Application Timeline and Personal Tragedy during App year

[classof2028md]

Hi everyone,

I am applying in a few days and have finished a draft of my personal statement in addition to collecting all LORs and submitting almost all my transcripts to AMCAS.

However, I am having difficulty on an issue; a parent of mine passed away 2 weeks ago ( after a 4 month ordeal) which has led to expected grief and difficulty concentrating. I am becoming more clear-headed as the days progress which is why I am able to do more work now.

The question I have is in regards to my app and MCAT. I was originally scheduled to take the MCAT in January until all of this happened. The stress of taking care of a parent on life support made things overwhelming to say the least.

I am aiming to take the MCAT on June 17 or June 29th at the latest as a result while submitting my primary by June 15th. My MCAT score goal is 520+ which is why I want to ensure I have ample time to prepare given these circumstances.

I want to confirm if I would still be considered early with this timeline as I am finding it nearly impossible to submit on day 1 due to the stress of my parent's issue and recovering from that. I plan on having a quick secondary turn around as well/will prewrite. I am taking a summer class as well that ends on June 30th and will have those transcripts submitted immediately as well.

I would be appreciative of your feedback and advice.

@LizzyM @Goro

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[LizzyM]

I am sorry for your loss. Do you have a support system IRL that is helping you recover?

IMHO, as long as you are verified, have your LORs in, and have submitted your secondaries by Labor Day, you are on time.

Do not rush into this cycle if you are not ready. I trust that you are submitting to one "throw away" school ahead of receiving your MCAT score so that you can be verified quickly. Have you been scoring 520 consistently in practice tests under test conditions? Do consider whether the timing is right, right now, or if you might be setting yourself up for disappointment and a second cycle in the future. Getting the timing right can help you avoid being a reapplicant. Discount the sunk costs and get off the merry-go-round if the timing this year is not right given all you've been through.

 

[classof2028md]

I am sorry for your loss. Do you have a support system IRL that is helping you recover?

IMHO, as long as you are verified, have your LORs in, and have submitted your secondaries by Labor Day, you are on time.

Do not rush into this cycle if you are not ready. I trust that you are submitting to one "throw away" school ahead of receiving your MCAT score so that you can better. Have you been scoring 520 consistently in practice tests under test conditions? Do consider whether the timing is right, right now, or if you might be setting yourself up for disappointment and a second cycle in the future. Getting the timing right can help you avoid being a reapplicant. Discount the sunk costs and get off the merru=y-go-round if the timing this year is not right given all you've been through.

Thank you for your response and wishes. I have a strong support system right now which is why I am doing better.

That's definitely reassuring. I will definitely focus on getting everything done as soon as possible so that I am complete by Labor day if not earlier.

Should I inform schools of this personal issue given the competitive nature of the process and limited interview slots?

I am submitting to a "throw away" school before receiving the MCAT ( which will be sometime in July). Right now, I am scoring in the 515-520 range which is why I want to put in more effort to boost to that range. My mind was in a grief cloud for the past 2 weeks so I couldn't really prep then or take the MCAT sooner as I had to be in the hospital with my parent everyday consulting with their healthcare team.

I will definitely take the MCAT when I am ready; I actually started prepping from December and prepped after my parent was initially hospitalized so I ended up getting all the content review and some practice tests in. I just want to do more given my score goals.

 

[LizzyM]

You will have told the schools that your parent is deceased if you complete that optional portion of the application that asks your parents' names, whether they are alive, their highest level of education and their occupations. What won't be clear from that portion of the application is the timing of their death(s).

Don't bother with an email stating, "my application is later than I would have wished because my parent died in May." That puts the school in a difficult position... should they treat you differently than every other applicant because you had a tough break or should they ignore this email or even resent you for seeming to attempt to gain some advantage over others with this email?

Some schools may offer a secondary prompt that you could use to describe your experiences of the past five months. Do be absolutely sure that you can speak of this without falling apart as anything in your application is fair game for interview questions.

The other possibility, which is new this year, is to use the new section of the AMCAS that replaces the "disadvantaged" statement. This is certainly something that has had an impact on your life and that might be explained briefly in that section.

Finally, is it possible that a faculty member or supervisor who has not yet completed your letter of recommendation might write about your recent ordeal. I have found these letters to be a useful source of this kind of information and can be an opportunity for a writer to tell us of your resourcefulness, resilience, compassion, sense of duty and so forth.

 

[classof2028md]

You will have told the schools that your parent is deceased if you complete that optional portion of the application that asks your parents' names, whether they are alive, their highest level of education and their occupations. What won't be clear from that portion of the application is the timing of their death(s).

Don't bother with an email stating, "my application is later than I would have wished because my parent died in May." That puts the school in a difficult position... should they treat you differently than every other applicant because you had a tough break or should they ignore this email or even resent you for seeming to attempt to gain some advantage over others with this email?

Some schools may offer a secondary prompt that you could use to describe your experiences of the past five months. Do be absolutely sure that you can speak of this without falling apart as anything in your application is fair game for interview questions.

The other possibility, which is new this year, is to use the new section of the AMCAS that replaces the "disadvantaged" statement. This is certainly something that has had an impact on your life and that might be explained briefly in that section.

Finally, is it possible that a faculty member or supervisor who has not yet completed your letter of recommendation might write about your recent ordeal. I have found these letters to be a useful source of this kind of information and can be an opportunity for a writer to tell us of your resourcefulness, resilience, compassion, sense of duty and so forth.

I have started filling out AMCAS and am listing my parent's information on there.

I agree; I am mainly concerned about being at a competitive disadvantage for taking the MCAT later in June but understand that I can still be on time/early completion wise which I am aiming for.

For the section of the application that delves into obstacles, I am discussing this in addition to the struggles associated prior to this experience (i.e. my parent had significant health complications for the last several years leading to a caregiver responsibility for me; significant financial issues also occurred during this time). Do adcoms take this information seriously? It's a major driving force for why I want to be a physician, but I am also mindful that it is more common?

I am in the process of collecting letters. I will definitely mention this to one of my letter writers with the hopes that they can include this in their letter. I am aiming to have all my letters submitted by the end of June.

 

[Goro]

Very, very sorry to hear of this terrible news!

1. Take time to grieve
2. Stay busy
3. Apply only when you are ready to. Ditto for taking the MCAT. Med schools aren't going anywhere.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I am mainly concerned about being at a competitive disadvantage for taking the MCAT later in June but understand that I can still be on time/early completion wise which I am aiming for.

Welcome to the forums. None of us know your application profile to gauge how desirable you are since this is your first set of posts here.

However, the following tenets generally have held:
1) Better to submit a highly competitive application ONCE than try to recover as a reapplicant.
2) It's okay if you need more time for yourself and your family to grieve your loss, especially if you had to caregive as long as you did. Many reviewers know what that's like.
3) The timeline to being "early" is a little more generous if you are an in-state applicant with mission fit. Or you apply to DO programs.