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Obtain copies of your transcripts
Check the admissions requirements of med schools to be sure you fill the eligibility requirements for each school.
Collects one set of official transcripts from all applicants
Verifies academic records and calculates an AMCAS GPA
Distributes application data to participating medical schools
Collects & distributes letters of recommendation
Facilitates criminal background checks for accepted applicants
Application Timeline
May 5, 2011*
AMCAS application opens & AMCAS begins accepting transcripts and letters of recommendation
June 1, 2011*
Applications can be submitted and AMCAS begins verifying coursework
June 10, 2011*
Initial transmission of application data to medical schools
For the 2012 entering class
Application Fees
$160 processing fee which includes one medical school
$32 for each additional school (2011)
Refunds are available to applicants are not in verification or processed status. Applicants will receive refund for all deadlines that haven’t passed with the exception of the AMCAS processing fee
Payable online via Visa/MasterCard or Telecheck
The AMCAS Application
www.aamc.org/amcas
The AMCAS Application
AMCAS Registration
Use accurate biographical information during registration:
The AMCAS Application
9 Sections:
Identifying Information
Schools Attended
Biographic Information
Coursework
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Standardized Tests
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Schools Attended
Schools Attended
List every post secondary institution where you enrolled for at least one course; even if credits were transferred, no credits were earned, or you withdrew.
Include college courses taken in high school.
Schools Attended
Under program type, do not enter graduate level for Harvard College if you are working towards a fourth year Masters but have not yet completed it.
If you have graduated from Harvard College with a fourth year Masters degree, you will have two entries for Harvard College. One entry with undergraduate as program type for the first three years and one entry with graduate as program type for the final year at Harvard.
Transcripts
Official Transcripts (OTs)
Review AMCAS OT Requirements
Review your transcripts in advance
Research transcript availability carefully
Never assume a transcript is not required by AMCAS
Missing and unmatchable transcripts are the number 1 reason for processing delays
Transcripts
You will create AMCAS Transcript Request Forms to send to Registrars at every school from which you will be requesting a transcript. The Registrar will attach the form to the official transcript and send it on to AMCAS.
Transcripts must be sent to AMCAS directly from your Registrar’s Office. Transcripts provided by applicants, even if sealed, will NOT be accepted
Request that Harvard Registrar wait until Spring grades are available before sending transcripts
Transcripts
Applicants must request an exception for transcripts that are not required; failing to do so may result in missed deadlines
Research transcript availability carefully before requesting an exception. AMCAS cannot validate foreign transcripts and will not accept them.
Transcripts
Advisor Release
Advisor Information Release Service:
Please give permission for AMCAS to share information with Harvard Premed Advisors by checking YES. (These reports will go to Lee Ann and Oona at OCS, NOT your House Tutors) The reports we develop on applications and acceptance to medical school are based on the data we receive from AMCAS. The information will only be used for aggregate statistics and all identifying information is kept strictly confidential.
If you encounter problems with your application, we cannot discuss your situation with AMCAS staff unless you check this box.
Advisor Release
select “Yes”
Schools Attended
Can indicate secondary field under minor
Institutional Action
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
The AMCAS Application
Biographic Information
Contact info
Citizenship
Legal residence
Race & Ethnicity
Languages
Family info – dependents/parents/siblings
Felony/misdemeanor/military discharge
Biographical Information
Visa: you may not designate Permanent Resident Visa status unless you currently have a Green Card.
Legal Residence: applicants who qualify for residency in more than one state may declare only one of those states as their legal residence on the application..
Languages: enter information regarding the languages you speak fluently. Can list only one language as primary language.
The AMCAS Application
Changes to the Disadvantaged Section
The questions that have been buried beneath the disadvantaged question will be brought to the top level and presented to all applicants.
We will continue to allow applicants to self-identify as disadvantaged and write a brief essay.
Childhood Information
Underserved: do you believe, based on your experience or that of family and friends, that the area in which grew up was adequately served by health-care professionals? Were there enough physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health-care providers?
State and federal assistance programs: these are defined as "means-tested programs” (such as AFDC, unemployment compensation, GA, food stamps, SSI, Medicaid). Family income, assets must be below certain thresholds
The AMCAS Applications
Changes to Parental Information
Applicants will be required to provide information about their parents or guardians
Expanded occupational & educational categories
Felonies and Misdemeanors
Felonies and Misdemeanors
Applicants need not disclose any instance where applicant:
was arrested but not charged;
was arrested and charged, but the charges were dropped;
was arrested and charged, but found not guilty by a judge or jury;
was arrested and found guilty by a judge or jury, but the conviction was overturned on appeal; or
received an executive pardon
Felonies and Misdemeanors
For any post submission convictions, applicants MUST notify their medical schools within 10 days of the offense.
Warning: In Virginia and Ohio, speeding conviction = misdemeanor! Must be reported on AMCAS.
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Coursework
Coursework
Coursework to be listed:
Any course ever attempted at any U.S. or Canadian post-secondary school, even if no credit was earned.
Includes all college-level courses taken while in high school.
Coursework
Coursework to be listed (cont’d):
Courses from which you withdrew.
Courses for which you received a grade of "Incomplete" and for which no final grade has been assigned.
Courses that have been repeated.
Courses that you failed, regardless of whether they have been repeated.
Coursework
Coursework
Year and Term
For courses taken at Harvard, use the semester system calendar designation.
List a full-year course as “Full Year”. Do not divide full-year classes by term.
For summer courses, assign the upcoming status. (e.g. courses between FR & SO year, will be listed as SO status).
Coursework
Year and Term (cont’d)
Do not assign more than one status to a term.
Assign High School (HS) status to college-level courses taken while you were in high school, regardless of the physical location of the college-level course.
Coursework
Course Classification
Course Classification
The Science GPA for AMCAS is comprised of courses that are considered Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics only.
If you have a question, such as coding a psychology course as biology, ask yourself if the primary content of the course was biology. If yes, you can code the course as biology. This classification is not based on the department offering the course. Use your best judgment.
Course Classification
To learn more about the BCPM GPA, click on the HELP button at the top of the AMCAS application webpage. Open the "Course work Classification" section under "Course Work." Scroll down to find a list of courses. Any course classification followed by "BCPM" will be included in the BCPM GPA
Course Classification
If AMCAS changes a classification, and the applicant disagrees with the change, the applicant can appeal the change via the application's Academic Change request option (available within the AMCAS application).
AMCAS generally will not return applications if they disagree with your coding but if they do contact you, please let Lee Ann or Oona know.
Specific Course Information
Specific Course Information
Because Harvard does not indicate credit hour equivalents on the front of the transcript, AMCAS prefers that Harvard applicants leave Credit Hours blank. When AMCAS verifies the application, each half course will be coded as 4 credit hours and each full year course will be coded as 8 credit hours.
If you choose to list credit hours, be aware that the 4 and 8 will be taken out in Verification processing and an "X" will be placed in the Verification Mark Column. The “X” only represents a change made in Verification to reflect the view of the official transcript.
Specific Course Information
A half-year course (one semester) is equal to four credits; a full-year course (two semesters) is generally equal to eight credits.*
Chem 10/15 is equivalent to only 4 credits. (It will, however, fulfill the medical school requirement of one full year of general chemistry.) You can write “Accel” to indicate it was an accelerated course.
* Note: Half courses extending throughout the two terms of the academic year are equal to four credit hours.
Specific Course Information
Lab hours are not counted separately. They are included in course credit hours. You can click on “combined lecture/lab course” for the question “did this class include a lab section?”
Audit: if officially registered, but no credit, then no credit hours or AMCAS grade should be assigned.
Pass/Fail: courses are listed on Academic Record, but excluded when computing AMCAS GPA. Harvard’s SAT/UNSAT courses should be listed as such.
Honors: Harvard does not have “honors level” courses.
Advanced Standing Only
Only if granted and accepted Advanced Standing:
AP scores are considered freshmen courses for the year you began Harvard. So, for your first year at Harvard, you should list your four AP courses as freshmen courses and your Harvard courses as sophomore courses.
The total credit hours for the AP courses should be equal to 32 (e.g. 4 AP courses at 8 credit hours each.)
Advanced Placement Scores
Official Rules : To claim AP credit, the credit hours must be listed on your transcript.
Harvard does not put AP courses on transcript unless you accept Advanced Standing. So, if you list an AP on the Academic Record, and it is not on the transcript, AMCAS cannot verify the AP score. The Harvard College Registrar will NOT verify these AP scores for AMCAS.
Advanced Placement Scores
Do NOT include AP credit unless:
You accepted Advanced Standing OR
You did not take Math at Harvard and need to show AP Calculus/Statistics credit. Be aware however, AMCAS will code the AP course with a “0” symbol, to indicate it does not appear on the transcript. This will not cause the application to be delayed or returned.
Advanced Placement Scores
If a medical school wants verification of the AP score (some California schools do), then you must request the official AP score to be sent directly from ETS to the medical schools and not to AMCAS.
Most secondary applications will allow you to indicate AP scores being used to meet math requirements.
Study Abroad: Scenario #1
Courses taken at an overseas campus of a U.S. or Canadian college or at an American college overseas:
List the U.S. or Canadian College sponsoring the study abroad program, and on whose official transcript the coursework will appear.
Applicant should have sponsoring school send an official transcript to AMCAS.
Courses MUST be listed under the school.
Study Abroad: Scenario #2
Courses taken independently (not sponsored by U.S. or Canadian school) at a foreign school; credit tranferred to a U.S. or Canadian college
List under "schools attended” section
the US/Canadian school that the credit will be transferred to
the foreign school
Indicate that AMCAS does not require a transcript for foreign school; select exception reason: “foreign college-independent attendance – credits tranferred to a US. or Canadian institution”
Enter all required data under the name of the foreign school, but as it appears on the transcript on which the transferred credit appear.
Study Abroad: Scenario #3
Courses taken independently at a foreign school (not sponsored by a U.S. or Canadian college), credit not transferred.
List the foreign school under "schools attended” section
Indicate that AMCAS does not require a transcript; select exception reason: “foreign college - independent attendance – no credits transferred to a US. or Canadian institution”
Courses may be listed under the foreign institution.
CEGEP/Grade 13 Coursework
Courses attempted at a Canadian College d'Enseignement General et Professionel (CEGEP) or through a Canadian Grade 13 Program must be listed if the credit has been transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution using a credit hour system convertible to semester hours.
If CEGEP/Grade 13 course credits have NOT been transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution, courses are not required to be listed. If you include this course work it will NOT be verified by AMCAS and will NOT be included in your AMCAS GPAs or cumulative credit hour totals.
Coursework Summary
This warning message does not apply
for Harvard coursework
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Work/Activities
Work/Activities
A maximum of 15 experiences may be entered. Enter only significant experiences. You do not need to enter 15!
Supervisor contact information must be provided. If activity was organized by a student group, list advisor or another administrator who can verify your experience.
You will select up to three experiences as most meaningful to you. Space is provided to explain why you selected these experiences.
The AMCAS Application
Work & Activities
Enter any work or extracurricular activities, awards, honors or publications you would like to bring to the attention of medical schools
A maximum of 15 experiences may be entered
New
Contact email or phone is required
Work/Activities
Experience Type: from the drop-down menu, select experience Type that best describes each experience. You can only select one Type per experience and each experience should only be listed once. It is up to the applicant to decide which experience Type best suits each particular experience.
Dates: Some experience Types (presentations, poster sessions, publications) require only one date. For current experiences, check “until present”.
Work/Activities
Repeated Activities: (from year to year) List a repeated activity just once and use the space beneath the activity to show multiple dates, roles you served, or multiple awards you received in that activity.
Multiple Roles: If you held multiple positions in one organization, list this as one experience only, and describe your various roles within the description section.
Description: Limited to 1325 characters (including spaces) or 1/4 page. Use to provide information or to describe responsibilities. Resume or narrative format.
The AMCAS Application
Work & Activities
Applicants will be asked to indentify up to three experiences they consider to be the most meaningful
When considering which experiences are the most meaningful applicants will be prompted to consider the transformative nature of the experience, the impact made while engaging in the activity and the personal growth experienced as a result of participation
Work/Activities
Advice from the Assistant Dean of Admissions, Weill Cornell Medical College:
Think carefully about which kind of experiences were really meaningful to you -- don't try to fill up space.
Don't repeat information in the “description” section already noted in “experience type”, “title” “organization”, etc. sections.
If the organization in which you participated is not well known, give a brief description followed by the role you played there, especially if it involved any type of responsibility.
Work/Activities
If you received a scholarship, fellowship or other honor that is not nationally known, describe it briefly. Don't waste space on scholarships that are awarded to half the population at the school.
If you list a publication, make sure it's been accepted for publication and cite it properly. If the paper is just being "prepared for submission" or "submitted," include this fact as part of the research description in the section where you listed the research activity.
Work/Activities
If listing a research experience that extends through the academic year as well as summer, use the description area to note time invested, e.g., full time during the summer, 10 hrs/week in the fall/spring).
If you were just a member of an organization, note how many meetings/week you attended; why you joined.
Remember that each experience you list is "up for grabs" if you are invited to interview. You may be asked about anything in your application.
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Letters of Evaluation
AMCAS will receive your rec letters directly from your House via VirtualEvals.
There are three steps for applicants:
Under Letters of Evaluation, you’ll need to “add” a committee letter to let AMCAS know about the letters they are going to receive from your House Office.
Send Letter Request Form ID to your House Office.
Complete the Medical Schools section and assign the letters to each participating school.
Letters of Evaluation
select
Letters of Evaluation
Select “committee letter”. All of the letters that come from Harvard are considered a single committee letter so you’ll just need to enter one.
For letter title, any name will do (e.g. “Harvard Committee Letter”)
For primary contact, use your Resident Dean’s name (or simply “Resident Dean”).
Now you’ll be able to access the AMCAS Letter Request Form. Email Letter ID # to your Resident Dean’s Office.
Letters of Evaluation
Letters of Evaluation
Email this to your
Resident Dean’s Office
Letters of Evaluation
schools receiving letter listed here
Letters of Evaluation
Letters of Evaluation
Note: A few medical schools do not participate in the AMCAS Letter Program, so you won’t be able to add a Letter of Evaluation within AMCAS
Don’t worry! These schools will still receive your letters from Harvard as long as you have provided your House with your list of medical schools.
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Medical Schools
Research individual medical schools before designating them in the application. Schools cannot be removed after submission
Designate only program types for which you are eligible and for which the deadline has not passed.
If you wish to apply to both an MD and MD/PhD program at the same medical school, you must check directly with that medical school regarding the application procedure.
Medical Schools
type of program (e.g. MD vs. MD/PhD)
Medical Schools
indicates school in letters program
Medical Schools
Medical Schools
Medical Schools
AMCAS does not evaluate residency eligibility or citizenship status. It is the applicant’s responsibility to determine eligibility before designating a school.
You must indicate if you have ever previously applied to this medical school. Failure to acknowledge previous application activity will result in an investigation.
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Essays
Please refer to the OCS webpage on creating your personal statement:
Remember: PROOFREAD! No changes can be made after your application is submitted to AMCAS
Essays
You cannot run a spell check in the AMCAS application.
Applicants who plan to cut and paste their essays into the application should draft their essays in a text-only format, preferably in text-only word processing software, such as Microsoft Notepad. Copying formatted text into the application may result in formatting issues that cannot be edited once your application is submitted.
Essays
Writing Style
Follow normal writing practices regarding case - avoid use of all CAPS or all lower case.
After copying into application, check for extra spaces, periods, capitals, etc. in the on-screen box
Upon printing the application, do not worry if there are line breaks or paragraph shifts. Medical schools will receive the essay as you have entered it in the text box - not as you see on the print out.
Errors/typos/missing information can’t be corrected after submission
Early is good; error-free is better
Use print option to check your data
The AMCAS Application
Submission Certification:
Revised
Statement is now bulleted and requires acceptance to each statement rather than one paragraph. Easier for applicant to read certification statement and highlights importance of statement
New
Applicants must certify that all written passages have been written by them.
Submission & Processing
Ideally, submit application and transcripts by June 30th. You should wait for your spring grades before submitting.
Can take up to 6 weeks for AMCAS to review and return to applicant.
If waiting to take MCAT later in the summer, you should still submit AMCAS Application by the end of June. You should then indicate under Standardized Tests that you plan to take a future MCAT
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Criminal Background Checks
After January 1, accepted/waitlisted applicants to a school that participates in the AAMC CBC service will receive an email from Certiphi Screening asking to provide consent to conduct a Criminal Background Check
Results will be made available for review prior to their release to medical schools to which have accepted the applicants.
Applicants have 10 days to review the report and contest the accuracy of the results
Criminal Background Checks
Conducted on first acceptance (or, in some instances, Alternate List)
Disclosure/Consent must be certified by all applicants
Searches:
Social Security Number, County Criminal Records, Statewide Criminal Records, Federal Criminal Records, National Criminal Database, National Sexual Offender Database, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities, Dishonorable Discharge from the Armed Forces, International Screening
Criminal Background Checks
The report procured during this process will not be released to any party other than the medical schools requesting this report.
On the report, history including infractions and juvenile records will be displayed to the applicant but medical schools vary on the content they can and will view.
Overview
About AMCAS
The AMCAS Application
Schools Attended and Transcripts
Biographic Information
Courses
Work/Activities
Letters of Evaluation
Medical Schools
Essays
Criminal Background Checks
Fee Assistance Program
Monitoring your Application Status
The Verification Process
Fee Assistance Program (FAP)
Assists applicants who, without financial assistance would be unable to take the MCAT or apply to medical schools through AMCAS
Submitting an AMCAS application or registering for the MCAT prior to receiving a decision on your FAP application makes you ineligible for FAP
Fee Assistance Program
Benefits
AMCAS fee waiver for up to 14 medical school designations (>$500 savings)
MCAT Fee Reduction from $235 to $85
One free copy of
The Official Guide to the MCAT Exam
The Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR)
Most medical schools waive supplemental application fees for applicants who have been granted fee assistance by the AAMC
Fee Assistance Program
Eligibility Criteria
Must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or have refugee/asylum status
Total family income 300% or less of the federal poverty guideline
Example:
Poverty level for a family of 4: $22,050
FAP threshold: $66,150
FAP does not distinguish between dependent & independent applicant status
Verified AMCAS GPA broken down by science & non-science courses and by academic status
Note that medical schools do not just see your GPA. They receive all of the detailed information that you entered in the coursework section of your application.
AMCAS Verification
AMCAS Verification
GPA
Only the GPA calculated and verified by AMCAS will be considered official by the medical schools. You will be able to view the AMCAS Verified GPA when your application status is “Processed by AMCAS.”
A
4.0
A-
3.7
B+
3.3
B
3.0
B-
2.7
C+
2.3
C
2.0
C-
1.7
D+
1.3
D
1.0
D-
0.7
F
0.0
AMCAS GRADE CONVERSION for HARVARD COURSES
Verification
/ Any course verified without correction.
X Any course verified with correction.
0 Any course listed on the Academic Record but not reflected on an official transcript; formal corrections were not required.
Any course listed on the Academic Record but not reflected on an official transcript; formal corrections have been made.
≠ A type of coursework not meant to be verified.
Verification
Begins when AMCAS receives all materials.
After verification against transcripts, AMCAS will inform applicants by email. Applicants should review this information for any errors, and if found, will need to contact AMCAS by using the Change Notification Process option. But first, please let Lee Ann or Oona know so that we can follow up if needed.
Changes After Submission
AMCAS states that only the following changes are allowed after submission:
Required and Alternate IDs
Name and Contact Information
Sex
Indication of MCAT dates
Additional medical schools
Date of birth
Letters of evaluation can be added but not deleted
Changes After Submission
If you change any information (ID’s, name, contact information), you must re-certify AND re-submit your application or the medical schools will not get the update.
Updated information (grades, activities, awards) after submission to AMCAS, must be sent directly to individual medical schools. AMCAS will not make changes to course work that become available after your application has been processed.
Changes After Submission
Other Changes: To address changes to Course Work made by AMCAS during the Verification process, you must submit a change request to AMCAS using the Academic Change Request option, available only after your application has completed the Verification process. Allow at least fifteen working days for AMCAS to review and/or process any change request.
Withdrawing Application
Must enter password.
Cannot “un-withdraw” at anytime or re-apply for the current year, once withdrawn.
Cannot withdraw after application has been verified.
Resources & Information
AMCAS Help Line: 202 828 0600
Office hours 9 am -7 pm ET M-F; 24 hour automated phone line
Applicant Website: www.aamc.org/amcas, especially 2012 AMCAS Instruction Manual
Email: amcas@aamc.org
www.facebook.com/amcasinfo
This presentation will be on the OCS premed website.
