Application Guide

Application Guide

AMCAS Application

The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is a centralized service designed to benefit both medical school applicants and medical school admission committees. It collects, coordinates and processes applications and data. There are only a handful of schools that do not participate in AMCAS. It is necessary to apply to most Texas medical schools through the University of Texas System Medical and Dental Application Center, and schools in Ontario utilize the Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS). The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) handles applications to the osteopathic medical schools. Information on all of these application services is at http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/start.htm.

The AMCAS application is available only on the web, at the AAMC site www.aamc.org. The application will be available in early May for submission starting in early June. The fees for 2010 matriculation have not been released as of this printing, but for matriculation in 2009, the application fee was $160 for the first school, and $30 for each additional school.

Since the timing of the application coincides with the approach to summer (the earliest applications will be accepted is June 1) it is sometimes difficult for students and graduates alike to turn their attention to its completion; June slips into July and then August with the task still unfinished. It is very important that the AMCAS application be submitted as soon after the first permissible filing date as possible. If you expect MCAT results in June or early-mid-July, it is advisable to wait until you receive the scores, but be prepared to submit your application right away once you have had an opportunity to factor your MCAT performance into your application plans and selection of schools.

AMCAS will need to receive one official transcript from every school at which you have registered since high school graduation, whether or not you earned credit. You must provide a transcript from any study-away program that was offered through a U.S. institution. Applicants should request that their official transcripts be forwarded to AMCAS by using the Transcript Request Forms that may be downloaded from the AAMC web site after you have entered your academic data into the AMCAS application. If you are still in school, we recommend that you submit an AMCAS Transcript Request Form to the Office of Student Records before leaving campus, selecting on the Bowdoin request form the option to hold for spring grades. Updated Bowdoin transcripts are typically ready to be mailed by mid June.

We suggest that you request, at the same time, personal copies of your transcripts for use in completing the AMCAS Academic Record. Please send us a copy of all non-Bowdoin transcripts (unofficial is okay) to include in your Health Professions File.

It is very important that you read carefully the directions that accompany the AMCAS application. Be sure to make use of the Help feature that is available on each section. Failure to follow instructions accurately may result in significant delays in the processing of your application.