*-*-*The Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2011*-*-*

Get Your Med School Admissions Questions Answered!
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi, I am a Canadian who will be applying to med schools this year.

I plan on submitting my AMCAS application either today or tomorrow (hopefully today). I just need to double and triple check everything.

1) I am applying to ONE school to verify my application. Which school should I choose and does it matter?

2) I took the MCAT 2 weeks ago, so I won't have my marks until the end of August. However, I may have to retake in September. Should I include on AMCAS that I will be retaking the MCAT in September? Will this slow my verification process?

Thanks so much everyone!!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Hello, I am selecting schools to apply to through AMCAS.

I plan on selecting only 1 school just to get my application verified first. I will choose more after I receive my MCAT score.

When I click on Case Western, it leads to a page that says:

"Select Your Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation for
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
You are not required to assign letters of evaluation/recommendation to a medical school prior to submission. Note that letter assignments, once submitted, can not be changed"

then it lets you select the letter writers. Do I need to select all? Or does this even matter? I am confused about this because I thought you send LOE in your secondaries... Thanks again!!


PS: Case Western is actually one of my top choices. Will I be at ANY disadvantage if I select Case Western as a "verifier" medical school? Or, should I pick a school that is my last choice?
 
Apply to one less-selective med school of your choice. Mark the date you took the MCAT two weeks ago. If it turns out you don't like that score, you can go back into the program and change the last planned MCAT date, then recertify the application. This is one of the few areas in the application where you can change information after initial submission.

If the score is fine, you can add more schools, pay the extra fees, and recertify without changing your place in line waiting for verification.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Catalystik said:
Apply to one less-selective med school of your choice. Mark the date you took the MCAT two weeks ago. If it turns out you don't like that score, you can go back into the program and change the last planned MCAT date, then recertify the application. This is one of the few areas in the application where you can change information after initial submission.

If the score is fine, you can add more schools, pay the extra fees, and recertify without changing your place in line waiting for verification.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. What do you mean by a less selective school? Do you mean that as in schools that are ranked lower than average?

Also, I've noticed that most schools have the LOE logo and CBC logo after I select a school. What exactly does this mean? I have 5 letters on AMCAS, so should I select all of them just in case I may have to use them all?

Thank you!
 
organicmodel said:
Thank you for the reply. What do you mean by a less selective school? Do you mean that as in schools that are ranked lower than average?

Also, I've noticed that most schools have the LOE logo and CBC logo after I select a school. What exactly does this mean? I have 5 letters on AMCAS, so should I select all of them just in case I may have to use them all?

Thank you!
Click to expand...


The LOE means that the school participates in the AMCAS Letters of Evaluation service. The CBC means the school does Criminal Background Checks of all its applicants.
 
I volunteered in a hospital for 4 months in the summer and 1 month in the following summer.

1: For the AMCAS application, it says Dates: 06/2008-07/2009 and Hours/Week: 4.

However, this can be misleading because one might think that I volunteered the entire time 4hrs/week. However, I did state that "From June to September 2008, I volunteered for 4 hours per week. In the following year, I volunteered 4 hours per week for 1 month in June 2009."

Is this ok to do?

2: I have been volunteering at a nursing home 1.5 hours/week. However, AMCAS rounds the number down to 1 hour per week. Will this look bad on the application? I did state that I have averaged 1.5 hours per week on the description section.


Thank you!
 
organicmodel said:
Thank you for the reply. What do you mean by a less selective school? Do you mean that as in schools that are ranked lower than average?

Also, I've noticed that most schools have the LOE logo and CBC logo after I select a school. What exactly does this mean? I have 5 letters on AMCAS, so should I select all of them just in case I may have to use them all?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
By less selective he means a school whose average matriculant stats are lower than yours; a school that you would label a "Safe" school to apply to.
 
Hi all

my question concerns when were listing the courses In the course ID.

I am checking my transcript and all I see is those silly numbers in front of classes ex. Eng Composition 101

So do we include the "ENG" or just the "101" in the Class/Course ID space?


Thanks for taking the time to read
 
One elective community service class that I took (not related to health or medicine), has been classified as "Health Sciences" by AMCAS. I have no idea why, but I don't really care changing it because I don't wanna recertify my app. Can I just leave it like that or do I have an obligation to change it?
 
Catalystik said:
I mean a school you feel will be in your stats range if you receive the lowest MCAT score you got on practice tests.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I have a 3.94 GPA and 15 quality EC's and strong letters. However, I bombed the MCAT verbal last year so I rewrote this July.

Also I'm a Canadian. Which school do you think I should apply to get my application verified? I was thinking Rosalind Franklin or Case Western. Any ideas? Thanks!
 
You can just click no and it will allow you to go on and you can pay the fee and start verification. You don't need to have any letters in to start sending primaries on AMCAS. You can assign letters to each school and send the letters to AMCAS later. There is no problem.
 
I attended a conference where I had a poster presentation. There are options to explain poster presentations AND conferences attended. Do i talk about each separately since I both presented and attended lectures/talks/etc or just mention it all in one event?
 
Last edited:
Members don't see this ad :)
You HAVE to report it. You don't really have an option.

And it can't be looked at negatively, if anything else it'll make you stand out as "unique".
 
Dear SDN,

I was certified as an EMT from 2007-2009, and my question is, even though it has expired, should I put the course in AMCAS as other? It's kind of an interesting one because I got wilderness certification also, but if it looks lame that I let it expire, I don't want to put it on (I let it expire because I was living in a different state, doing research, taking classes, and didn't have time). What do you think?

Sincerely,

Another Obnoxious Question-asker
 
kaciebean2 said:
Dear SDN,

I was certified as an EMT from 2007-2009, and my question is, even though it has expired, should I put the course in AMCAS as other? It's kind of an interesting one because I got wilderness certification also, but if it looks lame that I let it expire, I don't want to put it on (I let it expire because I was living in a different state, doing research, taking classes, and didn't have time). What do you think?

Sincerely,

Another Obnoxious Question-asker
Click to expand...

Well what did you do with it? Did you just take the class? Or did you work as an EMT?
 
if you didn't get any experience with it it's worthless regardless of whether it is expired or not
 
Hey!

I worked with it, and I have those activities in there. I just never worked with the wilderness portion so much, and I didn't know if HOW I was actually certified with contacts should be on there, rather than just saying "I'm an EMT" etc...

Thanks for your help :)
 
kaciebean2 said:
Hey!

I worked with it, and I have those activities in there. I just never worked with the wilderness portion so much, and I didn't know if HOW I was actually certified with contacts should be on there, rather than just saying "I'm an EMT" etc...

Thanks for your help :)
Click to expand...

No don't put getting certified. Thats assumed if you talk about being an EMT. Listing both will look like fluff.

If you want in that section of your activities you could mention that you were also certified in Wilderness but never had the opportunity to use it, but hope to eventually have an opportunity to pursue your interest in wilderness medicine (if thats what you want - its an EM subspecialty).
 
kaciebean2 said:
Dear SDN,

I was certified as an EMT from 2007-2009, and my question is, even though it has expired, should I put the course in AMCAS as other? It's kind of an interesting one because I got wilderness certification also, but if it looks lame that I let it expire, I don't want to put it on (I let it expire because I was living in a different state, doing research, taking classes, and didn't have time). What do you think?

Sincerely,

Another Obnoxious Question-asker
Click to expand...

Did you get college credit for the course? If so, you MUST list it as undergraduate course work in Health Sciences, and submit an official transcript from the college giving the credit. Otherwise just mention how you used it as an activity along with a start date and an end date and don't even mention that the cert. expired. If there is a cert that you got and didn't use don't bother mentioning it unless of course it's college credit. Non-credit courses generally wouldn't be considered activities IMHO.
 
Thanks so much guys!

I will just mention it within the activity I used it for, and end there :) I did not receive college credit for it because I took it through a private company after I graduated. (I'm old. Well, 26. But I FEEL old here.)

Thanks! xo
 
I only shadowed him for 3 weeks, however.
I was wondering, for the application, if I should list it as about 5 hours a week as it is in the context of 4 weeks...
 
alwaysaangel said:
No don't put getting certified. Thats assumed if you talk about being an EMT. Listing both will look like fluff.

If you want in that section of your activities you could mention that you were also certified in Wilderness but never had the opportunity to use it, but hope to eventually have an opportunity to pursue your interest in wilderness medicine (if thats what you want - its an EM subspecialty).
Click to expand...
Not necessarily, I don't know why people always say that.

On my own university's ambulance, you do not need to be an EMT to volunteer time on it for night shifts/whatever games we have going on. If you put "I did 2,000 hours over 4 years as a crew chief", I don't see how whoever is reading it will know what qualifications you have or the job description. I think it would be right to note whatever experience you have along with the fact that you are EMT-b certified
 
JoshuaGuit said:
Not necessarily, I don't know why people always say that.

On my own university's ambulance, you do not need to be an EMT to volunteer time on it for night shifts/whatever games we have going on. If you put "I did 2,000 hours over 4 years as a crew chief", I don't see how whoever is reading it will know what qualifications you have or the job description. I think it would be right to note whatever experience you have along with the fact that you are EMT-b certified
Click to expand...

Well yes, he should mention that he was a certified EMT who worked on an ambulance - I assume he already did that. The question was should he "list the course as other" which to me meant list it as an entirely different activity which would be unnecessary and would look like he was just trying to fluff up his application.
 
I have a question about hours~!!!

I worked 3 hours a week at my university for a club. From aug2007-may2009.

But I had to leave for home over the summer, so I didn't actually do 3 hours a week.



Do I put in 3 hours a week anyways? or actually calculate this??
 
Hi

I used my hotmail email when I submitted my AMCAS application, but I'm hearing that hotmail and other free email accounts can get filtered in spam mail.

Should I change it to my university mail? If so, is this allowed? (I tried it on AMCAS and it said I need to resubmit my application? I submitted mine yesterday morning)

Thank you!
 
Yes you can resubmit your contact information, but people usually do this after they're already verified.

You're better off adding filters to your e-mail account for words like "application" or "school". I haven't added filters and yet never had an e-mail from a medical school go into my spam, though I know some people use filters. Now, gmail does blow hotmail out of the water in terms of functionality, but it should be the same with hotmail. Use whichever e-mail you check daily, and if you're afraid of them going into your spam then take a peek into your spam folder now and then.

They always warn about the potential for automated e-mails getting placed into your spam folder, since it is a possibility and they have to cover their bases and make you aware of the situation, but it is extremely rare that this will actually occur.
 
My hotmail puts everything into a junk folder. Check that daily.
 
userman said:
I have a question about hours~!!!

I worked 3 hours a week at my university for a club. From aug2007-may2009.

But I had to leave for home over the summer, so I didn't actually do 3 hours a week.



Do I put in 3 hours a week anyways? or actually calculate this??
Click to expand...


Just note it in the description box.
 
Definitely use a professional sounding email address, though. I've seen committees point out something like "sexystud" or whatever email addresses. It's a professional application, don't ruin it by using some stupid email address.
 
nvm, thanks Catalystik!
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure what you should do about number 1, but for number 2:

I would say just put 2 hours/week for the nursing home. if it's not going to show the EXACT amount of hours you were there, then it may as well help you out instead of hurt you.
 
I'm pretty sure for the first one you add up all the hours you've done and divide it by the total weeks. I've seen various posters advised to do that.

Honestly I wish there was just a section for total hours as well.
 
Hey guys, sorry if this is a repeat question, but I don't understand what AMCAS means when it asks "Is this letter from a school?" Is it asking about the service used to deliver the letters or do letters from professors count because they are from a university?

Also, I shadowed a surgeon for a day, and that really had a large impact on me and my decision to apply to medical school. I was allowed to enter the OR because of some manipulation of policy by the hospital. Would it be bad if I included this experience on my app? I don't want to get the hospital in any trouble either by putting this on my app..

Thank you so much for the helP!
 
Im waiting on one last LOR which is holding me from sending my primary. I read on the AMCAS site that you can apply without your LOR's. But to add a LOR after the primary has been sent you have to resubmit the application. Does that mean you have to pay . . . again??
 
no, and you do not need to go through the verification process again.

parts of your primary cannot be changed through AMCAS (e.g. work/activities, coursework, personal statement).

others can be (stuff that can and should change - e.g. transcripts, future mcat dates, LoRs, contact information, selected medical schools). when you re-submit under one of these sections, AMCAS will only change that information.
 
in the same boat as you coy. not to hijack your thread but are applications considered "late" now?
 
Hello all, I am doing a masters program this year and I listed it on the current/future classes section. However, I decided just last week to switch from a M.S. in Public Health to a M.S. in Medicine, and I'm completely changing my courses. From what I understand from the AMCAS instrux, I can change nothing on AMCAS, and I have to contact each school I applied to individually to alert them of the change...
My Q: Does anyone here have experience doing this and/or tips? I'm inclined to prepare some sort of addendum summing the changes with an explanation and submitting along with my secondaries. Any other ideas? Thanks very much.
 
Hi guys,

I am wondering if we need to assign letters all at the same time? For example, can I assign two letters to mcw now and assign two more letters tomorrow? or does AMCAS only allow me to assign letters to each school once?

Thank you,

mz
 
Thanks for the responses.

You could consider your / our application late ei8htt but they have deadlines for a reason. It isn't / shouldn't be a race to have your app there first. These boards make it seem like if you didn't apply 10 months ago your screwed. That is not the case. I called about 6 different schools and received comforting info. It is better to send your applications early but it is not first come first serve. Especially considering that many students have submitted their apps and aren't taking the MCAT until the 24th of this month. They can certainly begin organizing / categorizing but they won't do anything more than that until the deadline has come and the pool of apps are in.
 
I apologize for hijacking this thread too... but does the same apply for TMDSAS?

I submitted my primary on 8/3, and my committee packet was sent 8/11. Do I need to resubmit my TMDSAS?
 
are you guys only waiting on the LOR? if so, you both need to submit NOW. whoever you spoke with in admissions is placating you. yes, programs have deadlines. they mean nothing, however. the UChicago podcast series last year revealed that hundreds of people go complete there in just the final week before the secondary deadline. these hundreds of people are competing for roughly 10 spots. i'm not kidding.

there's no point in waiting. verification and LORs are completely separate processes. you won't have to pay again and adding letters doesn't affect your verification status. don't forget that you can add schools too - at any time during or after verification - without affecting your verification timeline.
 
gravitywave said:
are you guys only waiting on the LOR? if so, you both need to submit NOW. whoever you spoke with in admissions is placating you. yes, programs have deadlines. they mean nothing, however. the UChicago podcast series last year revealed that hundreds of people go complete there in just the final week before the secondary deadline. these hundreds of people are competing for roughly 10 spots. i'm not kidding.

there's no point in waiting. verification and LORs are completely separate processes. you won't have to pay again and adding letters doesn't affect your verification status. don't forget that you can add schools too - at any time during or after verification - without affecting your verification timeline.
Click to expand...

Yep I sent them yesterday. Thanks for the tips.
 
coyfish said:
They can certainly begin organizing / categorizing but they won't do anything more than that until the deadline has come and the pool of apps are in.
Click to expand...

This is definitely NOT true. Most schools are on a rolling admissions schedule. That means that it is most definitely first come first served, and they will NOT wait to make decisions until all apps are in (usually a January-ish deadline). Most schools have already begun reviewing applications and sending out interview invites. While it's true that these forums exaggerate a little bit, and you don't have to submit your app the day it comes out, it is definitely to ones advantage to be very early. If you submit your primary now, it takes almost a month to be verified and sent to schools. And then they send you secondaries and depending on how long it takes to turn it in you are looking at being complete in late September. There are many of us that already have interviews for late August/early September, which would be before you are even complete, and many of those people will be given an admissions decision very soon after that. I have an interview on Septmeber 29th, and they sit down that very day and make decisions. So they definitely do not wait until all applications are in to make a move. P.S. I have a 26 MCAT and I am very very sure that the only reason I got an interview (MD school) is because my application was submitted early.

I am not trying to be mean in any way, I just want to make sure you have the facts. In most of the secondary e-mails you will receive they explicitly say that the deadline is such and such a date but that you shouldn't wait that long to turn your application in. By the time the deadlines roll around most of the seats in the class have already been filled and there are only a very few seats for the exceptional students that just happened to submit late. I don't think if you submit now you are too too late, but it is getting there, especially if you have an average to below average application. And it is also not true that most people don't have MCAT scores yet or are taking it now. There have been many more dates from January (and before) to now than there are in August, and those people have already completed their applications.

In short, do not wait for your letter to submit your application. You can add the letter later, and resubmitting has no adverse consequences. You can also put in your letter writer and all their info and stuff, and so when it comes in you don't have to resubmit or anything. Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Yeah totally agree with above. I wasn't waiting for my LOR. My prehealth committee told us to submit first and THEN request our LOR (I know this is wrong, but they asked for the TMDSAS submission date, so I had to do my TMDSAS first).

In any case, I'm getting worried now. Does the resubmission also apply to TMDSAS or only AMCAS?
 
what do you do if you have an activity.... (shadowing experience) that I am doing after i submit my primary? (in 2 weeks) how do I let these schools know?
 
I graduated from my master's program in bio with a 4.0 GPA (all classes were Science). Does that mean I have 2 separate BCMP GPAs or are they averaged somehow? If they are, how is it done? I'm just curious because I don't know how to state my BCPM and overall GPA, whether I should write 2 separate sets are to put them together somehow.
 
Hi guys, I looked through this thread but I'd still feel better asking about my particular situation.

I want to submit my primary... now. My school collects all the LOR and sends them in a packet with a cover letter from my pre-health advisor. Is this a committee letter, or a letter packet?? (I'm confused because AMCAS makes the distinction between a committee letter being a pre-health advisor letter...which I have... that may or may not include others, and a letter packet as a group sent out by the school that doesn't include the pre-health cover letter.) Do I select letter packet and add the pre-health letter as a committee letter separately? I'm just confused haha.

Also, once I've submitted my list of letters, I believe I have no chance to edit them - is this correct?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

chilly_md
  • Sticky
*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2023-2024 *~*~*~*
2 3
Replies
139
Views
17K
wysdoc
wysdoc
Ani C
AMCAS Course Classification Questions
Replies
3
Views
167
wysdoc
wysdoc
wysdoc
  • Sticky
*~*~*~* Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2023-2024 *~*~*~*
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
620
Views
67K
wysdoc
wysdoc
wysdoc
*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2022-2023 *~*~*~*
2 3
Replies
101
Views
19K
chilly_md
chilly_md
S
AMCAS Verification Thread 2023-2024
Replies
23
Views
5K
futbolista_94
F
Top