Under your respective postsecondary institutions, you must enter courses in chronological order exactly as they appear on the official transcript of the school where you originally attempted them.
This is especially important to remember if the credit for a course was transferred from one U.S. or Canadian school to another.
For example, suppose you primarily attended the University of Maryland and took Intro to Photography at your local community college over the summer. You would list the community college in the Schools Attended section of the application (and request an official transcript from that school) and add Intro to Photography as a course you took there. You would not list the course under the University of Maryland, even if the credits were transferred there. The following are the fields that pertain to each entered course.
Academic Year and Term
These fields show the Academic Year and Term during which you took a course. The AMCAS year begins with summer and ends with spring. Courses taken in the summer should be entered with the next academic year, even if your institution considers them in the previous academic year. For example, if you took a course in the first summer session of 2016, you should enter it as the 2016-2017 academic year, even if your school considers it in the 2015-2016 academic year.
In the Academic Term drop-down menu, please select the academic term that best mirrors the institution’s academic calendar system.
Year in School
The guidelines below will help you determine your Year in School. The AMCAS program is not responsible for any delays in processing and/or incorrect GPA calculations that may result from incorrect Year in School assignments. If the Year in School designation greatly exceeds the ranges specified below, the program may reassign statuses.
Each undergraduate status should consist of about 24 to 35 semester hours. If you are enrolled in an institution as a full-time, continuous undergraduate, you should usually change your Year in School after every two semesters, three to four quarters, or two to three trimesters.
If you have been enrolled part-time or have had interrupted attendance, you should use the following ranges to determine your appropriate status for each term:
| Year in School | Semester Hours |
|---|---|
| High School (HS) | College-level coursework taken while in high school |
| Freshman (FR) | 0 through 35 semester hours |
| Sophom*ore (SO) | 36 through 65 semester hours |
| Junior (JR) | 66 through 95 semester hours |
| Senior (SR) | 96+ semester hours |
For example: Freshman and sophom*ore years should have a combined total of no more than 65 semester hours; freshman, sophom*ore, and junior years should have a total of no more than 95 semester hours.
If you have a significant number of AP or college-level coursework credits before entering college, you may list your entire first college year as FR status. In doing so, you will most likely exceed the guideline of 0 through 35 semester hours for freshman year, but your AMCAS GPAs will reflect your “true” first year in college; in these cases, the AMCAS program will not change your academic status. However, if you’d rather base your academic statuses on credit hours only, your application will be accepted and verified according to the year-in-school guidelines.
The following rules will help you determine the appropriate AMCAS Year in School for all your coursework (including foreign coursework):
- Do not assign more than one status to an academic term.
- Assign HS status to college-level courses taken before the high school graduation date you entered in the Schools Attended section, regardless of the physical location of the college-level course. This does not include AP, Exempt, International Baccalaureate (IB), or CLEP credit.
- Assign FR status to AP, Exempt, IB, or CLEP credit awarded when you first entered college. Do not enter AP coursework under HS status.
- Once your undergraduate Year in School (FR, SO, JR, SR) has advanced, do not assign the previous status; continue to enter your completed coursework from that point.
- Junior and community college courses (e.g., associate degree coursework) should usually be listed as FR or SO if you took the courses before you attended a four-year institution. For attendance longer than two years at the same school, refer to the Year in School section.
- Courses for a bachelor’s degree earned in two years should be assigned statuses of FR and SR.
- Courses for a bachelor’s degree earned in three years should be assigned statuses of FR, SO, and SR.
- Courses for a bachelor’s degree earned in more than four years should be assigned statuses of FR, SO, JR, SR.
- Assign Postbaccalaureate (PB) status to any undergraduate-level coursework you enrolled in:
- After you received your initial BA or BS degree.
- While enrolled in a graduate program if coursework is not applied to a graduate degree.
- Assign graduate (GR) status to any professional or graduate-level coursework that is not applied to an undergraduate degree.
Course Number and Course Name
In the designated fields, enter the course name in English and the course number exactly as it appears on the official transcript (excluding symbols or any style formatting). If the exact course name does not fit, enter a logical abbreviation. The course name and number are critical for the AMCAS verification of each course on the official transcript and for the medical school’s or schools’ evaluation of your application.
Course numbers should include all letters and numbers associated with the course (e.g., BIO 101). If a course number does not fit in the space provided, include the last eight digits. If decimal points are part of the course number on your official transcript, include them when entering the course number. The AMCAS program is not responsible for processing delays or missed deadlines resulting from incorrect listings of course names and numbers.
Course Classification
Each course must be assigned a course classification based strictly on the primary content of the course. The course classifications listed in the Course Classification Guide appear in boldface type and are titled as they appear in the course classification drop-down list. The items beneath each boldface heading are examples of courses for which you should select that bolded course classification. You are responsible for selecting the correct course classification, but the AMCAS program reserves the right to change the classification if the assigned classification clearly does not apply.
If you disagree with a change the AMCAS program has made to a course classification, you may submit an Academic Change Request. Applications are not returned for changes made to course classifications.
The AMCAS program is not responsible for incorrect GPA calculations resulting from incorrect course classifications. If you are unable to classify a course satisfactorily, we suggest you refer to the description of the course on the relevant school’s website.
The AMCAS program uses course classifications to calculate your GPAs. Classifications highlighted in the BCPM group indicate such courses will be included in the calculation of your BCPM GPA, which comprises biology, chemistry, physics, and math courses. Classifications not grouped in BCPM indicate courses that will be included in the calculation of your AO (all other) GPA.
The department offering the course is typically not a factor in the course classification. For example, a course should be classified as biology if the primary content is biology, regardless of the department that offers the course.
