Completing the 2011 AMCAS Application

1. Completing the 2011 AMCAS Application Spring 2010 Lee Ann Michelson & Jeff Glenn Office of Career Services Harvard College

2. Computer Set-up • Browser Requirements and Issues • ForPC users: • Firefox 1.02. 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 • Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 • Netscape 7 • For Mac users: • Firefox 1.0.2, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5 • Internet Explorer 5.1.7, 5.2 • Netscape 7 • You must have JavaScript and cookies enabled prior to starting your application. • OldApps.com is good resource for downloading older versions of browsers.

3. Transcripts & Requirements • Check your SPAM filter: AMCAS and schools use applicant email addresses to notify you of updates, changes, deadlines, errors, and the status of your application. Be sure that your SPAM filters do not delete these multiple addressee emails • Obtain copies of your transcripts • Check the admissions requirements of med schools to be sure you fill the eligibility requirements for each school.

4. AAMC www.aamc.org/students/applying • Find a Medical School Program • Applicant Responsibilities • Minority Medical Applicant Registry

5. Fee Assistance Program (FAP) • Assists applicants who, without financial assistance, would be unable to take the MCAT or apply to medical schools. • FAP eligibility decisions tied to U. S. Dept. Health & Human Services' poverty level guidelines. • Reduces MCAT fee and provides 14 free medical school designations for AMCAS • Applicants apply online and receive immediate decision • Submitting an AMCAS application or registering for the MCAT prior to receiving a decision on your FAP application makes you ineligible for FAP.

6. About AMCAS • A service of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) • Non-profit, centralized application service • Collects applicant information • Collects one set of transcripts • Verifies academic records • Provides standardized grading information to participating schools

7. Application Process • Applying is a two-step process • Primary Application: AMCAS • Secondary Applications: Medical Schools • AMCAS does not screen applications or make admissions decisions • Admissions requirements and decision processes vary from school to school

8. Application Process Secondary Application Primary Application Interview • Upon invitation from the medical school: • Submit letters of recommendation for non LETTERS participants. • Submit additional writing samples. • Send updated transcripts if necessary. • Pay additional application fee if required. • Schedule interview date upon invitation from the medical school. • AMCAS processes the primary application. • Once this processing is complete, AMCAS sends the primary application to the medical schools selected by the applicant. • At this point, the medical school takes over the application. • Complete online application. • Send college transcripts. • Send Letters of Recommendation for Participating Schools. • Pay application fee. MEDICAL SCHOOL AMCAS

9. AMCAS www.aamc.org/students/amcas/amcas2011 • Up-to-date information - check often! • Application Instruction Book • FAQs • Grade Conversion Guide • Application Checklist • System Requirements

10. AMCAS

11. AMCAS Dates • ~May 4: First day AMCAS application open to applicants • ~June 4: First day applicants can submit AMCAS application • End of June: We recommend you submit your AMCAS by this time

12. AMCAS Registration

13. AMCAS Registration • Use real biographical information during registration:

14. Required/Alternate ID • Social Security Number (or Canadian Social Insurance Number) is required • Be sure to include all relevant Alternate IDs; omitting pertinent IDs can delay processing • Recommend including Harvard ID as Alternate ID

15. AMCAS Navigation

16. AMCAS Navigation • Main Menu:No matter where you are in the application, you can go back to the Main Menu. • Use to track which sections of application are complete and to check application status • Help: Click for page-specific instructions

17. AMCAS Instructions • Instructions available: • within application: use HELP button • on www.aamc.org/amcas in PDF format • Applicants must certify prior to submission that they have read all instructions • Errors that occur as the result of unread instructions cannot be remedied after submission

18. Sections of the Application • Letters of Evaluation • Medical Schools • Essay(s) • Standardized Tests • Identifying Information • Schools Attended • Biographic Information • Course Work • Work/Activities

19. Order of Application • Must complete “Biographical information” and “Schools Attended” sections before • entering medical schools and coursework • being able to print transcript request forms • You can postpone completing: Personal Statement, Work/Activities, and entering the course work

20. Biographic Information • Alternate contact: used in case applicant is unreachable by AMCAS or designated medical school during application process; AMCAS personnel will not give confidential info to this individual without applicant's written permission.

21. Schools Attended

22. 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.

23. 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. • Can count secondary field as “minor”.

24. Schools Attended

25. 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 Jeff 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.

26. Advisor Release select “Yes”

27. 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

28. Transcripts

29. 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

30. Transcripts • Official transcripts are due two weeks after application deadline (EDP applicant transcripts due with application) • 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.

31. Transcripts

32. Institutional Action

33. Biographical Information

34. 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. • Ethnicity/Race: may select only one (e.g. ethnicity but no race) or multiple. Recommended to complete. • Languages: enter information regarding the languages you speak fluently. Can list only one language as primary language.

35. Disadvantaged Status more info

36. Disadvantaged Status • Disadvantaged status: use your best judgment; AMCAS does not provide a definition of disadvantaged. A "yes" response will prompt additional questions. A "no" response means you will not see the screen with additional questions and you will exit this section. • If you think you may fit this category, click on "yes"; if after reviewing the material you decide it is not appropriate for you to enter "yes", then you can change your response.

37. Disadvantaged Status

38. Disadvantaged Status

39. Disadvantaged Status • 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

40. Felonies and Misdemeanors

41. 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

42. 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.

43. 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

44. Coursework

45. 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.

46. 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.

47. Coursework

48. 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).

49. 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.

50. Coursework