Application timing and admission

[iggs99988]

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I have heard, anecdotally by reading these boards, that there is a strong correlation pertaining to one's early application submission and chances of admission. This must be, of course, limited to schools which offer rolling admissions.

I'm not very aware of what a proper cycle would look like, so can someone shed some light on what is considered an EARLY completed application in terms of schools' deadlines? More importantly, does anyone have any literature in terms of university statistics compiled on application timing versus acceptance rates?

Is this just a correlative phenomenon such as for undergrad admissions where early decision students were generally the most competitive, or is it a causative relationship? I'm sure there have been several 4.0 / 38 MCAT students who, having applied late in the game, were WL'd at top research universities. Conversely, there are probably marginally qualified (relative to school's standards) students who regularly get admitted by being the first batch. This begs the question--why do students who have put 4 years' effort and thousands of hours of studying, volunteering, and research apply late?

 

[boko]

basically they say you should submit as early as possible. you can submit amcas apps early june but you can start working on them in early may i believe. as for texas schools tmdsas accepts apps starting in may.

early submission doesnt guareentee acceptance, it just may help your chances if you dont have the best application.

submitting early comes with a catch though. you need to ensure you application is still error free! error free applications is a MUST.

hope this helps.

 

[EBTrailRunner]

I'm not very aware of what a proper cycle would look like, so can someone shed some light on what is considered an EARLY completed application in terms of schools' deadlines? More importantly, does anyone have any literature in terms of university statistics compiled on application timing versus acceptance rates?

I'd say your AMCAS is considered early if you submit it during the month of June. The difference between submitting in early June versus early July could be several additional weeks of waiting for your AMCAS to be verified. Also, it's ideal to have a 1-2 week turnaround time for secondaries. You want to be relatively quick about filling them out, but not careless. A poorly written secondary lacking any substance that you send out within 3 days of receiving won't bode as well as one that's professionally written and clearly been given serious thought but sent 2 weeks later.

Is this just a correlative phenomenon such as for undergrad admissions where early decision students were generally the most competitive, or is it a causative relationship? I'm sure there have been several 4.0 / 38 MCAT students who, having applied late in the game, were WL'd at top research universities. Conversely, there are probably marginally qualified (relative to school's standards) students who regularly get admitted by being the first batch. This begs the question--why do students who have put 4 years' effort and thousands of hours of studying, volunteering, and research apply late?

I don't know why certain excellent candidates apply late. There could be a number of reasons ranging from pure laziness to waiting for a late MCAT score to come in. Regardless, the fact remains that there is a limited number of interview slots available. For schools with rolling admissions (most schools), there is going to be a larger number of interview slots available for the first batch of, say, 100 applicants (e.g., 20). Later in the cycle when most of the interview slots have already been filled, there may be only a small fraction of that number available for the next batch of 100 applicants (e.g., 2). Once all slots are filled, it's game over for all other applicants no matter how excellent their credentials. So, it's in your best interest as an applicant to apply early as statistically you'll have a greater chance of securing an interview invite.