Navigating the Letter of Recommendation Section on AMCAS

1. Navigating the Letter of Recommendation Section on AMCAS For Medical School Applicants using the Letter of Recommendation Service provided by Lewis Associates

2. Letter of Recommendation Section – Special Notes • This section DOES NOT HAVE TO BE COMPLETED in order to submit your primary application (AMCAS). • You can log onto your AMCAS account after your AMCAS application has been submitted to enter the Letter of Recommendation information. • Since medical schools ask for your letters AFTER your AMCAS application is submitted anyway, you can wait on this portion.

3. Letter of Recommendation Section • Make sure you have completed the following sections: • Biographical Information • Colleges Attended • You may then skip over to the “Letters of Evaluation/Recommendation Summary” Section. • There is a link that will list the medical schools participating in the Letter of Recommendation Pilot Program. • Click on it and see if any of the medical schools listed are where you will apply.

4. Letter of Recommendation Section • If you see one or more of your chosen schools listed, then you need to complete this section. • Click “YES” • If you do NOT see any schools for which you want to apply in this list, click “NO” and you will go directly to the “MEDICAL SCHOOLS” section to designate the schools where you want your AMCAS application to be sent.

6. Letter of Recommendation Section • If you selected “YES”: • The next window will ask you to select the “type of letter.” • If you are using Lewis Associates’ Letter of Recommendation Service or a college service, select: • “Committee Letter/Letter Packet” • And then “Continue” • It’s okay to complete this section either prior to or after submitting your AMCAS. • Just DO NOT ask to actually SEND your letters until schools outside this pilot request them from you.

8. Letter of Recommendation Section • You will then be asked to indicate where the letters originate. • If you are using the Lewis Associates’ Letter of Recommendation Service, select “other”, then select: • State - California • School - Other (Not Listed) • School Name - Lewis Associates • If a college service, select their contact information from the pull down menus. • Click on “Continue.”

10. Letter of Recommendation Section • You will be asked to provide a title for your Letter Packet. • Here are suggested easy titles. • X College_Packet (your undergraduate school) • Lewis Associates_Packet • Primary Contact/Author information: • Dr. Cynthia Lewis • drlewis@lewisassoc.com • 805-226-9669 • Organization Name: Lewis Associates • Address: 1885 Laguna Del Campo • Templeton, CA 93465 • We advise completing the ADDITIONAL AUTHORS so that AMCAS has names of all your letter authors in this packet, but this is optional and cannot be changed once submitted. So, be accurate! If you do not have a letter sitting in your file yet, do not name that author. You can add it later.

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13. Letter of Recommendation Section • If you choose to list the individual letters within the packet, consider the following suggestions for identifying the authors: • Dr. John Smith – Science Letter • Dr. Jane Doe – Non-science Letter • Dr. Samantha Jones – Health Care Experience • Jim Jones - Job Supervisor • Move on to the next step by clicking “Continue.”

14. Letter of Recommendation Section • Click “YES” to Print the Letter Request Form. • PC users: • Save it as a PDF file and email to us. • MAC users: • Open with Acrobat Reader, then save it as a PDF and email to us. • We will provide this form that identifies your Letter Recommendation ID # andyour AAMC ID # with your letter packet to AMCAS by USPS mail.

16. Letter of Recommendation Section • You will then see a window listing: • The letter packet • The title of the packet • Status of the letter packet • Specific Letter ID number

18. Letter of Recommendation Section • Click “Done” • If you have already submitted your application: • - you need to go to the Schools section and assign the letter service you just entered (like Lewis Associates packet) to the schools where you want them sent then you must resubmit your application. • If you have not submitted your application yet: • - Go to Section 7: Medical Schools • You DO NOT NEED to know ALL the schools where you want to send application before you submit it. • Select the ones where you do know you will apply. • You can return to this section after submitting, select additional schools if you wish. But you cannot remove schools once submitted.

19. Special Notes for Medical School Designation • AMCAS is running a pilot program for conducting criminal background checks for the 2nd year (Application years 2008 and 2009). • 10 schools are participating in this program. • If you happen to select a school that is participating in the Criminal Background Checks (CBC), a NEW icon “CBC” will appear.

20. Criminal Background Checks – What does this mean? • This is what occurs for any applicant who applies to a school that is participating in CBC and IS accepted to that school: • The school will conduct a CBC. • This is to verify that you do not have a criminal record, if you had indicated so on your AMCAS application. Thus, BEHAVE YOURSELF! Anything can happen between submission of AMCAS and acceptance. • If you did have a Criminal Record of some sort, an investigation will be conducted to determine the severity or seriousness of the offense. • At this time, there is no additional cost passed on to applicants.

21. Medical School Designation • You will be selecting schools, one at a time. • After selecting a school, click “DONE.”

23. Medical School Designation • You will see the school you selected and the cost of the AMCAS application. • $160.00 for 1 school • $30.00 for each additional school. • Click “Add another school” if you want to select another and repeat the process.

25. Medical School Designation • If you SELECT any of the schools participating in the AMCAS Letter of Recommendation Pilot Program: • You will see a NEW icon “LOE” • It is a reminder that you need to complete the Letter of Recommendation/Evaluation Summary section (which we have now done).

26. Letter of Recommendation Designation • The next window asks which letters are to be sent to the school you just indicated (AMCAS PILOT PROGRAM SCHOOL). • If you are using Lewis Associates’ letter service, you need to click on the letter packet title, “Lewis Associates” packet • If you are also sending letters from your university, you will need to complete the letter source information for them plus provide them your Letter of Recommendation ID #, AAMC ID #, and a letter form. Note that if there are 3 sources of letters, there are 3 Letter of Recommendation ID#s and 3 forms to give, one to each source. • Click “Continue”

28. Medical School Designation • You will now see an updated medical school designation list. • You will also know which schools are AMCAS LETTER AND CBC PILOT SCHOOLS, and which are not. • If you want to choose more schools, you will repeat the last procedure and click on Add Another Medical School.

30. Final Words • This process is different from what you may have heard from students who applied last year. • Take it one step at a time. • DO NOT RUSH. ERRORS cannot be fixed after submission. • Utilize the AWESOME help provided by AMCAS. • If you are not using Lewis Associates, but only your college letter service, still make sure you and Dr. Lewis have discussed your letter plan.