*~*~*~* Official AMCAS Questions Thread 2022-2023 *~*~*~*

[MDChasing620]

I submitted my amcas primary 7/20 and TMDSAS 7/24. I'm really starting to grasp why I should have submitted earlier, especially for tmdsas. I did not do enough research into when to submit, verification times, etc.

Praying I get verified by the end of August. How badly have I screwed myself?

For a little extra context, 3.51 sGPA, 508 (127/123/130/128), URM(African-American Male)

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[MotherOfDragons]

I submitted my amcas primary 7/20 and TMDSAS 7/24. I'm really starting to grasp why I should have submitted earlier, especially for tmdsas. I did not do enough research into when to submit, verification times, etc.

Praying I get verified by the end of August. How badly have I screwed myself?

For a little extra context, 3.51 sGPA, 508 (127/123/130/128), URM(African-American Male)

I think you’re fine, but I would start pre-writing secondaries in the meantime that way you’ll be ready to submit them once you do get verified. Best of luck!

 

[wysdoc]

I submitted my amcas primary 7/20 and TMDSAS 7/24. I'm really starting to grasp why I should have submitted earlier, especially for tmdsas. I did not do enough research into when to submit, verification times, etc.

Praying I get verified by the end of August. How badly have I screwed myself?

For a little extra context, 3.51 sGPA, 508 (127/123/130/128), URM(African-American Male)

TMDSAS is currently working on verifying applications submitted on 6/23. So it will probably be 4-5 weeks before they work on your submission date. I agree with @MotherOfDragons, while you wait you can get those essays written, we have all the prompts on the Texas school pages.

 

[skeptastic]

I think you’re fine, but I would start pre-writing secondaries in the meantime that way you’ll be ready to submit them once you do get verified. Best of luck!

This is very important info! If you've got those secondaries pre-written, it'll help tremendously with the July primary submissions.

 

[student306]

Any ideas when interviews will start to go out?

 

[chilly_md]

Any ideas when interviews will start to go out?

This varies from school to school, but can occur anytime between now and March.

 

[~xkxfx~]

Logging back into SDN after three years is a doozy but I'm hoping for some insight. I'm a re-app. Worked two years as a scribe and worked full time 1.5 years as a clinical research coord at a prestigious university hospital while getting a master's in Global Health part-time. I'm currently doing field research in Africa for the summer and had a family emergency and went back to the US for a week in early June which disrupted my (already delayed) med school app process, as well as my state of mind re: submitting. I finally submitted my primaries 8/1, which I know is VERY late. Anyone with thoughts on timeline for verification, receiving secondaries, and odds of interviews?
First applied in 2019 with MCAT 504, GPA ~3.69.
MCAT retake 512 and Master's GPA ~3.87, cumulative GPA ~3.75?
Much appreciated in advance! Will not be surprised if anyone says I'm way too late lol

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Logging back into SDN after three years is a doozy but I'm hoping for some insight. I'm a re-app. Worked two years as a scribe and worked full time 1.5 years as a clinical research coord at a prestigious university hospital while getting a master's in Global Health part-time. I'm currently doing field research in Africa for the summer and had a family emergency and went back to the US for a week in early June which disrupted my (already delayed) med school app process, as well as my state of mind re: submitting. I finally submitted my primaries 8/1, which I know is VERY late. Anyone with thoughts on timeline for verification, receiving secondaries, and odds of interviews?
First applied in 2019 with MCAT 504, GPA ~3.69.
MCAT retake 512 and Master's GPA ~3.87, cumulative GPA ~3.75?
Much appreciated in advance! Will not be surprised if anyone says I'm way too late lol

Welcome back! In some future, I hope you'll be able to share your gap experience. Obviously I hope your family is doing well.

 

[student306]

Does admission news only come out in the mornings?

 

[zanaflexing]

question re: disadvantaged status. i am a reapplicant, and in my prior application i was marked as eo1 disadvantaged. this cycle, my application says that my disadvantaged status is unknown even though the fields were entered exactly the same as the previous one. any explanation for this?

i called amcas about it, and they weren't very helpful. just said that "oh i guess it means it's up to the schools then" which i didn't find to be a very convincing answer.

 

[plsletmedr]

is there a way to see how many applications a school has gotten officially?

 

[eldopa]

I just realized I lack volunteering experiences in my application. However, one of my teaching activities involved tutoring middle and high school students at a volunteer after-school organization that predominantly looked after students from low-income backgrounds.

I submitted my primary with this under teaching/tutoring because it seemed obvious to me but will some schools view that as community service as well? I completely overlooked assigning intuitive activities that overlapped with another area that I lacked, seems like a no-brainer now...

 

[eldopa]

question re: disadvantaged status. i am a reapplicant, and in my prior application i was marked as eo1 disadvantaged. this cycle, my application says that my disadvantaged status is unknown even though the fields were entered exactly the same as the previous one. any explanation for this?

i called amcas about it, and they weren't very helpful. just said that "oh i guess it means it's up to the schools then" which i didn't find to be a very convincing answer.

I believe this has to do with the level of education your parents have, but unless those changed from your last application, I don't see how your status changed. Check this part from the applicant guide

 

[zanaflexing]

I believe this has to do with the level of education your parents have, but unless those changed from your last application, I don't see how your status changed. Check this part from the applicant guide

that's what baffled me...i read the applicant guide and according to it i should still be eo1 since both of my parents are at high school level. no clue what to make of it.

 

[isthisthingon]

that's what baffled me...i read the applicant guide and according to it i should still be eo1 since both of my parents are at high school level. no clue what to make of it.

If I were you, I would call again. Could be the level of training the rep you spoke to has and they weren't able to help you properly. Have the applicant guide open to Appendix 1 where it clearly outlines the EO-1 factors along with 'unknown'. Note the guide states:

An SES indicator of “Unknown” occurs when:
• All parental EO levels are “Unknown” or
• One parental EO level is “Unknown” and/or all other parental EO levels are “N/A.”

Assuming you can show that your application does NOT show these items listed above, state clearly that your app should place you in EO-1 and explain why, using the guide. If this cannot be explained, there appears to be an error, esp since the guidelines haven't changed (you can confirm this) and you had this status when you applied last year. Kindly ask to speak to someone else if the rep still seems unable to assist.

 

[majorlazer4196]

I have a situation I need advice on. I applied to a ton of schools due to having FAP (almost 60 schools). I have only completed 37 secondaries so far. I've bitten more than I can chew and there's 10-15 schools' secondaries due tomorrow. It's unlikely i'll be able to cram them all in by tomorrow even with copying and pasting. I've made a decision to withdraw applications anyways due to the overwhelming essay work from secondaries. Would it look better to withdraw my apps in advance of tomorrow's deadline for those 10-15 secondaries or can I just let the deadline pass and let medical schools automatically disqualify my application for further consideration?

 

[majorlazer4196]

Once the primary application has been submitted and you already receive secondary applications, is it possible to withdraw applications if you are no longer interested in submitting a school's secondary on AMCAS? I tried clicking the trash can icon next to the medical school on the medical schools section, but it didn't do anything.

 

[wysdoc]

Once the primary application has been submitted and you already receive secondary applications, is it possible to withdraw applications if you are no longer interested in submitting a school's secondary on AMCAS? I tried clicking the trash can icon next to the medical school on the medical schools section, but it didn't do anything.

Once you have submitted your primary via AMCAS to a school, the deed is done.
I think you can just let the file be incomplete, as it will be eventually at the schools where you didn't submit secondaries.

Don't try withdrawing on the AMCAS portal, as you don't want to accidentally withdraw from all your AMCAS schools. That's an irreversible step.

 

[skeptastic]

Once you have submitted your primary via AMCAS to a school, the deed is done.
I think you can just let the file be incomplete, as it will be eventually at the schools where you didn't submit secondaries.

Don't try withdrawing on the AMCAS portal, as you don't want to accidentally withdraw from all your AMCAS schools. That's an irreversible step.

Indeed! And someone just posted a thread about having accidentally done this, and it was heartbreaking to read. There was nothing AMCAS could do to reverse it, so the applicant has to reapply, even though they only wanted to withdraw their app from a few specific schools.

 

[majorlazer4196]

Indeed! And someone just posted a thread about having accidentally done this, and it was heartbreaking to read. There was nothing AMCAS could do to reverse it, so the applicant has to reapply, even though they only wanted to withdraw their app from a few specific schools.

Omg, that sounds terrible

 

[skeptastic]

Omg, that sounds terrible

For real! I feel super bad for them.

 

[5gumchewer]

I'm thinking of applying in the summer, and I was wondering if med schools can see if you have siblings.

I'm doing some rough drafts of my application essays in between stressing about studying for finals and studying about finals, and I want to talk about how my experience taking care of my younger step* siblings geared me towards a caring profession, and my fascination with biological systems geared me towards medicine. It doesn't sound quite right to me yet either so I'll work on it, but I realized that they're not actually my stepsiblings since my mom and her partner never married. Will they be able to see that I don't actually have younger siblings and get suspicious?

 

[AstroSidekick]

You can voluntarily include your siblings when they ask about your family demographics. No school is going to verify the number of siblings you have so if you feel like they your siblings, mark them down as such. From what I recall, all it asks for is sibling age, gender-identity, and occupation. Maybe name but I don’t know 100%

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm thinking of applying in the summer, and I was wondering if med schools can see if you have siblings.

I'm doing some rough drafts of my application essays in between stressing about studying for finals and studying about finals, and I want to talk about how my experience taking care of my younger step* siblings geared me towards a caring profession, and my fascination with biological systems geared me towards medicine. It doesn't sound quite right to me yet either so I'll work on it, but I realized that they're not actually my stepsiblings since my mom and her partner never married. Will they be able to see that I don't actually have younger siblings and get suspicious?

Every application asks you about your family, including your siblings so it's self-disclosed.

 

[Dr_ Pepe]

Is there any way to know approximately how many applicants applied this year before the cycle is over/ when do they release this data? Is it expected that the trend of increasing number of applicants will continue for the next cycle (and beyond)?

 

[wysdoc]

Is there any way to know approximately how many applicants applied this year before the cycle is over/ when do they release this data? Is it expected that the trend of increasing number of applicants will continue for the next cycle (and beyond)?

Here is the AAMC Table A-1 labeled 2022-2023 (Entry Year EY2022)

Scroll to the very bottom to see the # of applications; the number of applicants is mentioned in the footnote. Average # of applications per applicant was 18.
AAMC Table A-1 2022-2023


The total number of applicants is down from the peak number of 62,443 in the 2021-2022 cycle (see table with 10 years of totals)

 

[wysdoc]

This is data for matriculant year of 2022. I believe it only includes 2023 for the one or two schools that start in January (eg KCMC). It does not include data for the typical late summer/fall matriculant of 2023

Well


there may be some running totals released by AMCAS During the cycle, it is not until October 2023 when all the schools must report their information and then that will be collated in the updated MSAR and FACTS, released late 2023 (Usually at the November AAMC meetings) and then early 2024 in the updated MSAR.

As for the original question will the number of applicants increase? The primary driver of the number of applicants is simply the demographics of Typical college age cohort that would be applying to medical school along with the enrollment This cohort in college. Both those numbers are decreasing.

Med school applications fall from last year’s highs back to pre-pandemic levels - The DO

While 'The Fauci Effect' brought more med school applications than usual last year, the growth in applications has returned to average levels.

thedo.osteopathic.org

We do know that undergraduate enrollment has decreased since the start of the pandemic. Many students postponed enrolling in undergraduate programs until pandemic restrictions were eased or lifted in order to have a more traditional college experience,” says Dr. James. “The pandemic seems to have exacerbated the trends in decreased undergraduate enrollment that began before the pandemic. The decrease in undergraduate enrollment will impact the number of students qualified and ready to enter medical school several years from now, so this will be something we’ll be watching closely.”

@gonnif is right as usual. I corrected the labeling on my post.
Even though the table is titled 2022-2023, it must be the data for EY2022.
The very high number of applicants from 2021-2022 was probably the peak, and numbers will likely be back in the 50, 000's not 60,000's.

 

[Dr_ Pepe]

Got it. Thank you @wysdoc and @gonnif

 

[natarenu]

Indeed! And someone just posted a thread about having accidentally done this, and it was heartbreaking to read. There was nothing AMCAS could do to reverse it, so the applicant has to reapply, even though they only wanted to withdraw their app from a few specific schools.

That is sad. I think the AAMCAS portal should disable withdrawing from it to avoid such accidents.

 

[natarenu]

How to withdraw an admission received from a school?

 

[AstroSidekick]

How to withdraw an admission received from a school?

Email the school directly

 

[natarenu]

Email the school directly

Thank you!

 

[skeptastic]

That is sad. I think the AAMCAS portal should disable withdrawing from it to avoid such accidents.

Agreed! You should have to formally call, verify your account, and so forth in order to withdraw your entire AMCAS application.

 

[SelfMed]

Like the title said, I took geometry at a local CC to get ahead in high school. I did see "• College-level courses attempted while in high school, even if the courses did not count toward a degree at any college". in the AAMC guidelines for 2024, which sounds like I will have to get that transcript and report it in course taken.

Just wanted to confirm if I have that correct.

 

[chilly_md]

Like the title said, I took geometry at a local CC to get ahead in high school. I did see "• College-level courses attempted while in high school, even if the courses did not count toward a degree at any college". in the AAMC guidelines for 2024, which sounds like I will have to get that transcript and report it in course taken.

Just wanted to confirm if I have that correct.

I moved your question to the main AMCAS questions thread.

Yes, it was a dual enrollment course, so you will have to request that transcript and record the info down on AMCAS.

 

[Pinky+Brain]

Would there be a downside to applying with one school in an attempt to potentially save money? For context, I am on one waitlist but prepping for reapplication. I would like to submit my re-application as soon as possible (May 30th), but there is a slim chance I could still get off the waitlist during June. I would feel a bit silly shelling out a thousand dollars on primary application fees to then get accepted off of the waitlist. Could I only apply to one school so that I pay $175 and then once verified and if I haven't been accepted closer to the date that applications are released to schools (June 30th) add the other schools and pay those fees?
What downsides are there to this plan? What would you recommend? Is there a delay from when a new school is added to when it can receive my application (if before June 30th)?

 

[wysdoc]

Would there be a downside to applying with one school in an attempt to potentially save money? For context, I am on one waitlist but prepping for reapplication. I would like to submit my re-application as soon as possible (May 30th), but there is a slim chance I could still get off the waitlist during June. I would feel a bit silly shelling out a thousand dollars on primary application fees to then get accepted off of the waitlist. Could I only apply to one school so that I pay $175 and then once verified and if I haven't been accepted closer to the date that applications are released to schools (June 30th) add the other schools and pay those fees?
What downsides are there to this plan? What would you recommend? Is there a delay from when a new school is added to when it can receive my application (if before June 30th)?

You can do this, and once your AMCAS application is fully verified, when you add more schools your app will go out to them right away and your application does not go through the verification queue again.

 

[Sunrizon]

I have a question. I performed summer research at an institution and they gave me credit for it (15 to be exact). I got to transfer those credits to my undergrad institution as elective hours for my major (Biological Sciences). I got the transcript from the institution to send to AMCAS.

My problem is, I do not know what category to indicate for this summer research course. Should I indicate "Biology" or "Other"? The course code is not very helpful as it shows CGS-XXX, CGS meaning College of Graduate Studies.

Any input would be great! I am trying to avoid delays on my application

 

[amoxicillin_resistant]

Hello I had a question about repeated courses. (sorry if its a repeat question)

Say that I took Chem 1A at a community college and got a C and then later in university I got an A when I took Chem 1A. Does this count as a repeat course? If so, would I say the Chem 1A at Community college is a repeat or the one in university? (or both?)

Thank You!

 

[chilly_md]

Hello I had a question about repeated courses. (sorry if its a repeat question)

Say that I took Chem 1A at a community college and got a C and then later in university I got an A when I took Chem 1A. Does this count as a repeat course? If so, would I say the Chem 1A at Community college is a repeat or the one in university? (or both?)

Thank You!

It does not count as repeat for the AMCAS tag since that's not how it appears on the transcript (as they were at different colleges).

A search of this forum led to this post by somebody who shared that the AAMC fixed their mistake:

AMCAS Repeat Courses at Different Institution

I just wanted to drop this here in case any one in the future is having the same question I did and can't find an answer prior to submitting for verification. If you "repeat" a course at a different institution, AMCAS DOES NOT consider that course a repeat. I took Chemistry I and II at my...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[DrippingNeverTripping]

Hello all,

just a quick question but I've taken an English writing class (4 credits) freshman year and later on in junior year took my neuroscience capstone lab (2 credits) and it's marked as a writing class (via a (W) next to the course name) on my transcript. Now in the AMCAS application should I classify it under "Biology" or "English Language & Literature"? I will need those 2 credits to fulfill the 6 credits/2 semesters of writing some schools require.

Cheers,
DrippingNeverTripping

 

[beanpro]

I recently posted this for the AACOMAS app, and I wasn't sure about the AMCAS app (also not sure if there is a question thread I need to be posting this to).

The deadline I gave to my LOR writers is at the end of June (I just realized one of them won't be sending theirs until the first week of July), and I wanted to submit my primary application at the beginning of June. Is it possible to just submit the primary first week of June without any LOR and send them later on at the beginning of July?

 

[deleted1157965]

yes you can send your LORs after you have submitted AMCAS. i believe there is information about this on the app itself.

 

[chilly_md]

I recently posted this for the AACOMAS app, and I wasn't sure about the AMCAS app (also not sure if there is a question thread I need to be posting this to).

The deadline I gave to my LOR writers is at the end of June (I just realized one of them won't be sending theirs until the first week of July), and I wanted to submit my primary application at the beginning of June. Is it possible to just submit the primary first week of June without any LOR and send them later on at the beginning of July?

As with your AACOMAS question, I have moved your post to the main AMCAS questions thread. It is helpful to have them there as other applicants may have the same question and can go through the thread to find existing answers.

 

[Emh_omega-323]

I've got one of those finicky little questions--I enrolled once for an online course and withdrew far before the withdrawal deadline. I took no other courses at this university so no transcript was created. Do I really need a letter for them about not having a transcript? Is there any way that could kick me in the ass if I don't include there really is no transcript?

 

[chilly_md]

I've got one of those finicky little questions--I enrolled once for an online course and withdrew far before the withdrawal deadline. I took no other courses at this university so no transcript was created. Do I really need a letter for them about not having a transcript? Is there any way that could kick me in the ass if I don't include there really is no transcript?

Have you already put this school into AMCAS? If not, you would probably be fine in skipping it if they never created a transcript for your enrollment.

 

[majorlazer4196]

Anybody having issues with MSAR this past weekend? I saw it was closed for maintenance, anybody know when it will reopen back up again?

 

[skeptastic]

Anybody having issues with MSAR this past weekend? I saw it was closed for maintenance, anybody know when it will reopen back up again?

Looks like it's working now

 

[amoxicillin_resistant]

hello! should i choose a volunteer oppurtunity with only 30 hours (foodbank) or one of my hobbies that i have been doing for 10+ years (graphic art, design)

 

[TxMed55]

Can anyone make an official 2023-2024 thread for AMCAS like the TMDSAS ? pls