Application questions are like the heads of a hydra. Cut one off, and two more form in its place. It’s a complicated process, but we’re here to help!
Below, you’ll find the most common questions we’ve been receiving about the AMCAS, but we know how nuanced, intricate, and cryptic this process can be.
WE’D LOVE TO ADD TO THIS FAQ, SO PLEASE LEAVE US YOUR ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
Good luck with your submission! You got this.
Yes. For the 700 characters, you may either use bullet points (similar to a resume) or full-text descriptions. Both are perfectly acceptable, and each has its advantages:
• Bullet points are easier to read, but the formatting can look a bit funky on the application.
• Full text is more traditional, but unless you’re a strong writer, it can be hard to make these descriptions compelling.
Ultimately, it’s your call: choose the one you feel most comfortable using.
If you use bullet points, make sure they are consistent, coherent, and well written.
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But you don’t need to use the transcript request form when sending transcripts. What’s nice about it is that it produces a barcode that helps assign the transcript to your file. You know how when you checkout at a grocery store, the teller rings up items without a barcode? AMCAS will do the same thing.
Yes. Your application is like a symphony: each essay is a different movement, and each movement contains similar elements to the rest of the symphony.
We like to use the analogy of a politician on the campaign trail: you’re giving the same speech over and over, so it feels repetitive to you. But to your audience experiencing you for the first time, repetition makes you more memorable.
Even though there’s a spot for them in the primary application, letters of recommendation aren’t due to schools until all of your application is in. That includes:
• your transcripts
• your MCAT score
• your primary application
• your secondary application
As such, the earliest that letters can be due for AMCAS schools is late June (the first date that verified applications are transmitted to medical schools). But you’re probably not delaying your application one bit by having letters come in by late July.
Use the category that best fits the majority of the experience. But in the description, be sure to spell out the parts of this activity that are a bit different than the way you described it, to make it as clear as possible to the reader what you did.
Or perhaps — especially if the activity was 200+ hours and there were multiple different components to it — you could break the listing into two different entries, one for clinical volunteering and the other for research. Everything else about the activity would be the same — the title, the start dates, the contact. But you should clearly label one “Clinical” and the other “Research.”
No. We’ve worked with hundreds of students, and never once have we had a medical school ask one of our students about the contact information that they listed.
Think about it this way — you’re an application reader with 40 applications to read that day and not enough minutes in the day to even finish reading all of the text in the work/activities section. Are you really going to take the time to call or email someone tangentially related to the applicant?
Just do your best to put something down in that spot, and don’t worry about it.
Yes, but don’t spend too much time describing them. State what you plan to do in about one sentence, and just leave it at that.
You will have a chance to update medical schools throughout the year (through secondary essays, update letters, and interviews) with your new activities.
What You Can’t Change After You Submit:
• your grades
• your essays
• your work/activities
What You Can Change After You Submit:
• your contact information (particularly if you move, to make sure you get mailings from schools)
• your next MCAT testing date
• letters of evaluation (you can add and assign letters after you submit)
• your school list (you can add schools)
• you can send transcripts after you submit
No. Even though you can see your full school list when you print your AMCAS, medical schools cannot. They just see that you have applied to their school.
If you’re accepted, then medical schools will discover more about your application status as you go through the “traffic rules” of committing to your school of choice.
Did you:
• Send transcripts from each of your undergraduate institutions?
• Double-check the spelling of your email address (you’d be surprised how often this happens)?
• Copy and paste the correct version of your essays into the application?
• Review the PDF version of your application for errors?
• Save said PDF of your application for your records?
• If required by your target schools: register for Casper (via Acuity Insights at acuityinsights.app) and/or the AAMC PREview exam? Not all schools require these — check each school’s requirements before registering.
• Once you’re verified, double check that there are no mistakes in verification (make sure the course assignments and grades entered match your transcripts)?
• Once your letters arrive, send your letters from Interfolio to AMCAS?
• Once your letters arrive, assign the letters to the different schools on your list?
• For DO schools only: Send your MCAT score to AACOMAS?
If you answered “yes” to all these questions, you’re ready to submit!
LEAVE US YOUR QUESTION IN THE COMMENTS BELOW, AND WE’LL ADD IT TO THIS FAQ. GOOD LUCK!
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