AMCAS "official transcript" question

[Cheez]

Hi,

I'll be applying to MD schools this June and have a question. I don't have the most stellar numbers (3.47 cGPA, 3.33 sGPA, 32Q) so I know I need to apply early this cycle, preferably June 1st. The thing is, I'm taking 24 quarter units this quarter which will boost my cGPA over 3.5 and my sGPA over 3.4 if I do well (and i plan on killing it). I want to wait until I have these grades (around June 12th) till I apply but my official transcript won't be available till June 21st. I've heard that we can submit our grades and everything earlier and that our official transcripts aren't due until later. Will waiting to submit my transcript delay my application in any way? Also, one of the professors this quarter is going to write me an LOR but I want to wait until I get my grade for her to write it (she said she could do it in 1 night for me). Will holding off on submitting my LORs delay my app?

Thanks for your time

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[Dr McSexy]

Will waiting to submit my transcript delay my application in any way?

Yeah, only in the sense that your application won't be complete until your grades are verified via transcripts. Medical schools will not be able to see your app until after verification.

Will holding off on submitting my LORs delay my app?

No, it shouldn't. You can add LORs at anytime as far as I know. It may only hold your app insomuch that a medical school requires a certain amount of LORs for their application. But most will probably send you a secondary before they ever look at your LORs.

 

[organdonor]

Hi,

I'll be applying to MD schools this June and have a question. I don't have the most stellar numbers (3.47 cGPA, 3.33 sGPA, 32Q) so I know I need to apply early this cycle, preferably June 1st. The thing is, I'm taking 24 quarter units this quarter which will boost my cGPA over 3.5 and my sGPA over 3.4 if I do well (and i plan on killing it). I want to wait until I have these grades (around June 12th) till I apply but my official transcript won't be available till June 21st. I've heard that we can submit our grades and everything earlier and that our official transcripts aren't due until later. Will waiting to submit my transcript delay my application in any way? Also, one of the professors this quarter is going to write me an LOR but I want to wait until I get my grade for her to write it (she said she could do it in 1 night for me). Will holding off on submitting my LORs delay my app?

Thanks for your time

Yes you cannot be verified until official transcripts have been received. Once they receive your official transcripts, it may take awhile. Check out the following thread for some idea of when you can expect to be verified. It shows when pre meds submitted transcripts and when they were verified.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=633393&highlight=amcas+verification&page=17

It is pretty risky to think that your LOR is going to be written in a night. She may be busy that night, be out of town, in the hospital (happened to me). In addition, if she is mailing it in, you would have to wait that many more days. If submitted electronically, everything should be quick after it is submitted, but still stay on top of it. My letter was submitted electronically, but it didn't "take." I had boatloads of problems with a letter writer, and most weren't avoidable. Hospital stay+computer problems. Had I not gotten on this early, it would have been a deal breaker as I really needed her letter.

Besides, how different do you think your letter is going to be after your grades vs before? I'm sure she has some idea of how you are doing.

 

[Cheez]

Thanks for the help. I'll ask her before the quarter ends to write the letter. My official transcript isn't going to be available till June 21st...so I probably won't be verified till late July. Is it worth it to wait for these grades?? I feel like in any other situation i should just submit it June 1st..but 3.5 seems to be one of those special numbers. Maybe I'm paranoid.

 

[NightSwim]

I think you should wait for your spring quarter grades. Having your AMCAS verified in mid-July verse mid-June likely won't affect your chances, while having a 3.4 sgpa verse a 3.33sgpa could help a little. Definitely submit you AMCAS application before June 21st. Then, they'll be waiting on your official transcipt. When June 21st rolls around, send the transcript in, and the process could very well be quicker than if you submitted everything on June 21st. If you're "that" paranoid about a day or two, spend the extra 5 bucks to mail the transcript in overnight.

I submitted my primary AMCAS app in mid-July last summer, and it took about 20 days to be verified. I'm guessing yours will take slightly less time because it's earlier in the process. Another thing you can do to speed up the process is write some of your secondary essays before you even receive the secondaries.

It's totally worth it to wait until June 21st. I bet some schools will have your verified primary application before they even send out secondaries to anyone. Some wait till end-July/August.

 

[NightSwim]

Also, LORs only affect secondary apps, not the primary. Definitely ask her early though. Ask her if she can do it after grades come out but before a certain date, like June 20th or July 1st, sometime before you can submit secondaries.