How to Send MCAT Scores to AACOMAS

Learn how to send MCAT scores to AACOMAS effortlessly, ensuring your application to osteopathic medical schools is complete.

• Streamline Submission: Easily navigate the AACOMAS interface for efficient score reporting.
• Avoid Common Mistakes: Identify potential pitfalls in the MCAT score submission process.
• Timely Processing: Understand the importance of deadlines to ensure MCAT scores are received on time.

Master the how to send MCAT scores to AACOMAS process today.

Understanding the MCAT and AACOMAS Relationship

When embarking on the journey to become an osteopathic physician, you’ll find that both the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) play pivotal roles in your path. Let’s clarify the connection between these two vital components of your application process.

The MCAT is a standardized examination designed to measure your problem-solving abilities, critical thinking, and knowledge of natural, behavioral, and social science concepts — all crucial skill sets for a medical student and future doctor. Your MCAT scores are an essential metric considered by osteopathic medical schools, as they offer a standardized way to evaluate your academic readiness.

Why MCAT Scores Matter to AACOMAS

• Academic Benchmarking: Your MCAT score sets a quantifiable standard for AACOMAS to compare your readiness with other applicants.
• Holistic Review Component: Along with GPA and extracurricular activities, MCAT scores contribute to the comprehensive assessment of your potential.

In this critical phase of your medical school journey, remember to send your MCAT scores to AACOMAS accurately and promptly. By doing so, you ensure your potential schools have all the necessary information to evaluate your application holistically.

How to Get Started

Before you can send your MCAT scores to AACOMAS, you’ll need to take a few preparatory steps:

1. Secure Your MCAT Score: After your test, ensure you have access to your scores via the AAMC’s website.
2. Create an AACOMAS Account: This will be your portal for applying to osteopathic medical schools.

Preliminary Considerations

• Understand the Deadlines: AACOMAS opens applications in May, and with rolling admissions, it’s wise to submit scores as early as possible.
• Review Score Validity: Check the validity period of your MCAT score to ensure it’s accepted by the time of application.

As you lay the groundwork, starting your AACOMAS application should be synonymous with reviewing your MCAT scores. You’ll want to know them inside out to tailor your school choices and application strategy effectively.

Official MCAT Scores: Requesting and Submitting

Now that you’re ready to send your MCAT scores, it’s time to navigate through the official procedures:

1. Log into the AAMC MCAT Score Reporting System: Here, you’ll initiate the score reporting process.
2. Designate AACOMAS as the Score Recipient: During score release or afterward, select AACOMAS to receive your scores directly.
3. Double-check Your Information: Verify that the AAMC ID included in your AACOMAS application matches the one linked to your MCAT results.

An accurate and timely submission means you’re another step forward in your goal to apply to osteopathic medical schools. Remember, it generally takes around two weeks for scores to be processed and delivered to AACOMAS, so plan accordingly.

Academic History and Transcripts

Beyond MCAT scores, it’s your academic record that paints a picture of your dedication and intellectual capacity. Here’s how to ensure your transcripts complement your MCAT scores:

• Order Official Transcripts Early: Late submissions can delay your application, so request transcripts from every post-secondary institution you’ve attended in plenty of time.
• Be Transparent: All coursework, regardless of transfer or AP credit, must be accounted for in AACOMAS to provide a full academic portrait.

Aligning your transcripts with your MCAT scores is about consistency and attention to detail. By harmonizing these elements, your application will tell the story of a committed and conscientious candidate.

Application Fees and MCAT Score Reporting

Every step towards your dream of practicing osteopathic medicine has associated costs, and it’s important to be financially prepared:

• Application Fee: AACOMAS charges a base fee for the first program you apply to, with additional fees for each extra program.
• Score Reporting: Fortunately, sending your MCAT scores to AACOMAS doesn’t come with extra charges once AACOMAS is designated as a score recipient.

Budgeting effectively for these expenses is a facet of your planning that should be approached with as much care as preparing for the MCAT itself.

Letters of Recommendation and MCAT Scores

Your MCAT scores reflect your academic strengths, but letters of recommendation give voice to your personal and professional qualities. To synchronize these aspects:

• Select Recommenders Wisely: Choose individuals who can speak to your abilities and character relevant to the MCAT subjects and to the field of osteopathic medicine.
• Provide Context: Offer your recommenders your MCAT score and any other pertinent application data to help them tailor their letters effectively.

The synergy between quantitative scores and qualitative endorsements is pivotal. It’s about crafting a narrative where each element supports the other, showcasing you as a well-rounded and compelling candidate for any DO program.

Pulling together a compelling AACOMAS application is like fitting pieces of a puzzle together; it’s meticulously plotting each element from MCAT scores to recommendation letters. Having this strategic yet personal approach positions you not just as an applicant, but as a narrative waiting to unfold in the realm of osteopathic medicine.

Sending MCAT Scores to AACOMAS: Detailed Steps

Navigating through the submission process for your MCAT scores to AACOMAS can be smooth and error-free if you follow these steps closely. This section will guide you through each phase of the process to ensure that your scores arrive promptly and accurately at AACOMAS.

Step-by-Step MCAT Score Submission

1. Access the AAMC MCAT Score Reporting System: Start the process by visiting the AAMC’s official score reporting website.
2. Log in with Your AAMC Credentials: Enter your AAMC ID and password to access your scores.
3. Select AACOMAS as the Score Recipient: Look for the option to send your scores to application services, and choose AACOMAS from the list.
4. Confirm Your AAMC ID Matches: Ensure the AAMC ID on your AACOMAS application is identical to the one linked to your MCAT score to avoid processing delays.

Remember that meticulous attention to each detail is critical. If you’re unsure about any part of the process, AAMC’s customer support is there to assist you.

How to Confirm AACOMAS Receipt of MCAT Scores

Verifying that AACOMAS has indeed received your MCAT scores is essential to your peace of mind and a crucial step in your medical school application process. Here’s what you need to do once you’ve sent the scores:

• Check Your AACOMAS Application: Log into your AACOMAS account and navigate to the ‘Standardized Tests’ section to see if your scores are listed.
• Follow Up If Necessary: Should there be an unexpected delay, reach out to AACOMAS customer service for assistance.

Transparency and due diligence here can save you from surprises later in the admissions cycle, so do take the time to confirm receipt.

All Schools, One Score: Understanding Score Visibility

Many applicants wonder about the visibility of their MCAT scores—whether each DO program they’ve applied to will see their scores. The answer is, indeed, yes.

When you submit your MCAT scores to AACOMAS, they are disseminated to all the osteopathic schools you’ve applied to under that application service. This allows for a seamless, integrated approach where all schools receive the same information, ensuring fairness and consistency across your applications.

Your MCAT Score’s Reach Within AACOMAS

• Uniform Distribution: Once sent to AACOMAS, every DO program you apply to through the service will receive your MCAT scores.
• Presentation of Scores: Schools will see your scores exactly as they are reported by the AAMC, providing a standardized component to your application.

This is an important reminder that you are essentially curating a single, comprehensive narrative for multiple audiences within the osteopathic academic community.

Special Cases: Sending MCAT Scores to Osteopathic Medical Schools Directly

There are exceptions where some schools may request that you send your MCAT scores to them directly. If you encounter this request, here’s what you need to do:

• Understand the Requirements: Each school might have different procedures, so it’s vital to follow their specific directions.
• Contact AAMC for Assistance: If scores need to be sent directly, AAMC can facilitate this process, ensuring the school receives your scores.

While not the norm, addressing these special cases promptly will keep your application on track and demonstrate your ability to follow unique directives.

Keeping a Record: How to Print MCAT Scores

For your own records or if required during supplementary application processes, printing a copy of your MCAT scores is straightforward:

1. Access the MCAT Score Reporting System: Log in with your AAMC credentials.
2. Navigate to Your Score Report: Select the specific score report you wish to print.
3. Print a PDF Copy: Use your browser’s print function to produce a physical copy or save it as a PDF.

Maintaining a personal archive of this key document could come in handy during interviews or as part of secondary applications.

Which Test Scores Does AACOMAS See?

AACOMAS will have access to all MCAT scores that you have authorized to be released to them. This includes:

• Multiple Attempts: If you’ve taken the MCAT more than once, all scores that have been released will be visible.
• Historical Scores: As long as your scores fall within the validity period set by AACOMAS, they will appear in your application.

This integrity in score reporting ensures an equitable evaluation process by the osteopathic medical schools reviewing your application.

Conclusion: Final Checklist and Next Steps

The final phase is about wrapping up and looking ahead. Ensure you have:

• Sent Your Scores and Confirmed Receipt: Your MCAT scores are safely in AACOMAS’s hands, pipelining your application to various DO programs.
• Aligned MCAT Scores with Transcripts and LORs: Your application tells a coherent story of your academic prowess and personal attributes.
• Printed Records for Your File: You have physical copies of your MCAT scores, just in case.

Armed with this information and checklist, you’re now well-equipped to navigate the task of sending MCAT scores to AACOMAS with confidence. Your path to a career in osteopathic medicine is clearer and a few strides closer, with only the journey of selection and learning ahead.