Transcript AMCAS 2007 - Johns Hopkins University

AMCAS 2009
Hints & Suggestions for John
Hopkins Applicants
What We’ll Cover
• About AMCAS
• AMCAS Registration
• AMCAS Navigation
• Tips for certain sections and special cases
• Where to find help
About AMCAS
• A service of the Association of American
Medical Colleges (AAMC)
• Non-profit, centralized application service
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Collects applicant information
Collects one set of transcripts
Verifies academic records
Provides standardized grading information to participating
schools
Before you start…
• Familiarize yourself with the AMCAS support materials.
• Get a copy of your transcript (through the Registrar).
• Read the AMCAS FAQ, which anticipates some of your questions:
http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2008apptips.pdf
• Recognize that there is no “perfect, right answer” to every nuance of
the AMCAS. There are always weird exceptions, or places you have
to make your best guess. If you come across such a situation, try to
figure it out with an advisor/an AMCAS rep as best you can.
• The AMCAS 2009 application will be available on or around May
14, 2008
Understanding the Process
• Applying is a two-step process
1. Primary Application: AMCAS
2. Secondary Applications: Medical Schools
• AMCAS does not screen applications or
make admissions decisions
• Admissions requirements and decision
processes vary from school to school
AMCAS Registration
these may sound obvious, but…
•You’re using AMCAS 2009, not AMCAS 2008.
•Use real information: your legal name, your Social Security number, etc.
Inconsistent or inaccurate information can delay processing of your materials.
•Use a professional email username that will not expire prior to the end of the
application cycle. We recommend against names like “[email protected]”
AMCAS Navigation: Main Menu
You can navigate through the application using the buttons at the top or the links
in the middle. A button at the top is shaded for incomplete sections, solid
green/teal for complete, and red if you are currently working in that section. You
may have to complete some sections before you’re allowed to work on others.
AMCAS Navigation: Main Menu
Clicking on “Details” under “Status” will give you more detail on
where you are in the AMCAS process, and the status of your
transcripts.
AMCAS Navigation: Subsections
Clicking on one of the 8 subsections, you’ll get additional menus. As in the
Main Menu, you can track which sections are complete. Some sections use
this box differently, which you will see in the next slide.
AMCAS Navigation
In the Course Work Section of the application, the box to the right
does not list sub-sections, but is used to keep track of the courses
entered for a particular school, so that you don’t have to go back to
the summary or printed application to see what you have left to enter
for a school.
Subsection 1:
Identifying Information
• Preferred Name: This is where you can enter your nickname,
or if you go by your middle name, you can list that here. It
goes without saying that they mean nickname as in shortened
or alternate version of your name, not as in something you
don’t need med schools to know that your friends call you.
• Alternate Names: If your name has changed, enter your
previous name here. If your name is going to change during
the application process, I’d recommend using one name and
sticking with it for the entire process.
• Alternate IDs: Enter your sage ID (the 8 digit number on your
transcript, it should start with ‘2’) and any other ID numbers
you’ve had at other schools. This helps with transcript
matching.
Subsection 2:
Schools Attended
• List ALL institutions that you’ve attended for college
credit.
• “Premedicine” is not a major, a minor, or a program.
Please don’t list it.
• There is an advisor release option that allows us to
view some basic information about your application.
Please choose “Yes” to authorize release. We use
this data in my statistics for incoming classes, and
when we’re in communication with the schools to
which you’re applying, should the need arise.
The Advisor
Release is here…
Subsection 2:
Schools Attended Transcript Requests
• You must request a transcript from every school that
you attended EXCEPT some foreign institutions.
• To request a transcript, you should submit two
forms to the Registrar’s Office:
– The JHU Transcript Request form
– The AMCAS Transcript Request form, which AMCAS will
generate for you to print as you complete this section of the
application.
• You should have the Registrar’s Office hold your
transcript for your Spring ’08 grades. Fill in the
AMCAS address listed on their transcript request
form.
Study Abroad Specifics
(skip if it doesn’t apply)
• If you directly enrolled into another institution, and
the credits transferred to Johns Hopkins (e.g., Tel
Aviv)…
– Enter the institution as one that you attended
– Request a Transcript Exception, marking “Foreign College Independent attendance - credits transferred to a U.S. or
Canadian institution.” as the reason for the request.
– When filling out the “Course Work” subsection, list the
courses under the Foreign institution, using their course
names, credits, grades, etc. These grades will not be
calculated into your AMCAS GPA.
Study Abroad Specifics
(skip if it doesn’t apply)
• If you participated in a study abroad program
sponsored by another US school (eg IFSA Butler)…
– Enter the foreign institution and the sponsoring US
institution as schools that you attended.
– Request a transcript from the sponsoring US institution.
– Request a Transcript Exception for the foreign institution,
marking “Foreign College - Study abroad program
sponsored by a U.S., U.S. territorial, or Canadian college.”
as the reason for the request.
– When filling out the “Course Work” subsection, list the
courses under the name of foreign institution, but use the
notation (name, credits, grade) that appears on the
sponsoring US institution transcript. If you received letter
grades, these grades will be calculated in your AMCAS
GPA.
Study Abroad Specifics
(skip if it doesn’t apply)
• If you enrolled in an institution through a study
abroad program that was sponsored by a foreign
agency (eg DIS Copenhagen):
– Enter the foreign program that you attended as it appears on
your JHU transcript (eg, Denmark International Study).
– -Request a Transcript Exception for the foreign institution,
marking "Foreign College - Independent attendance - credits
transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution" as the reason for
the request.
– -When filling out the "Course Work" subsection, list the courses,
grades and credits as they appear on your DIS transcript, under
the name of the program as it appears on your JHU transcript, in
the semester that they're listed on your JHU transcript. These
courses will not be verified by AMCAS, and if you received
letter grades, these grades will not be calculated in your AMCAS
GPA.
Subsection 3:
Biographic Information
• Be sure that you keep your preferred address current, as all
correspondence will be sent there.
• You can only choose one state of legal residence. If you’re
deciding between two, it may help to investigate the residency
requirements of both states to ensure that you would indeed
qualify for residency. On secondaries, you can note any
significant ties to states that you can’t list as “resident” states
on AMCAS.
• If you think “Disadvantaged” status if you think it may pertain
to you, click “yes” and then read the prompts that appear.
Medical schools take this status seriously; if you have
questions, contact Dr. Verrier or Ms. Kirby for more
clarification/discussion.
Subsection 4: Course Work
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AMCAS says… “When entering course work, you must include
information and corresponding grades for every course you have ever
enrolled in at any U.S., U.S. Territorial or Canadian post-secondary
institution, regardless of whether credit was earned, and including any
courses removed from your transcripts or GPA as a result of academic
bankruptcy, forgiveness, or similar institutional policies. This includes,
but is not limited to:
– 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.
– Courses in which you are currently enrolled or expect to enroll in
prior to entering medical school.
– Remedial/developmental courses.
– College-level courses you took while in high school even if they
were not counted toward a degree by any college.
– Courses taken at an American college overseas.
– Courses removed from your transcripts or GPA as a result of
academic bankruptcy, forgiveness, or similar institutional policies.”
Adding courses one at a time…
Subsection 4: Course Work
• This section takes a long time. Try to do it from a computer
with a reasonably quick internet connection.
• Keep the Course Classifications help screen open in a window,
to help you decide what courses fall within what classifications.
• For AMCAS, a school year runs from Summer through Spring,
so if you took courses in Summer 2006, for example, they
would be part of the 06-07 academic year.
• AP Courses may be included if they were listed on your JHU
transcript. List the exact titles on your transcript as their titles.
Include them within the semester for which they’re listed on
your transcript. Check the “Advanced Placement” box on the
Course page.
Subsection 4: Course Work
•
Enter coursework in the exact order that appears on your
Hopkins transcript. Use your discretion for the titles – put
yourself in the shoes of an outside evaluator, and make sure that
they can connect the names of classes on the transcript with the
names you enter; keeping the abbreviations is okay, unless you
think something really should be expanded.
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Use your discretion when designating course classifications.
Don’t call Organic Chemistry an English class, but if you took a
Neuroscience course, for example, that you think was very
Biology-based, you can classify it as Biology. AMCAS processing
may or may not change your course classifications based on their
judgment of the courses.
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See “Study Abroad Specifics” above if needed.
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Make your best guess at what courses you’ll take next year.
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Grades received after you submit your AMCAS will need to be
sent to schools directly (as a rule of thumb, sending a quick
update is fine – we’ll get into more details of post-secondary
application communication with med schools when the time
comes – focus on this step for now).
Subsection 5: Work/Activities
• High school activities should only be included if they were
very important/significant and show continuity into college
activities.
• Do not cut and paste pieces of your personal statement into
your activities list. Each entry should be unique, and say
something new about you.
• Use up to 1,325 characters to describe what you did in the
activity, but don’t repeat the information you’ve already
included (e.g., name of PI, name of organization), and don’t be
overly flowery or melodramatic. State what you did, and for
the most meaningful activities, you might expand on what you
gained from the experience, why it was so meaningful, etc.
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Basically, remember that you’re balancing the amount
you want someone to know about you, and the chance
that they’ll lose interest if they read a lot of overly long
entries.
Subsection 5: Work/Activities
• 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 part where you listed the
research activity.
• If listing a research experience that extends through the
academic year as well as summer, use the description area to
indicate the amount of time spent in each time period.
• If you participated in a student group and then moved into a
leadership position, note that in the description.
• If you made Dean's list (or any type of honor like that) for more
than one semester, use the description area to list the other
semesters.
• If you received any scholarship, fellowship or other honor that
is not nationally recognizable, describe it briefly.
Subsection 5: Work/Activities
• Quality is more important than quantity.
• You can creatively combine activities if you want to
include more and are running out of space – work with
your advisor to brainstorm good activities to combine.
• Remember that each experience you list is "up for
grabs" if you are invited to interview -- you might be
asked anything about it, and places where you may
have embellished beyond your actual participation will
become painfully obvious.
• This is the first text-heavy section. Be sure that you’re
proof-reading, and having someone else double-proof,
all of your text. Print out the section when it’s
complete and go over it carefully!
Subsection 6: Medical Schools
• Double-check before you apply that there is some
chance you’ll be accepted; specifically, make sure
that you’ve completed/will complete the prereqs,
and that you meet any residency restrictions.
• You can only apply to one type of program at each
institution (e.g., MD, MD/PhD). If you decide to
change the type after submitting your application,
notify the school directly.
• You can add schools after you’ve submitted your
AMCAS, but you cannot delete schools.
Subsection 7: Essays
• This is where you enter your personal statement. Again,
PLEASE double-quadruple-spell-check and have all of
your friends and loved ones do the same for you.
Subsection 8: Standardized Tests
• This one is pretty self-explanatory, but if we’re wrong,
email us your questions.
Common Pitfalls
• Missed application deadlines
• Delayed processing/missed transcript deadlines
– Late shipping
– Incomplete or inaccurate
– Missing
– Unofficial
• Typos and other errors in essay, experiences, etc.
• Failure to receive and respond to AMCAS notifications
• Course work errors
– Missing course work
– Missing grades / credits
– Incorrect academic status
– Incorrect course classifications
AMCAS Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)
for the 2009 Entering Class
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Completing Your Application
Changing Your Application
Application Processing
E-mail Issues
Deadlines
Transcripts & MCAT Scores
Applying to Special Programs
Applying to the Early Decision Program (EDP)
Fees & Refunds
AMCAS Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)
for the 2009 Entering Class
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What is AMCAS Sending Out to Schools?
Re-Applicants
System Requirements
Browser Requirements & Issues
Enabling JavaScript and "Cookies"
Performance Issues
Verification Mark
Pre-Prof’s Frequently Asked Questions
(Applicant FAQs)
for the 2009 Entering Class
APPLICANTS TO MEDICAL SCHOOL:
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
http://web.jhu.edu/prepro/health
/Applicants/application_faq.html
Applicant Responsibilities
In addition to meeting deadlines and accurately
completing the AMCAS application, you must:
– Know the admissions requirements at each school
– Promptly notify AMCAS of change in contact info
– Review verified course work immediately after AMCAS
processing is complete
Where to go for help
• As you fill out AMCAS, clicking on the ‘help’ button will give
you a help screen for the section you’re working on.
• If you don’t see it there, try the documentation at AMCAS
Support:
http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/amcas2009.htm
• If it’s still a mystery, email or set up an appointment with Dr.
Verrier or Ms. Kirby and we’ll either direct you to the answer,
or work with you to contact AMCAS and get an answer.