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Read this first:
AMCAS has a great Help menu; it would be a good idea
to read the introduction before you start, and when you have questions,
the first thing you should try is the "Help" button in AMCAS itself.
There is also an FAQ page and further supporting materials on the AMCAS web page.
Remember that medical schools initially will only know
you through your AMCAS, so you should think carefully about how you
present yourself. This means making sure that you write in complete
sentences, and that you pay attention to details like punctuation and
capitalization. You should also think carefully about what
accomplishments and aspects of yourself you want to emphasize.
Be aware that once you submit an application, you
cannot go back and make changes, with the exceptions of updating your
contact information, changing the date of a future MCAT, or adding more
schools you wish to apply to. So make sure you proofread everything very
carefully. You can print the application out to do so, using the "Print
Application" button on Main Menu.
Although you cannot actually submit AMCAS until early
June, you need to submit to us a draft of your application by June 1.
This draft is not for us to proofread or critique, but is for our
information as we write your letters. Most important for us is that you
complete the Work/Activities section. To send us a copy, if you go to
the Main Menu of your application and click the "Print Application"
button, it generates a PDF file of your application for you to print and
hand in to us. Or you can save the PDF as "FirstnameLastname–AMCAS"
and send it as an attachment to Lindsay Mapes at
<lmapes@upenn.edu>.
In addition to sending a draft copy to us, you must
actually submit your AMCAS! It is a very good idea to do that early–and
by mid-July at the latest.
As you complete the application, please check the
box in the Schools Attended section that releases information to your
advisors at Penn. This will be very helpful for future applicants–you
may have benefited from statistics collected this way yourself.

Transcripts:
How many transcripts should I request?
You only need to request one copy of each of your
transcripts, and have it sent directly to AMCAS; you don't send
transcripts directly to the medical schools. You might want to check
your transcript yourself before you have it sent, to make sure that it
is correct. Do make sure you have a transcript sent in from every U.S.
or Canadian institution you have attended, even if the courses you took
elsewhere transferred to Penn.
How should I request my Penn transcript?
There is a "Transcript Request Form" that you can
print from AMCAS. In fact, that is less a request form than a cover
sheet that you should ask the registrar to include with your transcript.
That form has on it your AMCAS ID, and allows AMCAS to match your
transcript to your application.
To request a Penn transcript, you will need fill out the Penn Registrar’s own form (www.upenn.edu/registrar).
Since you should have them include the AMCAS Transcript Request Form,
you should request the transcript by mail or in person rather than
online.
Do I need transcripts from international schools?
AMCAS will not expect you to provide transcripts from international schools.
If transfer courses appear on my Penn transcript, do I still need a transcript from the school I transferred from?
Yes. You will need to send in a copy of a transcript from every U.S. or Canadian institution you have attended.
When should I have my transcript submitted? Can I request a transcript before I submit my AMCAS application?
You should have your transcript(s) sent in to AMCAS
early. You can request a transcript be sent to AMCAS even before you
have submitted your application. Of course, you should wait until your
Spring grades have been posted before you have your transcript sent.
However, you can submit a request form to the Registrar in advance of
grades being posted, if necessary, indicating that they should hold for
your final grades--just make sure you follow up to let them know when
they should send the transcript in.

Input of Course Work:
Do I need to convert my Penn credit units to “credit hours”?
No, and you should not. AMCAS will convert them for you. Enter the course units exactly as they appear on your Penn transcript.
What about study abroad?
When you list your “Schools Attended,” you should list
any study abroad program separately–even if sponsored through Penn. You
will be able to indicate if the program was sponsored by Penn when you
complete the "transcript exception request" for the international
school.
How should I list AP credit?
List any AP credits you received from Penn in your
first semester, with your year as “freshman” (even though you took them
in high school). You don't need to enter a grade. Check the “AP” box,
and put “AP” before the course title. You cannot list AP courses for
which you did not receive college credit.
What about courses where I received credit by departmental exam?
AMCAS instructs you to enter such courses as AP
credit. So you should check the "AP" box when you enter them. You can
note in the course title, though, that the course was credit by
departmental exam..
What about courses that were waived?
List courses which were waived–and for which you did
not receive credit on your trasncript–and check the “Exempt” box. This
is applicable for Chem 53 and 54 for some people, for example.
Do seminars count as “lecture” courses?
Yes.
What should I do about writing seminars?
If it is not in the course title already, enter "(Writing Seminar)" after the course title, just to make that clear.
In what academic year do I list summer courses taken?
For AMCAS, the academic year begins in summer and ends
in spring. So list summer courses as being in the academic year
following that summer. Courses taken in the summer after your freshman
year, for example, count as courses you take in your sophomore year.
I’m a junior. Do I need to list courses I will take as a senior?
Yes. Make your best guess of courses you will take in
the future; do not exaggerate the number of courses you will take. If
you drop courses or otherwise change your schedule later, you can always
send an update directly to the schools. This also applies to seniors
who plan to take courses after graduation.

Work/Activities
What should I include in the Work/Activities section?
This section can include a broad range of activities,
medically-related and otherwise, from paid work, to volunteering, to
honors and awards. You can include anything you have done since
graduating high school, including summer activities. In addition to
including extra-curricular activities you have done of various kinds,
you could include honors and awards, and publications. If you have done
research or community service for which you received credit, you can
still list those as activities even if they are not technically
"extra-curricular"; just make sure you indicate that you received course
credit in the description.
Does it matter in what order I list my activities? Should I list the most important first?
It does not really matter. Schools will sort your
entries in whatever order thery prefer when they read your AMCAS. You
can emphasize some activities over others, however, by how much (and in
what way) you choose to write about them. In fact you must select up to 3
activities as "most meaningful" and you get much more space to write
about those.
Which activities should I select as "most meaningful"?
You should think about which experiences really did
mean most to you--those are the ones you're most likely to be able to
write extensively and convincingly about. If you really are torn between
different experiences you might choose, then you might think about
which three would best illustrate the range of your interests and
abilities.
Can I choose fewer than 3 as "most meaningful"?
Technically, you can choose just one or two--but it
would be a shame to miss such an opportunity to add more depth to your
application. So it's worth thinking carefully about what 3 experiences
you can write about productively in more detail.
If I have more than 15 work/activities things to list, can I condense several related activities into one?
Yes. You could list various honors under “honors and awards” for example, and then give details of each one in the text.
If I have done the same activity over several summers, can I list it as one activity?
Yes. Just make sure you specify you did it over the summer only in the description.
Does it matter if I list fewer than 15 activities?
No. Some people will have devoted a lot of attention to a few activities, and that is just fine.
What if I was in a student-run organization,
and what about awards and other unsupervised things--do I need to list
contact information?
Yes, you must list contact information (an email or
phone number) for every entry. Do your best--perhaps there is some
official email address for the organization? If you're really at a total
loss, you could list your pre-health advisor.
Can I include activities from the summer after high school?
Yes. You can include any activities you did after high
school. The only usual exception to the prohibition we advise against
listing high school activities would be if you won a scholarship that
you continued to receive while you were in college.
Can I include being on the Dean’s List and other awards?
Yes. Remember medical schools will not see your
transcript, so they will not know about Dean’s List otherwise. You
should also explain the award. For example, your reader may not know
what it means to be on the Dean’s List at Penn; it is not the same at
every school. The date for the Dean’s List would be May of the year you
received that honor. You do not need to list contact information for
most honors.

Letters of Evaluation and Other Questions:
How should I complete the Letters of Evaluation (LOE) Section?
The vast majority of AMCAS schools are participating
in the AMCAS Letters of Evaluation (LOE) system, so in all likelihood
you will need to complete this section. You will usually only need to
enter one letter in the LOE section, however. Your HPAB packet contains
our cover letter and also the 3-6 individual letters of recommendation
you have designated, but it counts as a single letter for AMCAS
purposes. Do not list the letters of recommendation in the packet individually on your AMCAS.
When you add the letter (the HPAB packet), make sure you designate it as a "Committee Letter" (not "Letter Packet"). You should then list your pre-health advisor as the Contact/Author.
Note that AMCAS assigns a 7-digit Letter ID number to
your letter, which is different from your 8-digit AMCAS ID number. We
need both of those to transmit your HPAB packet, so we'll ask for them
on the form when you request. You don't need to send in the actual AMCAS
letter request form, since the letters are sent electronically.
You will know if a school is participating in the
AMCAS LOE system because when you complete the Medical Schools section
and add the schools to which you are applying, it reminds you that you
need to designate your letter to that school. For each school you add,
make sure you do indeed designate your "Committee Letter" to that
medical school.
If you're applying to a school not participating in
the AMCAS LOE system, don't worry, that's easy for us to deal with. Just
make a note of it so that you can let us know when you request.
It's asking me about Letters of Evaluation
now, and I need to submit my application by mid-July. But the earliest I
can request that you send out my HPAB packet is August 1. Won't that
make me late?
No. Your transcript can be verified and your AMCAS can
be completed and forwarded to medical schools before they receive your
HPAB packet. That transcript verification can take several weeks, which
is part of why submitting early is essential. It is normal for your HPAB
Packet to arrive later in the summer, when you are probably still
completing secondary application. August 1 is still well in advance of
when most medical schools begin interviewing.
Are MCAT scores forwarded to AMCAS automatically?
Yes.
What if I want to (re)take the MCAT later?
If you know you will take the MCAT later in the
summer, after you submit, indicate that you will take a future test by
completing the "Next MCAT" section, and give the date. You can change
the date later if necessary.
Should I wait for grades and MCAT scores before I submit?
Yes, if possible, you should wait for grades in your
spring courses and your MCAT scores before you apply, just in case you
decide it is necessary to retake it. But in any event, it is not a good
idea at all to submit AMCAS later than mid-July. Any time in June or
early July is still early enough to submit your application and maximize
your chances of admission.
What is my legal residence?
If you’re still a student, even if you’re registered
to vote here, usually your residence is the state where your parents
live. If your situation is complicated, it would make sense to check
your status with the relevant state school.
Will schools know where else I have applied?
No. Not until late next spring, towards the end of the process.
What will the application cost?
It costs $160 for the first school you apply to, and
then $33 for each school you apply to after that. There will then be
further fees as you complete each school's secondary application.