During review of your documentation, Fee Assistance Program staff may determine that additional supporting documentation is required. The status of your application will be Submitted and On Hold if you appear to be eligible for the Fee Assistance Program based on the information you submitted in your application, but additional information is needed. 

If this occurs, you will receive an email listing the required documents. Follow the steps provided by the Fee Assistance Program team in this email. Failure to follow the steps in this email could result in your application remaining on hold. A list of your required documents also appears in the Document Gathering and Upload component of your application.

You will receive details about the supporting documentation the AAMC requires to continue to process your application in the Next Steps component of the application. The status of your application will remain Submitted and On Hold until all required documents are received.

Next Steps

The Next Steps component of the Fee Assistance Program application provides information about required documents and allows you to upload your documents directly to your application. Upon approval, you may also have the option to claim your MCAT Official Prep benefits, if applicable, and to release information to your academic advisor.

Step 1: Would you like to receive MCAT Official Prep product benefits upon approval?

Regardless of the number of times you are awarded fee assistance, you will receive MCAT Official Prep product benefits only once.

Select “Yes” only if you wish to receive MCAT Official Prep product benefits immediately and for this application award period. 

Select “No” if you do not plan to prepare for the MCAT exam within this application award period. You will be able to log into your account and change your response to “Yes” when you are ready to receive your MCAT Official Prep product benefits.

If you received MCAT Official Prep product benefits from a previous Fee Assistance Program award, you will not be given the option to claim this benefit again.

Step 2: Advisor Release

Answer “Yes” if you authorize the AAMC to release your Fee Assistance Program award status to the school-designated advisor(s) at institutions you have attended. The AAMC provides only your award status; detailed financial information is not released. Advisors can view your award status only if you also release your MCAT scores, your AMCAS application information, or both. If you select “No,” you can change your response to “Yes” any time before and after approval.

Step 3: Consent and Certification Forms

The Consent and Certification Form is required for all applicants and their parents (if applicable). A form will be generated for each household listed in your application. Each form must be signed by all parties, including spouses. The form must be signed with either handwritten or a digital signature that includes an audit trail, such as a DocuSign or Adobe signature.

Step 4: Document Gathering and Upload

Use this component to upload required documentation for yourself and your parents (if applicable). All required documents are listed in this section, and you can also upload supplemental documents. To upload a document, browse and select the appropriate file for the correct listing. Select “Upload” under the corresponding listing. For details on required documentation, visit the What You Need to Apply page of the Fee Assistance Program website.

Note: The following are the supported file types:

• Image files (GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, XPNG, X-PNG, TIFF)
• Text file (TXT)
• PDF file (PDF)

The maximum file size for documents you wish to upload is 5MB. If you cannot upload your required documents, you can mail or fax the documents to the address or fax number listed in the Contact Us section of this document.

Note: The Fee Assistance Program does not accept typed signatures. All signatures must be handwritten or digital signatures that include an audit trail, such as a DocuSign or Adobe signature.

Error Explanation Letter

If an error is discovered in your Fee Assistance Program application by you or program staff, you may be required to complete an Error Explanation Letter to document the error and provide revised information.

Note: The Error Explanation Letter may be considered only when your application is actively being reviewed by the AAMC.

If you noticed an error after you submitted your Fee Assistance Program application, the program staff asks that you indicate where the error occurred. For example:

1. If you entered an incorrect amount for the aid a household received on your Fee Assistance Program application, and the household received that type of income or aid, upload the document that details the correct amount received for that household. In this situation, an Error Explanation Letter would not be needed. The Fee Assistance Program team can adjust the figure during the verification process after receiving documentation of the correct amount of income or aid. For example, if your parents received Social Security benefits and you incorrectly entered the total amount they received, upload the document that details these benefits correctly to the Document Gathering and Upload section for your parents’ household(s).
2. If you did not list a source of income or aid on your Fee Assistance Program application for a household, and the household did, in fact, receive income or aid, upload the document under the corresponding listing under Optional Supplemental Documents for that household. In this situation, an Error Explanation Letter would not be needed. The Fee Assistance Program team can add the source of income or aid and the amount during the verification process after receiving documentation of the correct amount. For example, if you did not list that you received housing and food assistance and you did, in fact, receive such income, locate the Optional Supplemental Documents section for your household, select “Housing/Food Assistance Letter, signed” from the drop-down menu, and submit the correct document.
3. If you entered an incorrect source of income or aid on your Fee Assistance Program application, an Error Explanation Letter would be required, along with any other supporting documentation, if applicable. For example, if you listed on your application that your parents received $500 in welfare benefits, but the income source was housing and food assistance, you should:

• Submit an Error Explanation Letter under “Welfare Statement” in your parents’ Document Gathering and Upload section, since this is where the mistake was made.
• Submit the Housing and Food Assistance Letter under the “Housing/Food Assistance Letter, signed” listing. Since this was not initially entered in the application, access this listing from the drop-down menu under the Optional Supplemental Documents listing under your parents’ Document Gathering and Upload section.

If you did not receive housing and food assistance as detailed in the third example above, you would not be required to submit that documentation, but you are still required to provide a source of income or aid for each household. You should not submit an Error Explanation Letter without additional supporting documentation for a household if the household only has one source of income. For example, if you listed on your application that you only received welfare benefits, you should not submit an Error Explanation Letter under the “Welfare Statement” listing without providing a different source of income or aid.

Note: An Error Explanation Letter cannot be used to change your submitted response to the threshold question (Do you have any living parents?) on your Fee Assistance Program application.

Also be aware that submitting an Error Explanation Letter may not change the information you entered and submitted in your application, nor will it prevent the AAMC from initiating or continuing an investigation regarding an application that was submitted with incomplete, incorrect, or inaccurate information. Refer to the Violations and Investigations section of this guide for more information.

Once all required documents are received, your application will be assigned a Submitted and Pending Verification status. This status means that your application is in line to be verified by the Fee Assistance Program staff, who will review your application and render a decision. The staff’s goal is to review your application and supporting documentation and contact you regarding their findings within five business days. 

If program staff determines that additional information is required or that the documentation you submitted was incorrect or missing signatures, your application will reflect a status of Submitted and On Hold, and you will receive an email with further instructions. 
 

Your application may be withdrawn only after it has been submitted but before the AAMC has approved or denied it. The decision to withdraw your application is final. You will not be able to reactivate or resubmit your application or start a new application for the 2024 calendar year once you have withdrawn your application. Please be aware that withdrawn applications are still subject to investigation.

If your application earns an Approved status: Congratulations! Your Fee Assistance Program application has been approved, and you may now begin to receive Fee Assistance Program award benefits. Please be aware that once your application has been approved, you may not change or update your application for any reason. If a material error is found in your application after your application has been approved, the Violations and Investigations section of this guide will apply.

Your application will be denied if you are ineligible for the Fee Assistance Program based on the information you submitted in your application.

If you believe your application was denied in error, you may appeal this decision. The program staff will not consider appeals or change the decision on your application based on a dispute of Fee Assistance Program policies, such as the use of parental income or the age of the applicant at the time of application. Submission of an appeal also does not guarantee a change in outcome. The AAMC will consider appeals and make final judgments on an application at its sole discretion.

The only circumstance in which you may appeal the denial of your Fee Assistance Program application is if your or your parents’ financial information was entered incorrectly on the application.

For example:

• You entered the wrong family size, and the correct family size would make you eligible for consideration.
• You entered incorrect amounts for your income and/or your parents’ income.

If it appears that you have a reason to submit an appeal, email fap@aamc.org with the subject line “Fee Assistance Program Appeal.”

Your email must include:

• Your name.
• Your AAMC ID.
• Reason for appeal.
• Corrected financial information (if applicable).

If an appeal is initiated, allow up to five business days for the AAMC to review the request and provide a response. It is the program staff’s goal to process each request in a timely manner given the time-sensitive nature of the application process.

If the AAMC made a legitimate error when reviewing your application, Fee Assistance Program staff will correct the error upon receipt of verified supporting documentation.

If you made a legitimate error when completing your application, such as an error when entering income information, your application will be returned to you, and supporting documentation, including an Error Explanation Letter, will be required. You will be required to resubmit your application after the requested documentation has been provided. After review, you may be asked to submit additional documentation to complete the verification process.

Reinstatement of your application does not mean approval is guaranteed. Upon review of your appeal, your application may again be denied.