Assuming Middle of the Road Numbers and Good ECs, How Long Until Replies From Secondaries?

[iliketodrinkcoffee]

I got a reply back from one school within <4 days of submitting a secondary and the rest...well my e-mail inbox has been crickets. Based on previous experiences or past knowledge, what is an average number of time for interviews to start rolling out assuming one has the average/median MCAT of the schools he/she is interested in, and a slightly higher GPA? ECs are above average imo. I submitted all my secondaries about 2 weeks ago.

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[SN2 Me]

Based on past trends, I would venture to guess the majority of your interview invites will come in August and September. However, you may not see those lovely emails in your inbox until October or beyond; there's no way of knowing for sure.

 

[piii]

Anytime from now until never.

 

[LizzyM]

The applicants who are "above average" for that school will be tapped first because the schools want to get them in before offers start coming out in mid October. At that point, some of the superstars cut back on interviews and turn down schools they are less interested in. Once those superstars are out of the way, the next wave is the "average matriculant" for that school.

Do keep in mind that schools can't interview everyone who is well qualified, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Part of the point of applying to a huge number of schools is that you hope that you'll get one hit (or more) given your number of times at bat. It really is a vicious cycle as applicants apply to a larger number of schools and the schools deal with a larger number of applicants.

 

[iliketodrinkcoffee]

The applicants who are "above average" for that school will be tapped first because the schools want to get them in before offers start coming out in mid October. At that point, some of the superstars cut back on interviews and turn down schools they are less interested in. Once those superstars are out of the way, the next wave is the "average matriculant" for that school.

Do keep in mind that schools can't interview everyone who is well qualified, there just aren't enough hours in the day. Part of the point of applying to a huge number of schools is that you hope that you'll get one hit (or more) given your number of times at bat. It really is a vicious cycle as applicants apply to a larger number of schools and the schools deal with a larger number of applicants.

Well I'm a Texas applicant. Does that add more closure to the situation? I understand Texas is a large state, but excluding Baylor...I'm one person applicable to meet the 90% in state quota Texas has designated for public medical schools. I don't have the nationwide competition as I would if I was applying to a say, Georgetown or something. Well, I do, but it's stifled considerably. Does the vicious cycle phenomena still apply? I only applied within Texas as I am legitimately interested in staying in this state and I understand there is a slight stigma against Texas residents who go out of state due to our state's cheap tuition and expansive seats.

 

[DokterMom]

If you're a Texan with average MCAT scores (for accepted students), slightly better than average grades, good ECs and LORs and a decent or better PS, then you should expect 3-5 interview invitations between now and mid October.

Trying to pin it down any more than that will just make you crazy, so resist!

 

[piii]

Well I'm a Texas applicant. Does that add more closure to the situation? I understand Texas is a large state, but excluding Baylor...I'm one person applicable to meet the 90% in state quota Texas has designated for public medical schools. I don't have the nationwide competition as I would if I was applying to a say, Georgetown or something. Well, I do, but it's stifled considerably. Does the vicious cycle phenomena still apply? I only applied within Texas as I am legitimately interested in staying in this state and I understand there is a slight stigma against Texas residents who go out of state due to our state's cheap tuition and expansive seats.

It doesn't work that way. TMDAS has the same acceptance rate at stats as the national system.

 

[iliketodrinkcoffee]

It doesn't work that way. TMDAS has the same acceptance rate at stats as the national system.

Sort of. LizzyM said part of the point of applying to a large number of schools is to curb the effect of schools interviewing limited numbers of qualified applicants. That being said, Texas walls off a lot of national applicants as they can only accept 10% of them. Therefore, the total number of pool of qualified applicants is mostly limited to 90% of everyone in Texas as opposed to everyone with a 3.8 and a 31 across the United States. Yes, you're right that they have the same acceptance. But the volume differs.

 

[iliketodrinkcoffee]

If you're a Texan with average MCAT scores (for accepted students), slightly better than average grades, good ECs and LORs and a decent or better PS, then you should expect 3-5 interview invitations between now and mid October.

Trying to pin it down any more than that will just make you crazy, so resist!

Sure thing. Thanks for the advice!

 

[LizzyM]

When it comes to admissions, it really is the Republic of Texas.

 

[piii]

Sort of. LizzyM said part of the point of applying to a large number of schools is to curb the effect of schools interviewing limited numbers of qualified applicants. That being said, Texas walls off a lot of national applicants as they can only accept 10% of them. Therefore, the total number of pool of qualified applicants is mostly limited to 90% of everyone in Texas as opposed to everyone with a 3.8 and a 31 across the United States. Yes, you're right that they have the same acceptance. But the volume differs.

Their classes are 90% Texans, but they don't accept 90% of Texans.

TMDSAS has total enrollment pool of 1600 with 4000 Texas applicants. So even if they took 100% Texan applicants that's only 40%. 90% enrollment is only 36% of Texan applicants. The volume doesn't mater. Those aren't favorable numbers..

https://www.tmdsas.com/Final Statistics Report- EY15-Medical.pdf

 

[DokterMom]

Their classes are 90% Texans, but they don't accept 90% of Texans.

TMDSAS has total enrollment pool of 1600 with 4000 Texas applicants. So even if they took 100% Texan applicants that's only 40%. 90% enrollment is only 36% of Texan applicants. The volume doesn't mater. Those aren't favorable numbers..

https://www.tmdsas.com/Final Statistics Report- EY15-Medical.pdf

You're both right --
In state acceptance rates for Texas are about the same as the national average acceptance rate for all applicants, so the advantages are mainly psychological and emotional rather than statistical.

However, most Texas medical schools receive about 3,500 - 4,000 applications (if I recall) as compared to 10,000 - 15,000 for mid-tier private schools like Georgetown, Rosy Franklin or Rush, so your "typical" IS application is more likely to get read and more likely to be seriously considered in state than elsewhere and the 'application fatigue' is likely to be somewhat reduced.

 

[LizzyM]

You're both right --
In state acceptance rates for Texas are about the same as the national average acceptance rate for all applicants, so the advantages are mainly psychological and emotional rather than statistical.

However, most Texas medical schools receive about 3,500 - 4,000 applications (if I recall) as compared to 10,000 - 15,000 for mid-tier private schools like Georgetown, Rosy Franklin or Rush, so your "typical" IS application is more likely to get read and more likely to be seriously considered in state than elsewhere and the 'application fatigue' is likely to be somewhat reduced.

That said, I can't imagine the schools interviewing more than 700-1,000 applicants from that pool meaning that ~75% of the applicants to any given school will not get an interview.