How late should you delay ERAS submission?

[doctor85]

Due to a family emergency, I have to take a medicine rotation at the beginning of 4th year. This pushes my first derm elective back to mid-Sept. at my home institution. I follow that up with another away rotation, which will put me at mid-Nov. My problem is that the clerkship evals included in my MSPE/Dean's letter must be submitted by mid-Sept. and the dean's letter is released on Oct. 1., leaving me without any actual derm rotation mentioned in my application. My advising office recommends submitting the ERAS asap after it opens (September), but it seems like it would be more beneficial to wait till I get my LORs back from the derm faculty in my first rotation before hitting submit.

Any thoughts on the pros or cons to submitting it asap vs. waiting? I realize individual programs have application deadlines, but most of them aren't till Oct 15 or Nov. 1 from what I've seen.

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[dermie1985]

I'm maybe less experienced with these than other people on here. General advice I've gotten is that most programs don't start looking at applications until October 1st when the MSPE is released. Some programs (particularly transitional and preliminary year programs) apparently do start reviewing before the MSPE though...i.e. they just have Step 1 filters and start giving invites. You'll probably be applying to these too.

You can start submitting ERAS on September 15th. I think waiting to October 1st (i.e. not releasing on September 15th) isn't going to have any real consequence. Assuming you do your derm rotation in mid-September, it might be feasible to ask a faculty member 1/2 way through for a letter of rec to make the October 1st deadline and submit just with that letter.

Your actual grade in the rotation is probably not going to be posted until a few weeks after your rotation is finished (so maybe early November). That seems pretty late to submit ERAS given programs will program have already started reviewing apps and offering interview invites at that point. I probably wouldn't wait that long especially because you'll probably have the feedback from the rotation in a recommendation letter.

 

[Grace82]

I was in a similar situation (was very sick in the fall) and ended up not being able to do my home derm rotation until late December (also couldn't do aways). I submitted my ERAS on Sept. 15th. While it certainly was not an ideal situation, I really don't think not having the rotation done yet affected getting interviews or successfully matching (I was never even asked about it). I definitely wouldn't delay submitting as this definitely can have a negative impact especially if you waited awhile.

 

[asmallchild]

Due to a family emergency, I have to take a medicine rotation at the beginning of 4th year. This pushes my first derm elective back to mid-Sept. at my home institution. I follow that up with another away rotation, which will put me at mid-Nov. My problem is that the clerkship evals included in my MSPE/Dean's letter must be submitted by mid-Sept. and the dean's letter is released on Oct. 1., leaving me without any actual derm rotation mentioned in my application. My advising office recommends submitting the ERAS asap after it opens (September), but it seems like it would be more beneficial to wait till I get my LORs back from the derm faculty in my first rotation before hitting submit.

Any thoughts on the pros or cons to submitting it asap vs. waiting? I realize individual programs have application deadlines, but most of them aren't till Oct 15 or Nov. 1 from what I've seen.

I would agree with most of the advice above, many derm programs tend to review apps later than other specialties. That being said, I really would recommend getting the ERAS application in as soon as possible. There are programs out there that will start combing the applications early and perhaps start offering interviews. Certainly the more competitive prelim/TYs will do this as well.

 

[MedStud!]

I can only speak from a rad onc perspective... but I submitted my application three hours after ERAS opened. At least five of the programs I applied to downloaded my application the first day. If you don't submit early you run the risk of not appearing eager about their program.

I would make effort to contact the program coordinators to telegraph your interest and explain your situation. Most will understand and it will help you get picked out of the pack.

 

[Dermione Granger]

I was able to schedule 2 aways in July and August. Unfortunately, for both rotations, my grades were not uploaded to our school registrar until October. I submitted ERAS on Sept 15th irregardless. I obtained LORs from both rotations and discussed my experience at those institutions at interviews. At the end of the day, I thought it was more important for me to submit my application on time rather than waiting for additional grades or LORs.

 

[doctor85]

So even if I don't have any derm LORs or evaluations/grades from derm rotations on my ERAS on Sept 15th, you still think it's in my best interest to submit it anyway and then add the LORs as they become available? Obviously I won't be able to add additional grades at that point.

 

[DermViser]

So even if I don't have any derm LORs or evaluations/grades from derm rotations on my ERAS on Sept 15th, you still think it's in my best interest to submit it anyway and then add the LORs as they become available? Obviously I won't be able to add additional grades at that point.

If you're done with your entire application and PS and the only thing you have left are the letters, then submit. The LORs don't have to be in at the same time as your app. Your grades will already be on your transcript or more importantly your MSPE.

 

[asmallchild]

So even if I don't have any derm LORs or evaluations/grades from derm rotations on my ERAS on Sept 15th, you still think it's in my best interest to submit it anyway and then add the LORs as they become available? Obviously I won't be able to add additional grades at that point.

What does the rest of your application profile look like? If you are a borderline applicant, I would be hesitant to recommend submitting your ERAS application without any grades from a 4th year derm elective

 

[DermViser]

What does the rest of your application profile look like? If you are a borderline applicant, I would be hesitant to recommend submitting your ERAS application without any grades from a 4th year derm elective

Sorry, I was assuming that his grades in those derm electives would be present on his transcript and on his MSPE (which are uploaded by the school).

 

[asmallchild]

Sorry, I was assuming that his grades in those derm electives would be present on his transcript and on his MSPE (which are uploaded by the school).

Hmm, it looks like the OP will be starting his/her 1st derm elective mid-September so it looks like the transcript and MSPE won't reflect any derm rotations. In truth, I'm not sure it makes a big difference as everyone looks towards the LORs anyway. But for a borderline applicant, it will seem odd to not have any derm-related rotations on those two items. It seems silly to delay an application by an entire year over something like this but the first shot at derm is the best shot. To the OP, you may want to weigh the risks/benefits of delaying application for a year if you cannot get all your ducks lined up adequately this year. Best of luck!

 

[doctor85]

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[doctor85]

What does the rest of your application profile look like? If you are a borderline applicant, I would be hesitant to recommend submitting your ERAS application without any grades from a 4th year derm elective

My profile is 260 step 1, majority honors on 3rd year clerkships at a top 25 MD school, several derm case reports and a few decent derm abstracts and ongoing projects for the past 2 years and some good long-term connections with faculty members who will be my attendings and LOR authors this fall. Not sure if that sways anyone's advice either way.

Also, would it be reasonable to submit the applications for pre-lim/transitional programs ASAP and then hold off on derm programs till the LORs roll in (early Oct)? I imagine the internship programs screen mostly off of board scores, grades and AOA anyway.

I just don't want programs to review my application and have it look awkwardly incomplete and lacking strong derm clinical experience from the LORs. I don't want to look like the kid that got a high step 1 score and then jumped on the derm bandwagon last minute.

 

[asmallchild]

My profile is 260 step 1, majority honors on 3rd year clerkships at a top 25 MD school, several derm case reports and a few decent derm abstracts and ongoing projects for the past 2 years and some good long-term connections with faculty members who will be my attendings and LOR authors this fall. Not sure if that sways anyone's advice either way.

Also, would it be reasonable to submit the applications for pre-lim/transitional programs ASAP and then hold off on derm programs till the LORs roll in (early Oct)? I imagine the internship programs screen mostly off of board scores, grades and AOA anyway.

I just don't want programs to review my application and have it look awkwardly incomplete and lacking strong derm clinical experience from the LORs. I don't want to look like the kid that got a high step 1 score and then jumped on the derm bandwagon last minute.

Hmm, your stats do look strong enough. Assuming you can update your ERAS (it's been a while since I've used it), you may as well submit right away and just update as your derm LORs roll in. I would check with your home program about this strategy before actually employing it.

It would also be worthwhile to submit applications for prelim years/transitional years ASAP (use clerkship letters from 3rd year) as the competitive ones tend to start reviewing applications early.