Are there significantly more applicants this cycle?

[frejfwierbgrewog]

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With record amcas delays is it because more people are applying or because they are implementing new tools like AI? Does anyone have any data on this? Just wondering.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Who is "they"? Who do you think would have the data?

 

[frejfwierbgrewog]

Who is "they"? Who do you think would have the data?

Anyone who works in admissions

 

[PickaGodnPray]

AAMC publishes this data next year, so there is no way to know if there are just more applications, more people submitting early, or if they are just short staffed. Either way, does it matter? Put your best application forward and nothing else really matters.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Anyone who works in admissions

None of us in admissions knows. We have to screen your applications. We may get a mid-cycle update from our CAS under the best case scenario.

 

[polymerization]

Verification is pretty straightforward. If AMCAS gets roughly the same number of applications a year, there should be a relatively similar timeline year over year. Delays could be technical, but I would venture to guess an increasing number of students may also be attending a higher average number of institutions (attending more degree/certificate programs), which increases the workload on a per-student basis. Like, I'd imagine it would take longer to verify an application that registers three or four different transcripts than just the one. I don't have a statistic but I'm pretty sure students have never been more "educated" entering undergraduate medical education than they are now.

Also, the way AMCAS verifies applications, they go line by line and make corrections until you hit 10. More than 10, it gets returned to you to fix. I imagine it takes time to make those 10 corrections; and then the time it takes to have to start all over with the verification process when it is returned is time wasted—almost as if that work prior to returning the application to the student never happened. So if people are making more mistakes, but receive preference in the verification queue when they do, I can see how that bottlenecks verification for others.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Infographic for 2024 entry (link to PDF).

 

[Goro]

Verification is pretty straightforward. If AMCAS gets roughly the same number of applications a year, there should be a relatively similar timeline year over year. Delays could be technical, but I would venture to guess an increasing number of students may also be attending a higher average number of institutions (attending more degree/certificate programs), which increases the workload on a per-student basis. Like, I'd imagine it would take longer to verify an application that registers three or four different transcripts than just the one. I don't have a statistic but I'm pretty sure students have never been more "educated" entering undergraduate medical education than they are now.

Also, the way AMCAS verifies applications, they go line by line and make corrections until you hit 10. More than 10, it gets returned to you to fix. I imagine it takes time to make those 10 corrections; and then the time it takes to have to start all over with the verification process when it is returned is time wasted—almost as if that work prior to returning the application to the student never happened. So if people are making more mistakes, but receive preference in the verification queue when they do, I can see how that bottlenecks verification for others.

Just have to go off topic and say NICE kitty! My cat Eggplant approves.

 

[hleehyan]

the amcas tracker shows that verification is significantly longer this cycle compared to last

 

[polymerization]

Just have to go off topic and say NICE kitty! My cat Eggplant approves.

Rocky, Ivan, and Mila have sent Eggplant a friend request and are eagerly awaiting the next Meowdical Education conference.

 

[PickaGodnPray]

the amcas tracker shows that verification is significantly longer this cycle compared to last

Again... this could be due to numerous reasons (early submissions, short staffing, new policies, etc). No point in guessing or assuming there are more applicants when we won't have this information until January. Focus on what you can control which is submitting secondaries.