AMCAS post-submission process

[Kirsteen]

Hi chieka,

To respond to your note on the other thread, I didn't really have anything specific in mind that could possibly hold up the transfer process. I suppose I'm just trying to get a feel for a process that I really know very little about! :) It seems that there would be a heck of a lot of verifying to do on AMCAS' side and I imagined a significant lag.

On the upside however, it's nice to be involved in a meds admissions cycle that starts and seems to finish a little earlier in the meds admissions "year".

Cheers for you insights,
Kirsteen

[moo]

haha, kirsteen, just because the process starts early doesn't mean it ends early. I was accepted to a US school last year in January but I didn't get accepted to my current school until two weeks before the start of orientation (off the waitlist in middle of august). If you have that dream school in mind, sometimes the process can be gruelling, much more so than the canadian app year.

oh and a big congrats to my hometown of Vancouver for winning the 2010 olympic bid! you deserve it!:smokin

[Kirsteen]

Hi there moo,

Good point! The early beginning and ending are ideals! :D

Congrats to "your" Vancouver too!

Kirsteen

[Chieka]

Kirsteen, the application process is pretty smooth after you submit your AMCAS app. Actually, that may be a bit of a lie. Some schools (Howard) are notoriously unorganized, sending interview invites with secondaries, or sending three secondaries to on applicant. AMCAS can get a little confused at times too. It's kind of amusing. ;)

Anyhow, applying early to American schools is good in that you'll probably get an acceptance right before the Ontario interview invites come out. It's a little reassuring, to say the least. :D

Hey, moo, yay re: Vancouver! 2010 seems so far away... that's when this year's entering PhD/MDers will graduate.
C.

[Kirsteen]

Hi there Chieka,

Thanks for your insights. Some reassurance this year would be lovely! :D

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[premed81]

Hey Kirsteen,
I don't know if I've asked you this before, but what were some of the American schools you applied to?
Thanks

[Kirsteen]

Hi there,

I've applied to a swath. A cross section of the ones that I can recall at 7am on a Sunday morning: ~9 MD/PhD programs including Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, UNC Chapel Hill, U. Penn; ~20 MD programs including the remaining Ivys, all of the New York city universities that welcome Canadian applications, U. Connecticut, UCLA, Keck, Baylor... My top picks are those schools which are strongest in both, MD and epidemiology (particularly pharmacoepi) programs, followed by those schools situated within the two places I'd rank highest as sites to live and learn medicine in the US: New York City and California.

Will you be applying to some US schools this year? (I can't read the previous threads at the moment to see if you've mentioned this before.) If so, which ones have you added to your wish list?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[cause2003]

Does anyone know how long it takes for AMCAS to actually look at your transcripts? I checked online and it said my transcripts have not been received. However they should have arrived by courier a week ago.
-later

[Kirsteen]

Hi there cause 2003,

I had one set of transcripts couriered to AMCAS and it took them ~8 days to acknowledge their "received" status on their website.

By the way, I don't know if you guys noticed, but there's a new statement on the AMCAS site which states that they will begin transmitting applicant data to the medical school during the week of July 14th.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[cause2003]

Now that my transcripts have been received, how long does it take for them to verify it?

Cause

[gnb]

Hi,

It took AMCAS about 2 weeks to verify my transcripts after receiving them. I'm not sure what happens next...maybe secondaries?

Gabrielle

[Chieka]

Yes, secondaries. They'll come in time. You may even be swamped by them. :)

C.

[cause2003]

Thanks guys

[thesaug]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about this. I sent my transcripts on July 2nd (thats when they got mailed) by regular mail. They had yet to show up as recieved on AMCAS. Yesterday I recieved a secondary application from one of the universities I applied too. Should I send another set, or should I wait a few more days???

Thanks.

[cause2003]

I sent mine by courier on the 30th of june and they added it online on the 11th of July. So it took 8 working days (minus the july 4th holiday) to get there. Acutally I went to 2 schools and the first transcript from Kingston came 2 days earlier.

Later.

[Kirsteen]

Hi there thesaug,

I wouldn't worry too much about sending your transcripts again. If AMCAS don't receive it, they'll keep letting you know, but if you're a bit worried you can always e-mail them for confirmation.

As to the secondary--CONGRATS! May I ask, from which school did you receive it?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Thanks for the info Kirsteen. I got the secondary from Washington University in St. Louis. Have you had any yet sent to you?

[Kirsteen]

Hi thesaug,

Nope, no secondaries sent as yet, although I do have a number to complete online, that are required of all primary applicants--tch! (Is that anything more than a blatant money grab? :) )

Well done on the Washington secondary. I didn't apply there, but I hear it's a great school. Hopefully many more secondaries to come, for the both of us! ;)

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone know if the verification process really does take 4-6 weeks??? That seems very long...

[Kirsteen]

Hi there thesaug,

It does seem like a lengthy period of time, but at least it gives us some time to work on the other supplementaries that are due in the interim. On that note, did you happen to receive one from Baylor today? Yags, they're piling up! :)

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hey Kirsteen,

Nope, I didnt apply to Baylor. I just actually designated a few more schools, so supposedly, I should be getting John Hopkins secondary in the next little while. You selected that school right?

[Kirsteen]

Hi thesaug,

Yep, Hopkins was on there but truly, I'd have to find a cool (read "safe") area of Baltimore in which to live before I'd be comfy making the move for four years. :rolleyes Have you been to Baltimore? A guy sitting in his car a couple of blocks from my residence building was shot twice and killed while I was visiting Baltimore this summer for a week. I was also told not to step outside after dark, and charmingly, was stared at for fifteen minutes on the school shuttle bus by some dude and subsequently followed home as I legged it back to residence. In total, 'twas a tad creepy.

Hopkins is also one of the schools that filters the AMCAS applications before sending out secondaries. So if we receive secondaries from Hopkins, we're onto a good thing in that regard. :)

Cheers,
Kirsteen:rolleyes

[moo]

Just gotta say that most of the top notch American schools are in bad areas. Hopkins is inthe ghetto, Yale is in a bad area, Wash U is in wonderful (read sarcastic) St. Louis... I think it's a tradition.

[premed81]

Hey all,
It's been great reading this thread. I am just about to submit my AMCAS application. I'm just refining it a little and I had to cut down my list of schools because the cost was just too much. However, you guys are kinda scaring me about the idea that some of these medical schools are in bad social areas. I mean, there can't be that much crime and corruption, is there? Or am I just being naive since I've lived in Canada since I was 6 (I'm 22 now). I mean, the safety issue is really factoring in for me. How do the rest of you feel about it? I don't really have any of those top-notch schools on my list, but if anyone can tell me anything about Syracuse, Conneticut, Detroit, and North Carolina, I'd really appreciate it. (Actually, Detroit I kinda have an inkling that there may be safety issues :\ ). Thanks

[Kirsteen]

Hi there premed81,

I don't know too much about the areas that you've mentioned, never having visited any of them, so I can't comment. Everyone's threshold for feeling safe will differ, however. Although I was a little jilted by my first impression of Baltimore, if I received an interview at Hopkins, I'd take some extra time to give Baltimore another chance and seek some areas in which I would feel more comfy if I was seriously considering/had a chance of attending their medical school.

One of the best things you can do when considering attending any school is to spend a bit of time within that area to suss it out for yourself and to talk with the locals, to help gauge whether you would be comfortable living there for four years. You could use part of your visit for the interviews, at least, for this.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

I heard from a friend that if you put Hopkins on your primary, you should just fill out their secondary (available on their website) because they ask everyone to anyways. I dont know...do you have any more info on this???...

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

[moo]

Well Detroit is considered the cesspool of America. I wouldn't really wanna live there. U of Chicago is in the south side of Chicago and that's the ghetto basically. Northwestern, where I go to school, by contrast is probably in the best area of Chicago, right downtown. Umm there are some other schools in good areas... Harvard is in a great area (btw, I know someone (Canadian) who turned down Harvard for Hopkins, so area is not all that important... to her anyway). Ohio State is not bad... UCSF is in a good area... Syracuse and UNC-Chapel Hill are both in college towns so safety shouldn't be an issue. What else? I didn't like the area Columbia was in, but then again I don't really like huge cities like NY. NYMC was in the burbs but it's safe and they've got a nice campus. Med Col of Wisconsin is in a good area: Milwaukee is a pretty boring town but safety shouldn't be an issue. That's all I can think of now... lemme know if you have any more questions.

[Kirsteen]

Hi thesaug,

Yep, you're absolutely correct about Hopkins--it's an omni-secondary, i.e., secondaries required from all applicants who submitted a primary application. There are a few other schools that take this approach too including: Albert Einstein and Yale are two from the top of my head.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

Have you started filling out the Hopkins secondary form? There is a section there that is asking for the science and non science GPA...but AMCAS hasn't filled that in for me yet on my AMCAS application. I am not sure then if I should wait until AMCAS puts that in, or if I should use my own calculation. What are you planning to do???

thanks for your help!

[Kirsteen]

Hi there thesaug,

I haven't started the JH secondary, but I did make up my own spreadsheet to calculate science and non-science GPAs for Cornell. I think I'll being using those and not bother waiting for AMCAS.

How are your secondaries going? Received any new ones recently? No new ones on this end--with these others in process, I'm viewing that as a good, rather than bad, thing! ;)

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

Thanks for the help. Nope, no new secondaries, which is for sure a good thing...cuz there is so much work for the other ones.

So did you use your schools conversion system to get the GPA, or OMSAS???

[Kirsteen]

Hi there thesaug,

First, I used my schools' GPA scale. I figure that it's best to keep with their scale and let the US universities convert the marks as they see fit. Throwing OMSAS into the mix just complicates it all.

Second, I spoke to soon: the Dartmouth secondary arrived by mail today. :rolleyes Yags!

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[premed81]

Hi all American schools applicants,
I just sent in my AMCAS application this morning. It took me some time to write up my personal essay and select the schools and take the costs of the application into consideration. I too will now wait for my secondaries. Just a question, although I should have read more messages first, do they send the secondaries by mail? Or do you get some email which will link you to the secondary forms? Good luck to all and thanks for any help.

[thesaug]

both ways.

[Kirsteen]

Hi premed81,

Also, it's possible that, for some schools, they already have their secondaries up on their website ready to be completed, sans notification from them. It may help you to go and visit the websites of each school to which you're applying and find out their specific process. It's listed on every school's website.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hey everyone applying this year...

I just found out that my application was verified, so that means everything is moving along. Sure enough, AMCAS made changes to the grades section, and the GPA came out to be exactly the same as my OMSAS GPA. So as everyone said before, dont worry about that section.

Also, when I checked in my profile, the application had already been transmitted to every school, so I dont know what that means, but its good I guess. I am guessing that is what's done for everyone...they transmit the application before fully verifying it and then send any additional changes to the respective schools.

Take care and good luck to all of you!

[Kirsteen]

Yay thesaug :) ,

Great to hear that AMCAS are chugging along. As to the submission of the grades, I'd heard somewhere that prior to verification, AMCAS transmit the basic info, i.e., everything except marks.

Sound it out when you start receiving your screened secondaries and interview invitations.

By the way, how are you managing all those letters of references? Are you having your writers print off 30 separate letters or are you taking any other approach?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

For sure I will. For the references, what I did was I asked my referees to send me either copies of their letters or just one which I will photocopy. One of my referees was nice enough to give me 20 letters in envelopes from the UofT (my lab prof)...

I figured that this way, I can manage everything. Given the number of schools that I have applied, it will be hard to continuously contact all the referees and ask them to send everything out, and then to make sure they send it out on time. But thats me...i get nervous about those things... ;)

Take care!

[Kirsteen]

Hi thesaug,

I uncovered a neat resource the other day that your might want to look into:

www.interfolio.com

I was seriously having bad dreams about how I was going to manage the letters of reference without chronically bothering/interrupting my writers. It sounds like most US schools that have premed advisors also offer the facilities akin to interfolio.com to manage the letters of reference: all the letters (confidential) go to the advisor and they send them out in packages, as requested.

On another front, I'm still awaiting my AMCAS green light. Oddly enough though, a couple of times I've entered the website and the page has been reverted to "on hold". It's back to "active" again, though. Did you happen to notice that during your wait?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

So will you be using this service??? It sounds like a good idea...I am not sure yet though...

Yeah I had the same issue about being put from hold to active. No worries, your application should be processed soon enough.

Keep me updated!

thesaug

[Kirsteen]

Hi thesaug,

Yep, I'll definitely be going the interfolio.com route. I'm relieved to have found it. I've heard from a few previous US applicants that the US medical schools do not mind at all if you use this type of service and that interfolio.com has been used by medical school applicants without incident.

By the way, I just checked my AMCAS status and I'm now in "verification" mode. They mention that this process may take up to 15 days to complete. Did your application move through this stage too? How long was it until you emerged from the other "verification" end?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[cause2003]

My last transcript was received on the 11th of July and I was verified this Monday the 28th. The funny thing is that I had 3 secondaries sent in plus the references before the 28th, how's that for organized.

As for my references I emailed the schools I applied to a while ago and asked if they would accept them before they received my primary. The only one that objected was Northwestern, however, they said if I "had to send them early" I could. I only applied to 10 schools and I thought it would be easier for my refs to cut and paste address and send them all at once.

Good luck with the verification
- Later

[Kirsteen]

Holy cow,

My application just became processed today too. That was pretty darned quick from verification.

Good luck all, :)
Kirsteen

[dddd]

I had a few questions for those in the know. I'm in the process of filling out the application, but I've already sent in transcripts.

1) Can I verify receipt of transcripts somewhere online before my application is done?

2)It says you can access your MCAT score from within the application (ie not through the Thx system)...anyone know how/where? I know I can look on the Thx system, but I'm just a little concerned that if I don't see my MCAT somewhere in the application, neither will the schools....

3)One of my Colleges attended was BCIT, which is pretty much a technical college, and Canadian Med shcools don't look at it.....but the US system wants everything plugged into their application, so I've put these grades in also...just wondering if anyone else had similar experiences, and what did the AMCAS do with the grades after all was said and done? Did they include them in GPA calculations, or do they erase that section?

Thanks.

[moo]

YOur MCAT scores should be on the View Completed Application tab (or something like that). As for your BCIT courses, I would definitely put them in. It's much better to be complete than incomplete. AMCAS will likely use them to calculate your GPA and if you got A's in them it will do nothing but boost up your GPA. However, med schools will probably take note that it is a community college and take those grades with a grain of salt.

[Kirsteen]

Hi there dddd,

I can't remember clearly if the transcript status screen exists prior to submission of a completed AMCAS application. I think it may. If so, then yes, you will be able to see your transcript status as you complete your application. However, it takes ~ 2 weeks for acknowledgment of receipt of transcripts, so don't wait to see your transcripts arrive before submitting the application! :D

No matter, get the transcripts ordered and in now. It takes quite a while to have them processed and verified by AMCAS, i.e., ~4-6 weeks for verification to the point where your application is now "processed" and ready to be viewed by the US schools. :eek

By the way, AMCAS made extensive changes on my final application to the way I had originally entered my transcripts. So these guys do seem to be willing to do a fair bit of work before they reject your application as "incomplete". :b

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hi Kirsteen,

I was wondering whether on your printed application, the dates of transmission are entered there. On mine, they are not. The only places I see transmission are on the first page when you enter the AMCAS system.

On another note, any more secondaries??? Since I got UCinn and NYMC on Monday, nothing else.

Take care!

thesaug

[dddd]

Thanks. Mine doesn't have a transcript view type option or anything for the MCAT.....maybe because I've just been filling out the app, but haven't paid I suppose...although I thought it was normal to not pay till the end.

[Kirsteen]

Hey thesaug,

Nope, no dates of transmission on my printed version.

As to secondaries, nothing new as yet. I've completed all those that were ready to go though, and am now just polishing up my MD/PhD essay to get those ones out too. 8 down, 21 to go. :lol It feels like it's getting easier though, now that I've managed to accumulate a library of essays. I hope you're feeling the same! :D

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[thesaug]

Hey Kirsteen,

Yeah I find that the applications are going now without a hitch. I have 5 down, 2 will be done by Saturday. Then just wait for more to come, or hopefully interview offers :D

Good luck with the MD/PhD essays!

thesaug

[mt1]

Hi guys...sorry if this has been addressed long time ago, but after submission to AMCAS, do i just sit back and wait for secondaries to come? how about those online secondaries? can i start those first?

[Kirsteen]

Hi there mt1,

There seem to be three different types of US medical school secondary application approaches:

1) The school screens the primary AMCAS application, and only thereafter do they send out instructions (by mail or e-mail) for completing the secondary to the select candidates. An example of a school that uses this approach is Stanford.

2) The school does not screen the primary AMCAS application, but it is only after receipt of the AMCAS application that they send (by e-mail or mail) instructions on how to access and complete the secondary. Often, if the secondary is available online, it is tucked away in a place that is inaccessible by the rest of the planet. Harvard takes this approach.

3) The school puts the secondary out on the web for all to see. These are the secondaries that you can access at any time and begin completion. Johns Hopkins does this.

It's up to you to find out which of the above approaches each of your school has taken in managing their secondaries. If it is number three then by all means, let the secondary completion begin! :)

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[mt1]

thanks kirsteen! is anyone applying to Dartmouth? there is a link to their secondary application, so i assume we can start on that ahead of time. however, they equate one year of chemistry/biology/physics/organic chem as 8 semester hours, not 6. what's the deal?

[Kirsteen]

Hi again mt1,

I applied to Dartmouth and filled out the secondary a wee while back; you can absolutely complete and submit that one before verification of your AMCAS application. As far as I know the 8 credit system belongs to AMCAS and as long as your transcripts are verified by AMCAS you should have no problems with the 6 or 8 credit systems.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[Mala2003]

I applied to Dartmouth as well - but I can't seem to find the link to their secondary application. It says on their website that they will "mail" out the secondaries. Does anyone have the link handy?

[Kirsteen]

Hi there Mala2003,

Sorry, but I'm not at home at the moment, else I'd tell you where the link is, if there was one. I'm thinking though, that the Dartmouth application was mailed out to me (it was one of the first secondaries that I completed, and the experiences have started to blend. :b ) Can anyone else verify the application type, in the interim?

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[cause2003]

I think this is it.

www.dartmouth.edu/dms/adm...ants.shtml (http://www.dartmouth.edu/dms/admissions/instrs_to_applicants.shtml)

[mt1]

hi guys...about the dartmouth secondary...there seems to be no character limit for the questions they ask...any suggestions as to what length would be appropriate for the "what are you doing for the 2003-2004 academic year", and "tell us something we don't already know" type questions? thanks!

[mt1]

hi! actually have another question...about reference letters. can referees write their own letters and send them off? or do most schools have a form that they prefer? writing one letter, and addressing to different schools seems more efficient than waiting for secondaries to come. how are you guys handling the reference letter requirements? thanks in advance!

[Kirsteen]

Hi mt1,

For the two Dartmouth questions I ended up submitting a two-page document containing about 350 words per question.

As to the letters of reference, yes, it seems that, unlike Canadian schools, most US schools do not have specific forms to complete to accompany the letters. It seems that the common tack to take is to have the writers construct only one letter and that one letter voyages to all schools. However, if you're only applying to one or two schools, it could also set your letter apart a little if it were customized by your writer to that school.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[mt1]

umm...how long does it take AMCAS to send the email acknowledging the receipt of our application? thanks!

[Kirsteen]

Hi there mt1,

Once you've submitted your AMCAS application, AMCAS will keep you updated on its progress via e-mail. So, for example, if your transcripts have not yet been received, they will send you a weekly e-mail to remind you that they are not yet at the AMCAS office. Once your application has been verified by AMCAS, they will send you an e-mail noting this, too.

Cheers,
Kirsteen

[cause2003]

I got an email from Dartmouth saying my application is completed and ready for review.
Here's my time line so far.

Primary done June 30
Transcripts arrived by courier July 3rd
Told refs to send References (Most schools didn't mind if the references came early)
Transcripts go in-line to be verified July 11 (I think)
Transcripts verified July 21
Dartmouth secondary sent and arrives in Hanover July 31
Aug 5 - file complete and ready for review.

Now I hope I hear soon.

[Mala2003]

Cause2003,
How many reference letters did you send to Dartmouth? They saw 2 but is it better to send more than that? They don't specify WHO the letters should come from. So we can pick non-science professors etc??

[cause2003]

I sent in the minimum 2. I'm sure it's ok to send Refs from any source, but I had 2 profs because I work with them. If you're unsure you can always email Dartmouth, they were quick getting back to me when I had a question.

As for the # of letters, they will probably add extra ones to your file. For myself I worry that if I sent in 3 and they started evaluating my app after 2 arrived, one letter may not be included (and what if it was my best ref?)
Good luck, cause

[Mala2003]

This may have been asked before but I just received an email from Thomas Jeffersons regarding my PIN for their secondary application. However, on the AMCAS website, my application is still "active" - not "complete". They haven't verified my transcript/GPA etc. Is this normal? Does AMCAS usually send out a note to the designated schools before they verify the grades?
Also - once AMCAS verifies my transcript, how do I check my calculated GPA?

[Kirsteen]

Hi there,

Yep, AMCAS does begin transmitting your information prior to verification. Once verified, you may print off your application which will include a breakdown of your yearly GPAs, as well as a cumulative GPA.

Cheers,
Kirsteen