Important Information for Each Application Service

American Medical College Application Service

  • AMCAS will plan to receive applications in late June.
  • Do not send letters of recommendation or other supplementary materials to AMCAS.
  • If applying for a Fee Waiver, request it now. You must have a fee waiver approved before submitting your AMCAS application.
  • If you answer "yes" to the question regarding academic performance or conduct violations, explain fully in the Personal Comments section.
  • Check yes to the Advisor Information Service Release - please! You are not required to release your information to your Pre-Health Professions Advisor.  However, this information is helpful to your advisor in advising future students. Also, we like to hear how many of our students have been accepted! All information
    on individual applicants will remain confidential.
  • Optional Essays:
    • An essay is included if you checked the box for “disadvantaged”. If you feel that you have been disadvantaged in your preparation for medical school (for example, due to financial or physical hardship), this is your opportunity to elaborate on this and how it has affected your overall preparedness or
      perspective. You have very little room to address this issue, so be concise but complete in your explanation.
  • Extracurricular information: When listing clubs and organizations, note any offices held or special programs worked on. List all volunteer work and employment, not just health-related activities. When listing volunteer work, briefly describe what you did. Telling an admissions committee that you volunteered at a hospital does not tell them anything about what kind of experience you got.
  • Transcripts: Transcripts must be sent to AMCAS directly from the Registrar's Office. Do not send them yourself. Request transcripts from all U.S. or Canadian post-secondary schools attended, even if transfer work appears on your IC transcript. Have IC send transcripts as soon as this semester is over (if applying before
    the summer semester is over). If you are enrolled in school during the Summer or Fall semester while/after you apply, send updated transcripts to all schools for which you are still in consideration immediately following the semester. Do not send additional transcripts to AMCAS after your initial application.
  • Academic Record: Fill out the Academic Record carefully, following all instructions to the T. All courses must be marked Biology (B), Chemistry (C), Physics (P), Math (M) or All other (A). If unsure which category a course is in, ask your professor. Your GPA will be calculated by AMCAS, and will be broken down
    into science (BCPM), non-science (A), and total. Each GPA will also be broken down into freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, post-bacc, cumulative undergraduate, and graduate.

American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medical Application Service

  • AACOMAS will begin receiving applications June 1.
  • If applying for a Fee Waiver, apply now. The fee waiver must be approved before you may submit your AACOMAS application.
  • Make sure you release your MCAT scores to AACOMAS!!!
  • Do not send letters of recommendation or other supplementary materials to AACOMAS.
  • Check yes to the Advisor Information Service Release - please! You are not required to release your information to your Pre-Health Professions Advisor.  However, this information is helpful to your advisor in advising future students. Also, we like to hear how many of our students have been accepted! All information
    on individual applicants will remain confidential.
  • Transcripts: Transcripts must be sent directly from the Registrar's Office. Do not send them yourself. Submit transcripts from all U.S. institutions, even if transferred coursework is on your IC transcript. You may have foreign coursework evaluated. For Canadian and other foreign schools, consult the AACOMAS
    directions. If you are enrolled in school during the Summer or Fall semester while/after you apply, send updated transcripts to all schools for which you are still in
    consideration immediately following the semester. Do not send additional transcripts to AACOMAS after your initial application.
  • Extracurricular information: For Prior Career/Experience, most of you will put "Student". There is very little space for the "Volunteer, internships, honors,
    awards" section. Continue in the Personal Comments section if necessary.
  • Academic Record: The AACOMAS application provides instructions as to how grades should be entered. For repeated courses, only the last grade will be used.

American Association of Dental Schools Application Service

  • AADSAS will begin receiving applications June 1.
  • AADSAS does not have a fee waiver program.
  • Some schools require supplementary materials to be sent the school at the same time the AADSAS application is sent, while some want you to wait until you hear from them. Make sure you check the Supplemental Materials Table in the AADSAS instruction booklet for each school to which you are applying!!! Follow
    these instructions exactly!!!
    Do not send supplemental materials to AADSAS. Do not send DAT scores to AADSAS. Send them directly to the individual schools.
  • Extracurricular activities: There is no room for writing in what you did. You are given a list of activities and mark off in which ones you participated or were a leader. If you have significant experiences you would like to address, use the Applicant Essay.
  • Transcripts: AADSAS will accept transcripts sent by the applicant, if they are in a sealed envelope with the Registrar's signature over the seal. You may also have the Registrar send the transcripts directly. Submit transcripts from each and every college or university you have attended, even if the transfer work appears on your IC transcript. All foreign transcripts must be translated into English before submitting them to AADSAS. Immediately following the Fall semester, send the Academic Update Form to AADSAS to update your application with grades you have earned since you applied. Do not send updated transcripts to AADSAS
  • Course work section: This section can get confusing. Follow directions exactly! AADSAS computes a separate GPA for Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, non-science coursework, and total coursework. These GPA's are also broken down into undergraduate, graduate, and combined GPA's. Repeated coursework is
    computed into the GPA.

Veterinary Medical College Application Service

  • Not all vet schools participate in VMCAS, so make sure you research how to go applying to the schools you are interested in.
  • The VMCAS Web application will go live in August, with application deadlines in October 1. Applicants should apply as soon as the application becomes available.
  • Applicants could begin submitting transcripts and evaluations on July 1.
  • You must check the appropriate application procedure for each school to which you apply. Some schools participate in VMCAS, but will not accept VMCAS applications from certain applicants (e.g., in-state applicants). Follow these instructions carefully!!!
  • The VMCAS "Applicant Data Phase" is August through February. From March 1 on, information may only be updated through the individual schools.
  • Standardized test scores (GRE, VCAT, MCAT, TOEFL) must be released directly to your designated veterinary colleges. If you did not release your scores to
    VMCAS the day of the test, contact the testing agency as soon as possible to have your scores released.
  • If you are applying directly to a vet school, most schools prefer that all of your materials arrive in one packet; or that all transcripts and evaluation arrive first with your application being the final material received. (This is definitely true for Cornell.)
  • Extracurricular information: The question labeled "Veterinary Experience" refers to work you did with professionals. The "Animal Experience" section refers to contact you had directly with animals. "Employment History" refers to any other paid work you have done. Do not list any experience more than once. If something
    you have done fits into both "Veterinary" and "Animal" experience, choose the more appropriate category. For the sections marked "Honors and Awards" and "Extracurricular and Community Activities", list awards/activities most relevant first if you do not have enough room. If you still need more space, use the
    Explanation Sheet.
  • Transcripts: You must submit transcripts from each and every college and university attended, even if transfer credit appears on your IC transcript. Transcripts are to be submitted with your application in a sealed envelope, or directly from the Registrar, for all U.S. and Canadian schools. Ask for the Registrar's signature or
    stamp over the seal. For schools outside the U.S. and Canada, you must have your transcripts evaluated by one of the organizations listed in the VMCAS instruction booklet.
  • Core Curriculum Section: Follow the directions precisely. Core curriculum includes only courses required by the schools to which you are applying, not all courses that fit into the specified categories. GPA's will be calculated for your core curriculum, your last 45 hours, and for your overall coursework. Grades are
    entered exactly as they appear on the transcript; VMCAS does not have a grade conversion chart.

In advance, applicants can prepare for the application process:

American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine Application Service

  • MCAT and GRE scores must be released to AACPMAS by the testing agency.
  • Do not send letters of recommendation or other supplemental materials to AACPMAS! AACPMAS will accept applications before the first processing date (usually the first Thursday after Labor Day), but will not process them until this date. Do not send them too early, though. AACPMAS does not have a fee waiver program.
  • The individual colleges do not charge an additional application fee beyond the AACPMAS processing fee. The deadline for priority consideration is April 1 of the year you wish to enter podiatry school. The final postmarked deadline is June 1.
  • Extracurricular information: There is a section on the application where you check off types of extracurricular activities in which you have participated and/or were a leader. Later in the application, you are given the opportunity to elaborate on these experiences. Make sure you indicate any offices you held in clubs and organizations. When describing volunteer work, do not just write where you volunteered, but explain what you did. However, do not squeeze information into this section. Remember, your application should be easy to read! A lot of space is given. If necessary, you may explain in more detail in your personal statement.
  • Transcripts: Transcripts must be sent directly to each college to which you apply. Do not send transcripts to AACPMAS! Transcripts must be sent directly from the Registrar at each college or university you have attended, even if transfer credit appears on your IC transcript. If you attended a foreign university, have
    your coursework evaluated by one of the services listed in the application instructions. If you are enrolled in school during the Fall semester, send updated transcripts to all schools for which you are still in consideration immediately following the semester.
  • Completed coursework section: In the Grading Systems Conversion Table, use the Intermediate Grades column to locate AACPMAS grades for IC courses.  AACPMAS will compute your GPA based on what you enter in this section, without verifying the information against your transcripts. However, make sure the
    information matches what is on your transcripts. If the two do not match, a college may cancel your application or withdraw an offer of acceptance. Your GPA will be broken down into Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Other Science Courses, Behavioral Science, Math/Statistics, English, and Other Non-Science courses, as well as an overall GPA. There will also be a separate graduate and undergraduate GPA, as well as a combination of both. Your science GPA will consist of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Other Sciences. The GPA's will include both grades when a course is repeated.
Various Services
  • Dental
  • Medical
  • Osteopathic
  • Podiatric
  • Veterinary