PharmCAS Program User Guide
This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the PharmCAS Applicant Portal, Configuration Portal, and WebAdMIT. It also contains resources that may help you work more efficiently throughout your admissions process. If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please contact a member of your account team.
AACP Resources
Review the AACP 2023-2024 PharmCAS School Manual and the PharmCAS Resources page on AACP's website for additional information.
Cycle Timeframes
Applicant Portal
The Applicant Portal opens in mid-July and closes in early June. Applicants must submit all applications by the June deadline, if not earlier per PharmCAS program configurations. You can view the specific cycle dates, including final processing dates (e.g., last date to submit transcripts, last date to request letters of recommendation, etc.), on the PharmCAS Application Cycle Dates page.
Configuration Portal
Between early April and early June, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The account team and AACP review submitted configurations in early June.
WebAdMIT
You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in mid-July.
Primary Program Contacts
Liaison requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from AACP and PharmCAS, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications. These individuals are responsible for creating and managing WebAdMIT accounts for all other faculty and staff users who are affiliated with the institution and authorized by the institution to access individual applicant data. Both AACP members and non-members are invited to join the PharmCAS online community in AACP Connect to receive important updates about the service. See the PharmCAS School Manual for details.
Applicant Portal
The first three sections of the PharmCAS application (i.e., Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information) compose the core application. They contain questions that are commonly asked of applicants across all participating programs, such as an applicant's biographic information, standardized test scores, and experiences. The fourth section of the application is Program Materials, which is customized by you through the Configuration Portal (discussed in the next section).
You can access the PharmCAS application and PharmCAS Applicant Help Center to review the applicant experience. You can also create a test application in the Applicant Portal; we recommend creating a new account and adding "test" to your name (e.g., TestJohn TestDoe).
For a general overview of the applicant experience, review the following documents:
- Applicant Processing Reference Guide: learn how applicants move through the application and Liaison processes applicant materials, such as transcripts and official test scores.
- Application Statuses Reference Guide: review what each application status means and how you can interact with applicants at different stages. Note that the Manual application status does not apply to PharmCAS.
- Review the requirements for the PharmCAS Complete application status.
- PharmCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs: a suggested timeline for completing and submitting the application, links to important pages including cycle dates and fees, and a FAQs section.
You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to PharmCAS Customer Service.
Configuration Portal
Use the Configuration Portal Quick Start Guide to make sure you configure your program(s) efficiently and completely in the prelaunch environment. Be sure to check out your CAS's configuration options and review the best practices found throughout. If any optional sections of the application are required for your program (e.g., experiences, test scores, etc.), you'll want to note this on your program home page.
Once you've configured your program, you'll need to have it approved by the account team and AACP before it is available to applicants. If your program is reviewed after the cycle launches, AACP will approve it.
Additionally, review the following recommendations:
Configure Questions and Question Rules (Optional):
- Review current school and supplemental applications to help you determine which questions you need to ask.
- AACP recommends that programs ask no more than 3-5 custom questions.
- Consider removing any custom questions that are not essential to your local admissions review process or predicative of success in your PharmD program.
- If your program's custom questions include an essay, consider reducing the character limit. Applicants already submit a personal essay through the PharmCAS application that is shared with all programs they apply to.
Configure Prerequisites (Optional):
- Pull together information on prerequisites, including any instructions.
- You can customize which and how many prerequisites applicants can match coursework to.
- AACP recommends that programs list ten or fewer prerequisites.
- If applicants matching prerequisite coursework is a barrier for your program, deactivate this feature.
Configure Documents (Optional):
- Ensure you have specific instructions for any documents you are requesting.
Configure Kira Talent Integration (Optional):
- Kira Talent offers on-demand, timed video and timed written assignments that can be combined with the standard admissions process. You can link your Kira assessment to your program in the application by selecting Kira Assessment.
WebAdMIT
Review the WebAdMIT Manual for any questions related to working in WebAdMIT. The Reference Guides and WebAdMIT Training and Support sections are additional resources as you configure WebAdMIT for your needs. Documents commonly requested include:
- Application Coupons Reference Guide: learn how to request coupons to offset application fees and disperse them to applicants. To purchase coupons, use the Coupon Code Payment Gateway.
- Application Coupon Codes FAQ: view answers to frequently asked questions about offering coupon codes.
- Application Statuses: you can only view full application details of applicants in the Verified application status. For all other application statuses, you can view only limited application information.
- Background checks through Certiphi.
- Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists: a comprehensive list of all fields available in the Export Manager and Report Manager, including associated lookup tables.
- Deferring Applicants via the Liaison-assisted Deferral Process: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
- Integration Help Center and WebAdMIT API: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
- PharmCAS End of Year (EOY) Reports: learn how to generate end-of-year (EOY) reports through the Report Manager. The Applications by School report is available in this document.
- Reporting Final Decision Codes: learn how to use WebAdMIT to place applicants in Decision Codes and report them back to AACP.
- Note that PharmCAS requires you to report the following Decision Codes by September 30 for the previous cycle:
- Declined Offer
- Deferred
- Denied
- Matriculated
- Rescinded
- Withdrew
- Withdrew After Matriculation
- Note that PharmCAS requires you to report the following Decision Codes by September 30 for the previous cycle:
- Transfer Settings Guide: a review of how programs and templates built in WebAdMIT are carried forward each cycle.
The Release Notes feature new enhancements in the Applicant Portal, Applicant Gateway, Configuration Portal, Letters by Liaison, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.
For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.
Cycle Enhancements
2023-2024
The table below contains enhancements for PharmCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.
Portal |
Section |
Enhancement Details |
Implementation |
Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Applicant Portal |
Application Fees |
The additional designation fee increased to $60. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Personal Information – Biographic Information |
A new Legal/Preferred Name Phonetic Pronunciation question is added. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Personal Information – Release Statement |
The Release Statement text is updated. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Personal Information – Other Information |
A new Pharmacy Technician question is added. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Academic History –Colleges Attended |
The instructional text is updated to better assist applicants. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Academic History –Transcript Entry |
The instructional text is updated to better assist applicants. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Official IELTS Tests |
Applicants can submit their official IELTS test scores to the CAS, and you can review those test scores in WebAdMIT. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Supporting Information – Experiences |
Applicants can edit in progress experiences after they submit their application. Additionally, the instructional text is updated to better assist applicants. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Add Program |
Applicants are restricted from applying to multiple programs within one organization. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
WebAdMIT |
Applicant Details Page |
You can now manually add designations on the Applicant Details page. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
2022-2023
The table below contains enhancements for PharmCAS for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.
Portal |
Section |
Enhancement Details |
Implementation |
Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|
Applicant Portal |
Fee Waivers |
If an applicant is eligible for a fee waiver but the fee waiver fund is depleted, then applicants can be alerted that they qualified for the fee waiver even though they could not be awarded one. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Extended Profile |
A new Extended Profile feature was added, which are question(s) an applicant must answer after they create their application and before they can select programs or complete any part of the application. The Extended Profile includes a question about program plans. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Personal Information – Release Statement |
The Release Statement text was updated. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Personal Information – Other Information |
The Misdemeanor and Felony questions were removed. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Applicant Portal |
Academic History –Colleges Attended |
PharmCAS will now only accept World Education Services (WES) electronic foreign transcript evaluations. Additionally, if an applicant selects Unlisted French Speaking Canadian or Other Foreign Institution, they must complete a new required field for the college’s country. If you created exports to pull a college's country data, you must edit and select the new college country fields. Review the Country Field for Manually Entered Foreign Institutions release note for more information. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
Configuration Portal |
Organization Details |
You can only access the Add Program and Copy Program buttons in the Configuration Portal prelaunch environment. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
Configuration Portal |
Organization Details and Program Details |
You can preview your programs in the application using the Preview feature and continue making edits as necessary. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
Configuration Portal |
Organization Details |
Instead of rebuilding your program in the prelaunch environment, you can import your program from a previous cycle's production environment into the prelaunch environment. You can access the Import from Previous Cycle button in the Configuration Portal prelaunch environment. Visit the Import Your Programs page for more information. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
Configuration Portal |
Program Details |
A new Resume/CV Document Type is available. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
Letters by Liaison |
Evaluation Form |
The If you are a pharmacist, please indicate the pharmacy institution from which you graduated question now has a free text answer option. Previously, the answer options appeared in a drop-down list. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
WebAdMIT |
In Progress Applicants Search Page |
CASs can now create a custom Program Plans question and answer values that are available in:
|
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |