AnthonyNY said:
OK....so, I'm finishing my amcas now, will probably submit it tomorrow, or monday at the latest. what comes next after this? i am asking because i seem to know no one else that i can speak to about how this whole application process works...i feel like im in the dark, my school does not send out many people to med school, so, my "pre-med advisor" (ha!) doesnt really seem to be able to tell me much.
1.how do i check if everything is submitted correctly?, ie. my transcripts are checked, primary is complete etc.
2. when am i to expect secondaries?
3. when do secondaries go back out--is that with the LORs?
4. when are interviews ....?
5. other stuff im probably going to want to ask later
----i am planning of going on vacation from august 17th to the 27th...im worried that i'll be away during an important time in the application process...should i just skip the vacation, or can i keep i touch with things while away or just wait to get back? ugh..
like i said, i feel kind of in the dark with all this.......anything that anyone can tell me at all will be appreciated..
thanks
-Anthony
ps...what's an OOS?
From what I know (I'm also applying this summer, btw)
1. AMCAS will let you know when everything is verified. The important thing to make sure is that everything is as correct as you can possibly make it before submission, because mistakes in the coursework can hold your application up, and if you have misspellings or something obvious, then it won't reflect well on you. I'm sure that most med schools aren't that incredibly anal over a typo or two, but I'd say it's better to be safe than sorry. Just so you know though, if you submit now, it can take weeks for them to verify, maybe even up to six weeks.
2. Some schools don't screen and just want to get your money, so they will send out secondaries as soon as you submit. Other schools wait until you're verified and then screen you before deciding to send you a secondary. Look those up on the forum; there's a bunch of threads dealing with which schools screen and which don't (use the serach feature; also note the 'advanced' button).
3. Some people say that there is a 2 week rule on secondaries, but the basic thing to remember is that you want to get the secondaries out as soon as you can. Some schools have a due date for you, while others just have a general due date for all applicants. Either way, you want to get the secondary back to them well before the due date. As for LORs, yes they should be sent out when you send the secondaries back out (or even before you send the secondaries out). Very often, or so I hear, LORs are the rate-limiting step, because med schools won't consider your application complete before the LORs are in, and some professors can be pretty bad with deadlines.
4. The earliest that interviews start is in September, and they can go until January or so, I believe (I'm not sure when the last interviews are conducted). Basically, if you want to be considered in the first group of interviews, you need to get everything out by no later than mid-August (even that might be too late for September, though).
5. No, don't wear khaki's to an interview.
Yes, look it up if you want to know your chances of acceptance.
Yes, look up tips on different schools.
No, don't consider yourself any less if you don't get in med school this time around; are you prepared to reapply and do more things in the meantime to build your credentials up, or are you going to look at a different career?
Yes, a 3.8 with a 35+ MCAT gets you in med school, no matter what the rumors are.
Yes, the people who didn't get in with those kinds of stats did something terrible on their application, including, but not limited to, shooting someone down in cold blood, flagrantly cheating on their inorganic chemistry final exam, sexually assaulting a TA, etc.
Yes, you're most likely going to get in with a 3.5-3.6 GPA and a 30 MCAT, as long as the rest of your application is solid and doesnt have many red flags.
Yes, a red flag is a bad thing on your application that stands out in the ad-com's eyes. For example, a C in a class is not bad red flag, but a lot of C's are.
Yes, you're still pretty early.
No, you won't be early if you keep asking if you're early.
Yes, apply only to schools you actually want to go to school at.
Yes, 30+ schools is excessive.
No, 10-20 schools is not excessive.
Yes, you are a qualified applicant.
No, you're not being neurotic.
No, the population posting on SDN is not representative of the general applicant pool.
Yes, checking out the website alone and getting the tips from it helps you as a student and applicant.
Yes, enjoy your vacation.
No, you won't be getting another one for a while.
No, don't schedule a vacation during interview season.
No, schools do not consider ability to pay when you apply.
Yes, the reputation of the school you graduate from can help your application.
No, the reputation does not matter if your application is that poor.
Yes, the California schools are impossible to get into from OOS (out of state).
No, you're not getting in if you're from out of state unless you have stats that would make Harvard jealous.
Yes, you can get in if you have cured cancer or have blackmail information on a bunch of ad-coms.
Yes, ad-com means admissions committee.
Yes, you will have more questions down the road.
No, most of the people on SDN won't flame you, call you a troll, make fun of you, or make snide comments.
Yes, some people will.
Yes, some of them are mean.
No, most of them are not mean; they just want to get to the magical 500+ posts status.
