Committee Letter delaying secondary completion

[matlas]

My premed committee letter/packet will not be submitted until the first couple weeks of August. I received a number of secondaries this week, and since the earliest I could be complete is August, is there still an urgency to complete them quickly? Would submitting them in 3-4 weeks time (still before my committee letter) have any downside? This is a question probably better addressed to any adcoms on SDN.

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[bluemachine]

im interested in this too! like will schools count it against me if lets say i turn in secondaries on 7/1, but my committee letter doesnt get there until like end of july? would they think that its my fault for not hustling my committee to send the letter in?

 

[claduva94]

Are you really going to work on it that long? Obviously, there is no rush to crank it out in 72 hours but if you can get a good draft out within a week or two you will avoid the risk.

 

[Zora98]

I'd like to know about this as well, as I'm in the same exact situation haha

 

[Lamel]

I'm in the same situation.

Even though my committee letter won't be in, I am aiming for a 1-2 week turnaround time. I think that is more than enough, it allows you to re-read and re-draft if needed, but you don't dwell on them forever.

 

[gastronome]

Same situation and agreed. Committee letter will be sent in 2 weeks, but even with the rush of secondaries this past week, aiming for 1-2 weeks. Just try to keep ahead of the wave.

 

[mik30102]

I have all of my secondaries pre-written, and my committee letter is not in either .

 

[candbgirl]

Why would you wait? Get them done and maybe attach a note saying your committee letter will be in by the middle of August.

 

[nemo123]

Yes, submit your secondaries as you get them even if you have to wait another couple weeks for your committee LOR to get in. Sometimes, apps are reviewed without your LORs and get queued for interview invitations pending the retrieval of your letters from AMCAS particularly if you're a superstar applicant.

 

[Euxox]

I agree with everything nemo said.

For those of you who are concerned about the timing of your committee letters, keep in mind that literally thousands of applicants have committee letter troubles each year. Adcoms understand this. Anecdotally, my committee letter wasn't uploaded until the very end of August, and I still got plenty of interview invitations. I also have friends going to HMS and Hopkins whose committee letters weren't in until the middle of September. So if your committee letter will be uploaded in early August, you're completely fine. I know that with the ridiculous number of checklists and deadlines this can be a pretty stressful time of year for applicants, so hopefully this is one less thing you have to worry about.

 

[Lamel]

Yes, submit your secondaries as you get them even if you have to wait another couple weeks for your committee LOR to get in. Sometimes, apps are reviewed without your LORs and get queued for interview invitations pending the retrieval of your letters from AMCAS particularly if you're a superstar applicant.

Do you know how often this happens? Or is it too school/situation dependent?

 

[kthxbai]

My advisers said LORs are the last thing adcoms look at. Send those secondaries away!

 

[nemo123]

Do you know how often this happens? Or is it too school/situation dependent?

It's school dependent, but schools like UMich issues IIs without them.

 

[Zelda840]

^^^Yep. Each school does it a little different. Some won't let you submit the secondary without your letters being in (I'm lookin' at you, Quinnipiac), but some (like my state school - UNMC) will set up your interview without them.

 

[gorte002]

Submit your secondary, no use in waiting for the Committee Letter. Getting mine sometime this week, but I went ahead and submitted those secondaries that I had completed. Best of Luck!

 

[EugeneDielsAlder]

This is the first SDN thread that has ever made me feel BETTER about the application cycle! Thank you to all who posted (even if it was quite some time ago).

 

[CpnClwVie]

This is the first SDN thread that has ever made me feel BETTER about the application cycle! Thank you to all who posted (even if it was quite some time ago).

if it makes you feel any better. I am STILL waiting on my science LOR writer.

 

[EugeneDielsAlder]

if it makes you feel any better. I am STILL waiting on my science LOR writer.

I feel your pain! I just got off the phone with my school's committee, and they quoted me a total turnaround time that maxed out around a month (!!!) from today. Hopefully gentle reminders poke: ...ha, loving these emojis) over the next week or so will keep the fire lit.

It is truly maddening but I feel SO much better having read everyone elses' accounts. I have to have faith that all of these medical programs are very used to this committee foot-dragging year after year, and it is just another stressor added to the process on our end. This too shall pass!

Also, in keeping with the theme for the thread: I am completing all the secondaries I can as they come in. Some have ridiculous essay requirements and will take longer, but slow and steady wins the race. The nice (??!) thing about the extra time for completion is I feel I can take my time - within reason - putting a unique twist on each secondary. Just my 2 cents!

 

[NTheo91]

Kind of in the same situation. My committee letter is done, but my advisor won't send ANY of my letters to AMCAS until after I am verified and so I probably wont be complete until mid-August according to him.

 

[singergirl18]

Sitting in the same boat, and this made me feel so much better! Good luck to everyone!