Realistically, what is considered "early" submission?

[Espressso]

So the first day you can submit your primary app is June 7th.

I hear a lot about... "August is late", "september is lethal", "shoot for early submission", but I'm curious as to say, June 15th for example. Is that still early enough to be considered "early". Or when advisers say that you should apply as early as possible, they are referring to... submitting the first day possible.

Apologies if this is a weird and convoluted question, but I've been wondering about this for a while now.

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[Toutie]

So the first day you can submit your primary app is June 7th.

I hear a lot about... "August is late", "september is lethal", "shoot for early submission", but I'm curious as to say, June 15th for example. Is that still early enough to be considered "early". Or when advisers say that you should apply as early as possible, they are referring to... submitting the first day possible.

Apologies if this is a weird and convoluted question, but I've been wondering about this for a while now.

Before July is early.

 

[neekzg]

I forget all the exact timelines, but I personally view any submission in June as early. Neurotic pre-meds will tell you that you absolutely have to apply the first day or your chances will decrease, which is completely false.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

So the first day you can submit your primary app is June 7th.

I hear a lot about... "August is late", "september is lethal", "shoot for early submission", but I'm curious as to say, June 15th for example. Is that still early enough to be considered "early". Or when advisers say that you should apply as early as possible, they are referring to... submitting the first day possible.

Apologies if this is a weird and convoluted question, but I've been wondering about this for a while now.

If you are verified before July then you gain no advantage between submitting on June 1st or June 30th (at least this fits with my understanding that all verified aps are batched and sent starting in July).

 

[LizzyM]

Independence Day (4th of July): AMCAS application
Labor Day (first Monday in September): LORs and Secondaries

If you don't have an interview invite by Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November) start thinking about what you'll do if you need to reapply

 

[ojy77511]

So theoretically I can have the letter written by end of July and send it then? (If I submit my primary earlier?)


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[Goro]

June-July. August is still fine. Things don't start happening in Admissions offices until after Labor Day.

So the first day you can submit your primary app is June 7th.

I hear a lot about... "August is late", "september is lethal", "shoot for early submission", but I'm curious as to say, June 15th for example. Is that still early enough to be considered "early". Or when advisers say that you should apply as early as possible, they are referring to... submitting the first day possible.

Apologies if this is a weird and convoluted question, but I've been wondering about this for a while now.

 

[Espressso]

Thank you all!

 

[Govols22]

What would be the ideal time period to be considered "complete"?

 

[LizzyM]

What would be the ideal time period to be considered "complete"?

Ideal? August 1-15th.
Acceptable: Labor Day.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Just as an example for some perspective, here's the acceptance stats for the 2016 cycle at UMich, a rolling school.

Month Submitted/Acceptances
July 310
August 42
September 8
Other 9

 

[radioactive15]

AMCAS primary can be submitted June 7th, 2016 in order to start the verification process

They changed it this year? I could've sworn that in the past it was June 1st or June 3rd...

 

[bararaboi]

Just as an example for some perspective, here's the acceptance stats for the 2016 cycle at UMich, a rolling school.

Month Submitted/Acceptances
July 310
August 42
September 8
Other 9

I think that's just indicative of the fact that earlier applicants are generally more competitive. UMich was scheduling interviews well into the beginning of December this past cycle.

 

[MaxPlancker]

I think that's just indicate of the fact that earlier applicants are generally more competitive. UMich was scheduling interviews well into the beginning of December this past cycle.

Certainly possible and I also think it's probably true.

 

[LizzyM]

It was due to radioactive decay. AMCAS now has much of course verification connected automatically to virtually all college catalogs that can do a first check virtually automatically for classification and flag those that may need human decision. Thus they expect faster verification times

first submission is June 7th
first transmission is June 24th
something like 80%+ primary applications are verified and transmitted by Aug 31st
I tend to be a little more generous than @LizzyM and see fully complete by end of September as ok

There is a difference between "ok" and "ideal". By the end of September, we've already interviewed 12% of those who will be interviewed and perhaps queued another 25%. Be the early bird. Of course, there will always be an interview slot for the exceptional applicant, usually a non-trad, who is complete in November but those are rare birds.

 

[Govols22]

Ideal? August 1-15th.
Acceptable: Labor Day.

So when we're talking about verification, are we only talking about amcas?

Say I won't get my MCAT scores until early August, so I wouldn't want to apply blindly in June. But would you recommend applying to one school in early June to get verified? If I have my MCAT score, Committee Letter, and and Prewritten Secondaries by early August and begin applying to the other schools, what would be a reasonable estimate to be complete from that point from those other schools?

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Just as an example for some perspective, here's the acceptance stats for the 2016 cycle at UMich, a rolling school.

Month Submitted/Acceptances
July 310
August 42
September 8
Other 9

Is this when they submitted the primary application or when they were fully complete?.

 

[james11]

^ let's hope it's when they submitted the primary... although that wouldn't make sense because you'd expect to see a bunch of Junes.... but could they really all be complete in July? maybe it's when they submitted the secondary?

 

[Govols22]

Verification means AMCAS
Complete means primary, secondary, LOR and MCAT at each school

Once the primary application is transmitted from AMCAS, the LORs from AMCAS, the MCAT from AMCAS, and Secondary from the applicant then == >>
School creates a file, may have an initial screening and/or initial review, then marks complete and ready to review roughly a week or two then ==>>
Application queued and parsed out to readers by whatever method that school does for evaluation and scoring for roughly 2-4 weeks then ==>>
Committee/Subcommittee review depending on how school selects candidates for interviews....

Gotcha. Thanks

 

[MaxPlancker]

Is this when they submitted the primary application or when they were fully complete?.

I'd imagine submission of primary + secondary.

 

[MaxPlancker]

Curious on their processing, does anyone know when UMich sends outs secondaries

Are any schools telling applicants to simply create an ID on their website, put in their AMCAS ID, and fill out a secondary regardless of AMCAS primary timing?

I got mine from UMich on Thursday July 2nd. They don't screen for secondaries.

For some schools such as Baylor, WashU you create an ID and fill out the secondary (if I remember correctly, even before AMCAS is released to the schools).

 

[ayjaystudent]

Of course, there will always be an interview slot for the exceptional applicant, usually a non-trad, who is complete in November but those are rare birds.

Why is it usually a non-trad? What makes them special?

 

[LizzyM]

Why is it usually a non-trad? What makes them special?

The non-trad in these cases is often is someone who was successful in another profession and then did a DIY post-bac and applied as if applying to college... at the deadline rather than in June/July. I suspect that they aren't clued in to SDN, fellow students' timelines, or other resources that encourage early application and just work off of prior experience in undergrad & even grad school. They are exceptional academically and in their life experiences, often in their 30s or older, and just unfamiliar with the typical timeline.