Question for to those who have already applied and now know almost everything about the application process:
I will be taking the MCAT exam during July 20th. Is this really late since I will get my scores Aug 20th. However, I will have verified everything and will have my secondary application complete by then?
Also do I need my mcat score before submitting my secondary app?
THANK-YOU !!
Lies. Nobody knows "everything" about this application process, not even the people who sit on admissions committees!
But to be more helpful, I think that since applying early/late is often under your control you should strive to apply as early as possible. If you can't, then that's that - try to get the rest of your ducks in a row so you're not at a significant disadvantage with time.
That being said, I think that you just want to be complete by the end of August/early September to get a fair shot. My guess/conjecture is that your chances start to decline if you straggle any further past that phase because I would assume that most traditional applicants finish their essays, etc. and have everything sent in before school begins. In this case, you'll be more than fine. Most people who submit in June don't even get their secondaries until mid-late July, and some schools don't even release secondaries until August.
Just make sure you have the rest of your ducks in a row (primary verified, secondaries submitted, letters of recs sent in, etc.) so that when you get your MCAT score in, your horse is off to the races.
Ideally you'd be complete sooner, but it's not the kiss of death to be complete in late August/early September as some on SDN would suggest. After all, I wasn't complete until late August, and I ended up being accepted to 4 schools. FWIW.
