Late projected release of committee letter - time to abandon ship?

[bearcat8]

I finished my secondaries about a month ago, and I'm now just waiting for my undergrad to release my committee later. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be released way later than I thought. Judging by the rate they've been writing them and my position in the queue, it looks like mine not be released for another six weeks (mid-October).

I'm a tad uncomfortable with having my application viewed that late. I'm considering forgoing the committee letter and having my individual recommenders submit their letters directly to AMCAS. What does everyone think of this idea? What would you do in this situation?

Here's a bit of a side question: It is true that most schools will not review applications until LoR's are received, correct? I received one interview invitation from a school which evidently did not need to see LoR's first, but I'm assuming this is an exception to the way things are usually done.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[claduva94]

As a general rule, letters are required before you can be considered complete. I would personally see if you can get away with individual letters. Obviously, this won't work with some schools but I imagine many will be understanding.

 

[kewlboy88]

Mid-October is really, really late according to most SDN-ers……

 

[Dr.Wink]

Mid-October is really, really late according to most SDN-ers……

This portion of your post is the crux of much anxiety to many applicants. Realize who posts on SDN; most are neurotic to the point of nauseation (myself included), so take what you read on here with a grain of salt. IMHO, If you decide to wait for the letter, you should be fine.

 

[DokterMom]

I'd talk to your committee. They're doing you a real disservice, and by extension, harming the university. Part of a university's 'bragging rights' is the proportion of medical school applicants who are accepted, and by delaying their committee letters, they're lowering that percentage. Talk to someone. But politely, of course, since they've got you in a sensitive position...

 

[kewlboy88]

This portion of your post is the crux of much anxiety to many applicants. Realize who posts on SDN; most are neurotic to the point of nauseation (myself included), so take what you read on here with a grain of salt. IMHO, If you decide to wait for the letter, you should be fine.

I was actually referring to people like LizzyM and gyngyn - both who are adcoms and have said time and time again that mid-october is late. If you don't believe me, let's have them look at this situation and assess for themselves whether or not "mid-October" to be complete is late.

 

[bearcat8]

Thank you for your input, everyone. I agree, kewlboy88, it would be interesting to hear the opinion of someone on an admissions committee.

Yes, DokterMom, I think I'll call my school's evaluation committee (can't go in person as I'm no longer living anywhere nearby). It's funny; they issued an announcement requesting that we not ask questions about letter release dates as answering these questions takes away from their time writing letters. I guess they've had to deal with their share of inquiries (these are premeds they're dealing with after all). This made me reluctant to call them, as I tend to err on the side of politeness, but I suppose I may need to just bite the bullet and do it. Would it be ridiculous to ask to be moved ahead in the queue in front of those still working on secondaries?

 

[Pericynthion]

Would it be ridiculous to ask to be moved ahead in the queue in front of those still working on secondaries?

If the committee letter is written on a first-come, first-served basis, you have no one to blame but yourself for entering the queue late. Demanding that you be moved in front of other people who submitted their stuff on time is kind of ridiculous...

 

[Person0715]

I finished my secondaries about a month ago, and I'm now just waiting for my undergrad to release my committee later. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be released way later than I thought. Judging by the rate they've been writing them and my position in the queue, it looks like mine not be released for another six weeks (mid-October).

I'm a tad uncomfortable with having my application viewed that late. I'm considering forgoing the committee letter and having my individual recommenders submit their letters directly to AMCAS. What does everyone think of this idea? What would you do in this situation?

Here's a bit of a side question: It is true that most schools will not review applications until LoR's are received, correct? I received one interview invitation from a school which evidently did not need to see LoR's first, but I'm assuming this is an exception to the way things are usually done.

This is ridiculous. Does your committee not want people to get into medical school?

 

[bearcat8]

If the committee letter is written on a first-come, first-served basis, you have no one to blame but yourself for entering the queue late. Demanding that you be moved in front of other people who submitted their stuff on time is kind of ridiculous...

Well, I didn't enter the queue all that late. I finished submitting my forms a little over a month ago, and was within the first 50% of applicants to do so. What caught me off guard was how long they are taking to release letters.

And obviously I'm not going to call demanding I be moved in front of others in the queue because I think I'm more important than everyone else or some other such nonsense. Here's the situation: I've been done with my secondaries for over a month. Some others ahead of of me may not be done with their secondaries. If I were moved ahead of them, my gain would not come at their loss. I thought it might not be completely unreasonable to suggest this.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think you should speak to a Dean as well.

 

[Pericynthion]

Well, I didn't enter the queue all that late. I finished submitting my forms a little over a month ago, and was within the first 50% of applicants to do so. What caught me off guard was how long they are taking to release letters.

And obviously I'm not going to call demanding I be moved in front of others in the queue because I think I'm more important than everyone else or some other such nonsense. Here's the situation: I've been done with my secondaries for over a month. Some others ahead of of me may not be done with their secondaries. If I were moved ahead of them, my gain would not come at their loss. I thought it might not be completely unreasonable to suggest this.

Look, I'm also in the same boat. My committee letter was literally just released a couple of hours ago. Our committee is also notorious for taking their time writing letters but you have to have known that there would be a landslide of people who entered the queue right on June 3rd. It takes a long time to finish letters for those people first. I don't think the committee should wait that long to start writing them but I'm not the one running it...

While I understand your point about being finished with secondaries, I don't think the committee should start making exceptions to their stated policy. If next year, it is changed to "We'll complete letters based on who finishes secondaries first", then it's fine. But to make them move your spot forward, along with verifying that you've actually completed your secondaries will take time away that they can use to write the letters quicker for people who got in their materials first. If they make an exception for you, they'll have to make an exception for everybody.

You're welcome to contact them anyway to see what happens but, at least at my school, they don't budge from their policies.

 

[DokterMom]

If your application had been ready in, say, May of last year, when would you have had your letter?

You're familiar, I'm sure, with that famous quote: "A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine."

NOT saying that's what you did -- Just that you'd be in a much stronger position to object had you asked them in May.