Evaluations (Letters of Reference) Evaluations may be submitted to AACOMAS electronically or directly to your designated program(s). In this section, you may enter up to a maximum of six (6) evaluations. AACOMAS is not responsible for verifying an evaluator’s identity. If a discrepancy is found, AACOMAS reserves the right to contact the applicant or evaluator to investigate. AACOMAS reserves the right to share the discrepancy without comment to all AACOMAS programs. IMPORTANT: Evaluations (references) completed through AACOMAS are sent to all of the schools you designate in your AACOMAS application. Letters submitted through AACOMAS cannot be customized to any one school or program. BEFORE YOU BEGIN
Research DO Program Requirements
Determine what requirements, your designated programs have regarding evaluators’ roles or relationship to you, BEFORE listing ANY evaluators on your AACOMAS application. Many programs have strict guidelines for this, and once a reference is completed on the AACOMAS application, it may NOT be removed or replaced. Please note that references from family members are generally frowned upon by admissions offices. Prepare Your Evaluators
Once you have chosen your evaluators, inform them of the process and that they will be filling out the reference forms electronically. Obtain their preferred e-mail address and make sure they are monitoring their e-mail inbox for your reference request e-mail. IMPORTANT: You are asked to submit a requested due date for your evaluation letters. This date should correspond to the evaluation development guidelines that are set by your designated pre-health advisor. You should consult with your evaluators/reviewers before submitting the proposed date to ensure that they will have ample time to respond to your request.
WHAT INFORMATION DO MY EVALUATORS FILL OUT?
There are two parts to an AACOMAS reference: “My Profile” where evaluators fill out their contact information in case your program would like to get in touch with them. They may also correct any errors to their name or title you may have made when entering their information. An open letter of recommendation which may be uploaded in .PDF, .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format. Please note the file size limit for letters is 5 MB. Because all letters of reference are sent to each school the applicant applies to, evaluators should be vague in their form of address (Using “to whom it may concern,” etc.) and avoid referring to any particular DO school or program in their letter. HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER OF REFERENCE
1. On the “Evaluations” page, click the blue “Create Evaluation Request” button to add a reference. 2. Enter his or her full name and e-mail address into the system, and assign them a deadline by which you would like this reference completed. We encourage applicants to select a date which is at least four weeks in advance of your earliest deadline. You also must write them a personal message. 3. Select your waiver decision (please see more information on waivers below) and check the permissions release boxes. 4. ONCE YOU SAVE THIS INFORMATION, AN E-MAIL IS IMMEDIATELY SENT TO THE EVALUATOR at the e-mail address you provided. Please advise your evaluators to monitor their junk e-mail and spam folders for messages from “
[email protected],” subject heading “Evaluation Request Submitted,” as these e-mails are automated and therefore sometimes filtered as spam. Confirm with your evaluator that they have received the notification. 5. The e-mail provides the evaluator with a link to the Evaluator Portal where they may create an account and set up their own username and password. They will log into this site and see your name under the heading “Open Evaluations.” Your evaluator will click either “ACCEPT” or “DECLINE” to accept or decline your request. If they select decline, you will receive an email notification. 6. Once your evaluator has accepted your request, your name will become a clickable link. Upon clicking on your name, they will be asked to complete their profile and upload an open letter of reference in .PDF, .RTF, .DOC, or .DOCX format. Please note the file size limit for letters is 5 MB. 7. Once they have completed their reference, the evaluator must click “SUBMIT EVALUATION” to send it to AACOMAS. This action occurs immediately, and the reference will show up as “completed” on your application with a complete date. Your evaluator can also click “Preview Evaluation” to create a .pdf copy which they can save for their records. 8. Monitor your evaluations’ statuses in the Status Menu of your application. Follow up with the evaluator for any reference which still read as “New” or “In-Progress.”
REMEMBER: NO PAPER LETTERS OR FORMS SHOULD BE MAILED TO AACOMAS. References completed through AACOMAS must be completed entirely online. WAIVING YOUR RIGHTS VS. NOT WAIVING YOUR RIGHTS
When you enter an evaluation, you are asked if you wish to “WAIVE” or “NOT TO WAIVE” your right to view the reference. This waiver is not a creation of AACOMAS, but is part of U.S. Federal Law and must be filled out for any letter of reference, including those you may have obtained to attend your undergraduate institution. Please review the information below before making your decision. Once a decision is made, it may NOT be changed. “YES, I Waive My Right”
Selecting “YES” indicates to the school that your evaluator wrote their letter of recommendation with the understanding that you would never be allowed to view it. If you select this option, you will never see the content of your letter. However, programs may view this type of letter as a more accurate representation of an applicant’s qualifications. “NO, I Do Not Waive My Right”
Selecting “NO” indicates to the school that your evaluator wrote their reference with the understanding that you may choose to view it in the future. Please note, however, that checking this option will NOT allow you to view your reference via AACOMAS. If you have not waived the right to view your reference, you may ask your evaluator for a copy of their recommendation, or, once you matriculate into a DO program, you may ask to view the reference in their offices. However, programs may view this type of letter as a less accurate representation of an applicant’s qualifications.
APPLICANT RESPONSIBILITY
It is the applicant’s responsibility to monitor his or her application for evaluation receipt, even after you have submitted your application. AACOMAS will NOT notify applicants concerning missing evaluations. Applicants must follow up with any references in a “New” or “In-Progress” status and ensure all reference materials are completed to avoid delays in processing their application. You may view the status of your evaluations at any time in the status menu. COMMON QUESTIONS:
Q: Am I required to send letters of reference through AACOMAS?
Q: How long should the letters be?
Q: Can I submit more than six references?
Q: Why can I only have six letters? Why are letters restricted to 5 MB in length?
Q: Can I have different evaluations sent to individual programs?
Q: Can I send letters of reference which are on file at Interfolio to AACOMAS?
Q: Can I send VirtualEvals to AACOMAS?
Q: Does AACOMAS accept committee letters?
Q: What do I do if I want to change the person who is sending the reference or edit the information I entered?
Q: How do I know my evaluator received the e-mail request?
Q: My evaluator can’t log into the Evaluator Portal. What do I do?
Q: How do I change an evaluator’s e-mail address?
Q: Can evaluations be co-signed by a Teaching Assistant and a Faculty member?
Q: Once I submit an evaluation request, can I change my waiver selection?
Q: Can I e-submit my application before my references are received by AACOMAS?
Q: Can I view my letters of reference?
Q: Can AACOMAS forward my references to me, my evaluators, or schools not affiliated with AACOMAS?