*~*~*~*Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2017-2018*~*~*~*

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gonnif said:
you put the school twice
1) for undergrad get transcript
2) for grad with transcript exception

see page 25 of AMCAS instruction under transcript exception
https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...truction_manual-final-destinations.pdf#page25
Click to expand...

Overlooked that part of the manual. Thank you!
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I took a Certified Nurse Assistant Training course through the Red Cross a few years ago, after which I worked as a CNA. The course was 100 hours classroom + clinical. How do I note this in AMCAS? Is there a way to put it under education, or do I fit it under one of the work/activities categories (clinical experience?)?

On a somewhat related note, is it appropriate to put other trainings somewhere--i.e. CPR/BLS, Narcan/Naloxone administration, Mental Health First Aid, etc? I would guess maybe all of this could be placed under one heading. I apologize if this information is somewhere and I missed it!

Thanks!
 
I'm having a hard time searching for an answer, so I apologize in advance:

1. Do we include withdrawals and Pass/No-Pass in our coursework entry for AMCAS?

2. One of my letter writers tried to submit the LOR to interfolio following the email link, but for some reason it wont work. I tried sending him a new request and it also didn't work. Will it matter if I submit the letter to interfolio through my own email?
 
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gonnif said:
While we all commonly refer to these as Extra-Curricular, as most applicants are in college, this is formally "Work and Activities"
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was interpreting that as the "Extracurricular" category of work/activities. Do you recommend putting it under the extracurricular category, clinical, or other? Thanks!
 
Hey guys,

So for one of my extra curricular activities, I worked as a math tutor high school students over the summer. The thing is, I was not part of any organization, I just contacted high school students in my neighborhood who sought help in math and tutored them.


My problem is, in the extracurricular activities section, they ask for the name and contact of whoever the supervisor was. In my case, I did not have anyone like that. Should I just put my own name and contact on it? Or is there another way? Thanks!
 
Hi I have a really dumb question,
On my transcripts, I have my courses listed with a space in between the letters and numbers (ie. PSY 2012). Do I enter them into AMCAS as PSY-2012 or as PSY 2012?
 
ButterflyBeing said:
Hi I have a really dumb question,
On my transcripts, I have my courses listed with a space in between the letters and numbers (ie. PSY 2012). Do I enter them into AMCAS as PSY-2012 or as PSY 2012?
Click to expand...

My educated assumption would be just match it to whatever is on your official/unofficial transcript but we'll wait for @gonnif to confirm
 
For some reasons, this yr's AMCAS opening day of submission is June 1, is this unusually early? Is there any difference submitting June 1 vs let's say June 7?
 
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(somewhat) dumb question: for the transcript request forms, should we only mail/submit in person, or can we email them to our university's registrar with a note to include it when sending over our official transcript?
 
Hi @gonnif I had a question about assigning letters of recommendation to schools. For certain schools, the website says they just require any 2 or 3 faculty letters. I have science and non-science letters in interfolio, but don't think the science ones are as good as the non-science. Will I be hindering my application for these schools by not submitting any science letters?
 
I went to an undergrad that required 20 credits of western civilization. Our English/literacy requirements were fulfilled by this course work and I have a document from the dean of that department stating such and has the typical breakdown of credits 5 for history, 5 for Literature and so forth equally distributed. How would I document this under my coursework ? There were 4 semesters of western Civ class, 5 credits each. Can I just classify one of them as English? Or would it be better to handle this on the school level, sending this English equivalency document to schools I'm applying to ?
 
gonnif said:
I would be leery of any applicant who does submit a science letter as it is traditionally expected but if the school does not require one, you can submit only non science
Click to expand...

On some schools' websites, it says "any faculty" versus "one science, one non-science, etc". Even though schools don't state science letters are required, would it be that weird if I don't submit one? I just think that my non-science letters are better than the science ones, so I'd rather send those in, but at the same time, I don't want it to look suspicious that I don't have any science letters.

Example: Tufts says - "Three individual letters (we do not specify the nature of the authors)"

Maybe some one else can chime in with their opinions too? @Goro @gyngyn @LizzyM
 
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Hi @gonnif I'll be attending a post-bacc program this summer/fall; however, I haven't decided which school to attend yet (please see my other post Reapplicant applying and doing post-bacc program / School list). How should I go about listing my future courses? Also, when I withdrew from the university for a semester, my transcript only showed "03-27-12 WITHDRAW VIA PETITION" and "08-23-12 READMITTED." I don't need to list any classes I took that semester, right?

Also, for "course number" do we just put 1A, or the department+number like Bio 1A?
 
Hi could someone help me with how to classify these experiences?

1. I was a mentor for my college. I was paired with two underclassmen and helped them choose their classes, tutor them on classes I had taken, extracurricular advice, general college advice etc.- EC or Leadership Not Listed Elsewhere?

2. Member and committee member of a school club focused on community service (some medical some not medical) EC or Community service?

3. Been playing piano for 14+ years but also volunteered giving piano lessons- Hobby or Community Service?

Thank you!!
 
gonnif said:
I would consider this under teaching/tutoring

It really depends how much of your time was spent in performing, planning, organizing, etc in community service


Hobby with note on volunteering in description

@Catalystik may have additional comments on this
Click to expand...
Additional comments have been provided in the AMCAS Work/Activities thread to OP.
 
gonnif said:
Wrong! see below

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...2018_amcas_instruction_manual-web.pdf#page=44
If you withdrew entirely from a school before completing courses for a specific term, you must still list each course for which you were registered that term with Withdrawal as the Special Course Type. If the school does not issue transcripts for students who withdraw entirely, you must request that the registrar's office forward an official letter (with an AMCAS Transcript Request Form attached) indicating that no transcript is available because of institutional policies.
Click to expand...


Thank you for your thorough response! But what if I don't remember what classes I was in that semester? I've been out of school for four years and my memory for that period of time has been especially vague since a lot was going on. I can only remember one science class that I was for sure taking. I wonder why AMCAS never said anything to me when they verified my application in 2015.
 
Rhee said:
Thank you for your thorough response! But what if I don't remember what classes I was in that semester? I've been out of school for four years and my memory for that period of time has been especially vague since a lot was going on. I can only remember one science class that I was for sure taking. I wonder why AMCAS never said anything to me when they verified my application in 2015.
Click to expand...
Have an official transcript sent to yourself so you can copy exact class names
 
I took AP English Lit and Lang and got 5s on both, so I have 4 credits of English on my transcript but from AP. I know some schools require English at the physical university level, so I'm taking an English class this summer. However from what I've heard there are a few schools that actually require 2 English classes not including AP (USF). However, I have 3 writing-intensive non-English classes (Psych department) and some schools say this can be substituted.

Should I take 2 English classes this summer to be safe?

How would I designate the writing-intensive classes as such on the AMCAS?

Do I need to contact each school directly?
 
hi, i kind of asked a similar question a while ago but i just want to clarify something

I am using interfolio; I told my recommenders to upload their letters by the end of June. Can I submit my AMCAS before any of my recommenders have uploaded their letters to interfolio, and then after they do at the end of June be able to transfer them to AMCAS and send to schools using interfolio?
 
gonnif said:
@Catalystik for thanks sending this over

AMCAS is not used for checking fulfillment of prereqs. There is no place in AMCAS to indicate intensive writing nor should you change course titles as that can delay verification. Prereqs are checked during pre-matriculation phase after you have taken an offer of acceptance at a school. At that point you will have to have official transcripts sent directly to school for, among other things, checking for fulfillment of prereqs

As for your issue, while taking two actual english courses will remove any risk, with your writing-intensive courses would likely pass muster at any school. I would consider this a low risk issue and second term of english not needed
Click to expand...

Thank you!! If I have the general English classes is it ok if the english class is an essay writing class?
 
gonnif said:
AMCAS primary is separate from AMCAS letter service. Letters are not needed for primary verification or are reviewed in anyway, shape, or form by AMCAS. you can submit primary with or without letters. Additionally, I always advise applicants not to assign letters to schools until the letters are actually uploaded to AMCAS
Click to expand...
any paricular reason why? I just finished assigning my letters tailored to each school yesterday lol
 
@gonnif If my all my spring grades that count towards my GPA are in should I submit my transcripts now? My school only does a paper copy.

I am asking because my pass/fail classes are not in yet, so I don't know if I should submit yet
 
gonnif said:
it wouldnt be noticed most likely
Click to expand...

Ok thank you. Then when I am manually inputting grades into AMCAS, would I ignore those 2-3 pass/fail classes whose grades are not in yet?
 
Is it true that AMCAS will send back your application if there are a certain number of misclassifications and is that number 4?
 
Why does the AMCAS change up the order of the classes within the quarter? I enter the classes as they appear but it mixes them up (within the same quarter). Is that a big deal? Why is it happening?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
2 questions:

Should classes in a given semester be listed in the order that they appear on the transcript? I.e. if I have AP credits, I know those go in the first semester of college but do I need to put them as the very first classes or does it not matter?

Also, if I took an honors capstone course that always spans over 2 semesters, do I mark the second time I took it as a "repeated" course or is repeated for when you do poorly in a class and retake it?
 
I had IB coursework from high school brought over to my undergraduate institution, of which included credits for 3 of the core biology courses. I ended up taking these classes at my institution anyways because I believed not all medical schools would accept IB credits as suitable replacements for fulfilling requirements.

The official transcripts for my university never shows IB transfer coursework equivalents, so I had to have it requested. Also, because I "took the classes again" my university put down the credits I earned from these 3 biology courses as 0 (in their transfer report, but not the official transcript).

In the end, what my university registrar placed on my official transcript is the IB transfer courses I DID earn credit for, but the biology courses I took again were listed as normal under the terms and were not included up with the IB courses. There is a section on my official transcript for repeated coursework, these biology courses are not listed as such.

Long story short, my official university transcript which was already received by AMCAS does not indicate my biology courses as repeat, nor does it show that I got IB credits for them initially but that it was changed from 4 credits per class to 0 after "retaking" them.

Should I report the IB course equivalents as 0 credits and make a new entry for them as "repeated"? Do I also need to re-send an official transcript with this information, even though AMCAS already has a transcript?

Please help!!! I'm freaking out on that chance that this error on my official transcript will delay my application.
 
gonnif said:
Your AMCAS application must match an Official Transcript that AMCAS has. So you have two choices:

1) fill out your AMCAS using the information from the transcript that AMCAS currently has on file, which is perfectly legal to do in this case
2) Fill out the AMCAS using the updated transcript which would mean not submitting the application until the new official transcript has arrived at AMCAS and that you contact AMCAS to let them know you have a second updated transcript coming which risks delay and confusion for no apparent benefit

Far be it from me to influence which ONE way you should do this, but you always have to look at for number ONE and that is my ONE suggestion.
Click to expand...

But wouldn't option #1 be dishonest as it omits the information that my biology courses were "repeats" and that I initially received IB credits? Granted, my school's official transcript for whatever reason omitted this information but at the same time I feel partially responsible for not noticing sooner. I don't want this to bite me later and AMCAS accuses me of misinformation.
 
I should be ready to submit my primary on June 1, but I haven't yet fully researched the schools I want to apply to because I just got my MCAT score. Is it possible to list a few schools I'm certain to apply to, submit on June 1, and then add more schools afterwards?
 
I hope this hasn't been asked before. My college works in units instead of credits. On official transcript, most courses are listed as 1.00 units, science courses are usually listed as 1.25 or 1.50 units. On the back of the transcripts it says each unit is equivalent to 4 semester hours. I should input into AMCAS as 1, 1.25, 1.5 instead of 4, 5, 6, correct? They do the conversion?
 
Hello SDNers,

Need your collective advice. Have filled out my 15 activities on AMCAS. But then was just hired and started training for scribe position. Not on site training yet, but should be next month.

1) Should I replace one of my activities listed as "other" (worked pro-bono on a client case; helped settled it amicably with both parties; skill-set learned will help in practice with uncooperative patients enhancing their care, etc.) with this new scribe position? Pros and Cons?

2) If yes, I anticipate working >1000 hours on-site until Aug. 2018, so do I write the description as "anticipate >1000 up to Aug. 2018?"

3) If no, after AMCAS submission, verification, and transmission to schools, should I send email to schools I applied with update of the scribe position?

Thanks!!!
 
Is it a problem if I choose not to disclose my ethnicity? It's not a required question but I don't want to disclose it as an ORM (although they can probably guess by my last name)
 
I apologize if this has been addressed before - some very specific questions about the verification process.

  1. If your "spot" in the verification queue before June 30 doesn't matter, then why is there this huge push to submit as soon as the cycle opens up? Just to ensure verification before June 30 in case something goes wrong?
  2. Along the same lines, if someone adds schools or LOR to their application anytime before June 30 (but after their verification), it will be as if they initially submitted their application to be with those things? Or does a later add of these things somehow impact your application?
 
Would a thesis be considered as Lecture or Lecture And Lab? Thanks!
 
If I am starting an MPH in August, do I need to list that in the colleges attended section?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Just a quick question about the work and activities section. I currently have two publications in which I am second and third author. I have a separate activity specifically for the publications, but I am not sure how to list them within that activity.
Both of the full MLA citations do not fit into one publication slot, so I was wondering if it would be okay to list them as:

Second Author:
- Title of Paper. Journal Name (Publication Date)
PMID:
Third Author:
- Title of Paper. Journal Name (Publication Date)
PMID:

I'm not sure if listing author placement sounds presumptuous or not, so please let me know if you have any imput or can advise any alternative listing. Thanks!
 
So I want to apply to a combined degree program, which I already know is allowed to be selected when you get your secondary (at this particular school). However there is a strange caveat when I go to select the program - the option is already there. It says:
  • The Program is available only to applicants granted secondary application processing following a preliminary screening.
Makes sense but I can currently select it, which additional degree I want, and then save that option... Uhh why would they do this?? Why is it giving me the option to apply to it at all. Also, I cannot select both the dual degree program and the normal MD (you are apparently supposed to apply to both separately).
 
If I'm working towards a PhD at a school and also received two master's degrees at the school, I listed the school 3 times under schools attended and for each time listed, I included one of the three degrees received. For one of them, I selected transcript required and the other two I didn't because I listed it as an exception for "Multiple Degree".

Now, when I list the coursework taken at that school, is it fine to just list all the coursework under one of the school names instead of separating it out by which courses count towards which of the degrees? Does it matter if the coursework is listed under the one that required the transcript or if it's all the same school, does that part not matter? (I was trying to ask AAMC this, but I have to go TA and the queue is long so I won't be able to call them today before they close most likely)
 
I'm have a question about entering AP coursework. The school that I am attending currently is the same school where I took two dual enrollment courses in HS. As such, my AP coursework is listed under the Spring 2013 semester on my official transcript, rather than under my first semester at this college. Should I list it under my first semester at my school or under the Spring 2013 semester on AMCAS? Thank you!
 
Edit: Nevermind, I found it - simply click on the tab once you'e logged in and are looking at the application summary.
 
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