FAQs for ERAS® Residency Applicants

The AAMC has developed data policy guidelines to prevent the exposure of confidential personal data without the prior permission of the individual. Please review the data policy for details regarding the collection and use of ERAS data. 

The USMLE transcript is required by many residency programs as part of the application process.  The COMLEX-USA transcript is required by many residency programs (Osteopathically Recognized) as part of the DO application process.

The Letter of Recommendation Portal (LoRP) enables Letters of Recommendation (LoR) Authors and/or their designees to upload letters of recommendation (LoRs) to the ERAS system for distribution to training programs, at the request of applicants. Learn more about who can upload letters of recommendation to the LoRP. 

Letters of Recommendation are the property of the individual who signed the letter (“the author”), not the applicant. The author has the right, at any time, to edit, revoke or rescind their letter of recommendation regardless of whether they personally uploaded the letter or selected a designee to upload the letter on their behalf. Applicants will not be able to replace a letter that has been edited, revoked, or rescinded by the letter’s author if the applicant has already assigned a letter to a program to which the applicant has applied.

In cases where an applicant did not waive his or her right to view the letter and uploaded the letter on behalf of the author of the letter, the applicant must, if requested by the author, make requested edits, replace, or revoke the letter on behalf of the author. Failure to comply with the author’s request may result in ERAS staff contacting programs to withdraw the letter on behalf of the author. 

No. If an applicant certifies and submits an application during the early opening, they will not be able to make any changes except to the Personal Information section of the MyERAS application.

Certifying and submitting an application signifies that the applicant has completed and is willing to release the application to selected programs. Applicants should ensure there are no omissions or inaccuracies before certifying and submitting their MyERAS applications.

For the 2025 ERAS application, applicants will see language in the certification process noting that the use of AI tools is acceptable for brainstorming, proofreading, or editing, but that their final submission should represent their own work and accurately reflect their experiences.