Submitting the Application
BEFORE SUBMITTING THE APPLICATION
Once you have filled out your entire online VMCAS application and selected which schools you would like to apply to, you MUST submit your application to officially turn your application in to VMCAS. Depending on which documents VMCAS has already received, submitting will move your application from an “In-Progress” status to a “Received > Awaiting Materials” status or a “Materials Received (Complete) > Verifying” status.Submission does NOT imply that your application is being reviewed by veterinary programs.
Please be aware of the following:
No Changes Allowed After Submission
Once you submit your application, your VMCAS application is locked and you may NOT make changes to it. The only sections you may change after submitting are: your contact information, your password and security information, references which have a status of “new” or “in-progress” and you may add additional schools to apply to. You may also add NEW experiences, achievements, and test scores, but you CANNOT edit those already entered. All other sections will be read-only. Make sure you check over your application information closely before submitting to avoid errors as these cannot be corrected later.
Transcripts and Evaluations are Not Required to Submit
You may submit your application at any time once the required information has been entered on the online application, regardless as to whether or not your transcripts and evaluations have been received by VMCAS. Please note, however, that VMCAS will NOT move your application to the verification queue until all required transcripts and payments have been received, which is required to move your application to “complete” status. Once your application is complete, it will be placed in line for verification.
Do NOT Wait Until the Last Minute (Literally!)
Please note that submission is NOT recorded when you click the Pay and Submit this Program button. Instead, there are several screens which must be completed including entering payment information, and your submission is only recorded at the end of this process. If you press e-submit at 11:58 and get through the final screen at 12:00, the submission will NOT go through. In addition, volume on deadline day is extraordinarily high, which can cause delays in loading pages and subsequent submission. If you encounter an issue, VMCAS customer service is not available to help you during these times, and VMCAS CANNOT HELP YOU TO SUBMIT AFTER THE DEADLINE IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG!
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY OR THE LAST MINUTE TO E-SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION.
COMMON QUESTIONS:
Q: Can I send in transcripts and references before I’ve submitted?
A: YES. As long as the name of your schools and references are listed on your application, you may send in transcripts and letters of recommendation regardless as to whether or not you have already submitted your application.
Q: I have received my final grades for current courses, but transcripts are not yet available. Should I wait to submit the application until VMCAS receives the updated transcript?
A: You have two choices in this case:1) You may list your current courses as completed in your transcript entry, and wait to submit your application until VMCAS has received the updated transcript, which will cause a delay in processing your application while you wait for that transcript to arrive. Please note that once all materials have been received, it may take up to four weeks for your application to be verified. VMCAS recommends that all information arrive at VMCAS at least four weeks before the September 15th deadline.
2) You may leave the session containing these courses as in-progress in your transcript entry and submit your VMCAS application. In this case, you would send the transcripts with your currently completed courses to VMCAS and, once the in-progress courses are complete, send updated transcripts directly to the schools to which you are applying. This would avoid a delay in your application, and is not an uncommon practice.