Applying a Little Late

[DoctorRobot]

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Hello everyone!

So I'm a junior right now and was planning on applying this summer. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I was completely unaware that with rolling admissions, your chances of getting in are hindered if you apply in September. I wasn't aware of this until I believe early February. My original plan was to take the MCAT on June 30th and then take my time throughout the rest of the summer perfecting my personal statement and sending it over right before the new semester begins.

Now I feel like I'm in a race against time and I'm burning out pretty badly; mostly my own fault because I stopped doing the things that I really enjoy, like hiking and painting, and instead all I do is study and continue with my volunteer work (though I absolutely love volunteering).

As it stands now, my GPA is 3.60, I've taken a practice MCAT through Next Step and got 503, and I'm hoping I can get it much higher before June, but with the semester winding down I'm being overwhelmed with even more work.

Rambling aside, I'm hoping to have everything uploaded (transcript, personal statement, recommendations) around late June and then allow my June 30th MCAT score to automatically sync so that when July 30th comes around, everything is up there. How much does it hinder my chances if I apply a little later?

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

Having everything up by August 1 will be great timing, still pretty early. What you need to do to time it best is submit AMCAS in the first 3 weeks of June before you take the mcat unfortunately, which will be hard to have all those things written well but that’s really where the timing comes in. I submitted 6/17, and was verified 7/11. My letters were all in by 8/1, and I was in the second interview group at 2 schools so everything still very early. You just can’t afford to wait until your mcat score is released to send in amcas as that is too late. Send it in to just one school before your mcat score is releases, as you can add schools later. With no mcat score a few schools might not send you the secondary essays (no idea how it works- some schools send to everyone and some pre-screen for a minimum 495 or something) but you can write the secondaries all July by getting the prompts off SDN.

Does that address your concerns some?

 

[DoctorRobot]

You just can’t afford to wait until your mcat score is released to send in amcas as that is too late. Send it in to just one school before your mcat score is releases, as you can add schools later.

I guess I'm still unfamiliar with how the AMCAS system works. I was hoping that I could upload everything (personal statement, letters, etc) the first week application opens up and then indicate that MCAT will be available last week of July. Would that work?

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I guess I'm still unfamiliar with how the AMCAS system works. I was hoping that I could upload everything (personal statement, letters, etc) the first week application opens up and then indicate that MCAT will be available last week of July. Would that work?

If you're applying this cycle you should have all of your primary app things ready to go (i.e. personal statement, ECs, LORs). Submit it with ONLY your state school selected so it goes through the process of being verified. When you get your MCAT score back you can add more schools and then you won't have to wait for verification.

You could also consider doing the same with AACOMAS since you won't know how competitive your score is. I don't know anything about AACOMAS, though.

Edit: you don't need to indicate the MCAT availability. It automatically populates IIRC.

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

I guess I'm still unfamiliar with how the AMCAS system works. I was hoping that I could upload everything (personal statement, letters, etc) the first week application opens up and then indicate that MCAT will be available last week of July. Would that work?

I think the above post answered your questions, but yes, that is how the system works and what you should do.

 

[Goro]

Hello everyone!

So I'm a junior right now and was planning on applying this summer. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I was completely unaware that with rolling admissions, your chances of getting in are hindered if you apply in September. I wasn't aware of this until I believe early February. My original plan was to take the MCAT on June 30th and then take my time throughout the rest of the summer perfecting my personal statement and sending it over right before the new semester begins.

Now I feel like I'm in a race against time and I'm burning out pretty badly; mostly my own fault because I stopped doing the things that I really enjoy, like hiking and painting, and instead all I do is study and continue with my volunteer work (though I absolutely love volunteering).

As it stands now, my GPA is 3.60, I've taken a practice MCAT through Next Step and got 503, and I'm hoping I can get it much higher before June, but with the semester winding down I'm being overwhelmed with even more work.

Rambling aside, I'm hoping to have everything uploaded (transcript, personal statement, recommendations) around late June and then allow my June 30th MCAT score to automatically sync so that when July 30th comes around, everything is up there. How much does it hinder my chances if I apply a little later?

Pay very careful attention: apply when you have the best possible app, even if it means sitting out a cycle. Med schools aren't going anywhere.

Do NOT take the MCAT until you are 100% ready.

 

[Bob's Gift]

Pay very careful attention: apply when you have the best possible app, even if it means sitting out a cycle. Med schools aren't going anywhere.

Do NOT take the MCAT until you are 100% ready.

Great advice 🙂

 

[DubbiDoctor]

According the 2017 matriculating students survey, more students take 1-2 years off than go through straight through. Less than 40% of matriculants apply after their junior year, and that percentage has been consistently declining. A major reason for this is that the MCAT changed in 2015 to encompass material for more courses. It used to be very simple to take all the pre-reqs during your first two years, and take the MCAT during the summer between year 2 and 3. Now, with the MCAT testing biochemistry, psych and sociology, you really need 3 years (2.5 minimum, assuming no pre-reqs taken in the summer). And thus it's smarter to take the MCAT during the summer between year 3 and 4, and apply after your 4th year, taking one gap year to pursue your interests, be they research, graduate education, clinical work, volunteering or something else.

 

[Rooster Booster]

According the 2017 matriculating students survey, more students take 1-2 years off than go through straight through. Less than 40% of matriculants apply after their junior year, and that percentage has been consistently declining. A major reason for this is that the MCAT changed in 2015 to encompass material for more courses. It used to be very simple to take all the pre-reqs during your first two years, and take the MCAT during the summer between year 2 and 3. Now, with the MCAT testing biochemistry, psych and sociology, you really need 3 years (2.5 minimum, assuming no pre-reqs taken in the summer). And thus it's smarter to take the MCAT during the summer between year 3 and 4, and apply after your 4th year, taking one gap year to pursue your interests, be they research, graduate education, clinical work, volunteering or something else.

Thanks for the survey data; really interesting and reassuring. Phew.

 

[ekmf27050]

My two cents:

There is SO MUCH of this process that you can't control. People spend days on here debating how schools screen for secondaries, how schools screen for interviews, what a hold email means, what a "small pool" email means, how a school moves its waitlist.

My point is, a large amount of this process is completely out of your control. Rather than agonizing about the things out of your control, work to fully optimize what you CAN control- your PS, your activities descriptions, and when you submit. If you get a 1% advantage applying early, during a cycle when you're fully ready, is it worth it if that 1% is what pushes your app through to acceptance.

Things like submission date are (for the most part) fully in your control with some advanced planning. Take advantage of this, take extra time if needed, and apply early with a polished, killer app.

 

[kris400158]

Sorry to piggyback on this thread. But being someone retaking their MCAT June 30th, how would this all change? I am already writing my personal statement and should have the AAMC application filled out in May. My committee letter should be sent to schools 7/30.

Would the process still be the same, send out the AAMC application to one toss school to get verified, and then once retaken MCAT comes back July 30th, send it to the rest of the schools I want to apply to?