Applying to Throw-Away School

[Flashfan]

So I will not receive my MCAT until 6/30 but I intend to follow the advice of so many here and apply to only one school to get verified. Is it a better strategy to apply to a school that is not even on my list, or to apply to a school that is on my list but screens for secondaries (or
takes a while to send secondaries)? It just seems like a huge waste of money to apply to a school that I would not attend.
Or am I just being a cheap suck?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[resiroth]

Apply to a school you would attend, but not necessarily your #1. Don't worry, you'll be applying to 25 more schools that you would attend so losing 1 in a worst case situation isn't a big deal.

 

[Premixis]

Apply to a school you would attend, but not necessarily your #1. Don't worry, you'll be applying to 25 more schools that you would attend so losing 1 in a worst case situation isn't a big deal.

Yeah, I agree. I applied to a school that I thought I would apply to but ended up not finishing the secondary for it. Any school should do, but if you want to be more cost efficient, choose a school somewhere on the low end of the totem pole.

 

[Vain Brother]

respectfully disagree with @resiroth. as the wise gyngyn has pointed out, should you need to re-apply, you'd be considered a re-applicant on every school listed on your primary application. therefore, with the MCAT uncertain, you should use your throwaway school (hence the term!) on a school you do not plan on applying to. that way if you bomb the MCAT and need to take another year, you can be a first-time applicant at all the schools you want

 

[Dr. Death]

If I were in your position (I am) I would pick a school that is way out of reach (like johns hopkins). That way you can justify throwing away 36$ (in case you actually get in wouldn't that be crazy) and still get verified at a school where you wouldn't reapply to anyway.

 

[resiroth]

respectfully disagree with @resiroth. as the wise gyngyn has pointed out, should you need to re-apply, you'd be considered a re-applicant on every school listed on your primary application. therefore, with the MCAT uncertain, you should use your throwaway school (hence the term!) on a school you do not plan on applying to. that way if you bomb the MCAT and need to take another year, you can be a first-time applicant at all the schools you want

why apply to a school you don't want to apply to? Not your #1, but if you're like anyone on SDN you can apply to ~40-50 schools that you would want to go to. Makes no sense to apply to a school I know I don't want to go to when it's not even clear that I'd need to reapply.

As an ex. I could have applied to NYU, michigan, columbia, JHU, case western, etc. etc. etc. if you're like most people you will have ~15 schools that you would like to go to but there are just so many schools and you can't realistically write 40 secondaries (it'd also be like 5k to apply).

 

[Vain Brother]

why apply to a school you don't want to apply to? Not your #1, but if you're like anyone on SDN you can apply to ~40-50 schools that you would want to go to. Makes no sense to apply to a school I know I don't want to go to when it's not even clear that I'd need to reapply.

As an ex. I could have applied to NYU, michigan, columbia, JHU, case western, etc. etc. etc. if you're like most people you will have ~15 schools that you would like to go to but there are just so many schools and you can't realistically write 40 secondaries (it'd also be like 5k to apply).

because they don't have an MCAT score yet. if the person ends up getting a 20 on the MCAT, they'll have to sit this cycle out. then when they re-apply next year, they'll be a re-applicant at that school, which puts them at a disadvantage

sure it's not likely they'll need to re-apply, but why take the risk? you can just add the schools you actually do want once the MCAT comes in. there's no delay

 

[kthxbai]

respectfully disagree with @resiroth. as the wise gyngyn has pointed out, should you need to re-apply, you'd be considered a re-applicant on every school listed on your primary application. therefore, with the MCAT uncertain, you should use your throwaway school (hence the term!) on a school you do not plan on applying to. that way if you bomb the MCAT and need to take another year, you can be a first-time applicant at all the schools you want

I was a reapplicant who went from 0 interview invites to 10 with 3 acceptances so far - including to a school I applied to last cycle.

So yeah, let's not talk about reapplicant stigma like that's what stands between you and medical school. If such a bias even exists it amounts to nothing if you app went from poo to woo!

 

[resiroth]

Being a reapplicant if you were rejected initially because of a low MCAT isn't a big deal imo. One of my friend was rejected uniformly because he managed a 7 on verbal on his first MCAT. Now he's going to Yale after a retake to 35+.

Again, if you're like most people 40-50 schools would be potentially interesting. You're already not going to apply to all the schools you would want to go to. Unless you want to apply to all 50 or something.

 

[raiderette]

OP, I recommend you at least wait to submit until you get your percentages back for your MCAT. That way you should know if you are sitting out this year or not. A 90-100% would be ideal, but a 50-65% would mean you can sit this year out.

 

[raiderette]

The percentiles will come out around 6/12. Is that really going to put him/her at such a disadvantage? I understand not waiting for the scores on 6/30 but is it really going to make such a huge difference over those two weeks? It could save $160 by not applying at all.

 

[Premixis]

The percentiles will come out around 6/12. Is that really going to put him/her at such a disadvantage? I understand not waiting for the scores on 6/30 but is it really going to make such a huge difference over those two weeks? It could save $160 by not applying at all.

The verification turnaround time for the last cycle around 6/12 was roughly 1 week, while it was closer to 3 weeks around 6/30. See the tracker here for details: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/amcas-verification-times-2014-2015.1082294/

That being said, submitting for verification will have everything ready to go by the time OP gets their MCAT score back. If OP waits until 6/30, he'll have to wait until late July-early August to have everything ready to go. If all secondaries are pre-written, that's a difference in completion date from 6/30 vs 8/01. I would say there is a pretty good advantage of being complete 6/30 vs 8/01, assuming that no part of the application has been rushed to meet the early June AMCAS submission date. With that being said, a later, well written application is much better than an earlier, poorly written one.

 

[Flashfan]

Thank you for all of this. I will be submitting even before I get my MCAT percentiles and I will just look for a school on my list that takes the highest or latest MCAT rather than a combination. Any suggestions?

 

[Simpson]

If I were in your position (I am) I would pick a school that is way out of reach (like johns hopkins). That way you can justify throwing away 36$ (in case you actually get in wouldn't that be crazy) and still get verified at a school where you wouldn't reapply to anyway.

Sorta like gambling?

 

[Premixis]

Thank you for all of this. I will be submitting even before I get my MCAT percentiles and I will just look for a school on my list that takes the highest or latest MCAT rather than a combination. Any suggestions?

Have you taken the MCAT before and performed poorly? Otherwise, I don't see your logic in applying to a school that takes the highest/latest MCAT. If this is your first time, apply to any one school that is low on your list, and in the event that your MCAT did not go as well as you planned, you would hold off on the application until the next cycle and only be considered a re-applicant to that one school.

 

[Flashfan]

If I have to reapply to that one school again, I would rather take one that would look at my improved score rather than averaging. I guess I am still being cheap because I can't stand the thought of applying to any school that I don't want to attend. I would like to apply to only 15 schools (more if my MCAT is marginal).

 

[Premixis]

In that case, then sure, look for a school that only considers the improved score (though I believe all MD schools can see all prior MCAT scores, but I may be wrong). It really wouldn't make too much of a difference, especially if you do exceedingly well on the MCAT the second time around. If you do have to apply again, one school considering you as a "re-applicant" shouldn't make/break whether or not you get into a medical school.

 

[resiroth]

You will not be at a disadvantage applying on 6/12. Premeds these days. Transmission doesn't even happen until 6/22 or whatever. And honestly they were quite fast verifying everyone this past cycle, so I see no reason to be afraid of being verified late if you'd be complete in June even waiting for your actual scores. I would recommend waiting for percentiles on 6/12 unless you know you scored well (like mid 30s on practice tests or whatever).

 

[raiderette]

I would recommend waiting for percentiles on 6/12 unless you know you scored well (like mid 30s on practice tests or whatever).

It seems like nobody has a good idea if they are scoring well. The commercial practice tests are all over the place in scores and reported percentiles.

 

[Vain Brother]

Thank you for all of this. I will be submitting even before I get my MCAT percentiles and I will just look for a school on my list that takes the highest or latest MCAT rather than a combination. Any suggestions?

again, use it on a school you don't actually plan on applying to. this minimizes the risk should you need to take a year off, and doesn't at all delay getting applications to schools you actually do want to apply to

while the "my friend got into yale as a reapplicant" stories in this thread have been truly moving, when giving someone advice it's a good idea to advise them to follow the path that maximizes their chance to get into med school while minimizing the risk. applying to a "throwaway" school does this. not terribly difficult to understand

 

[deleted674723]

I understand the concept of applying to a throwaway school so that if you have to wait and apply next year due to a poor mcat you only count as a reapplicant at one school. But what if you get into that one school? Can you just tell them no? Does that hurt you? Won't other schools find out and think you're an ass?

 

[Vain Brother]

I understand the concept of applying to a throwaway school so that if you have to wait and apply next year due to a poor mcat you only count as a reapplicant at one school. But what if you get into that one school? Can you just tell them no? Does that hurt you? Won't other schools find out and think you're an ass?

in this scenario you wouldn't even complete the secondary if you didn't feel your MCAT score warranted a full application, so this would never happen

 

[Vain Brother]

But if you complete an AMCAS and have it sent to a school, you will be considered a reapplicant by AMCAS as a reapplicant to that school next cycle. If you dont complete secondary in this cycle, during the next cycle you may be asked about it at an interview (ie they will see you didnt even bother to complete secondary), Simply answer honestly that your late MCAT wasnt up to par

one last time...

this is why you send this test application to a school you have no intention of applying to

 

[Vain Brother]

The purpose of a "throwaway" is to get your AMCAS coursework verified while waiting for MCAT. You need to have 1 school to do that. Once you get the MCAT score and it is good, your application is ready to be transmitted almost immediately and you can add additional schools. If your MCAT is poor, you just have that one school which will never have a complete secondary. This is why I suggest you aim for a high school, above a dream school, if you choose to do this. Why students choose to do this is because of taking the MCAT later in the cycle and wanting to be processed as quickly as possible,

Let me clear, as an adviser, I DO NOT recommend this, nor do I recommend submitting an application prior to knowing your MCAT score. If you cant take or are not ready to take the MCAT early enough, consider skipping the cycle, and apply the next cycle as a very strong candidate.

right, you apply to a school you have no intention of actually completing a secondary at. like UMass, which takes no OOS students. or, if white, one of the HBCUs. this brings the re-applicant risk to (near) zero and allows you to speed up the verification process

 

[Vain Brother]

we are in agreement! the rest of the thread seemed to think i was posting in another language or something