Applying later than June/July is worthless?

[WhtsThFrequency]

I'm posting this for my boyfriend who is not a member but plans to attend medical school. So, the published deadline for hismed school apps are Novemberish or something (not the early decision of Aug 1of AMCAS)

My SO was told that unless you apply in June or July there is basically no point and you won't get in, because by that time medical schools basically have all their interwiews set up and know who they want. I.e., the deadline is bull crap.

I read a couple other things on this forum that seemed to imply this too, but wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, if you will.

He signed up for MCATS in October and planned to submit around that time. Is this true that an October application is basically worthless because schools already know who they want, have interviews slots set up,etc? I apologize if this is a silly question, I'm a senior clinic student hand don't know how this works and he'd been in PhD land all year.

 

[adeline]

yeah october is too late.

 

[armybound]

October is way too late to be taking the MCAT. Some schools say don't apply if you're taking an MCAT later than August.

this year sounds like a wash for him. He should try to get his app in earlier next year.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Yeah that is kind of what I figured. Surpising though, you'd think they'd accept up to a time and then review everyone, not do rolling. Might miss some very good candidates.

He could not submit in June because he was finishing up his PhD (and an extremely time intensive one, 6 yrs) and had no time to study super thoroughly for MCATS during that time, thought that after he defended he could get it out of the way. Yup, app next year sounds like the plan right now.

 

[dbrokut]

Yeah that is kind of what I figured. Surpising though, you'd think they'd accept up to a time and then review everyone, not do rolling. Might miss some very good candidates.

Agreed! Most schools accept scores up till september 09.

 

[plsletmein]

He signed up for MCATS in October

How did he do that???

Testing runs Jan - Sept every year

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Yeah that is kind of what I figured. Surpising though, you'd think they'd accept up to a time and then review everyone, not do rolling. Might miss some very good candidates.

He could not submit in June because he was finishing up his PhD (and an extremely time intensive one, 6 yrs) and had no time to study super thoroughly for MCATS during that time, thought that after he defended he could get it out of the way. Yup, app next year sounds like the plan right now.

not really...

 

[musicaldna]

not really...

Why not? The idea that the earliness of an applicant speaks for his/her motivation to be a doctor.....is debatable.

 

[umass_md]

How did he do that???

Testing runs Jan - Sept every year

yeah, the last test date this year is 9/12:
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/reserving/deadlineandscorerelease.htm
i retook the mcat last year on 9/12 and managed to get into my top choice school. all of the schools i applied to waited for my second mcat scores to come out before reviewing my file....

 

[adeline]

Why not? The idea that the earliness of an applicant speaks for his/her motivation to be a doctor.....is debatable.

there are enough good applicants that there's not much point to holding off

 

[MedMe]

.

 

[red10]

Wait, I'm confused. The OP said applications sent in June/July and everyone else seems to agree that later is pointless. Are we talking about everything in by July???? Am I at a significant disadvantage to be working on secondaries and not be complete until the end of August?

not getting your ACMAS in until August is bad. Getting your secondaries done in August is not that bad although sooner is better than later. Some school still have yet to send out their secondaries and its practically august

 

[adeline]

Wait, I'm confused. The OP said applications sent in June/July and everyone else seems to agree that later is pointless. Are we talking about everything in by July???? Am I at a significant disadvantage to be working on secondaries and not be complete until the end of August?

your primary needs to be in for verification by mid july/ early aug at the latest.

secondaries as soon as they can be done well.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

there are enough good applicants that there's not much point to holding off

exactly

 

[Kinocilium]

I have a similar question so I'm not going to make a whole new thread. I'm currently working on my AMCAS right now, and I took the MCAT July 17th so I'm expecting my results mid-to-late August, at which point I'll send in my AMCAS asap. I'm only applying to somewhere between 5 and 10 schools (MD/PhD) because I'm really worried that I won't be able to work on my secondaries once school starts and also because I'm kind of considering taking a year off anyway. I figured I'd apply just because I don't know how I'll feel a year from now, but if what you guys say is true and August/early September is too late anyway I might as well not bother, right?

 

[adeline]

I have a similar question so I'm not going to make a whole new thread. I'm currently working on my AMCAS right now, and I took the MCAT July 17th so I'm expecting my results mid-to-late August, at which point I'll send in my AMCAS asap. I'm only applying to somewhere between 5 and 10 schools (MD/PhD) because I'm really worried that I won't be able to work on my secondaries once school starts and also because I'm kind of considering taking a year off anyway. I figured I'd apply just because I don't know how I'll feel a year from now, but if what you guys say is true and August/early September is too late anyway I might as well not bother, right?

md/phd are a different game... check with the programs to see what they will accept. i think you can send in sans mcat though

 

[Kinocilium]

md/phd are a different game... check with the programs to see what they will accept. i think you can send in sans mcat though

Well the application dates are the same as for the MD-only programs in most cases, so I don't think it's really that different. I thought the discussion here was about the "real" deadline by which you should have your application in, which may or may not be way before the official deadline. I assume if I call the programs all they'll tell me is that I should have it in before the official deadline

 

[adeline]

Well the application dates are the same as for the MD-only programs in most cases, so I don't think it's really that different. I thought the discussion here was about the "real" deadline by which you should have your application in, which may or may not be way before the official deadline. I assume if I call the programs all they'll tell me is that I should have it in before the official deadline

mudphud are in a different smaller pooler. less people, less comp... early is always better

 

[gbu730]

mudphud are in a different smaller pooler. less people, less comp... early is always better

Not necessarily. MD/PhD committees look for different qualities of applicants--ones that are dedicated to research and have highers stats. In the MD/PhD forum, people frequently MD/PhD adcoms placing a higher emphasis on numbers and research, while being more forgiving for the lack of clinical hours.

 

[adeline]

Not necessarily. MD/PhD committees look for different qualities of applicants--ones that are dedicated to research and have highers stats. In the MD/PhD forum, people frequently MD/PhD adcoms placing a higher emphasis on numbers and research, while being more forgiving for the lack of clinical hours.

it's easier to compete with 3000 ppl than 20000.

 

[gbu730]

Oops, and back to the OP, most schools say specifically that September MCAT is the last test date accepted if you plan on applying in the same year.

 

[student1799]

Wait, I'm confused. The OP said applications sent in June/July and everyone else seems to agree that later is pointless. Are we talking about everything in by July???? Am I at a significant disadvantage to be working on secondaries and not be complete until the end of August?

No. I submitted my primary in July, but decided to add a bunch more schools to my app in early October when my MCAT retake didn't go as well as I'd hoped. 6 of my 8 interviews, and both of my acceptances, came from these October schools.

Moral: proper fit/competitiveness at a given school are more important than your application date (within reason). So it's better to apply a bit late at a school where you're a good fit, than super-early at a school where you aren't.

 

[teenmachinery1]

mudphud are in a different smaller pooler. less people, less comp... early is always better

Smaller pool : TRUE
Less Competition: FALSE

This will answer anyone's question about being early or late or whatever... for all eternity.

"To compete just remember. Complete by September."

(I just made that up right now.)

 

[RogueUnicorn]

it's easier to compete with 3000 ppl than 20000.

unless you're vying for less than a tenth of the spots. which you are.

 

[adeline]

This will answer anyone's question about being early or late or whatever... for a week.

"To compete just remember. Complete by September."

(I just made that up right now.)

ftfy

 

[teenmachinery1]

ftfy

for a week? i don't get it. I had to look up what ftfy meant by the way.

For people who say it's less competitive because the pool is smaller...

That's like saying running for the presidency is less competitive because there's only a dozen or so candidates in the primary. Nevermind what they had to do to get that far in the first place.

Sure... if I woke up one day with a MCAT in the mid to high thirties (or 40s), several years of dedicated research and possible publications, a gpa of at least 3.7, highly commending letters from research faculty, the usual accolades and extracurriculars that accompany a pristine and achieved academic history, and the passion and endurance to go through 8 (minimum) years of medical school and graduate studies... then yeah my chances might look a bit better.

 

[adeline]

for a week? i don't get it. I had to look up what ftfy meant by the way.
.

maybe 1.5 wks. then the topic will come up again

 

[gbu730]

for a week? i don't get it. I had to look up what ftfy meant by the way.

For people who say it's less competitive because the pool is smaller...

That's like saying running for the presidency is less competitive because there's only a dozen or so candidates in the primary. Nevermind what they had to do to get that far in the first place.

Sure... if I woke up one day with a MCAT in the mid to high thirties (or 40s), several years of dedicated research and possible publications, a gpa of at least 3.7, highly commending letters from research faculty, the usual accolades and extracurriculars that accompany a pristine and achieved academic history, and the passion and endurance to go through 8 (minimum) years of medical school and graduate studies... then yeah my chances might look a bit better.

cracks me up

 

[Abdullaah]

I had to look up what ftfy meant by the way.

Tell me about it. I'm starting to feel like an outsider on these threads, keep coming across these bizarre abbreviations. About to look up this term here after this post. I guess I should bookmark the glossary or something.

Edit: Man the thing isn't even in the dictionary lol. http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=523703. Which one did you use? It doesn't hurt to spell the abbreviations out once in a while!

 

[Abdullaah]

Anyway after all that mess I forgot that I wanted to post something.

So we know with primaries: june early, july ok, august late, sep. later (or some variation thereof)

What's the "earliness" timeline with secondaries for the "typical" schools, those that send them out june-july?

For example, since we're approaching August now, are we early, normal, or late if we still haven't submitted a secondary from one of these schools?

 

[bodonid]

when in doubt check urbandictionary

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=FTFY

 

[McPoyle]

Moral: proper fit/competitiveness at a given school are more important than your application date (within reason). So it's better to apply a bit late at a school where you're a good fit, than super-early at a school where you aren't.

I this advice is grossly overlooked here on SDN. Does submitting your app in June compared to August matter-likely not. However getting a feel for where you are competitive will be very beneficial. Sure, maybe September is a bit late, but I know many people who fared fine this cycle with completing secondaries in late October.

So, ya, stress school selection way more than timing.

 

[sshashid87]

I doubt early August is late for primaries...not early, but not late either...now, late August/September, you're pushing it...

In either case, I just submitted, expect to be verified end of August, but I've already gotten through 2-3 secondaries based on the prompts...I'll turn them around within an hour of the email (exaggeration, but you get the picture)

For me, I know late July/August submission is fine, since my HPAC committee has pretty much said they are lagging behind and won't be done with letters til about mid-Sept...I think submitting secondaries sometime in Sept. is fine...but to each his own...

SDN had made me neurotic until I talked to my non-SDN friends, all of whom are just starting to compile data to plug into AMCAS...figure for August submission for them, and I think that's normal...

LizzyM even said files completed by early/mid August are among the first to be reviewed, so finishing by Sept or so isn't as bad as it seems...(don't ask me to find the post, I only remember reading this because I use it to keep myself from having a heart attack every time I see one of these posts)

 

[Pghboy18]

I doubt early August is late for primaries...not early, but not late either...now, late August/September, you're pushing it...

In either case, I just submitted, expect to be verified end of August, but I've already gotten through 2-3 secondaries based on the prompts...I'll turn them around within an hour of the email (exaggeration, but you get the picture)

For me, I know late July/August submission is fine, since my HPAC committee has pretty much said they are lagging behind and won't be done with letters til about mid-Sept...I think submitting secondaries sometime in Sept. is fine...but to each his own...

SDN had made me neurotic until I talked to my non-SDN friends, all of whom are just starting to compile data to plug into AMCAS...figure for August submission for them, and I think that's normal...

LizzyM even said files completed by early/mid August are among the first to be reviewed, so finishing by Sept or so isn't as bad as it seems...(don't ask me to find the post, I only remember reading this because I use it to keep myself from having a heart attack every time I see one of these posts)

Agree. Take whatever the consensus deadline is for SDN and add about a month to it.

 

[Abdullaah]

That's what I'm talking about

 

[sage36]

I don't think there is ever a "too late." A friend of mine, last cycle, applied basically at the last minute. For example, his Columbia secondary was turned in on the absolute last day etc. (He's going to UPenn this year). That said, it is a significant disadvantage at rolling schools and a semi-disadvantage at non-rolling schools. There is always hope though