Table of Contents
The AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) is the centralized application system used by all allopathic medical schools (MD schools) in the United States. AMCAS is managed by the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) in Washington, D.C.
Important AMCAS dates and deadlines:
- May 2, 2024 — AMCAS opens for the 2024/25 application cycle
- May 24, 2024 — Last recommended date to take the MCAT for this cycle
- June 21, 2024 — Last recommended date to take the Casper or AAMC PREview exam, if required by your institution (see the latest Casper schedule here and the PREview schedule here)
- August 15, 2024 — Latest recommended date for secondary submissions
- September 14, 2024 — Latest date to take the MCAT in 2024 (we recommend a test date in May or earlier, if possible)
- January-March 1, 2025 — Application deadlines for most MD schools fall here (but we recommend applying much, much sooner)
Are you also applying to DO schools or any medical programs in Texas? Check out our guides to AACOMAS (osteopathic schools) or TMDSAS (Texas medical programs).
I’ll walk you through what to expect when submitting your primary application through AMCAS, including a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Need help preparing your med school application? Get 1-on-1 support from a former admissions committee member.
AMCAS Application Timeline
The AMCAS application window opens the first week of May each year. However, there are actions you should take in preparation for the AMCAS application even before it officially opens.
Medical schools typically use a rolling admissions process, which means applications are reviewed as admissions officers receive them. We recommend submitting your application as early as possible (the first week of June is ideal) to avoid delays in being verified.
Here’s the AMCAS timeline to follow:
September-December 2023:
- Plan a comprehensive MCAT study schedule and prepare for the exam.
- Check in with your pre-med advisor to ensure you’re on track to meet all the prerequisites you’ll need.
- Begin contacting evaluators you hope will provide you with letters of recommendation.
- Research the specific MD programs you want to apply to. Use our free MedSchoolExplorer to discover which programs are perfect for you!
- Consider any extracurriculars (including clinical work) you plan to complete before graduation to strengthen your application.
- Request your official transcripts from all undergraduate schools you’ve attended.
January-May 2024:
- Start drafting your personal statement and essay.
- Create an account on the AMCAS website. Log in or create your account here.
- Complete the Identifying Information, Schools Attended, and Biographic Information sections of the application.
- Fill out the Coursework & Official Transcript(s) section.
- In the Letters of Evaluation section, list your letter writers who will send in confidential letters about your character and competency. Check in with your evaluators to ensure they received the request via email. Schedule times to follow up with them after a period of time has passed if their evaluation hasn’t been submitted.
- Take the MCAT early enough to get your scores back by the end of June or earlier. Your MCAT scores are automatically released to AMCAS, so you don’t have to do anything extra to have the scores included with your application. (Keep in mind that this means you also cannot prevent previous MCAT scores from being included.)
- Schedule your Casper or AAMC PREview exam if required by your chosen school(s).
- Request your schools send your official transcripts directly to AMCAS. Resolve any holds due to financial or other issues as quickly as possible.
June-August 2024:
- Submit your application after filling out the remaining AMCAS sections.
- Keep an eye on your application’s verification status. Verification should take around 10 days to complete. If your application has a significant number of errors, it may be “undelivered” and sent back to you to correct.
- Download a completed copy of your primary application.
- When requested, submit secondary applications no later than the end of July or beginning of August.
From September 2024 through February 2025, you may receive requests to interview at one or more programs. Most schools operate on a rolling admissions process, meaning they accept students right away who successfully complete interviews. Others may wait until all interviews are complete before sending acceptance letters as late as March 2025.
Read Next: 2024/25 AACOMAS Application Timeline
How to Fill Out the AMCAS Application
Although you can spread your time across several months, filling out the AMCAS will take many hours. Pre-draft your personal statement and work/activities months in advance, and print out all your transcripts. That way, filling everything out will only take 2-6 hours.
There are 9 AMCAS application sections:
- Identifying Information
- Schools Attended
- Biographic Information
- Course Work
- Work and Activities
- Letters of Evaluation
- Medical Schools
- Essays
- Standardized Tests
You must fill out the Identifying Information and Schools Attended sections before you can proceed to other sections. The Medical Schools section can only be opened after you’ve completed the Biographic Information section.
Note: Some of these sections are simply informational, while others are used to assess you as a candidate on a personal, academic, and professional level.
The AAMC defines core competencies that pre-medical candidates should demonstrate on their primary application. It’s a good idea to understand these competencies so you have the best shot at crafting an application that stands out from the rest.
Keep reading to learn more details about completing each section.
Setting Up Your Account
Set up your account with AMCAS so you can fill out their online med school application:
- Visit the Applying to Medical School with AMCAS® page on AAMC’s website.
- Click the blue “AMCAS Sign In” button in the upper right corner.
- On the sign in page, click “Create Account” on the right.
- Enter your personal information, initial questions, and account information as indicated.
- Check your email for a verification link.
- Once you’ve clicked the link in your email, you’ll receive a notification that your account has been verified, and you will be directed to sign in.
Select from available application cycles.
Pro Tip: Start early and go slowly, carefully checking every field of the application as you go. You can save and edit the application as many times as you want before hitting submit. Even the tiniest errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, etc. will reflect poorly on you with admissions committees.
Craft your AMCAS application with 1-on-1 help from a physician and former admissions committee member.
Follow the prompts to enter your identifying information, including:
- Legal name
- Gender
- Birth country, state, and county
- Birth date
- Citizenship
Read Next: Supreme Court’s Ruling On Affirmative Action Impact On College Admissions
After filling out your name, click “Save & Continue to Application.”
You’ll be taken to an application main menu that shows your personal information, the 9 sections of the application (and whether they’re complete or not), quick links for help with your application, and your document statuses.
You won’t see an area to view your letters of evaluation/recommendation or transcripts since these are submitted directly to AMCAS.
Section 1: Identifying Information
Most of the Identifying Information data is pulled over from your profile creation. Complete any missing or inaccurate information in this section until a checkmark shows the section is completed.
Section 2: Schools Attended
In the Schools Attended section, you’ll enter the information for your high school and colleges, including any attempted postsecondary, foreign/study abroad, or military education.
You will also have to state whether you have matriculated as a medical school student previously and whether you were ever the recipient of any institutional action by any college or medical school for unacceptable academic performance or conduct.
This is also where you’ll first see the notice that official transcripts are submitted directly to AMCAS from your school’s registrar. Once you enter a college’s information, you’ll have an opportunity to create a transcript request form.
Section 3: Biographic Information
Biographic Information is a hefty section with a ton of personal information and background. Go step-by-step and fill in the blanks as indicated. These prompts include:
- Preferred and permanent address
- Alternate contact
- CItizenship
- Legal residence
- Self-identification
- Languages
- Childhood information
- Military service record
- Military discharge status
- Felony and misdemeanor information
- Information about impactful experiences*
- Parents and guardians, siblings, and dependants
*The “Other Impactful Experiences” question is a new addition to the section as of 2024. It replaces the “Disadvantaged Status” question seen in previous application cycles. You’ll be asked whether you would like to describe “challenges or obstacles in your life” in order to “provide additional information… that is not easily captured in the rest of the application”.
If you answer Yes to the “Other Impactful Experiences” question, you’ll be expected to submit a narrative essay of 1,325 characters or less describing your experience and sharing how it “directly impacted your life opportunities.”
Section 4: Course Work
In Section Four, you must enter every course you took at each school — it’s tedious, so have your printed transcripts in hand and settle in for this section.
You will have to complete multiple sections for each course:
Prior to entering your coursework, the AAMC encourages you to watch some brief tutorials that will guide you through the process:
Pro Tip: Course classification can be tricky. All courses are classified as BCPM science courses (biology, chemistry, physics, math) and AO courses (all others). AMCAS offers a Course Classification Guide that provides examples of how courses are often categorized. Ultimately, you are responsible for selecting the correct course classification, but AMCAS reserves the right to change classifications if the assigned classification clearly does not apply. Misclassified courses may delay the verification of your application. Working with an admissions advisor can ensure you classify courses correctly the first time.
Section 5: Work and Activities
Work and Activities (sometimes shown as Work/Activities) is another hefty section where you get to show what makes you a strong applicant beyond your school work.
There is space for up to 15 work and activity entries (but it’s ok if you don’t have 15). You also have the opportunity to highlight the 3 “most meaningful” experiences to you.
There are 19 Experience Type categories you have to choose for each work/activity entry:
- Artistic Endeavors
- Community Service/Volunteer – Medical/Clinical
- Community Service/Volunteer – Not Medical/Clinical
- Conferences Attended
- Extracurricular Activities
- Hobbies
- Honors/Awards/Recognitions
- Intercollegiate Athletics
- Leadership – Not Listed Elsewhere
- Military Service
- Other
- Paid Employment – Medical/Clinical
- Paid Employment – Not Medical/Clinical
- Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation
- Presentations/Posters
- Publications
- Research/Lab
- Social Justice/Advocacy
- Teaching/Tutoring/Teaching Assistant
For each activity or work experience, you’ll enter the following information:
- Experience Type (i.e. Community Service/Volunteer)
- Experience Name (i.e. Nursing Home Volunteer)
- Start Date
- End Date
- Completed Hours
- Anticipated Hours
- Whether it was repeated
- Organization name, location, and contact information
- Experience description
- Whether it was one of your most meaningful experience (Yes/No)
The Experience Description box is crucial. Admissions committees are not simply looking for what you did. They want to know the depth of your responsibilities and what you accomplished.
Read Next: Get the Most From Shadowing a Doctor: Advice for Pre-Meds
Admissions boards want to hear what qualities you demonstrated, how the experience reflected your values, and how you learned and grew from it — both personally and as it relates to your future career in medicine.
Pro Tip: One of the keys to the Work & Activities section is to show that you’re well-rounded. Admissions committees want to hear about your hobbies and interests outside of your science background, as well.
You have just 700 characters to wrap that up in a nice package.
New for 2024-25, the AAMC AMCAS introduced a new experience type called “Social Justice/Advocacy”. This allows you to let admissions committees know how you’ve worked to improve the rights, privileges, and opportunities of a cause, group, or person.
“One of the main functions of physicians is to educate. If you can demonstrate you're well-rounded, it shows you’ll be able to find common ground with your patients beyond healthcare, such as sports, literature, or music.”
Section 6: Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation
For schools using the AMCAS Letter Service program, your letters of recommendation (LORs) are another item submitted directly to AMCAS and the medical schools you are applying to.
Since AMCAS doesn’t require a student’s LoRs to verify their application, students may submit their application even if their letters have not yet arrived at AMCAS. The medical schools will receive the application and letters after the application has been fully verified.
Pro Tip: Your letters of evaluation are another way to really set your application apart. Generic LORs will not add value to your application. Get letters from professors, supervisors, and mentors that you had genuine relationships with — people who can speak to your character and accomplishments. Start asking letter writers for LORs 3-4 months beforehand. Check out this article on etiquette for approaching letter writers.
When adding a letter of evaluation or recommendation, you must include a letter title. Make this a meaningful title that you can remember, as you will later need to match letters and assign them to the medical schools you’re applying to.
For each entry, you must choose 1 of 3 types. Each letter type is considered 1 letter entry, regardless of the actual number of letters it contains.
Here are the definitions of the 3 letter types:
- Committee Letter: A letter authored by a prehealth committee or prehealth advisor intended to represent your institution’s evaluation of you. A Committee Letter may or may not include additional letters written in support of your application. The Committee Letter is sometimes called a Composite Letter.
- Letter Packet: A set of letters assembled and distributed by your institution, often by the institution’s career center. A Letter Packet may include a cover sheet from your prehealth committee or advisor; however, in contrast to a Committee Letter, a Letter Packet does not include an evaluative letter from your prehealth committee or advisor.
- Individual Letter: A letter written by, and representing, a single letter author. If you have already included an Individual Letter within either a Committee Letter or Letter Packet, you do not need to add a separate entry for that letter.
Each medical school has a different requirement for letters of recommendation. For example, schools may require a committee letter or letter packet — or 2 letters from science professors plus 1 non-science professor plus 1 to 2 others, including physicians. Check each medical school’s website for their specific requirements.
Before completing this section, you will need confirmation from your letter writers. You will add an entry for each letter you’re expecting with the author’s contact information and letter title. AMCAS will then assign an ID number for each letter that the letter writer must include.
After you add each entry, you will be prompted to create a PDF AMCAS Letter Request Form that you will provide to the author.
Dossier services like Interfolio or VirtualEvals can be a great way to store and release confidential letters like these — just be sure to submit only evaluations for the current application cycle.
“Great letters are an absolute must. I was really surprised to find out how seriously committee members take these letters. The fact is, there are so many worthy applicants with great credentials, academics, and activities. They're looking for distinguishing factors, and the quality of your letter is important for a really competitive application.”
Section 7: Medical Schools
In the Medical Schools section, you’ll select all the medical schools you’re applying to.
How many medical schools should you apply to? Admissions advisors from MedSchoolCoach recommend you apply to 25-40 schools, including both in-state and out-of-state schools that you feel are a good match.
You don’t need a full school list at this point; you only need to apply to one school to “submit” your application, which gets most of the heavy lifting out of the way. You can come back and add more schools later, but this first submission of your application is what gets the verification process started.
For each school you add, select a program and declare whether you’ve previously applied to that school. You will be able to see whether or not the school participates in the AMCAS Letter Service and the AMCAS-facilitated Criminal Background Check.
If you have entered letters of recommendation, you will also have the opportunity to assign a letter to each school at this point.
As you add schools, you will have a helpful dashboard where you can see each med school, the program you’re applying to, and the transcript and application deadlines. Here, you’ll also see your application fees start to add up.
How many schools can I apply to with AMCAS? You can apply to as many schools as you want with the AMCAS, as long as they accept the application service.
The fee is $175 to send your application to the first school and $46 for each additional school.
While it’s wise to apply to multiple schools, a lot of thought should go into cultivating your school list. In-state tuition is almost always going to be cheaper than out-of-state, but you also need to consider factors like the mission of the school (is it focused on primary care or research?), proximity to family, and preference for culture and climate.
Schools should also be an academic match and best suited to your professional experience.
"Definitely cast a wide net. However, also try to be smart about the list you create. There are a lot of factors that go into creating a solid school list – how competitive an applicant you are, what aspects of medicine you’re interested in, the financial impact of applying to many schools. I would encourage you to work one-on-one with an advisor to create a smart, practical school list that maximizes you chance of success.”
Section 8: Essays
Your personal statement, which is within the Essays section, is arguably the most important part of the application.
A strong medical school personal statement speaks volumes about your potential to succeed in medical school. It can demonstrate to admissions committees your potential as a future physician and how you’ll contribute to their school. Additionally, it helps to distinguish you from other applicants with similar GPAs and MCAT scores.
Likewise, an unimpressive personal statement can ruin your chance of getting an interview and cripple your chances of being accepted. A poorly-written personal statement with typos that lacks content is pretty much a deal breaker when admissions committees have hundreds of applications to review.
The challenge with this section is how deceptively simple it looks on the AMCAS application: “Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to medical school.” And you have 5,300 characters — or around 500 words to do it. No pressure!
If you click the link provided in this section, AMCAS does give you a bit more guidance for what to write about.
Advice for writing a standout personal statement:
- Start writing the first draft 3-6 months early.
- Be authentic.
- Demonstrate your passion for medicine.
- Stick to a central theme.
- Include personal stories — show, don’t tell.
- Share your vision for the future.
- Give it some personality.
- Carefully navigate emotional topics.
- Don’t rely on ChatGPT to write for you.
That last point about using AI to write is really important. One of the few changes between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 AMCAS applications is the addition of the instruction here: “This essay should reflect your personal perspectives and experiences accurately and must be your own work and not the work of another author or the product of artificial intelligence.”
Seriously, just don’t do it.
Things NOT to include in your personal statement:
- Your MCAT & GPA — they are included in another section of your application
- Typos, grammar, punctuation, or spelling mistakes
- Name-dropping
- Made-up stories
- A duplicate of your CV
- Old awards
- Clichés
- Third-person writing
- Irrelevant stories
- Explanations for one bad grade
It may help you write your personal statement if you break it into smaller, manageable chunks. In general, think about your essay containing 4-5 components:
- Introduction (1 paragraph) — Introduce your narrative/theme by tying it to a personal story or anecdote.
- Body (2-3 paragraphs) — Highlight pivotal experiences and how they drove you to pursue medicine.
- Conclusion (1 paragraph) — Tie everything together and share how you envision yourself impacting the field of medicine in the future.
Begin as early as December/January if you plan to apply in May/June.
Get opinions from others. Have others read your essay, but be selective about who you ask. A professor, work colleague, or a medical student are likely better options than a family member.
Some personal essay ideas to think about:
- Significant/formative life experiences: Include events that have greatly influenced your life, how you conduct yourself, your outlook on the world, or your impactful decisions.
- Significant people: People that impacted you (positively or negatively) and how that affected your journey to medical school.
- Characteristics and skills: Use stories to demonstrate the positive traits you have that will help you succeed as a physician.
Check out outstanding personal statement examples here.
Section 9: Standardized Tests
Standardized Tests is the final section. Congratulations on making it this far!
If you have already taken the MCAT, your scores are automatically released to AMCAS and will be visible here. If you haven’t taken the MCAT yet, or if you plan to retake it and have a test date scheduled, you can indicate that here and your latest test score will be updated when released.
After the MCAT details, you’ll be able to see previous or upcoming AAMC PREview exam dates and your scores, if you’ve already sat for this situational judgment test.
Below the AAMC PREview details, you can add details from other situational judgment tests (like Casper). This is also where you have the opportunity to enter any additional standardized test scores, such as GRE, LSAT, or GMAT.
Boost your MCAT score with expert coaching from our 99th-percentile tutors.
Final Submission and Payment
From your main application menu, you have the opportunity to go back into every section and make changes. Check and double-check everything.
CAUTION: If you have completed the AMCAS sections in order, and each section on the left has a check mark circle next to it, then as soon as you save your standardized tests sections — you will be asked if you want to submit your application.
WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU SAY NO. It’s always a good idea to go back and carefully review each section to check for errors, accuracy, and completion.
When you’re ready, click “Submit Application.”
Once your review is complete and you’re ready to submit, the application will walk you through a few final steps, beginning with pre-submission checks and certification. AMCAS does a great job of telling you what you still need to do in the Pre-Submission Checks, such as assigning letters of recommendation to medical schools. Remember, letters can be added and assigned at a later date as you get confirmations from letter writers.
From here, you will complete the following to officially submit your application:
- Certification
- Password
- Criminal Background Check
- Payment
Certification: This acts as your legal signature to certify everything on your application is accurate. There are 13 statements to read, check, and agree to on this page.
Password: Under this section, you’ll have the opportunity to print your application. Even if you don’t physically print it, the file will open as a PDF and you can read through it.
The PDF form is exactly what medical school admissions committees will receive. We highly recommend you save or print this PDF form. If you find any errors, you can still go back and edit your application before continuing the submission process.
When you’re satisfied with your application, you will enter your AMCAS password to certify that you understand that you may not change, correct, or update selected parts of the application as outlined in the AMCAS Applicant Guide once it has been submitted to AMCAS.
CBC (Criminal Background Check): This page informs you that AMCAS partners with Certiphi Screening, Inc. to perform criminal background checks. Upon your initial, conditional acceptance by a participating medical school, Certiphi Screening, Inc. will send an email with additional information to your preferred email address to start your background check.
Payment: The final section is where you’ll pay your application fees.
For students who need financial aid for fees, AAMC offers a fee assistance program.
Once your payment is confirmed, your application is officially submitted.
To submit an Academic Change Request, select one of the following reasons and include an explanation:
- Re-compute the following GPA/hours
- Re-verify the following courses
- Add the following courses
- Delete courses that were added by AMCAS Verifications team (based on errors or omissions compared to applicant official college transcripts)
- Update the following school information
Verification
The verification process can range from a few days to a few weeks. This process can be delayed if there are errors on your application, such as misclassified coursework.
In order for your application to be placed in the queue for verification, the following are required:
- Biographic Information
- Work/Activities section
- Personal Statement section
- Official transcripts and grades received by AMCAS
These items are not required for verification and they will not delay the verification of your application:
- MCAT score
- Letters of recommendation
- Medical schools (except the first one required to submit)
Once you submit your application, you’ll want to closely monitor its verification status. On the top right corner of your main menu, you will see a blue status. You can also click “View Application Status History” at any time to see a record of updates.
It’s important to understand the meaning of each status so that you can track your application and know if you need to take some action:
- Not Submitted to AMCAS: AMCAS has not received your application.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Waiting for Transcripts: AMCAS has received your application. Required transcripts have not been received for review.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Ready for Review: AMCAS has received a copy of all required transcripts and has placed the application in line to be reviewed by an AMCAS verifier.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Under Review: A verifier is reviewing your application. You will be notified if there are any additional transcripts needed for processing.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Financial Hold: You have certified and submitted your AMCAS application. However, AMCAS cannot process your application until you resolve the financial hold associated with your application.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Incorrect Coursework: You have certified and submitted your AMCAS application. However, your application is on hold due to incorrect coursework in your application.
- Submitted to AMCAS: Incorrect Documents: You have certified and submitted your AMCAS application. However, your application is on hold due to incorrect documents associated with your application.
- Returned to Applicant: The application has been returned to you for missing coursework or failing to enter an original grade for a repeated course.
- AMCAS Processing is Complete: The application has been made available to your medical school designations.
- Withdrawn from AMCAS: You have withdrawn your AMCAS application. This step is final, so you are no longer eligible to apply for the current application year.
What Information Can I Add After Submitting?
You can edit the following types of information after submitting your AMCAS:
- Letters of recommendation
- ID numbers
- Name and contact information
- Your date of birth
- Your gender
- Your next MCAT and PREview exam date
- The release of application details to your prehealth advisor
- Additional medical schools
Costs & Financial Assistance
The AMCAS application costs $175 to send your application to the first school and $46 for each additional school.
To be eligible for AAMC’s financial assistance, you must have a US-based address, and your total family income for 2023 must be under 400% of the national poverty line for your family size.
Below are the benefits of AAMC’s 2024 fee assistance program:
- A waiver for one cycle of AMCAS application fees
- A reduced MCAT registration fee — $140 instead of $335
- Online MCAT preparation and study products
- A waiver for the AAMC PREview exam fees
- 2-year subscription to the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) database
FAQs
The AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service) is the application for osteopathic medical schools outside of Texas. You’ll fill this out if you’re pursuing DO schools as part of your medical school application process.
The AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) is the application for allopathic medical schools outside of Texas. All prospective students interested in MD schools will use this application.
The TMDSAS (Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service) is used for all medical programs in Texas. The Texas legislature has a strict 10% cap on non-resident medical students, which means 90% or more of the matriculants to Texas medical programs are in-state residents.
Read Next: DO vs. MD
The good news is that most of the information on your AMCAS application will remain the same when you reapply. Here are the sections reapplicants should consider updating:
- Work/Activities: If you added any relevant experience during the year that you originally applied, or if you took a gap year or earned a post-baccalaureate certificate, update this section of your application.
- Letters of Evaluation: While you can reuse letters of recommendation, you must resubmit them as AMCAS does not retain letters from previous application cycles. However, you may want to request new letters if you worked with a new mentor in the past year.
- School List: You can absolutely reapply to the same medical schools again, but reevaluate each with a critical eye and be honest with yourself about how competitive you are. In many cases, students miscalculate which schools are truly a good fit for them, resulting in no acceptances. Try our Medical School Chance Predictor to understand which programs are right for you!
- Personal Statement: Schools expect reapplicants to write a new essay. While you can certainly still use the same theme, personal attributes, and reasons for wanting to become a physician, the stories and anecdotes should change. You may even want to use this section to emphasize how you have grown since your last application.
If you struggled with your AMCAS application the first time, expert admissions advisors can help you prepare for your reapplication, increasing your chances of acceptance.
Advisors with prior admissions committee experience can provide honest feedback on your qualifications and help you update your application to improve your chances of getting into the medical school of your choice.
Eligibility and financial aid differ for international students, and English language proficiency is required at almost all US medical schools. International students cannot submit international transcripts that are not accredited by an American, US territorial, or Canadian post-secondary institution.
Read Next: Medical Schools That Accept International Students
Applicants who matriculate to allopathic medical school via AMCAS have an average GPA of 3.77 and an average MCAT score of 512. If your metrics are lower than these, don’t worry — there’s definitely still hope. A high GPA can offset a low MCAT score, and vice-versa.
According to AAMC data, those who score a mere 506 on their MCAT can still achieve more than a 50% chance of acceptance, provided their GPA is high enough. Likewise, those with a 3.20 GPA can raise their odds above 50% by scoring well on the MCAT.
Check out the AAMC’s acceptance rate table to find your odds of admission at your current GPA and MCAT score.
Avoid these common mistakes on the AMCAS application:
- Spelling and grammatical errors
- Miscategorized coursework or work/activities
- Underwhelming personal statement
- Meaningless filler content
- Lies or unethical claims
- Late submission
Yes, you can add new medical school choices and designations even after you’ve submitted your application, as long as the deadline for that program’s application has not passed. You will need to pay an additional fee for each added school.
You must access your online AMCAS application to check for status updates.
If you are considering early decision, talk to an advisor or someone with great familiarity with the admissions process. Early decision programs are usually only recommended for a select group of students with specific credentials.
Also, applying early decision means you can’t apply to more than a single program. If you are denied, you may not be able to apply elsewhere in time to get accepted during this application cycle.
The 2024-2025 AMCAS deadline for submitting is 11:59 p.m. EST on the deadline date. The deadline date for each medical school is different. Some schools require submissions as early as September, but others allow submissions as late as January.
The early decision deadline is August 1, 2024.
Note: Don’t wait until near the deadline to submit your application! The overwhelming majority of students accepted to medical schools apply earlier in the cycle. That’s why we recommend submitting your primary application no later than the first week of June, if at all possible.
Secondary applications (supplemental applications) are school-specific forms sent to applicants after the primary application is submitted.
Med schools’ secondary applications gather additional information about students to evaluate whether they’re a good fit for that institution.
We Can Help You Craft a Standout AMCAS Application
Looking to craft a stand-out application and ultimately achieve your dream of becoming a physician? MedSchoolCoach can help. Our admissions experts work with hundreds of students each year, providing step-by-step guidance throughout the admissions process.
This 1-on-1 mentorship is why 92% of MedSchoolCoach clients get accepted into medical school – double the acceptance rate for the average applicant.
Ready to 2x your odds of med school acceptance?
