Update PTCAS or OTCAS After Submitting: Hours, Grades

Update PTCAS or OTCAS After Submitting: Hours, Grades

After you submit PTCAS or OTCAS, you can add new observation-hour entries but cannot edit or delete the ones you submitted. Grades change only in the Academic Update window: December 15, 2026 to February 15, 2027 for PTCAS and December 11, 2026 to February 12, 2027 for OTCAS. Other updates go to programs directly.

If you planned to email new hours to programs, check the application first: for PTCAS and OTCAS, both help centers tell you to add a new entry. The email is for what the application cannot hold. This page sorts each kind of update into the right place for PTCAS, OTCAS, OptomCAS, PharmCAS, CSDCAS and VMCAS.

Every Liaison help-center page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026 and describes the 2026–2027 cycle. On that date no Academic Update window had opened yet.

What stays open after you submit

All six "Updating Your Application" pages carry the same list. After you submit, "most sections are locked to prevent edits." The updates you can still make:

If an optometry program has already invited you, prepare with the optometry school interview questions and formats guide.

• "Editing your contact information."
• "Editing your profile information (email address, password, etc.)."
• "Adding programs with deadlines that have not yet passed."
• Adding new references, evaluations or recommendations "if you have not yet requested the maximum number".
• "Editing or deleting" reference requests "that remain incomplete".
• "Adding new entries to certain areas of the Supporting Information and Program Materials sections (e.g., achievements, optional documents, etc.), where applicable (you are unable to edit or delete existing entries)."
• "Editing program materials for programs you have not yet submitted to."
• "Adding optional documents to programs that you already submitted to (all other sections will be locked)."

Then the rule that settles everything else: "After making your updates, click Update My Application to send the changes to your programs. If you have updates for other sections of your application, submit these updates directly to your programs."

The essay is locked too. PTCAS's essay page says: "If you find an error after submission that you believe could have major effects on your application, we recommend sending a corrected copy directly to the programs you applied to."

New observation hours

PTCAS and OTCAS answer this on their Observation Hours pages, and the answers match:

• PTCAS: "after you submit your application, you can add new observation hour entries once your planned/in progress hours are completed." And: "once you submit your application, you cannot edit or remove observation hours; however, you can continue to add new ones, as needed."
• OTCAS uses the same two sentences.

Both pages also say the CAS "does not verify the information entered here," and tell you to check each program's documentation and minimum requirements. On PTCAS, a new entry can ask your PT or PTA supervisor to verify the hours "via Liaison Letters," or you can upload a signed form.

Our view: put new hours in the application first, and email only what the application cannot show. The basis: the help centers built a path for new entries and send them to programs when you click Update My Application. An email about hours the program cannot see in the file asks a reader to cross-check two places.

The countercase: email when the update changes a decision the program already made with the old numbers, for example when you were short of a program's minimum at submission and are now over it. Add the entry, then write one short email that says so.

What goes where

Academic Update windows, 2026–2027

Three rules hold on every one of these pages:

1. Once only. "You can only update your grades once during the Academic Update period." Wait until fall grades post.
2. Transcripts after, not before. Send official transcripts "as soon as you receive an email confirmation" that the update was submitted. "Do not request that transcripts be sent … beforehand; they will not qualify for Academic Update and will need to be resubmitted."
3. Verification takes time. Updated coursework "can take up to 10 business days" to verify after transcripts arrive.

PharmCAS adds one more for its spring window: "applicants that are under review, on a wait list, or have been asked by a program directly should complete the spring Academic Update."

Five of the six pages call Academic Update "an optional process" and say to "check with your programs to determine if they require it"; PharmCAS instead names who should complete its spring update, above. If your fall grades help, do it.

Vet school is different: VMCAS is closed

The VMCAS portal shut on October 8, 2026, and two schools we checked tell applicants not to send anything outside the application:

• Colorado State (apply page): "Once the VMCAS and CSA applications are submitted, you cannot modify your application. Please do not send application materials or transcripts outside the application; only what is included in your application will be reviewed."
• University of Florida (application page): "All materials should be submitted to VMCAS; please do not send any materials to the College of Veterinary Medicine."

At those schools, new vet hours wait for the interview, where a school uses one, or for next cycle. If you are planning that, see the VMCAS reapplicant essay guide.

Late references

PTCAS lets you add references after you submit if you are under the maximum. The PTCAS cycle dates page sets June 1, 2027 at 11:59 PM ET as the last date to request references and the last date references can submit. That is the CAS limit, not your program's. Each program reviews on its own deadline, so a reference that arrives after your program has decided does nothing. The PTCAS reference letter guide covers who to ask and how.

Constructed example: a DPT update email about new hours

Use this only after you have added the new entry and clicked Update My Application, and only for a program whose minimum or review the hours change.

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant email. Context (invented): Jules Ochieng submitted PTCAS in September with 60 completed outpatient hours. The program asks for 80 hours, with at least one inpatient setting.

Subject: Observation hours added, PTCAS ID [number], Jules Ochieng

Dear DPT Admissions Committee,

Since submitting my PTCAS application in September, I have completed 32 inpatient observation hours at [hospital name]'s acute care unit, supervised by [name], PT. I added them as a new Observation Hours entry and sent verification to my supervisor through PTCAS on November 6.

With these hours I have 92 hours in two settings: 60 outpatient and 32 inpatient.

Thank you for considering this update.

Jules Ochieng

The email does three things: says what is new, where it is in the file, and how it relates to the program's stated requirement. It does not restate the essay or ask about status. The arithmetic is constructed: 60 + 32 = 92.

Checklist before you send any update

1. Is it something the application can hold? Add it there first and click Update My Application.
2. Is it a grade? Wait for the Academic Update window and your final grades, then submit once.
3. Does the program accept outside updates? If its page says no, do not send one.
4. Does it change something the program decides on: a minimum, a missing requirement, a new role? If not, skip the email.
5. One email per real change, short, dated, with your CAS ID.

Questions about updating PTCAS and OTCAS

Can I add observation hours after submitting PTCAS?

Yes. PTCAS says you "can add new observation hour entries once your planned/in progress hours are completed." You cannot edit or remove the hours you already submitted.

Can I update my PTCAS GPA after verification?

Only during Academic Update, December 15, 2026 to February 15, 2027, and only once. You need one program Verified by February 15, 2027.

Can I change my PTCAS or OTCAS essay after submitting?

No. If you find an error that you believe could have major effects, PTCAS and OTCAS both recommend sending a corrected copy directly to your programs.

Can I add a letter of recommendation after submitting?

Yes, if you have not requested the maximum. On PTCAS the last day to request references is June 1, 2027.

Can I update VMCAS with new hours now?

No. The VMCAS portal closed on October 8, 2026, and schools such as Colorado State and Florida ask applicants not to send materials outside VMCAS.

Review the writing you send next

When a change belongs in an email, the update letter rubric reads whether your message identifies what changed and explains it concretely; it was written for medical school update letters, and the same test fits a DPT or OT program email. If you are rewriting your essay for next cycle instead, use the PTCAS essay rubric.

More guides for health-program applicants:

• Update letter vs letter of intent for PT, OT and pharmacy: which letter to send after an interview.
• OT shadowing: hours, outreach and application notes: planning hours before the next update.
• PTCAS essay guide for 2026–2027: the shared essay you cannot change after submitting.
• Applying to PA school? CASPA update after submitting covers CASPA's different rules.
• The medical and health school essays hub has the rest of the PT, OT and pharmacy guides.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026, except where noted. All Liaison pages describe the 2026–2027 cycle.

• Liaison help centers, "Updating Your Application" pages for PTCAS, OTCAS, OptomCAS, PharmCAS, CSDCAS and VMCAS: locked sections, allowed updates, Academic Update windows and transcript rules.
• PTCAS and OTCAS help centers, Observation Hours pages (PTCAS, OTCAS): adding entries after submission.
• PTCAS help center, Essay and Application Cycle Dates: corrected-copy advice; reference dates.
• OTCAS help center, Documents: corrected-version advice for uploaded documents.
• Colorado State University, Apply to Our Program (2026 application timeline): no materials outside the application.
• University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Application (no year stated): all materials through VMCAS.