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Yeah, looking at the AMCAS tracker from that year, it seems like we are still on track, if not slightly left-shifted from the previous year. Maybe everyone's verification will be pushed back a day or two. Hoping they pick it up soon!
I hope this means more people are applying early, not that more people are applying in general...
We're not sure. I presume it would mean more people are applying early, but there are also more medical schools that opened. We'll see. I can't imagine "ghost" or "AI" applicants willing to spend the cryptocoin to inflate the numbers.
I personally believe it's because applicants can complete their application much faster using AI + proofread so they submit early
As long as people are not letting AI do the writing for them.
I'll tell you all about it once I matriculate 😉
Certainly. Your first and final drafts should always be your own writing, imo, but I do see the use in having AI as a good editing partner. Many of us cannot afford expensive editors, and while I always advocate having mentors and friends read over your stuff, AI is very accessible for the masses. I think the key is in prompt engineering. You have to know what you want it to look for and how you want it to evaluate. Otherwise, garbage in = garbage out.
Do you mind telling us when you submitted your application?
Yeah, some people who got in the “ready for review” queue very early are already transmitted and getting secondaries. A lot of you are now finding yourselves waiting that 6-8 weeks for verification that AAMC mentions in their FAQs.
@wysdoc Are schools going to be more flexible with their timelines on what is 'late,' considering the unprecedented delay in application processing times?
It’s not all that much later than usual but when you are the one waiting it seems like forever.
It is a substantial delay in my case. I applied June 22 and, based on a 3 year average, would expect to be verified around jul 27/28. This cycle it looks like I won’t be verified until around Aug15. @wysdoc
Thanks for the response!
It definitely appears to be taking a lot longer this year. It's interesting whether more people applied or more applicants submitted early.
The schools can't do anything about the verification queue either. Just trust the process. Get your secondaries in.
How much do you think this delay will hurt us? If we prewrote and submit secondaries within 1-2 days of getting them, would we still be ok? This might be a neurotic question but I'm just really worried and it seems like you might have a better idea based on past cycles
Thanks for your reply🙂 To be specific, I'm wondering if schools will hold back a bit of judgement when they do their evaluations. For example, when they see a secondary coming in on Sept 2 2026, will they treat it like a secondary in say aug 20th on a typical year or whatever the equivalent may be or will they view a Sept 2 secondary as a Sept 2nd historically so to speak? Do deadlines, soft or hard, also play a role or is there flexibility?
Hi Mr.Smile12!! I was verified 8/18, which was much later than I thought, but I am trying to be complete at all schools by the end of August. Out of curiosity, do you have any information on if this cycle had an overall increase in applicants, or just a frontload of them? I recall a memo said there was a 33% increase in apps the first day, but I'm curious if that pattern maintained. Thank you for your time!
I could be wrong, but I don't think the early-applicant advantage is based on how "bad" the adcoms think of the complete date--- I think its based on how many people were reviewed ahead of us, and subsequently how many interview spots are left. I believe the lag was caused by more people submitting early.
Dang, didn't realize that was the case, thanks for the info. However, I remember hearing that during the covid surge there was a substantially higher than normal number of applicants and schools adjusted, so maybe that will be the case this year too🤞. Wonder if anyone in the know is aware if similar steps could be implemented this year if overall numbers are indeed substantially higher.
I don't know where you applied, but I haven't seen a shift in our Applicant Experience Surveys where people don't get offers if they submitted "late" secondaries. (This is a hint that everyone should fill out our surveys when they come out in December and next May so we can map this.)
