How to Use VSAS

Once you have determined that you will be using VSAS, the following steps outline the application process.

Step 1: Request VSAS Authorizations

To access VSAS you must first be issued authorizations. The number of authorizations you receive determine how many elective applications you can submit.

• Ask the office or person who assists with your 4th year schedule (e.g., student affairs office/visiting student coordinator) to issue you authorizations to use VSAS.
• When they are issued, you will receive a "VSAS: New User Instructions" e-mail containing the information you need to log in to VSAS.

Step 2: Review Host Institution Information

Review the host institutions' application requirements, fee information and dates on which they will begin accepting and processing applications through your "Schools" tab.

Step 3: Complete your VSAS Profile

Once logged in to the software, you will complete the Profile section of the VSAS application. This includes the following information and your certification of a number of statements (PDF, 1 page).

• General and emergency contact information
• Dates you finished (or will have finished) your core clerkships
• Photograph, CV, immunization records* (these may be optional)
  *Immunization records may be uploaded to your Profile only after you submit applications through VSAS.
• Your school will upload your transcript

Step 4: Search for Electives

Utilizing the VSAS search form, you can use any of the following search criteria to locate just the electives you are interested in:

• Keywords
• Specialty
• Institution
• Start Month of an elective

While reviewing your search results you may save the electives and dates in which you are interested. You may save the same elective multiple times with different dates.

Note: all host institutions will not have their electives available for viewing or application at the same time. Use your VSAS "Schools" tab to review when electives will be made available to you by the host institution.

Step 5: Apply to Electives

To complete the application process, select one or more of your saved electives and arrange them in order of preference by institution. Enter your credit card information to pay for the VSAS application fees and submit your applications.

Once submitted, the applications are transmitted to your home school who will verify data (PDF, 1 page) about you and, optionally, upload your transcript. The home school will then release your applications to their respective host institutions for processing.

Additional Requirements: Some host institutions may require additional documentation to supplement the VSAS application. We recommend you utilize the "Schools" tab in VSAS to review each host institution's application requirements.

Step 6: Track Offers

You can track each submitted application by clicking on your Applications tab in VSAS. Each submitted application will be listed here and its current status displayed. The following actions, if necessary, can be done from this tab:

• Accept or decline offers received from host institutions.
  If you don't respond to an offer within a timeframe set by the host institution, it will expire.
• Modify submitted applications by changing your preferred dates or reordering your applications.
• Drop your accepted offers.
• Withdraw pending applications.

Step 7: Read E-mails

Make sure the e-mail address in your VSAS profile is current, as you will receive e-mails notifying you of:

• Offers for electives.
• Electives applied for, but which are not available.
• Scheduling conflicts between offered and/or already scheduled electives. These conflicts must be resolved 30 days before the start of the first elective.
• Offers made by host institutions with impending expirations.
• Cancelled electives to which you have applied or been scheduled.