AMCAS® FAQs

The 2024 AMCAS program processing fee is $175 and includes one medical school designation. Additional school designations are $45 each. Tax, where applicable, will be calculated at checkout. 

You can submit it as soon as you have completed all sections of the AMCAS application and you have carefully reviewed your information for errors. To meet an application deadline, your application must be submitted (not processed/verified) by 11:59 p.m. ET on the date specified. Your application is not submitted until you have agreed to the certification statements and paid applicable fees.

Your MCAT scores and letters of recommendation do not have to be received by the AMCAS program before you submit your application.

The application deadline is the date by which your application must be submitted to the AMCAS program. You must submit your application, agree to the certification statement, and pay the appropriate application fees by 11:59 p.m. ET of the deadline date. Your application does not need to be processed/verified by the deadline date.

Each medical school program sets its own deadline, so be sure to consult Participating Medical Schools and Deadlines and remember that different programs at the same school may have different deadline dates. The Early Decision Program (EDP) has a deadline of August 1 for all medical schools.

To meet the application deadline, you must also meet the transcript deadline, which is 14 calendar days after the school's deadline for your AMCAS application.

After the AMCAS program has received both your application and all of your required official transcripts, the verification process takes about 6 weeks.

AMCAS does not grant deadline extensions for any reason. Schools may grant deadline extensions. Contact the individual medical schools directly to request a deadline extension. If your request is approved, the school will notify AMCAS to process your application after the deadline.

Once your application has been received, the schools designated in your application cannot be substituted or deleted, even if you miss a deadline. You may designate additional medical schools provided the school's deadline has not passed.

For example, if you originally applied to Schools A, B, and C by their application deadlines, but missed the transcript deadline of School A, you cannot substitute School D for School A. However, you may add School D and pay the additional school designation fee. To do so, return to your completed application, open it, add an additional school choice, then re-certify and update your application with the appropriate fees before the school's AMCAS deadline.

You must initiate your application before sending transcripts to AMCAS.

AMCAS starts accepting transcripts the day the application cycle opens. Transcript deadlines are 14 calendar days after the school's AMCAS application deadline date. For example, if School A's application deadline is October 15, their transcript deadline is October 29. The only exception to this rule is for transcripts in support of an Early Decision Program (EDP) application, which are due on August 1. Use the Transcript Request Form, which you can generate from within your application, so your transcripts can be easily matched to your application.

Transcripts must be received by the following dates:

• Early Decision Program applications: August 1
• Regular applications: 14 calendar days after the school's stated application deadline, by 5 p.m. ET.

If the transcript deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, materials are due on the following business day. Transcripts should be accompanied by the Transcript Request Form, which is located within the AMCAS Application.

You will only be eligible for a refund if you withdraw before your application begins the AMCAS verification process. You will receive a refund only for those schools for which the published deadline has not yet passed (at the time you withdraw your application). If no published deadlines have passed at the time you withdraw your application, you will receive a full refund minus a $170 non-refundable service fee.

If you request a deadline extension and are denied, you will not receive a refund.

The AMCAS program will not transmit your application to a medical school if it is not complete by that school's deadline.

For example, if your AMCAS application for School A was received before its October 15 application deadline, but one of your transcripts was received on October 30, one day after School A's transcript deadline, tge AMCAS program will not transmit your application to the school. You have missed the deadline, and you are not eligible for a refund.

To prevent these delays from occurring, you should use the AMCAS Transcript Request Form when requesting that official transcripts be sent to the AMCAS program in support of your application. You can find this form in the Schools Attended section of the application. This form, which registrars submit to the AMCAS program alongside the requested official transcript(s), includes the AAMC ID, the Alternate ID identified by the applicant as being used by the transcript-issuing institution, and other information helpful to the matching process.

In order to submit your application, you are required to certify the following statements:

• I certify that the information in this application and associated materials is current, complete, and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
• I certify that all written passages, such as the personal statement, essays required from M.D.-Ph.D. applicants, and descriptions of work/activities, are my own and have not been written, in part or in whole, by a third party. Quotations are permitted if the source is cited.
• I have read, understand, and agree to comply with the AMCAS Instruction Manual, including the provisions noting that I am responsible for monitoring and ensuring the progress of my application process, by checking the Main Menu of my application. I understand that I am also responsible for reviewing my application after AMCAS processing is complete.
• AAMC investigates and may report to legitimately interested parties discrepancies in information, attempts to subvert the admission process, and any other irregular matter that occurs in connection with application activities. I understand and agree that the sole and exclusive remedy available to me to appeal or otherwise challenge the AAMC’s decision to send an investigation report to legitimately interested parties shall be confidential, binding arbitration through written submissions only to the Washington, D.C. office of the American Arbitration Association under the expedited procedures for commercial matters. I understand that my failure to request in writing arbitration within 30 calendar days of receipt of an investigation report that has been approved by the AAMC for transmittal to interested parties will constitute an absolute bar and waiver of this exclusive remedy. I further understand that the sole issue for arbitration shall be whether the AAMC acted reasonably and in good faith in making its decision.
• I understand that I am responsible for knowing and understanding the admissions requirements for each school to which I am applying, and that I am not eligible for a refund of AMCAS fees if I do not meet the admissions requirements of the medical schools.
• I understand that I am required to inform the Admissions Office of each medical school to which I apply if I am convicted of, or plead guilty or no contest to, a misdemeanor or felony crime after the date of my original application submission and prior to medical school matriculation. I understand that this communication must be in writing and must occur within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the criminal charge or conviction.
• I understand that I am required to inform the Admissions Office of each medical school to which I apply if I become the subject of an institutional action after the date of original application submission and prior to medical school matriculation. I understand that this communication must be in writing and must occur within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the institutional action.
• I acknowledge and agree that my sole remedy in the event of any errors or omissions relating to the handling or processing of my application is to obtain a refund of my AMCAS application fee; however, I may be eligible for a refund only if I have notified the AMCAS program of any errors or omissions within ten (10) days of application processing completion.
• I certify that the AMCAS program has my permission to release information, at the request of the medical school(s), to a third party to pre-populate online secondary applications.

When you certify (electronically sign) your application, you signify that you have read this information as well as all other instructions throughout the application.

The AMCAS Instructions are:

• Review the AMCAS Applicant Guide
• On-screen instructions: On-screen instructions are those that appear on each page as you complete the application.
• Help: Help refers to all instructions located in the Help menu. You can view the information by clicking Help on any page of the online application.