PRE-MED HANDBOOK

AMCAS

The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is a centralized processing service for applicants to participating US medical schools. All applicants to AMCAS-participating schools must submit their application materials through AMCAS. There is a list of participating schools in the MSAR.  Applications for schools not participating in AMCAS may be obtained by writing directly to the admissions office of the medical school. Addresses may be found in the MSAR. Some applications are available by visiting the school’s Web site.

AMCAS, which is administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), provides detailed admission information to medical schools and undergraduate pre-medical advisors in addition to its primary role of processing applications. The advantage of applying through AMCAS is that initially only one set of application materials and official transcripts need be submitted, regardless of the number of AMCAS schools to which you apply. Official transcripts are required from all colleges and universities attended. The transcripts should be sent approximately two weeks before the AMCAS application is mailed. A transcript matching form, included with the AMCAS packet, is required with the transcript. Upon receipt of the application, AMCAS will perform an item-by-item check comparing all courses in the Academic Record section of the application against the official transcript. Once all courses and grades are verified, the AMCAS application is photocopied and sent to all schools designated on the AMCAS form. If you decide to apply to additional schools before the application deadline, it is necessary to submit only an additional designation form with the appropriate fees, and all AMCAS information will be sent to the designated schools.

A number of AMCAS schools conduct a preliminary evaluation (screening) of the application received from AMCAS. If the GPA and MCAT scores indicate that an applicant will not be competitive for admission to their particular medical school, a rejection letter may be sent at this time. If an applicant is not rejected in the preliminary screening, medical schools require a secondary application, which will be mailed upon receipt of the AMCAS application. Most schools require an additional application fee which must be mailed to the school with the completed secondary application. There is usually a deadline date on the filing of the secondary application, and this deadline date should be carefully observed. Many state schools do not require an additional fee, but the range for those charging a fee is from $10 to as much as $100, with $50 a typical amount for private schools. While it should be obvious that medical school application can be expensive, the greatest expense associated with the application is usually for traveling to the interview and the other associated costs such as meals, hotels, taxis, etc. These costs should be anticipated and budgeted for those who will be applying to several schools, particularly if long distance travel will be involved.

Some comments should be made about Page 2 of the AMCAS application, the section entitled "Personal Comments." Many students do not understand the purpose of this section. This section is your opportunity to bring information to the attention of the committee which would otherwise not be possible to present. This is where your achievements may be called to the attention of the committee, where plans for the future may be discussed, and where explanations may be given for performance which you feel was not up to your capability. Extenuating and mitigating circumstances may be outlined, but the Personal Comments section should not become an apology for a poor academic record. Neither should it become a fantasy in which you play out inflated dreams, but realistic aspirations regarding your career may be spelled out.

Admissions committees will be much more interested in achievements and accomplishments than in plans which may or may not materialize. The talented, articulate student will find a way to list accomplishments in a way that is not boastful and discuss plans that sound reasonable and sincere. A well-prepared Personal Comment section will leave the reader with a sense of having discovered quite a lot about the applicant that was not known before reading this section. Some admissions committees do not consider a student who has nothing to put in the Personal Comments section. It is recommended that the student carefully compose the Personal Comments, set it aside for a week or two, then come back and reread what was written. If it does not then appear to say what was intended, it should be rewritten. The final version should be carefully checked for spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors, and organization, preferably by someone with experience in editing. The Writing Center, (803) 777-2078, is a valuable resource on campus for this purpose and is located in the Humanities Classroom Building.

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