What is AMCAS? | Completing the AMCAS Application | Monitoring Your Progress | Application Forms
WHAT IS AMCAS AND WHAT ARE ITS ROLES?
AMCAS stands for American Medical Colleges Application Service. The Primary Application is an online application to most allopathic medical schools. The Texas medical schools have their own centralized application service (TMDSAS). AMCAS is a not-for-profit application service that simplifies your Primary Application in four ways.
AMCAS:
1) centrally collects your information in a standard format so that you only have to complete one application for admission to any U.S. or Canadian medical school;
2) collects all your transcripts from every post-high school you attended;
3) verifies these records and calculates your certified "AMCAS GPA", providing medical schools with a common comparison across all applicants; and then
4) attaches for your designated schools your MCAT scores.
When you submit your Primary Application, you pay an application fee to AMCAS to cover the cost of these services.
What AMCAS does is very important; but you need to understand too what AMCAS does not do. It does not screen applications or make admissions decisions. And it is not involved in the Secondary Application process. Decisions are made solely by the medical schools based on individual school criteria and processes. Use this link to find the schools that participate in AMCAS.
The medical school application process has two steps, referred to as the "Primary Application" and "Secondary Application". AMCAS is only involved in the Primary Application which is completed online. Instructions provided come with a checklist, tip sheet, FAQs, instructions embedded in each page, and page specific "Help" is provided at a click.
Start by completing the AMCAS Registration using only your authentic biographical information.
Next, review the Application Navigation so that you are familiar with it. There are two ways to navigation. Either with the button at the top of the screen or links in the middle. At the "Main Menu", your status is readily available. Get to know what is required. You will see that the application requests information for the following categories:
1) all schools attended,
2) biographical information,
3) all course work using actual transcripts,
4) work or other activities that profile you well, and
5) personal statement (two addition essays are required if applying for MD/PhD program - on your goals and on your research.
Once your "Identifying Information" and "Schools Attended" are complete, the "Print Transcript Request Form" becomes available. Print a form for each school which you have attended, sign it as indicated, and provide it to the Registrar of each school.
Be careful to complete all information accurately. Use spell checking, and be sure to pay attention to application deadlines. Be ready to pay your application fee. There are situations in which applicants can receive financial assistance with fees where reductions are funded by AAMC.
You will be asked to certify your application. You are certifying that you have read and understood the policies, procedures, and instructions found in the application of AMCAS.
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Use the Main Menu on the AMCAS application to check your current status at any time. Also watch for e-mail notices from AMCAS. It is your responsibility to respond to AMCAS e-mail notifications. So be sure that e-mail filters are not preventing delivery and check your "junk mail file" regularly. You might also want to create an e-mail account that you check regularly only for AMCAS notifications. It is your responsibility to notify AMCAS on a timely basis of any changes to your contact information.
When application processing is complete, AMCAS will notify you, and it is your responsibility to then verify your data including your course work and grades. AMCAS is not responsible to correct errors you have made, but rather to resolve discrepancies which you will have to justify. Changes and corrections can ONLY be made during the AMCAS process; once the application has been verified, you cannot get help in that application year for changes.
Most applications are filed for AMCAS between June and November for matriculation the following fall. AMCAS generally requires from 4 to 6 weeks for an application to be "Ready for Review". Then, the application moves to the "Under Review" status. If requirements are not met, AMCAS places the application under various designations. Only when corrections are complete will the application again enter the "Ready for Review" status and must wait in turn for review.
Access this link for the AMCAS application for the current application cycle.
Download these helpful PDFs:
Questions? Take a look at AAMC's Current Year AMCAS FAQ Sheet!
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