2008-2009 AMCAS Questions Thread

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Premedico said:
Hey guys,

Just wanted to make sure that the printed PDF file is exactly the format of the application that schools see. I am worried that the PS may come out formatted funny.

Thanks
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Yes, you're correct.
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I added this school to my primary list but I don't think I fit into their description of applicants. I don't want to waste my time and money. Do I need to officially withdraw my secondary? How do I do it?
Thanks a bunch!
 
Deepa100 said:
I added this school to my primary list but I don't think I fit into their description of applicants. I don't want to waste my time and money. Do I need to officially withdraw my secondary? How do I do it?
Thanks a bunch!
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Ummm. I'm not sure if you mean the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD. If so as long as you are US Citizen I believe you are qualified to attend. There is no cost for the secondary and it is an outstanding medical school so you may want to give it a shot. Just write a patriotic essay about why you want to serve in the military.

Good luck
 
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Chicagochew said:
Ummm. I'm not sure if you mean the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, MD. If so as long as you are US Citizen I believe you are qualified to attend. There is no cost for the secondary and it is an outstanding medical school so you may want to give it a shot. Just write a patriotic essay about why you want to serve in the military.

Good luck
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I am a citizen but I am older than 30. Also, I do not intend to serve in the military. It sounds like the students will have to ?
 
Can I add LORs after being verified? If so, will I need to submit again and will that affect anything?
 
Deepa100 said:
I am a citizen but I am older than 30. Also, I do not intend to serve in the military. It sounds like the students will have to ?
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Yes you will. USUHS' mission statement is to provide physicians for the military. When you attend USUHS you are an officer the moment you enroll. You are paid as an officer ( approximately 50k per year) and are expected to serve at least 7 years post-residency. If you have no intention to serve in the military this is not the school for you.
However, as a note to anyone else who may see this. The medical education is outstanding and it is a noble cause.

Good luck.
 
Chicagochew said:
Yes you will. USUHS' mission statement is to provide physicians for the military. When you attend USUHS you are an officer the moment you enroll. You are paid as an officer ( approximately 50k per year) and are expected to serve at least 7 years post-residency. If you have no intention to serve in the military this is not the school for you.
However, as a note to anyone else who may see this. The medical education is outstanding and it is a noble cause.

Good luck.
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Going back to my original Q, is there any thing I need to do to withdraw my application? I have not sent the secondaries yet.
 
Deepa100 said:
Going back to my original Q, is there any thing I need to do to withdraw my application? I have not sent the secondaries yet.
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Oops sorry I neglected your question. Please excuse me. You can just email them and tell them you aren't interested when they email the secondary or you can let it lapse and no one will do anything.
 
Chicagochew said:
Oops sorry I neglected your question. Please excuse me. You can just email them and tell them you aren't interested when they email the secondary or you can let it lapse and no one will do anything.
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That's easy, thanks! I probably would have considered this school if I weren't married.
 
Which of the seven Illinois medschools have already sent secondaries, y'all?
 
I've read some posts where people refer to a school's board scores.

Does anyone know how to find out how a school's students do on the boards?
 
so as i mentioned earlier i forgot to mention my physician shadowing experience on my AMCAS, how would i actually go about expressing it on my secondaries? for the secondaries that do not have any essay questions, can i weave it into an update letter or something?

i have about 130 hours of ER volunteer, a year of clinical volunteering on monthly mexican medical missions (i like to alliterate), and 3 years of clinical research that i categorized as "research" on my amcas, so i don't know if that one counts. is this enough so that i dont have to worry about mentioning my ~35 hours of shadowing stuff? i'm usually not this nit-picky, ah!
 
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I have a question about secondaries... for the photo do you have to go and have an actual passport photo taken or can I just crop my plastic red cup out and send them that :D ?

Mr. Jiggles, I did the exact same thing! I have no idea how I forgot to include 100+ hours of shadowing physicians, but I did! I'm wondering if sending a seperate LOR from a physician would help? Although I went to several of them...
 
At my undergraduate institution, I ending up getting a dual degree (not a dual major)...in other words, I got a BS in the business school and a BA in the Arts/Sciences School. Wo?uld it be better for me to list it as one institution with the two degrees listed, or should I list them as two separate "Colleges Attended"? If so, I'm assuming that I can just send the one transcript from that institution because my coursework for both degrees would be on it. Thanks in advance for all help.
 
DAKAZA said:
I can't figure out which term system to use. My school calls each "term" a semester (fall, winter, spring, summer). I noticed that second semester on AMCAS is spring. Therefore, I was going to use the quarter system but there's no option for fourth quarter (summer). Any advice? I'd greatly appreciate it. I emailed AMCAS over a week ago and haven't received a reply.
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Did you every get an answer to this? I have the same question. Thanks!
 
I'm currently in the process of applying to med school and was granted fee assistance. So, I get 13 free schools and want to take advantage of that and apply to still more. Would 28 be too much in terms of completing secondaries on time? I'm not currently employed, so it's not that I don't have enough time. But, if they have deadlines, then my worry is not being able to finish them all. I am also applying to 6 Osteopathic schools, so that's even more secondaries. What do you guys think?
 
I'm not sure what to put on the "Next MCAT" section of the AMCAS. I took the MCAT for the first time on July 10 and I'm not sure how I did to figure out if I need to take the test again. I figured that I'd decide on that once I get the results on August 12.

I understand it's already getting late to send out the primaries so I want to submit my AMCAS in the next day or two. So I'm not sure whether I should put Yes or No for 'next MCAT'. If I did ok, I don't want med schools to expect I'm going to take it again. On the other hand if I didn't do ok, I don't want med schools to think I'm definitely not taking it again. I'm just really confused since I don't have any MCAT scores. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
predmed123 said:
I'm not sure what to put on the "Next MCAT" section of the AMCAS. I took the MCAT for the first time on July 10 and I'm not sure how I did to figure out if I need to take the test again. I figured that I'd decide on that once I get the results on August 12.

I understand it's already getting late to send out the primaries so I want to submit my AMCAS in the next day or two. So I'm not sure whether I should put Yes or No for 'next MCAT'. If I did ok, I don't want med schools to expect I'm going to take it again. On the other hand if I didn't do ok, I don't want med schools to think I'm definitely not taking it again. I'm just really confused since I don't have any MCAT scores. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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You could say you plan on taking it again and then if you like you score, then change it. Schools should get the update (of not to expect new scores) automatically.
 
FutureDoc1125 said:
I'm currently in the process of applying to med school and was granted fee assistance. So, I get 13 free schools and want to take advantage of that and apply to still more. Would 28 be too much in terms of completing secondaries on time? I'm not currently employed, so it's not that I don't have enough time. But, if they have deadlines, then my worry is not being able to finish them all. I am also applying to 6 Osteopathic schools, so that's even more secondaries. What do you guys think?
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I would take advantage of it as much as possible. Some schools don't have essays on their secondaries and many essay prompts are repeated. The more the merrier, right?
 
heronumber1one1 said:
At my undergraduate institution, I ending up getting a dual degree (not a dual major)...in other words, I got a BS in the business school and a BA in the Arts/Sciences School. Wo?uld it be better for me to list it as one institution with the two degrees listed, or should I list them as two separate "Colleges Attended"? If so, I'm assuming that I can just send the one transcript from that institution because my coursework for both degrees would be on it. Thanks in advance for all help.
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I would list it as one institution.
 
Alshera said:
I have a question about secondaries... for the photo do you have to go and have an actual passport photo taken or can I just crop my plastic red cup out and send them that :D ?
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Any picture will do.
 
Hi Guys-

Just wondering what you would do if one of your activities changed, i.e. no longer exists...I was in the process of starting a club on campus but because of some unforseen circumstances it no longer is happening...what do I do? Send an update to all the schools?
 
JDOC13 said:
You could say you plan on taking it again and then if you like you score, then change it. Schools should get the update (of not to expect new scores) automatically.
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That makes sense. Thanks for the help!
 
JDOC13 said:
I would take advantage of it as much as possible. Some schools don't have essays on their secondaries and many essay prompts are repeated. The more the merrier, right?
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You should list this as one institution.
 
I'm trying to finish up my primary application and have the majority of my application done, my transcript has already been submitted, and my personal statement is basically finished. My problem right now is I am taking forever on the activities section of the application, partly my fault because I can't figure out what to say and am not sure how to convey everything that I have done, and partly due to uncertainties on my part as to what to list. I have a few questions that hopefully someone can clear up for me.

First up is the starting date/ending date. I have many cases in which I have a starting and ending date but have not constantly done an activity over that time. For instance, I have worked at the same place for the last five years but over the last couple I have only worked on breaks from school. Does it matter that I've not consistently worked there recently? I don't even know how I would go about entering that since it seems like I can only enter one starting and ending date.

Second is the average hours/week. I have many cases in which this does not apply such as specific awards I've received. I'm assuming that in cases like this I don't need to enter anything here? I also am not sure what to do about my job where my hours have varied considerably over the last five years, or my research in which I work constantly during the summer but sporadically during the school year. There are also other activities I've done in which I'm not even sure how many hours/week apply. I am an officer of a student organization and we have meetings once a week and I am also involved with activities with the group. I'm assuming all of this would be applied to my hours but again this varies considerably. I also went on a mission trip over spring break, a full week trip. Would I just throw 150 hours up there? That'd certainly stand out I guess. Maybe I'm making this way too complicated but I don't want to make any mistakes.

The last question I have is how important the contact information is. I have some activities and awards in which there really isn't one specific person in charge of things and I was just going to put down a professor involved or the head of a department. Do med schools really check with all these people to see what you've done?
 
Ugh!! Anyone else finding the new LOE service frustrating?? First I called and said that all of my letters were coming together in one packet (not a commitee letter) but that I wanted to be able to send individual letters (not necessarily all of them) from the packet to different schools...AMCAS person told me "list them as commitee" WRONG. I did that and cannot assign the letters individually. So i called back. Was told the first person was wrong. "Enter each one individually and have your school resend with a seperate AMCAS form for each" (individual letter IDs). So i did that. Then today, ALL OF MY LETTERS ON AMCAS HAVE DISAPPEARED. Except the one commitee one which is useless to me. (I also had an individual from my current job that does not come from my school...that ones gone too). So now, unless they can fix it, I will have to re-add each letter, which will generate NEW letter IDs and I will have to ask my undergrad person to resend them for the 3rd time!! SO FRUSTRATING. I'm sure the girl that sends letters hates me. :eek::eek::eek:

Just venting.
 
All my letters have been marked as received by AMCAS, and I assigned them to schools about a week ago, but I've checked with the schools and none of them have received them yet, and I just logged back into AMCAS and it says I haven't assigned any letters to any schools! Anyone else have this problem? Is there something else I need to do?

Nevermind!
 
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I took organic chemistry this summer (2008). I am going to be a rising junior. When I fill out the AMCAS application, what is the academic year I fill out (2007-2008) or (2008-2009). Also because I am going to be a rising junior do I under "Year In School" classify myself as a sophomore or junior?
 
I am a women studies major. However it does not show it under possible majors to select. Women Studies can be considered a speciality of sociology and is offered almost in every college as a major. Should I select sociology as my major or write in Women Studies?
 
First of all, I took Organic Chemistry this summer. I am a rising junior. However on the AMCAS application, for which year should I designate Organic Chemistry (2007-2008) or (2008-2009)? Also should I designate myself as a sophomore or junior on the application?

Second, my major is Women Studies. It is a speciality of Sociology. However on the AMCAS application Women Studies is not an option to choose from the Scroll-Down Box when choosing a major but Sociology is. Should I designate my major to be Sociology or should I write in Women Studies?

If some of you all could answer these questions, that would be great. Thanks!
 
1. Often undergrad schools have credit hour ranges that define freshman, sophmore, junior, and senior status. Simply ask your registrar's office or find it on your school's website. What ever year status you fell into at the time you took O-chem, that's what you were. Easily solved.

2. I would write in 'women studies' if given the chance.

Good luck with your application.
 
i took orgo though as a summer nondegree seeking student at another institution- not my home institution
 
I think AMCAS asks you to include summer classes under whatever the next school year is (2008-2009). You can check in the instructions though to confirm this.
 
I put my summer classes as part of the year I was beginning in the fall.

So your O-chem is taken as a junior. Not like it will make a difference in your being accepted or not.
 
If you're going into Junior year there is no reason to complete AMCAS. AMCAS deletes information from cycle to cycle. Next year, in May, the application will open for your application year and you'll have plenty of time to fill it in.
 
It goes by credit hour. If you have enough credits to be considered a junior, you are a junior. (Schools differ on academic year but as far as i know, most consider the fall term the first one of the school year. Not sure which AMCAS prefers but you still determine your rank by credit hours). Either way, AMCAS will correct it during verification if they think you chose incorrectly. And im confused, are you applying for this cycle?
 
So which is it, do you put it as the year you are going to start, or do you go by credits?
 
Sir-
Credits for your rank (sophomore, junior, etc). Look at AMCAS instructions for which academic year to list, school probably considers it 2007-2008 but AMCAS may prefer 2008-2009. And both of these issues are pretty insignificant.
 
Hi, I have a few questions before turning in my application. I've been double checking my transcript with the course work sectionof my application and wondered about a few things.

1.) On the courses that I've received credit for with no grade I'm leaving the grade blank and listing it as Pass/Fail. Is this the correct method to use?

2.) My college requires all students to pass a writing competency exam before graduation. This is listed on my transcript along with my other classes during fall semester, though this isn't really a "class". It shows up as me having received credit for it but it's a 0 credit hour thing since it's not really a class. I'm assuming I need this on my application since it shows up on my transcript but how should I put it on there? Do I just leave the credit horu spot blank or put a 0 there?

3.) I've received standing credit at my college through SAT scores. How would I go about listing these? I can't really list these classes as having taken a specific semester since I never took them and I also never took a class in high school that helped me test out of them. I just got credit due to high SAT scores. So what can I do with this?

4.) I had a speech class in college that I was able to test out of by taking a test and giving a speech to faculty to prove I was capable of public speaking. I received standing credit for the course. What would be the ideal way to list this?

Hopefully, someone will be able to help me with this! Thanks!
 
i have a question about transcipt request. i submitted my primary in on july 23 rd and sent in the transcript request form to my school's office of registrar (last Thursday i sent it). how long does it usually take to for amcas to let you know they received your transcript? its been about a week now, and it still says 'waiting for transcripts' when i log into amcas:(
 
I submitted my application July 7th, when it was up for verification it sent me a notice saying it needed some transcripts from highschool, and went to the status of submitted and waiting for transcripts. With that being said, does this place my application back at the end of the line for verification or once the extra transcript is received does it leave me where I was left off?
 
What category of activity does a non-paid, non-medical internship belong under: work or non-medical volunteering?
 
What's the maximum number of majors you can enter on AMCAS? What about minors?
 
james1988 said:
What's the maximum number of majors you can enter on AMCAS? What about minors?
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Is there a specific reason you are asking this? I think that minors are unlimited. As for majors, since there's no such thing as quadruple majoring, I bet 3 is the limit.
 
scarletgirl777 said:
Is there a specific reason you are asking this? I think that minors are unlimited. As for majors, since there's no such thing as quadruple majoring, I bet 3 is the limit.
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actually I am quadruple majoring. I know some school's do not allow this anymore, but most do. I'm asking because I'm thinking of doing a fifth major which would require only one more course outside of what I'm already taking. While I've heard of people quadruple majoring, I've never heard of someone who quintuple majored, and was thus wondering whether AMCAS would allow me to enter all five if I go ahead and take that extra course. I'm not doing this to impress adcoms or anything, as I realize it won't. I'm doing it for myself.
 
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