iTunes import settings for files on computer I'm switching to iTunes for music management to make my life easier (mac, iPad, iPhone, ATV owner) and because I keep my library in the cloud via iTunes Match. 

I've noticed that .mp3 files won't upload to Match, but files converted to .aac via iTunes work just fine. I don't mind converting everything to Apple's format, but importing files, converting to aac (by clicking 'create aac version'), then deleting duplicates is painful. 

Is it possible to have my files convert to .aac while it's being copied to the iTunes Media folder?
Still not sure about the batch importing, but I did find some UX confusion in iTunes 11 that led to my posting this question. There's two different columns in the song view: "iCloud Status" and "iCloud Download". Just seeing the iCloud icon in a column by itself led me to believe it'd be filled in as the songs were uploaded. Not true, check "iCloud Status" as well.