Application Timing Procedures

[toddychurch]

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I am in the midst of preparing to apply in May and have some questions for those who have applied before.

1. For your transcripts, did you call your school(s) and have them sent a few days before the application became available or did you request these afterwards?

2. For Letters of Recommendation, did you collect these from your professors, dentists, others and send them together or did they send them in individually? (I have heard horror stories about lost letters) Also, did you have these put in the mail a few days before the application became available or right after it was available?


I just want to make sure my application is complete as early as possible.

Thanks,

Todd

 

[2THFAIRY]

I had everything sent in about a month after the application became available. I still got into dental school, but I would not recommend waiting that long. Some schools want information really early. I would send everything in as early as possible. I'm not sure if having stuff sent in before the application would work, because your references have to also fill out the letter of recommendation matching form that is downloaded off the application.

Also, I had all my letters sent in separately, and did not have any problem.

 

[saycheese]

Like you, i wanted to make sure that my apps were completed ASAP (definitely by the 2nd week AADSAS started accepting them). i requested transcripts ~1 or 2 days before AADSAS started the cycle (since the school takes about 5-8 days for transcripts to be mailed). LOR requests were made about 1.5 months in advance to give my professors ample time to compose/send 'em out (all letters were sent in individually - put in the mail sometime during the first week of AADSAS opening). Unfortunately, the AADSAS guys told me that they had misplaced 2 of my LOR so my application wasn't ready until early-August (grrr.. 😀 ). Thank goodness i applied early! My one suggestion is: stay on top of AADSAS.. don't just sit around thinking that everything's going to work out as planned... you never know. And if all does goes well... lucky you! 🙂

Applying early definitely helped me. gluck!

 

[tinman831]

Make sure the LORs/transcripts don't get to AADSAS before you start your application, otherwise they will throw them away.

 

[toddychurch]

Thank you for your replies. Did anyone send the LOR's together in one envelope? I am not sure if this is acceptable or not, but it seems like it could prevent letters from being lost. I have professors who have written letters for me already. Is the letter of recommendation form required?

Thanks again.

 

[futuredentist23]

Thank you for your replies. Did anyone send the LOR's together in one envelope? I am not sure if this is acceptable or not, but it seems like it could prevent letters from being lost. I have professors who have written letters for me already. Is the letter of recommendation form required?

Thanks again.

that's my question also. if you are sending your LRC's directly to the dental schools..do you still need to print out those forms from the AASDAS LRC section?

 

[kokobean]

You can put all your letters in one big envelope and send them directly to the school. As for the matching forms, I had the same question answered by several people on sdn who have already been through this process. They were all able to just send in their letters directly to the schools w/o the matching form just fine.

on the big envelope you're sending in, be sure to address it completely so it doesn't get lost. perhaps write your name on the outside; "recommendation letters for ...." and application number of something.

 

[toddychurch]

You can put all your letters in one big envelope and send them directly to the school. As for the matching forms, I had the same question answered by several people on sdn who have already been through this process. They were all able to just send in their letters directly to the schools w/o the matching form just fine.

on the big envelope you're sending in, be sure to address it completely so it doesn't get lost. perhaps write your name on the outside; "recommendation letters for ...." and application number of something.

What about sending a big envelope with the letters to AADSAS? Do they require the extra form or is it something that they don't necessarily need? The reason I ask is I already have my LOR's collected?

Thanks.

 

[tinman831]

If you are sending letters to AADSAS, each letter should have the AADSAS matching form. If you are sending letters directly to schools, the matching form isn't needed, but some schools do have their own letter matching forms (you all need to check the requirements at the schools.

 

[utahdent123]

What about sending a big envelope with the letters to AADSAS? Do they require the extra form or is it something that they don't necessarily need? The reason I ask is I already have my LOR's collected?

Thanks.

Your LOR's aren't going to slow your application processing down at AADSAS. What I mean is, AADSAS will begin processing your application as soon as you submit payment and transcripts. It takes 4-6 weeks to process transcript verification. Therefore your LOR's just need to arrive before they complete verification and mail it out. In addition, if for some reason your LOR's didn't arrive before they send out your application, then they would just send them once they receive them. No need to send them before the application is even available. For my transcripts, I'm having them sent to me before AADSAS opens up, then without opening the envelope I will put them in a Next-Day air at USPS and send them to AADSAS same day I submit and Pay. This will ensure they arrive quickly and be able to track there arrival.

 

[toddychurch]

Your LOR's aren't going to slow your application processing down at AADSAS. What I mean is, AADSAS will begin processing your application as soon as you submit payment and transcripts. It takes 4-6 weeks to process transcript verification. Therefore your LOR's just need to arrive before they complete verification and mail it out. In addition, if for some reason your LOR's didn't arrive before they send out your application, then they would just send them once they receive them. No need to send them before the application is even available. For my transcripts, I'm having them sent to me before AADSAS opens up, then without opening the envelope I will put them in a Next-Day air at USPS and send them to AADSAS same day I submit and Pay. This will ensure they arrive quickly and be able to track there arrival.

Thank you. I was also going to ask about transcripts.

 

[Aastha]

I am also applying as soon as the application is out. I am not sure if it would be better to send transcripts on my own or have my school send it directly to AADSAS. I spoke to few people and some told me that it is better to have your school send transcripts directly to AADSAS. However, it would be better if I can send transcripts myself on the day I submit my application. Which option do you guys think is better?