Instructions for Sending Schools

veClient 2011 May 24, 2010 Instructions for Sending Schools

Please familiarize yourself with these instructions and refer to them when a question arises. Be sure to look herein first before you email us for the answer--sounds like what you tell your students about the info you post for them, right? 

The instructions are set up in outline form so that you can more readily find an answer to a specific question. We have made extensive use of screen shots to show you the steps visually. Even if you used VirtualEvals last year, you will want to review these instructions and pay particular attention to the descriptions of new features or changes in veClient. Remember: veClient is how we now refer to the service through which advisors transmit letters of evaluation to health professions schools.

If you used veClient last year, your login and password is still the same. If you forgot your password or have trouble logging in, click on the “Help, I cannot remember my password” link in the login window (the window you get after clicking on Click here to Enter from the VE homepage). You will be asked for your login. After you enter the login, an email message will be sent to the email address you used when you initially received your user account. Open that email and click on the link in it. You will then get a window through which you can set your password. If you don’t remember your login you can email [email protected]. If your institution needs to add any user accounts, please email [email protected]. I will need the name and email address of the new user.

Please take note of the system requirements that are outlined on the VE homepage http://www.virtualevals.org/system-requirements/ Note: Please make sure you are using the current version of Flashplayer for the browser that you are using to access veClient. Some functions, e.g., preview PDF, will not work without it.

NEW: If you use Internet Explorer (IE) as a browser and you have recently upgraded to IE 8, you may have to tweak your browser a bit. It's pretty straightforward.  Open Internet Explorer. You don't need to have VE open--just whatever page your browser generally opens to. Under the "Tools" menu select, "Compatibility View Settings". Select the box "Display all websites in Compatibility View." Apply or save the change.

 Select "Tools" from the horizontal menu at the top. In the dropdown, select "Internet Options" Click on the "security" tab Click on the "custom level" button Pull the scroll bar down about half way and look for "Display mixed content" There are 3 radio buttons--Disable, Enable, Prompt Select Enable Click on OK You should get another box in which you also need to click OK

1.0 There are 4 steps to using veClient. 1.1 Create a PDF for an applicant 1.2 Create and edit an applicant record 1.3 Attach receiving schools 1.4 Upload the PDF for the applicant

2.0 In this document we will describe/review the following features: 2.1 Dashboard 2.2 My Profile 2.3 Institution Profile 1 2.4 Stats 2.5 Help 2.6 Filters 2.7 Tags 2.8 Preview PDF 2.9 Transaction History 2.10 Receiver Profile 2.11 Export applicants 2.12 Applicants are displayed in alpha order by last name in pages of 50 applicants. 2.13 Notifications to applicants 2.14 AMCAS Letter System—interface with veClient

3.0 We will also describe/review some special situations: 3.1 Applicants to MD and DO programs 3.2 MD/PhD applicants 3.3 Errors—how to fix? 3.4 Attaching additional schools to an applicant record after PDF has been uploaded 3.5 Transmitting an “additional letter” later in the application cycle

4.0 We will provide information on the following: 4.1 What do receivers see? 4.2 What do I do if I have a question? 4.3 Security and confidentiality

SECTION 1.0A 1.1 Create a PDF for an applicant—Note: VE only accepts PDF’s. We cannot accept other document formats, e.g., MS Word, image files such as jpg or tif.

On the VE homepage (http://www.virtualevals.org) under the Site Menu there is a link called “Guidelines for Creating a PDF for VirtualEvals.” That link will take you to http://www.virtualevals.org/guidelines/ where you can download a detailed description of how to create PDF’s for your applicants. Please read over that document carefully as we only summarize it here.

There are several ways to create PDF’s. Some sending schools use scanners to scan paper documents to make a single PDF for each applicant. Some start with a Word document and use PDF conversion software. We offer general guidelines here and at the link mentioned above; however, you may need to consult technical support (or a savvy colleague or student) at your institution if you experience problems in creating a suitable PDF.

 In most cases you will be uploading a single PDF to each applicant record. That single PDF may contain multiple documents, e.g., a committee letter, individual faculty letters, a rating sheet used by your committee. That PDF should be considered the “complete” PDF for that applicant. And receiving schools will begin to evaluate your applicant using the letters in that PDF. If you are posting multiple letters for an applicant, do not post them as individual PDF’s. Rather collect them into one PDF.

 As you know, some applicants request that you transmit an additional letter later in the application cycle. That letter might represent summer work the applicant did not complete in time to be included in the initial PDF of letters posted. Or it might reflect an independent study or service activity done in the fall during the application process. In the 2009 cycle, we included a process for transmitting additional letters using VirtualEvals. Please see section 3.4 for details.

 Another situation in which you might post more than one PDF to an applicant record is in the case of MD/PhD applicants who desire to have additional research letters for those programs (see MD/PhD instructions in 3.2).

 PDF’s should be of good resolution (200-300 dpi) but a reasonable file size. In most cases they should not exceed 1MB (1000 KB). PDF’s >2MB will be blocked from uploading. 2  PDF’s should be no more than 10-12 pages. Less is preferred by receiving schools.

 Include the ID number on the first page of the PDF, e.g. AAMC ID, AACOMAS ID, TMDSAS ID.

 If you want to check the quality of your PDF, simply open it yourself. Look at it onscreen and also print it. Is it of a quality that you would be able to read if you were an admission committee member? It is a good idea to do this prior to posting a bunch of PDF’s. It will save you time in the long run.

What NOT to do when creating PDF’s:  Do not include photographs or use bulky letterhead.  Do not scan in color or using the color or greyscale setting.  Do not include a list of what is included.  Do not include SSN or SIN on any documents. It is OK to provide the last 4 digits (we have been told that optometry schools sometimes request this).  Do not include a description of your institution. We have provided a space (Institution Profile) within veClient to add this information.  Do not send a FERPA waiver for each letter.

1.2 Creating and Editing an Applicant Record After you log into veClient, this is the screen you will see. It’s called the Dashboard and we post messages to it that you should read.

Note that there is a good bit of information here with which you should familiarize yourself. The gold bar that says “read me first” on this page but on other pages “help” provides information specific to that page. If you click on it, it will expand for you to read. When you click on it again it will contract. There are stats displayed here in the green box and discussed below. And there is a link to your personal profile (see your name in the purple banner) and your institution’s profile (see your institution name in the purple banner). Specific info on these is given in section 2 below.

There are three “tabs” in the VE header which appears on each page—Dashboard, Applicants, Logout. Clicking on each will take you to that specific function. To create an applicant record, you want to go to the My Applicants page. Select (click on) the “Applicants” tab. Note: this is a screen shot of my screen 3 and so it displays some administrative functions, e.g., edit announcements, that you will not see on your view.

Click on the Applicants tab to go to the My Applicants page.

In the demo above, four applicant records have already been added.

We will enter applicant Darryl Demonstration.

4 Then click the “+” button. The new applicant will be added to your list in alpha order by his last name (see figure below). Note: DO NOT include anything in the name slots other than names. This will cause problems at the receiving schools. The receiving schools have the ability to name the files they download by the names you enter and the ID’s you enter. If you enter extraneous information in these spaces, it will confuse the file naming and may delay the letters being associated with the correct applicant.

You have created an applicant record. Pat yourself on the back!

Editing the applicant record. Before you attach receiving schools you will want to “edit” the applicant record, putting in a few more important details. So click on “edit” in the line of the applicant whose record you want to edit. You will see the view in the next figure. This screen is arranged in pods. Pod #1 is Applicant Details. Pod #2 is Attached Institutions. Pod #3 is Upload .PDF.

5 This is Daryl Demonstration’s applicant record in which you can edit information. Here you can record what type of school(s) he is applying to and also add any more ID’s as applicable. The designation of school/program type here is not visible to receiving schools. It is only for your information as you will see later.

Let’s say Daryl is applying only to MD programs. Click on the MD box to put a check in it. Then make sure to click on the “Save applicant details” button. If you notice that you have made a mistake on any of the other data on this page, e.g., spelling of name, email address, you can change it here, but be sure to save the changes. Note: it is very important for you to enter the ID, e.g., AAMC ID, AACOMAS ID and that it be correct. Failure to do this may delay the evaluation of your applicant. In addition, if the applicant is applying to at least one of the schools that use the AMCAS Letters system, you must enter the AMCAS Letter ID. Do not upload a PDF to an applicant record until you have entered all of the appropriate ID’s, including the AMCAS Letter ID, if applicable. AMCAS has made the letter ID available to you in the Advisor Information Service (AIS). Once an applicant has created a letter ID for you to use, you can retrieve it from the AIS and enter it into veClient. You should wait until he/she has created the ID before uploading a PDF to his applicant record. See section 2.14 for further details.

1.3 Attach Receiving Schools When you have finished editing the Applicant Details pod, you are ready to move to the Attached Institutions pod (#2). You must attach the schools in pod #2 before moving to pod #3 to upload the PDF.

Click on the “click here to attach institutions” link.

Changes to lists of receiving schools for 2011

We continue to work with AMCAS to provide letters from advisors through veClient. On the VE homepage, there is a link to the AMCAS list of those schools. If an applicant is applying to one or more of the AMCAS Letters schools, you need only to attach AAMC/AMCAS to the applicant record. AMCAS will download PDF’s from veClient (as they did last year) and make them available to the schools designated by each applicant in his/her AMCAS application.

Please Note: The schools that are participating in the AMCAS Letter system will not appear in the list of institutions on veClient. 6 For information on which accept letters through veClient, use this link: http://www.virtualevals.org/receivers/

There are MD schools that do not participate in the AMCAS Letters system. With a few exceptions, they will appear in the list of institutions that you can attach to your applicant records on veClient. The exceptions are listed at the link above.

The default institution list (the one you see when you open the institutions pod for an applicant) is ALL of the schools/application services that accept letters through veClient. If you want to narrow down the list of schools, simply use the filters in the green box from the institutions pod of veClient. To help you further, we have given you the ability to sort the institutions list by name (alpha) or by state within the list of types of schools/programs.

Please remember that TMDSAS is an application service that provides information to 8 medical schools (7 MD and 1 DO), 3 dental schools, and 1 veterinary school. Letters can be posted for applicants to any of these schools. You simply have to attach TMDSAS. The staff at TMDSAS will match the letters to the appropriate applicant. But be sure to enter the TMDSAS ID number for the applicant into veClient. In addition, you should include it on the PDF itself.

Please note that alphabetizing schools is a task unto itself. Some schools want us to use their official name but then sometimes they have changed that name or use one that isn’t automatically intuitive. For example, is Brown under B for Brown, W for Warren Alpert, or A for Alpert (in this list it is under B). Also we are limited in the number of characters we have space for. So some schools are listed as “University of…” while others may be listed as “Univ of…” or “U of….” And we always eliminate “The” in the name of a school. We just don’t think you would go to “T” to look for Ohio State. We apologize for any confusion this may cause. If you are having a problem finding a school, you should sort the list by state and that will give you a more concentrated list on which to look.

We have also included the School ID of each school.

To attach schools to the applicant’s record, click in the box of to the left of each school (or application service) you wish to add and then scroll up or down to the green box that says, “Select institutions and & click here to add.” See next figure. .

7 Click on that green bar and the school will move from the left list of available schools to the right list of attached schools. Please note that when the school name is moved to the right hand list, it is no longer seen in the left hand list. (N.B., this screen shot was made prior to some of the schools joining the AMCAS letter system)

At this point, you will want to double check the list to make sure you attached all institutions correctly.

8 To return to Daryl’s applicant record, click on the “Return to Daryl Demonstration” link just above “Available Institutions.”

You will now see the attached institutions/application services in pod #2. Now you are ready to move to pod #3 and upload the PDF for this applicant.

1.4 Upload the PDF for the applicant From the Applicant Record view, find pod #3, “Upload .PDF.” Click on “Upload New .PDF.”

When you click on upload new .PDF, a gray box will open.

9 The next step is similar to finding a document to attach to an email. You must tell the system where to look in your computer for the appropriate file to upload. Click on the “browse” button. You will need to navigate to the folder in which you keep your PDF’s and select the right one. I keep a folder of “dummy pdfs” for doing demos and so that is where I have pointed veClient. You will likely have all your pdf’s for this year’s applicants saved in a folder.

Select the PDF you want to upload and then click on “Open.” The path to that PDF will be inserted in the box next to the browse button (see figure below).

Note that you have a couple of options.  You can designate the PDF as being for MD/PhD programs. For clarification of this option see the section on MD/PhD.  You can designate whether or not the applicant is to receive an email letting him/her know that you have uploaded the PDF. The default for this option is “yes.”

Important: To complete the upload, you must click “Upload .PDF” (see figure below) and you will have done it! Please note that after you upload a PDF, the Adobe icon will appear in the line with the applicant’s name on the My Applicant list.

10 After you upload the PDF, you will see the screen below. If you want to check to make sure that the PDF is there and is the correct one, you can click on the “Preview .PDF” button. In this case we are working with applicant Charles Darwin.

11 You will view the PDF in preview but it will not actually be downloaded.

Depending upon how your computer is set up, the window showing the preview of the PDF may open behind your working screen. If you don’t see the preview pretty quickly, minimize the screens in front and see if it is there. We have done all we can from our end to try to force it to open on top of your other screens.

Section 2.0 B 2.1 Dashboard We have already defined and demonstrated the Dashboard. Please make it a habit to look for any new announcements each time you login.

2.2 My Profile Your name appears in the purple banner (toward the right side) of each VE page. That name is a link to your individual profile on veClient. Click on your name to open the profile. You can change your name, email address or password from that profile. This information is visible only to you and to the VE site administrators. Please take a few minutes to see that all information is correct and up-to-date.

2.3 Institution Profile Next to your name is your institution name and that is a link to the Institution Profile. One person at each institution should enter basic information about your institution, e.g., address and contact information, including an email address. This may be an institutional email address or the email address of the primary contact person for VE. This information is visible to any receiving institutions to which you have applicants applying, provided that institution downloads letters directly from veClient. If any receivers have specific questions, about a PDF or information for an applicant they may use this information to contact your school. We have noted that quite a few sending schools have neglected to complete the contact information section. If you have not yet done so, please complete that information.

There is also a free form area in which you may enter information about your institution, your applicants, or your process that you wish for receiving institutions to have. If you have typically sent along with your letters a page that includes such information, you may wish to post that information here rather than scanning it with every letter. That is much preferred by receiving schools. However, please note that when you cut and paste information into that freeform area, you will lose the formatting. We have given you some basic editing functions to make it look better. But we simply could not support lots of different

12 fonts, etc. This is similar to what your applicants have to do with the free form area of application service applications.

Please note that if you created an Institution Profile last year, it was retained for this year. You may edit it by opening up the Institution Profile. Please take a few minutes to see that all information is correct and up-to-date.

Many receiving schools have told us they very much appreciate having the Institution Profile available to them. The Institution Profile is not visible to other sending schools.

2.4 Stats When you are on the Dashboard, you will see a green box with statistics for your institution, including the number of applicants in your applicant list and the average size of your PDF’s as well as the PDF’s on the system. You will also see an indication of the individuals from your institution who have user accounts on VE. If someone leaves your office and no longer needs access to VE, please email [email protected] and ask to have his/her user account deleted.

13 2.5 Help On each page there is a gold box that will take you to instructions for that page or help for using that page. Please familiarize yourself with help. To see the entire entry, you may have to click on the gold box to expand it. When finished, click on it again to reduce it.

2.6 Filters To find a particular applicant record (or a group of records) use filters which appear in the green box on the Applicant List view. In the example below, I am filtering for Darryl’s record by typing “Darryl” in the first name box.

14 When I click on the “Apply Filter” button at the bottom of the green box the display changes to show only Darryl’s record. Of course if there were more than one Darryl in my list they would all be there.

You can also filter to show only specific applicant types. This is based on which boxes you checked for the applicants on the Applicant Edit screen—that’s why it’s important to check the appropriate boxes there. If you check the MD box, that applicant will show up when you filter for MD. In the case of an applicant applying to both MD and DO, you can check both boxes. The applicant will then show up when you filter for MD and also when you filter for DO applicants. Please remember that if you don’t check these boxes, the filter cannot pull the applicants into the filtered list.

Be sure to remove all filters by clicking on the link at the bottom of the green box. Otherwise, you will wonder where all your applicants went. 

2.7 Tags A couple of years ago we introduced Tags. Some advisors find them helpful; some don’t see a need for them. Basically, you have to ability to "tag" an applicant with a particular attribute. Tagging is quite flexible. For example, let's say each of your applicants is assigned to one of several committee members at your institution. You can tag each with the appropriate committee member's name.

From the My Applicants view, select the “tag” link on the line with the applicant you want to “tag.” See next figure.

This will expand the row and reveal a tag input space. In this example I am assigning a tag of “Dr. Enzyme” to the record of Bernard Amos. Dr. Enzyme is the committee member writing a letter for Bernard. Be sure to click “save.”

15 The tag now appears on the applicant list.

2.8 Preview PDF Suppose you upload a PDF and then think to yourself, “Did I really select Darryl’s PDF, or did I select his sister, Dora Demonstration’s PDF?” As mentioned above, you can preview the PDF that you uploaded by clicking on the Preview PDF button in the pod #3 Upload PDF.

Zooming to see preview. When you open the preview, you have several functions available to you, including a zoom function so you can see it better. Click on the dropdown arrows on the left and right of the bar above the previewed PDF.

2.9 Transaction History (TxHx) One of the features sending schools like best is the Transaction History which appears below the attached institutions and upload PDF pods. Here you can visualize the history of what has happened with that applicant record. You will need to scroll to read it from the bottom up. At the request of advisors, last year we added the ability to print the TxHx. 16 When a receiving school downloads a PDF directly from veClient, it will be noted in the TxHx with a time and date stamp and the name of whoever was logged into VE for the download. In addition, the school name turns green and a checkmark appears next to it. See the figure below.

Please note however, when AMCAS and TMDSAS download the PDF, you will only see that they downloaded it. We do not have access to information in AMCAS or TMDSAS, so we cannot confirm that the PDF was made available to the appropriate school(s). We regret that our ability to provide this information to you was lost when AMCAS created their letter system. Ultimately, it is the applicant’s responsibility for being sure that the schools have access to his/her letters.

17 A word of caution is in order here. Just because a school downloaded the letter does not mean that it made it to the applicant’s file (paper or electronic) or that they recorded receipt of the PDF and are communicating that status to the applicant. So if Darryl told you that Pitchfork was saying his file was not complete because his letters were not there, you can assure Darryl that Pitchfork downloaded his PDF on the particular date shown in the TxHx. But if they need to download the PDF again, they can do that by going back into veClient. It will be up to you and your own culture whether you want Darryl to tell the school that or whether you will contact them yourself to tell them that.

And another relevant issue is that receiving schools do not all follow the same process when accessing letters on veClient. Some schools download letters as they become available. Some wait until the rest of an applicant’s file is complete. Some never download the letters of applicants that they screen out prior to needing the letters. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know what schools do what. You will need to use your judgment and knowledge of specific schools to decide how to handle the anxious student who is wondering why a specific school says they don’t have his letters when they are available to the school on veClient. We continue to urge receiving schools to make sure their process of notifying applicants that letters have been “received” includes the status of “available on VE” (therefore “received”).

“Reset to none” and “Reset to Ready and or Additional” messages: These statements in the TxHx have sometimes confused advisors so I will address them here. Applicants have a “status” at each institution attached to their applicant record. If the institution is attached but no PDF has been uploaded to the applicant record, the status is “none.” When a PDF is uploaded, the status for each of the schools attached to the applicant record changes to “ready.” When a receiving school downloads the PDF for that applicant the status for that receiving school changes to “done.” So if I attached Duke University School of Medicine to an applicant record (prior to uploading a PDF), I would see, “Duke University School of Medicine was attached to applicant and reset to 'None' by Kay Singer.” That statement is expected and normal. Then after I upload the PDF, I would see the message, “All attached institutions reset to 'Ready and/or Additional' status after .PDF upload.”

2.10 Receiver Profile Just as sending schools have an Institution Profile, so do receiving schools. You can access that profile by clicking on the school name in pod #2 (Attached Institutions) of an applicant to whom you have attached that school, e.g., in the figure above, you can access the profile of Pitchfork University School of Medicine attached to Darryl’s record. We continue to urge receiving schools to complete their profiles with information you can’t get from the MSAR. For further information school-by-school on how they evaluate your students, the best resource is the Premedical Advisors’ Reference Manual (PARM) which can be purchased through NAAHP (see http://www.naahp.org). It’s an invaluable resource. Unfortunately, you will not be able to access the institution profiles for schools that participate in AMCAS Letters or TMDSAS since they will not appear individually in the applicant’s list of schools.

2.11 Export Applicants You have the ability to export your applicant list and some information on applicants to a spreadsheet. This may be particularly helpful to you at the end of the cycle when you want a record of the applicant records you posted to veClient.

18 2.12 Applicants display in alpha order by last name in pages of 50 Those with over 50 applicants should note that in your “My Applicants” list, your applicants will be displayed 50 to a page. After you have more than 50 applicants, you will see some boxes near the top of the list indicating what page of applicant you are own (shaded). To navigate to other pages, click on the box with the page number or use the next and previous buttons. For an example, see the figure below.

2.13 Notification to Applicants Applicants are notified that their letters were posted by you to veClient and what schools (or application services) have access to them. Here’s how that works.

When you upload a PDF for an applicant, the applicant will receive an E-mail from veClient (if you choose not to change the default). See the next figure for a sample of that email:

19 In this example, only Pitchfork University School of Medicine is attached to the applicant record. When the applicant clicks on the link at the bottom of the email, he/she is taken to this screen and told to bookmark or save it for future reference:

If the applicant requests that you attach another school to his/her record, he/she will not receive an additional email. However, at any time, he/she go back to this link he/she was given and it will show the updated status of what schools have access to his/her letters, i.e., this display is in real time.

20 You can of course look at his applicant record on VE and see what schools are attached. But some advisors wanted to be able to see exactly what the applicant can see. Thus, we have given you access to the specific link for each of your applicants.

If an applicant contacts you and says he/she didn’t bookmark or save the link, you can open it and send him the link.

2.14 AMCAS Letter System

Last year we worked with AMCAS to enable them to download PDF’s from veClient for applicants applying to at least one of the schools that elected to participate in the AMCAS Letter System. That worked well and we are working with AMCAS again this year to do the same. If an applicant is applyin to one or more of the AMCAS Letter schools, you will attach AAMC/AMCAS to the applicant record in veClient. AMCAS will download letters from veClient once each day (Monday-Friday) and make the letters available to the schools that are using AMCAS Letters to which the applicant is applying. We do not have access to the AMCAS system, so we are unable to confirm when the AMCAS system makes the letters available to the individual schools. In addition, keep in mind that each applicant will need to designate that the PDF that you post to veClient is to be made available to all the AMCAS Letters schools to which he/she is applying. In the 2010 cycle, most situations in which the advisor correctly attached AAMC/AMCAS to the applicant record, but the school did not have access were the result of the applicant failing to designate that the school was to have access to the letters under the letter ID that he/she provided to the advisor.

You will need to enter the AMCAS Letter ID (as well as the AAMC ID) for each applicant into veClient. It is important that those ID’s be entered correctly. If they are incorrect, AMCAS will not be able to download the letter. AMCAS has made the AMCAS Letter IDs for applicants available to advisors through the AMCAS Advisor Information Service (AIS). You should be able to obtain the Letter ID from AIS if the applicant released AMCAS information to you as the health professions advisor. You should not include the AMCAS letter matching form (if you have it) in the PDF you post to veClient.

Before you upload a PDF in veClient to the record of an applicant who is applying to one or more of the AMCAS Letters schools, you must first enter the AAMC ID and the AMCAS Letter ID for that applicant.

Any questions relating directly to AMCAS (as opposed to veClient) should be directed to Kristin Franke at AMCAS.

Section 3.0 C There are several special situations you need to know about.

3.1 Applicants who apply to MD and DO programs Many advisors have told us that they have applicants who do not want admissions committees to know they are applying to both MD and DO programs. So they don’t want to use a PDF the cover page of which shows both AAMC and AACOMAS ID numbers (both types of programs would like their ID number on displayed on the first page of their PDF of letters). In addition, some applicants have included with

21 their DO letters, a letter from a DO. But they do not want that letter transmitted to MD programs. Please understand that we are not passing any judgment here—we are just responding to what you have told us.

To make this as straightforward as possible, we suggest that whenever you have an applicant who is applying to both DO and MD schools, you create two separate applicant records for that applicant.

 For one record, check the DO box on the edit screen, attach the DO schools to which the applicant is applying and upload a PDF with the AACOMAS ID on the first page and including the DO letter if the applicant is using one.

 For the other record, check the MD box on the edit screen, attach the MD schools to which the applicant is applying and upload a PDF with the AAMC ID on it, containing the letters the applicant wants to send to MD schools. If the applicant is applying to an AMCAS Letter pilot school, make sure to also input the AMCAS Letter ID to that record.

Please be aware that our billing is based on a report we run on how many applicant records you create. Thus, in this case you would pay 2 x $10 for this applicant. This is really the only way that this can be done and we have done it this way since the beginning of VE. That’s why we always refer to charges as “per applicant record” rather than “per applicant.”

If your applicant is using the same set of letters for MD and DO schools and does not object to having the AAMC ID and the AACOMAS ID on the PDF, then you can set up one applicant record, enter both AAMC and AACOMAS ID’s into veClient, attach both DO schools and MD schools to the applicant record, and upload the single PDF of letters that are to be accessed by both types of schools. In this case, you would be charged $10 for the single applicant record.

3.2 MD/PhD applicants. Over the past few years, the way letters are handled for MD/PhD programs has evolved. Rather than letters going directly to the MD/PhD programs (by mail or through downloading), now, at least for the most part, all letters are processed in the MD admissions office. The MD admissions office makes letters available to the MD/PhD admissions folks for applicants who are applying to MD/PhD programs.

What does this mean for how advisors post PDF’s of letters for MD/PhD applicants?

 In most cases, applicants will use the same letters of evaluation (LOE) for MD and for MD/PhD. In such cases, just attach the schools or appropriate application service and upload the PDF as you would usually do. Each school attached to the applicant record will have access to the letters and the MD admissions office will make sure the MD/PhD office has what they need if the applicant is applying to the MD/PhD program at that school.

 If you have an applicant who wants to include some additional letters that speak directly to his/her candidacy for MD/PhD programs, but does not want them included in the regular letter packet, you can upload two PDF’s to the same applicant record. Keep in mind that at each school the MD office will be downloading the letters (or receiving them from the application service) and making the letters available to the MD/PhD program if the applicant is applying to the MD/PhD program at their school. So the MD program will have access to all of the letters—even if the applicant is not applying to the MD/PhD program at that school.

If your applicant does want to use two PDF’s of letters, you should upload the MD PDF. Then when you upload the MD/PhD PDF, indicate it as such by checking the box in the upload window (see figure below).

22 After you upload, both PDF’s will be displayed. The one that you indicated was an MD/PhD PDF will show up in a different color font with a star icon. And the PDF’s will be numbered in the order in which they were uploaded. In your applicant list, the MD/PhD PDF will be indicated with a star icon. Please note that in order for you to be able to filter for your MD/PhD applicants or have that designation show up when you export your list of applicants to a spreadsheet, you must check the MD/PhD box under applicant type. As mentioned earlier in the instructions, this is an internal designation only. You can see if but receiving schools cannot.

Both PDF’s will be available to each school attached to the applicant record. And both PDF’s will be downloaded by AMCAS and TMDSAS if the applicant is applying to schools that use those services.

If you have an applicant who is applying to MD and MD/PhD programs and using the same set of letters, we recommend that you check both the MD and MD/PhD boxes. Whether or not you mark the PDF as being for MD/PhD is up to you. Since there is only one PDF there it probably isn’t necessary from the receiving school standpoint. From your standpoint, it depends upon whether seeing the star icon in the applicant list is important to you.

23 3.3 I made an error. How can I fix it? While we hope that you will try to minimize errors, we know that occasionally they will occur. There are several errors that are the most common.

 Neglecting to enter an ID or entering the wrong ID number into veClient for an applicant. It is extremely important to enter the correct names and ID’s and to do so before uploading the PDF. Receiving schools are able to set veClient to download applicants using a choice of file names, e.g., lastname_AAMCID.pdf. In this example, veClient draws the lastname and AAMCID from what you enter when you input the applicant name in veClient. So if you enter it incorrectly, that error will be perpetuated in the file name and may result in the PDF not being attached to the correct applicant file at a receiving school. The same would apply in the case of an error in the applicant ID number. These kinds of errors can result in a delay in the evaluation of your applicant.

 Another potential for error is neglecting to enter the AMCAS Letter ID for an applicant applying to at least one of the AMCAS Letters schools. Please take care to enter the correct ID in the space and to do so before uploading the PDF. Failure to do so may result in a delay in the evaluation of the applicant at the schools using the AMCAS letter system.

 We receive daily “error reports” from AMCAS if they are unable to match a PDF with an applicant record. These are generally the result of omitting or incorrectly entering the AAMC ID and/or the AMCAS Letter ID. Please do not upload PDF’s before you have entered the appropriate ID’s into veClient. If there is an error and I call you attention to it in an email, please correct the error as soon as possible. The result will be that your applicant’s PDF will be matched to his/her AMCAS record in a more expedient manner. And I won’t have to keep bugging you about fixing it. 

 If you find you have made an error, go back into the applicant record and correct it. However, you would need to contact any receiving schools that have already downloaded the PDF and inform them of the error and ask them to download it again. For errors of this sort, do not delete the PDF and upload the PDF again. Just make the change in the appropriate place and make sure to click on “Save Applicant Details.

 Uploading the wrong PDF, uploading an illegible PDF, or uploading a PDF with a significant error in it, e.g, an incorrect ID number on the PDF. This is also an important error and thus one that needs to be fixed. Using the “Delete” link next to the PDF, delete the incorrect PDF as soon as you are aware of the error. Create a correct PDF for that applicant. Upload the correct PDF. Contact any receiving schools that have downloaded the PDF and tell them of the error and that the correct PDF is now there for downloading. Which schools have downloaded the letters is displayed in the list of schools attached and the Transaction History. For contact information for each receiving school, click on the name in the Attached Schools list. If they have put in their contact information it will be there. Or check the MSAR.

 If an error is a small one, e.g., a typo that does not change the intent of what is said, it is best to leave the PDF there and not change it. After all, there are many small errors made in letters (using the wrong pronoun once in the letter, etc.) that slip by and are generally ignored by the receiving schools. Use your judgment.

3.4 Attaching additional schools to an applicant record after the PDF is uploaded It is not uncommon for an applicant to ask you to make his/her letters available to additional schools after an initial list of schools is attached and the PDF is uploaded. Simply go back into the applicant record and attach the new schools. Do not upload the PDF again ! Not only is that not necessary, it will cause extra work for the schools that have already downloaded his PDF because it will look as if they have not and they will download it again.

If an applicant is applying to one or more of the AMCAS Letters schools and then lets you know he is also applying to another AMCAS Letters school, you don’t have to do anything. AMCAS is already attached to

24 the applicant record and so they have access to his/her letters. They will simply make those letters available to the schools he designates—even if he adds them later in the cycle.

Also, please note that uploading the PDF is the trigger for sending an auto-email to the applicant with the list of schools that were attached to his record when the PDF was uploaded. When you add more schools, the applicant will not receive another email. Please see section 2.13.

3.5 “Additional” letters later in the application cycle?

For the 2009 cycle we introduced the ability to submit a “late letter” or “additional” letter, e.g, one documenting an experience done the summer or fall of the application year.

We have a process for allowing you to transmit that additional letter for applicants who want to have one transmitted (if you allow that within the procedures of your advising office). Note: we use the term “additional” instead of “late” because the latter might be confused with letters that come in after a particular school deadline. That’s not what we are talking about.

Here is an applicant who is applying to Pitchfork U SOM. A PDF was uploaded for him in June and downloaded by Pitchfork. At a later date, say August, he wants to have another letter posted to VE that will be accessed by his schools (in this example, only Pitchfork). Prepare a PDF of that single letter. Then upload it following the same process you used to upload any PDF.

After you upload the second PDF, it will be displayed at the top, but with the date and number 2. And the school that had previously appeared in green to indicate that school had already downloaded his PDF has been reset to the status of not downloaded. When they download the second PDF, that status will change and the green background will appear again for that school. We have chosen not to limit the “additional letter” function to 1 letter. However, you need to keep in mind that it is not the intent of receivers that you use this function to send lots of new/additional letters. This function should be reserved for one or maybe two truly additional letters—ones that give further insight in to the applicant that could not have been available when the initial PDF was posted.

One more caveat. Because we have not set a limit on “additional letters” it is possible that an advisor would decide to upload each letter separately, maybe as they are received. We cannot stress enough that this is a bad idea and should not be done. Why? Many receiving schools will begin to evaluate the applicant after the first PDF is downloaded. It is in the applicant’s advantage to have that PDF be as complete as possible.

25 Section 4.0 .0

4.1 What do receivers see? This is an example of the receiver applicant list.

The records that appear in green with a status of “ready” are ones for which this school has not yet downloaded the PDF. Those appearing in gray with a status of “done” have been downloaded by someone at that particular school. If you create an applicant record and attach this school but have not yet uploaded the PDF, it will appear in pink with a status of “none.” Not shown in this figure is the status “additional” if there is an additional letter as described in the previous section. Thus, receiving schools can tell at a glance whether or not they have downloaded the PDF of a particular applicant. They also have a filter function to help them find a particular applicant.

In the display above, you see two dates. One is the date the applicant record was created. The other is the date this particular receiving school was attached.

4.2 What do I do if I have a question or need to report a problem?

Email [email protected] We will get back to you within a business day if possible.

4.3 Security and Confidentiality  Each person who sets up an account on VirtualEvals is asked to agree to the confidentiality statement.  Passwords should be selected carefully and protected at all times. The greatest risk to security on such web services is users not protecting passwords.  VirtualEvals is a proprietary system. Unauthorized access, usage, or disclosure to another party is strictly forbidden. Authorized users may not provide access to unauthorized users nor disclose any information to unauthorized parties regarding the operation of the VirtualEvals system. VirtualEvals technology and design features may not be used for the development of other evaluation systems. 26 Kay Singer May 24, 2010