AAMC Recommendations for Medical School Admission Officers

The following recommendations are promulgated by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to ensure that applicants are afforded timely notification of the outcome of their medical school applications and timely access to available first-year positions and that schools are protected from having unfilled positions in their entering classes. These recommendations are being distributed for the information of prospective medical students, their advisors, and personnel at the medical schools to which they have applied.

The AAMC recommends that:

1. Each school:

   1. Publish annually, amend publicly, and adhere to its application, acceptance and admission procedures.

   2. Utilizing an application service abide by all conditions of its participation agreement with that application service.

2. Each school:

   1. Between August 1 and March 15 notify the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services of all admission actions within four weeks of those actions being taken.

   2. Between March 16 and the first day of class, notify the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services of all admission actions within seven days of those actions being taken.

3. Each school notify all applicants - other than Combined College/M.D., Early Decision Program (EDP), and deferred matriculation applicants - of acceptance to medical school only after October 15 of each admission cycle. It may be appropriate to communicate notifications of decisions other than acceptance to medical school to applicants prior to October 15.

4. By March 30 of the matriculation year, each school have issued a number of offers of acceptance at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class and have reported those acceptance actions to the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services.

5. Prior to May 15 of the matriculation year (April 15 for schools whose first day of class is on or before July 30), each school permit ALL applicants (except for EDP applicants) - including those applying to M.D./Ph.D. programs and those to whom merit or other special scholarships have been awarded:

   1. A minimum two-week time period for their response to the acceptance offer.

   2. To hold acceptance offers from any other schools without penalty.

6. After May 15 of the matriculation year (April 15 for schools whose first day of class is on or before July 30), each school implement school-specific procedures for accepted applicants who, without adequate explanation, continue to hold one or more places at other schools. These procedures:

   1. May require applicants to:

      1. Respond to acceptance offers in less than two weeks.

      2. Submit a statement of intent, a deposit, or both.

   2. Should recognize the problems of applicants with multiple acceptance offers, applicants who have not yet received an acceptance offer, and applicants who have not yet been informed about financial aid opportunities at schools to which they have been accepted.

   3. Should permit accepted applicants to remain on other schools' waiting lists and to withdraw if they later receive an acceptance offer from a preferred school.

7. Each school's acceptance deposit not exceed $100 and be refundable until May 15 (except for EDP applicants). If the applicant enrolls at the school, the school is encouraged to credit the deposit toward tuition.

8. After June 1, any school that plans to make an acceptance offer to an applicant already known to have been accepted by another school for that entering class ensure that the other school is advised of this offer at the time that the offer is made. This notification should be made immediately by telephone and promptly thereafter by written correspondence delivered by regular or electronic methods. Schools should communicate fully with each other with respect to anticipated late roster changes in order to minimize inter-school miscommunication and misunderstanding, as well as the possibility of unintended vacant positions in a school's first-year entering class.

9. No school make an acceptance offer, either verbal or written, to any individual who has enrolled in, or begun an orientation program immediately prior to enrollment at, a U.S. or Canadian school. Enrollment is defined as being officially matriculated as a member of the school's first-year entering class.

10. Each school treat all letters of recommendation submitted in support of an application as confidential, except in those states with applicable laws to the contrary. The contents of a letter of recommendation should not be revealed to an applicant at any time.

Approved: GSA Committee on Admissions, July 17, 2003
Approved: GSA Steering Committee, July 18, 2003
Approved: Council of Deans, September , 2003
Approved: AAMC Executive Committee, October 3, 2003

Also see: AAMC Recommendations for Medical School Applicants