AMCAS® FAQs

The 2025 AMCAS program processing fee is $175 and includes one medical school designation. Additional school designations are $46 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 my writing, including personal comments, essays for MD-PhD applicants, and descriptions of work/activities, is my own. Although I may utilize mentors, peers, advisors, and/or AI tools for brainstorming, proofreading, or editing, my final submission is a true reflection of my own work and represents my experiences. I acknowledge that no changes can be made after submission and will thoroughly proofread my work. Quotations are allowed if I cite the source.
• I have read, understand, and agree to comply with the AMCAS Applicant Guide, 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 responsible for reviewing my application after AMCAS processing is complete. I am responsible for notifying the AMCAS program of any discrepancies resulting from the verification process by using the Academic Change Request process, located in the Quick Links section of the Main Menu.
• I have read, understand, and agree to comply with the Application and Acceptance Protocols for Applicants, which sets forth guidelines for ethical conduct during the application process
  and defines important application cycle dates.
• I have read, understand, and accept the AAMC’s Policies and Procedures for Investigating Reported Violations of Admissions and Enrollment Standards, which sets forth the AAMC’s practices for investigating and reporting discrepancies in credentials, attempts to subvert the admissions process, inaccuracies, material omissions, or other attempts to subvert the admissions process.
• I understand that I am responsible for learning the admission requirements, application policies, and due dates 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 admission requirements of the medical schools to which I apply.
• I understand that, unless advised otherwise by the recipient school, 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 10 business days of the conviction, guilty or no contest to plea.
• 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 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 10 days of application processing completion.
• I understand that the AMCAS program has my permission to release information, at the request of the medical school(s), to a third party to prepopulate online secondary applications.
• I understand that any medical school in which I enroll may release my relevant student records to the AAMC for inclusion in the AAMC Student Records System (SRS), a secure, centralized enrollment database on the national medical student population. Access to SRS is limited to medical school administrators and select AAMC staff. The student records released to the AAMC may include information about my enrollment status, attendance, degree program, graduation plans, and demographic and contact information. Released student records will not include information about my academic performance, such as coursework grades or test scores. The AAMC uses SRS data for accreditation purposes, data services, outcomes studies, program evaluations, research projects, and other data activities in support of the medical education community and may release the data to a limited number of third parties. All AAMC uses and release of data will be consistent with the AAMC’s privacy policies.
• I understand that my access and use of this application is governed by the AAMC Website Terms and Conditions and the AAMC Privacy Statement, including the AAMC Policies Regarding the Collection, Use, and Dissemination of Medical School and Applicant Data, which I agreed to when I created an AAMC account and which I continue to agree to by my access and use of the AAMC website, including this service. I acknowledge the following regarding my personal information:
  • The AAMC may release my application information to any school to which I submit my application.
  • The AAMC may release information regarding my matriculation status, including any commitment to matriculate I indicate to the AMCAS program, to any medical school to which I submit my application.
  • I understand that once released to a school, my personal information will be subject to the school’s privacy policies.
  • I agree to the processing and storage of my personal information on servers located
    in the United States.
  • I acknowledge that if I wish to exercise any rights I may have under applicable law regarding my personal information I should refer to the AAMC Privacy Statement or contact privacy@aamc.org or amcashelp@aamc.org to make such a request.

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.