. My problem is, the college I am currently attending is new, just started as of 2002. It is not an extension of any other college, and therefore has to go through the entire accreditation process, which takes years to be fully complete. They are 'accredited through' another university, which basically means that the other school is acting as an overseer. Basically, since my college does not have its OWN regional accreditation (even though it has been granted 'candidate for accreditation' status), AACOMAS will not factor in the coursework done there into my GPA which is reported to the schools. My first year I made a few mistakes which did not give me a good GPA (okay, it was a LOT of mistakes). Since then, however, my GPA has not dropped below a 3.75 for any given semester. However, since they don't factor in the last 90+ credits of high grades, my AACOMAS GPA stinks. It is still above the minimums, being reported to the schools as SCI = 3.74, NON-SCI = 2.77, OVERALL = 3.04 or something like that. I am kicking myself because my GPA would otherwise be Sci 3.7, Non 3.4, Overall 3.5 -ish. Will the adcoms screen me out because of the low GPA without looking at the coursework that is also on the app? I would hope that they would look at the grades on my transcripts and realize that something is amiss with the AACOMAS GPA. I mean, some of the schools are relatively new and have similar accreditation statuses, shouldn't they be sympathetic with another new school? Or is this wishful thinking on my part. I have already submitted my application, so I guess I am just looking if anyone else has had a similar experience or knows what I might expect for the outcome.

Any thoughts? 😕 😕 😕
 
Hey guys,

I am wondering if you can help me out! I have new MCAT scores, summer grades, and a new course schedule for the fall and spring of next year. I know how to update the grades (sent new transcript) and MCAT (released to AACOMAS) but I am not sure how to update my schedule. I got into Human prosection, which I am SUPER excited about, and I want the med schools I applied to to know it! As far as I can see there is no way to change your course schedule once you have submitted your application, so how do I get this information to AACOMAS?

Thanks a lot!
 
hopefuldoc35 said:
Does anyone know which schools have strong preferences to people from that region/state?
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Pacific Northwest has a strong preference for applicants from a 5-state region. I think the michigan state school might play heavy in state favorites. Not sure of any others.
 
I am trying to send out my application asap thru aacomas, I was wondering does acomas have to have your transcripts on file before you can submit? I have sent out the requests and they should be getting there at the start of next week. I want to send out the application portion tonight if possible.Thanks.
 
ty4hokies said:
I am trying to send out my application asap thru aacomas, I was wondering does acomas have to have your transcripts on file before you can submit? I have sent out the requests and they should be getting there at the start of next week. I want to send out the application portion tonight if possible.Thanks.
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you can submit, but you just wont be verified
 
gopens67 said:
DO NOT DO THIS! you might do worse like me, (5 pts. I am regretting this decision with all my heart right now) and they WILL see your scores. They automatically get added to your amcas! TRUST ME DO NOT DO THIS!
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but that's AMCAS...he's talking about AACOMAS

I was wondering about this myself actually.
 
So after talking to a DO friend they suggested I add some schools...and I really want to make sure that I get in somewhere. So far I have 10 schools but I'm thinking of adding a few more and I need some other opinions...

NOVA
PCOM -GA (Is this program the same to the PA campus? would it be a good idead to apply here?)
KCUMB - Kansas City University Medical? B? -my friend mentioned that school
 
My father attended KCUMB and i'll most likely be following his footsteps in a year or two (even though it's 12 hours from home 🙁 ). But the campus is absolutely beautiful and is VERY close to arrowhead stadium (home of the chiefs) and the baseball stadium for the Royals. He loved it there and apparently the city is awesome. It definitely gives you the big city feel that some DO schools lack.
 
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