Applications and Forms

The AMCAS application will be available via the AAMC site www.aamc.org in early May for submission starting in early June. The fees for 2020 matriculation are $170 for the first school and $40 for each additional school. The AACOMAS application will also be available in May, at https://aacomas.aacom.org, for submission after June 1. The fee for AACOMAS in 2020 is $195 for the first school and $45 for each additional school listed at the time of submission. Additional fees will be applied if more schools are added at a later date.

The deadlines are available on the application sites, but do not be lulled into complacency by these dates. As many schools admit on a rolling basis, it is very important that you apply early. It is in your best interest to submit your AMCAS application in June. 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. You have a bit more leeway with an AACOMAS application, but timing is important here, too.

AMCAS and AACOMAS will need to receive one official transcript from every U.S. college or university at which you have registered for courses. You must also 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 or AACOMAS by using the Transcript Request Forms that can be downloaded from each application service web site. If you are still in school, we recommend that you submit an AMCAS and/or AACOMAS 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 Academic Record section of each application. Please send us a copy of all non-Bowdoin transcripts (unofficial is okay) to include in your Health Professions File.

The two application services vary a bit in their approach to coursework taken at foreign institutions for which the grades do not appear on a U.S. transcript. AMCAS does not want to receive these transcripts. The AACOMAS application asks that you submit these transcripts to an evaluation service that will translate the grades into U.S. equivalents. Names and contact information for these services are provided in the AACOMAS instruction manual.

It is very important that you read carefully the directions that accompany the AMCAS and AACOMAS applications. Be sure to make use of the Help features that are available. Failure to follow instructions accurately may result in significant delays in the processing of your application.

The contents of your file, maintained in the Office of Health Professions Advising (HPA), are used to help prepare the composite letter that most medical and dental schools require and a number of other health profession programs prefer to receive. The packet that we will submit to the schools will include the committee letter and all of the individual letters of evaluation that have been written on your behalf.

When you are ready to apply, your credential file must contain the following:

1. Applicant information form, including resume
2. Recommendations and recommendation waivers
3. Signed candidate agreement (addresses confidentiality of composite letter, disclosure of grades, access to disciplinary records, and use of recommendations)
4. Copies of any non-Bowdoin transcripts
5. Your standardized test scores
6. Your personal statement
7. A list of the schools to which you are applying
8. When available, a copy of your -CAS application

Check the status of your credential file