Can the AMCAS application be completed in 4 days?

[arlyl]

I'm taking the MCAT on May 24th, and will be leaving the country for a few months on May 29th.

I will have limited internet access during the trip, so I would like to have my AMCAS application done before I leave, so all I have to do is hit "submit" on June 1st.

I don't know how much I will be able to complete leading up to my MCAT, and was planning on working through the entire application after I take the test. I will have about 4 full days between my MCAT test date and when I leave, and will have no other obligations during those 4 days.

Is that enough time to satisfactorily complete the AMCAS application?

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[littlefaster]

I'm taking the MCAT on May 24th, and will be leaving the country for a few months on May 29th.

I will have limited internet access during the trip, so I would like to have my AMCAS application done before I leave, so all I have to do is hit "submit" on June 1st.

I don't know how much I will be able to complete leading up to my MCAT, and was planning on working through the entire application after I take the test. I will have about 4 full days between my MCAT test date and when I leave, and will have no other obligations during those 4 days.

Is that enough time to satisfactorily complete the AMCAS application?

No. The activities and PS take a long time. I'd recommend writing those before if you want to submit on day 1.

 

[aSagacious]

The AMCAS application opens on May 1st each year. You are able to submit it on June 1st. If you begin filling it out in early May you should be fine. You can fill out 99% of it (less the MCAT score) and simply not submit it if you don't like your score.

 

[tiedyeddog]

No. The activities and PS take a long time. I'd recommend writing those before if you want to submit on day 1.

I think activities will be easy. Start on your PS now. Rewrite it a couple times and have a near complete draft ready before the four day mark. It's really not that bad, as I remember.

 

[VectreSpectre]

If your PS is done, then yeah. It's a pain though, be warned. Wouldn't you be packing/goodbyes/getting ready before leaving the country anyway? Start sneaking time in as soon as possible. Write your PS now, and organize your activities as well. Those two things will make it very doable.

 

[arlyl]

Write your PS now, and organize your activities as well. Those two things will make it very doable.

Will do, thanks.

 

[littlefaster]

Will do, thanks.

Check out the poster NickNaylor's MDApplicants if he still has one. He used a paragraph style format for the activities which seems to be effective. Those take time to write and tighten up.

Good luck!

 

[CodeRedDew]

The application isnt open yet? I registered a couple of days ago and I'm able to enter all of my information right now.

 

[aSagacious]

The application isnt open yet? I registered a couple of days ago and I'm able to enter all of my information right now.

I think you're filling out last year's application. It will probably be reset in May.

 

[Tots]

The application isnt open yet? I registered a couple of days ago and I'm able to enter all of my information right now.

Wrong one....

 

[NinersFan0]

Wrong one....

Where is your sig quote from?

Edit: to speed up the AMCAS process, just have everything ready before it opens. Use the username and password amcasguest on this year's application to get an idea of what the application looks like.

 

[CodeRedDew]

Haha, okay cool! Good thing I didn't fill much out lol

 

[Tots]

Where is your sig quote from?

Edit: to speed up the AMCAS process, just have everything ready before it opens. Use the username and password amcasguest on this year's application to get an idea of what the application looks like.

a youtube video uh...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3IU0danX6Q

not sure if they got it from somewhere else.

 

[NinersFan0]

a youtube video uh...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3IU0danX6Q

not sure if they got it from somewhere else.

Haha that's pretty good

 

[NeuralNetwork]

Your primary is so very important for your application, and I would argue that you should spend as much time as possible with it to get it as good as you could possibly get it. I personally spent a couple months working on the personal statement with many revisions, and probably a month working on just the activities and writing up their descriptions/getting edits in. You can have an amazing resume, but if you don't convey it correctly, it could really hurt you.

 

[CodeRedDew]

Quick question.

Generally, does the primary application on AMCAS vary from year to year? I'm asking because if they don't, I can see what I need to fill out and have everything set and ready to go May 1st. That way, there will only be the minor, final revisions for the entire month of May.

 

[NeuralNetwork]

Quick question.

Generally, does the primary application on AMCAS vary from year to year? I'm asking because if they don't, I can see what I need to fill out and have everything set and ready to go May 1st. That way, there will only be the minor, final revisions for the entire month of May.

There was a big change between 2011 and 2012:

- Less space was given for activity description
- Up to 3 activities were to be chosen as "most meaningful" and an additional 1,500 characters were allowed for further explanation
- Contacts are required for each activity

I don't believe there will be any major changes this year, so if you keep to the character limit and start writing descriptions/most meaningful descriptions, you will be ahead.

 

[Tots]

Quick question.

Generally, does the primary application on AMCAS vary from year to year? I'm asking because if they don't, I can see what I need to fill out and have everything set and ready to go May 1st. That way, there will only be the minor, final revisions for the entire month of May.

They made major changes last year so it is unlikely they will change it again this year but who knows. If they do change it they will most likely tell people before May.

 

[spike55]

I'm taking the MCAT on May 24th, and will be leaving the country for a few months on May 29th.

I will have limited internet access during the trip , so I would like to have my AMCAS application done before I leave, so all I have to do is hit "submit" on June 1st.

I don't know how much I will be able to complete leading up to my MCAT, and was planning on working through the entire application after I take the test. I will have about 4 full days between my MCAT test date and when I leave, and will have no other obligations during those 4 days.

Is that enough time to satisfactorily complete the AMCAS application?

Have you thought about how/when you'll do your secondaries if you are out of the country without much internet access for a couple of months?

I think timing for things like this vary a lot from person to person. How long does it take you to write papers and feel good about them? How long does it take you to update your resume? To fill out job applications? If you think about your timing for those sorts of things, you should be able to figure out a rough estimate.
That said, I wouldn't wait to start it until 4 days before you want to submit... Even with MCAT studying, if you worked on it for just an hour a week in the meantime you'd be much better off.

 

[sector9]

Quick question.

Generally, does the primary application on AMCAS vary from year to year? I'm asking because if they don't, I can see what I need to fill out and have everything set and ready to go May 1st. That way, there will only be the minor, final revisions for the entire month of May.

I think that generally, very little changes from year to year. However, the last cycle (the one wrapping up now) had pretty big changes. Those changes were announced months in advance though so I'm guessing not much is changing this year (unless I missed something)

OP: I think it's quite possible to fill out AMCAS in 4 days BUT you need to have all of your transcripts in, your PS written (and checked and rechecked and edited by multiple readers) and your activity descriptions written (with your "most meaningful" prompts too), and since you're going to be gone, your LORs all turned in so you don't have to worry about them. BTW, the PS and your descriptions have to be the final version as you can't go back and edit them after you submit. Of course, you also need to actually submit the application on June 1 or later so you will need internet for at least a few minutes while you do the actual submission.

If by "a few months" you mean you'll be gone 3+ months, then you'll run into problems completing your secondaries in a timely fashion

 

[crazyasian]

Start writing you application as early as possible. Update it and make final tweaks before amcas is opened up. I rushed my amcas and did a horrible job proofreading...trust me, start as early as possible

 

[Dr. Ducky]

OP: I'm really surprised that this many people are saying that you should be able to complete it in 4 days. Of course, yes, if you basically have everything written and compiled (PS, Activities, Transcripts, etc) before May 25, you should get it done before June1. But is this what you were asking? It seemed like the MCAT prep would be eating up your time prior to the 4 day stretch. I found that the majority of my time on the AMCAS was spent waiting for others to read the PS and activities over for revision and to get back to me.

So, if you are in fact asking is it possible to "fill in the blanks" by having everything ready prior to the 4 days, yes, that is very doable. If you are talking about truly starting from scratch on May 25, I'm skeptical. Even if you are an efficient writer, there's gonna be quite a bit of turnaround time with having it revised. Use SDN to your advantage (if it's allowed) by asking users to look over your stuff. Remember, your goal isn't to just have your primary complete before June 1. It is to have a GREAT primary done before June 1! Just getting it done, while is a feat in itself, will not do you any good. Shoot me a PM if you want while you're preparing it, and I'll read over it if you'd like. Good luck!!!!!!