If you applied early, should you have gotten the MAJORITY of your II's already?

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nh278

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So if you were complete in late July-ish is it reasonable to say that you probably should've gotten the majority of your II's? I know there're always the random ones that may come late in Nov/Dec/Jan, but those would only probably be 1 or 2 right?

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one can't predict this stuff. Your applications are in and there isn't too much you can do at this point. I wouldn't wring your hands too much about it.

If you really want to know, just look at the school specific threads and look at the complete dates of people who are getting II's now. If you are applying to a lot of schools that have given away a ton of its spots already, then yes probably get worried.
 
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In a perfect world, perhaps. But alas, the medical school admissions process isn't perfect. Each applicant is different and there are lots of them. Spector1 is right, that the school threads will give you some information (but perhaps misleading). The odds are stacked against just about everyone.
 
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So if you were complete in late July-ish is it reasonable to say that you probably should've gotten the majority of your II's? I know there're always the random ones that may come late in Nov/Dec/Jan, but those would only probably be 1 or 2 right?

There are no guarantees and medical school admissions follows a nonlinear model strongly affected by human biases.
 
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A very strong candidate with a well-chosen list of particularly efficient schools should have most of their interviews by now if the application was submitted at the beginning of the (MD) cycle.

Well that's depressing to hear.
 
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Well that's depressing to hear.

Also remember he said a very strong candidate, which most applicants think they are but only a small percentage fall in this category.

An average applicant, which comprises the majority of med school classes, will likely hear later in the cycle after schools have a better idea how many top-tier applicants they'll lock in.

If you have a 3.9 and 37 and no interviews, maybe time to be concerned. If you're a 3.5 and 29 guy, it'll probably be a few months before all your schools get to you.
 
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Also remember he said a very strong candidate, which most applicants think they are but only a small percentage fall in this category.

An average applicant, which comprises the majority of med school classes, will likely hear later in the cycle after schools have a better idea how many top-tier applicants they'll lock in.

If you have a 3.9 and 37 and no interviews, maybe time to be concerned. If you're a 3.5 and 29 guy, it'll probably be a few months before all your schools get to you.

True...I've got a 3.9 and a 34 so I'm definitely not very strong but definitely not weak either.

Edit: 34ish, I should say. 514 on the new MCAT.
 
True...I've got a 3.9 and a 34 so I'm definitely not very strong but definitely not weak either.

Edit: 34ish, I should say. 514 on the new MCAT.

You're a stronger candidate than me for sure. A close friend of mine applied last year with similar stats to you and received interviews through March. I'm not sure about his total number but I know it was more than 3 and didn't get his first one until November.
 
You're a stronger candidate than me for sure. A close friend of mine applied last year with similar stats to you and received interviews through March. I'm not sure about his total number but I know it was more than 3 and didn't get his first one until November.

This is very comforting to hear, thank you :) I'm just paranoid I had a bad letter or something lol. My ECs aren't anything special but they're decent, I think. And there are no other red flags I can think of. So I'm just kinda confused with the way this cycle is going.
 
I have 13 II out of 23 schools with a 3.97/38. Been complete since mid July.
 
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Well that's depressing to hear.
You did notitice how many qualifiers there are in my statement, no?
I can promise you that efficiency does not often manifest itself in the admissions process, even at some well-respected schools.
 
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True...I've got a 3.9 and a 34 so I'm definitely not very strong but definitely not weak either.

Edit: 34ish, I should say. 514 on the new MCAT.
Also read: applied to EFFICIENT schools. How many of those are there?
 
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No, especially if your app if not competitive, or not as competitive as others.


So if you were complete in late July-ish is it reasonable to say that you probably should've gotten the majority of your II's? I know there're always the random ones that may come late in Nov/Dec/Jan, but those would only probably be 1 or 2 right?
 
I've seen different conversions, some say 33 and some say 34. Whatever, it is what it is.
Most curious, you are probably one of my closest stat twins. I see we post in similar school threads. Not sure what is up with your cycle, seems strange.
Are you a poor Californian?? I have 7 II, but I'm a Michigander, and 4 of II are IS. Luck of the draw of state residency??
 
Most curious, you are probably one of my closest stat twins. I see we post in similar school threads. Not sure what is up with your cycle, seems strange.
Are you a poor Californian?? I have 7 II, but I'm a Michigander, and 4 of II are IS. Luck of the draw of state residency??

I'm from Illinois, not quite as bad as California but still pretty bad. Really only have one school I have an advantage at (University of Illinois) and I haven't heard from them. :( I've got two IIs now and both of them are at Ohio schools, where I went to undergrad.
 
I'm from Illinois, not quite as bad as California but still pretty bad. Really only have one school I have an advantage at (University of Illinois) and I haven't heard from them. :( I've got two IIs now and both of them are at Ohio schools, where I went to undergrad.
Good luck to you. Ohio is very friendly to Midwesterners. I had an II at OSU, and loved it. My family are U of Michigan, so they are having heartburn over it.
 
Good luck to you. Ohio is very friendly to Midwesterners. I had an II at OSU, and loved it. My family are U of Michigan, so they are having heartburn over it.

Yeah I've seen you on the Michigan thread, congrats on getting an II and I hope you get accepted there!
 
I'm from Illinois, not quite as bad as California but still pretty bad. Really only have one school I have an advantage at (University of Illinois) and I haven't heard from them. :( I've got two IIs now and both of them are at Ohio schools, where I went to undergrad.
IL applicants can hope to be in the 24.9% of applicants that matriculate IS.
CA kids are looking at 14.7%...
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstable5.pdf
 
IL applicants can hope to be in the 24.9% of applicants that matriculate IS.
CA kids are looking at 14.7%...
https://www.aamc.org/download/321466/data/factstable5.pdf

Yeah I know California stinks, glad I'm not from there. I've been rejected from two Illinois schools so far, didn't apply to Southern, so still waiting on Northwestern, Loyola, Rush, and U of I. Hopefully I'll get into at least one Illinois school!
 
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Yeah I know California stinks, glad I'm not from there. I've been rejected from two Illinois schools so far, didn't apply to Southern, so still waiting on Northwestern, Loyola, Rush, and U of I. Hopefully I'll get into at least one Illinois school!
Odds are in your favor.
 
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Also remember he said a very strong candidate, which most applicants think they are but only a small percentage fall in this category.

An average applicant, which comprises the majority of med school classes, will likely hear later in the cycle after schools have a better idea how many top-tier applicants they'll lock in.

If you have a 3.9 and 37 and no interviews, maybe time to be concerned. If you're a 3.5 and 29 guy, it'll probably be a few months before all your schools get to you.

lol....that's basically me - 3.9+, 37 and I have 1 rejection + 0 interviews so far (submitted most secondaries mid-late august). should i just start thinking about how to improve my app for next year?
 
lol....that's basically me - 3.9+, 37 and I have 1 rejection + 0 interviews so far (submitted most secondaries mid-late august). should i just start thinking about how to improve my app for next year?

Not yet (assuming your ECs are solid), although it isn't a bad thing to be thinking about ways to improve over the next year.
 
Not yet (assuming your ECs are solid), although it isn't a bad thing to be thinking about ways to improve over the next year.

i don't know what "solid" means...I think one way to describe my ECs would be "cookie-cutter," but I have friends with lower GPA/mcats and similar ECs who have interviews at multiple schools...so I'm starting to wonder whether one of my LOR writers had something bad to say about me or if my personal statement/secondary answers were just that bad...lol
 
lol....that's basically me - 3.9+, 37 and I have 1 rejection + 0 interviews so far (submitted most secondaries mid-late august). should i just start thinking about how to improve my app for next year?

Not really. You have some time since you submitted your secondaries only in August. If it were in July, then yeah probably.
 
lol....that's basically me - 3.9+, 37 and I have 1 rejection + 0 interviews so far (submitted most secondaries mid-late august). should i just start thinking about how to improve my app for next year?
We're getting to the time of the year when schools are very backed up with thousands of applications, and it often takes them up to a few months to read applications. If you were complete in late August, it is likely that many schools haven't looked at your application yet.
 
I have two II's, one of which I completed and it felt really good. But...still, I have 13 other schools to hear from. No wait list, rejection, II.. . I applied to 15 schools, with a 3.79 GPA (upward trend and a 3.9 sGPA) and a 35. I think doing most of my secondaries the first two weeks of August really put me behind.
 
I've also been really worried about my app. I have two IIs (not complaining) but I finished my secondaries (25) late-July early August. I was getting worried that my list was top heavy so I added a few more "lower-tier" schools and finished those mid-September. I don't think I'll hear from the latter group until October/November, but I sure hope I'm not out of the running for interviews at the schools I applied early to.
 
From my experience, a strong candidate who is complete within July will have MOST of their IIs by October. I was complete July/August, and I had 75% of my IIs by September. I got the other 25% from October-December. It varies, though - some people get IIs in March, so you never know.

The later you submit, the longer you will have to wait for IIs I've noticed.
 
6 II's, 5 rejections so far. II's were 4 top 20s and 2 in-state programs, but no mid-tiers. Meh GPA (good enough for MD though), very high MCAT, research heavy with pubs, good clinical, some non-clinical volunteering, tons of hobbies.

I am still waiting on over 35 programs, and hoping to hear from more!
 
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