At what point is it time to stop submitting secondaries?

[Wahed]

At what point are your chances so diminished that you're throwing hundred dollar bills down the drain?

I'm sitting on 27 incomplete secondaries (16 submitted thus far throughout august and the first week of September), and I plan to keep submitting them as I finish them throughout September. Will it still be worth it to submit them by the end of September? I have the funds to do it, but want to make sure I don't keep submitting past the date at which my application has the opportunity to be considered.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

At what point are your chances so diminished that you're throwing hundred dollar bills down the drain?

I'm sitting on 27 incomplete secondaries (16 submitted thus far throughout august and the first week of September), and I plan to keep submitting them as I finish them throughout September. Will it still be worth it to submit them by the end of September? I have the funds to do it, but want to make sure I don't keep submitting past the date at which my application has the opportunity to be considered.

Depends upon your list, and the schools you can realistically target. Applying to > 40 schools is insane.
Who are the schools among the remaining 27?
What is your state of residence?

 

[Wahed]

Depends upon your list, and the schools you can realistically target. Applying to > 40 schools is insane.
Who are the schools among the remaining 27?
What is your state of residence?

I never intended on applying to 43 schools, but I had read that people sometimes get rejected pre-secondary and my stats are weird (cGPA 3.4, sGPA 3.75, MCAT 515) so I assumed I'd be pre-rejected for a lot of schools. Didn't end up getting pre-rejected from any.

I'm a MI resident and have applied to all of the state schools (except U of M and Central). I still have several secondaries I feel I could reasonably target (and would like to attend). Those include:

• Quinnipiac
• U of Vermont
• Medical College of Wisconsin
• Creighton (I have a lot of experience working with the homeless in a clinical capacity)
• Saint Louis
• Wake-Forest
• U of Pittsburgh (maybe?)
• Eastern Virginia (although very late now, they wanted it back within a week ago)

After those I plan to move onto reach schools (Dartmouth, U of M, Keck, Einstein, Hofstra, etc).

The full list of secondaries I've yet to return is:

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• U of Vermont
• Brown
• Penn State
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard (this was the school I submitted to start verification before I had an MCAT score - not gonna waste my $$)
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

 

[Goro]

Did you have a rising GPA trend????

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naïve, if not pathologically optimistic.


The following in blue I suggest, while those in red will be donations

The others, omit, given the time of the cycle

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• U of Vermont
• Brown
• Penn State
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

 

[Wahed]

Did you have a rising GPA trend????

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naïve, if not pathologically optimistic.


The following in blue I suggest, while those in red will be donations

The others, omit, given the time of the cycle

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• U of Vermont
• Brown
• Penn State
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Thank you! This is massively helpful!

I did have a rising GPA trend. In undergrad it rose steadily each semester from 2.60(freshman year GPA) to 3.5 (senior year GPA). I was not a science major, so I did a DIY post-bacc for the science pre-reqs and earned a 3.88. I took very few science courses in undergrad, which is why my science GPA is solid.

 

[mariposas905]

Did you have a rising GPA trend????

Secondaries are often a tax on the hopelessly naïve, if not pathologically optimistic.


The following in blue I suggest, while those in red will be donations

The others, omit, given the time of the cycle

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• U of Vermont
• Brown
• Penn State
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Curious why you included those ones in blue and took off the black ones although his stats are good for those schools? For example, is it specifically too late for Vermont and Penn State or because his stats are kind of high for them?

 

[Goro]

Modified list given the rising trend and reinvention

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Add DO schools.. You have to have them
I can't recommend Penn State
Brown highly favors their own UGs.

 

[mariposas905]

Modified list given the rising trend and reinvention

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Add DO schools.. You have to have them
I can't recommend Penn State
Brown highly favors their own UGs.

Wait, why not Penn state?

 

[Goro]

Wait, why not Penn state?

I can no longer recommend Penn State given how their parent body protected a child molester for decades.

 

[mariposas905]

I can no longer recommend Penn State given how their parent body protected a child molester for decades.

Thanks for sharing! Is there also a specific reason why you took off Vermont?

 

[Goro]

Thanks for sharing! Is there also a specific reason why you took off Vermont?

I don't have any info that they reward reinvention.

 

[Wahed]

Modified list given the rising trend and reinvention

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Add DO schools.. You have to have them
I can't recommend Penn State
Brown highly favors their own UGs.

Thanks for the updated list! I hadn’t considered DO schools (maybe a little denial that MD won’t work out). Can you recommend any DO schools that don’t require a DO letter, have a record of matching students into EM residencies, and are located in urban areas?

 

[Goro]

Thanks for the updated list! I hadn’t considered DO schools (maybe a little denial that MD won’t work out). Can you recommend any DO schools that don’t require a DO letter, have a record of matching students into EM residencies, and are located in urban areas?

CCOM
TUNCOM
PCOM
NYITCOM
VCOM
MUCOM
DMU
Touro-CA
Western (both)
AZCOM
KCU

 

[Wahed]

CCOM
TUNCOM
PCOM
NYITCOM
VCOM
MUCOM
DMU
Touro-CA
Western (both)
AZCOM
KCU

Thanks for the list. If I'm going to apply for DO schools, do I need to start moving on AACOMAS ASAP? At this point am I on time or late?

 

[LukaDoncicLuk]

Still have time for DO. I only have 2 apps in and am hoping to finish up by the end of the month. EM is DO friendly btw if that's what you're interested in.

 

[Goro]

Thanks for the list. If I'm going to apply for DO schools, do I need to start moving on AACOMAS ASAP? At this point am I on time or late?

The DO cycle is longer. T-giving is getting late.

 

[Wahed]

The DO cycle is longer. T-giving is getting late.

What if I keep churning out MD secondaries throughout September, then solely focus on DO throughout October and November? Does that seem like a reasonable plan? I'll try to submit my AACOMAS in the next week or so. Is the primary verification wait length similar to AMCAS (~1month)?

 

[Unlimited Apps]

Modified list given the rising trend and reinvention

• Loyola
• Creighton
• Einstein
• Dartmouth
• U of M
• Oregon Health and Science
• Central Michigan
• Temple
• Virginia Tech
• Wake Forest
• Eastern Virginia
• Emory
• Thomas Jefferson
• Mayo
• Keck
• U of Pittsburgh
• BU
• Quinnipiac
• Saint Louis
• UCLA
• Harvard
  
• Hofstra
• MCW

Add DO schools.. You have to have them
I can't recommend Penn State
Brown highly favors their own UGs.

Is a 3.4cGPA that much of a dealbreaker for a decently high MCAT + solid sGPA profile? I always thought that sGPA and MCAT was king when it came to academic stats. I'd imagine that schools like Emory and Einstein would be high match/low reach for such an applicant (and VTech's numbers are lower than that)?

Or are you considering additional factors in determining whether or not to recommend those schools?

 

[Goro]

Is a 3.4cGPA that much of a dealbreaker for a decently high MCAT + solid sGPA profile? I always thought that sGPA and MCAT was king when it came to academic stats. I'd imagine that schools like Emory and Einstein would be high match/low reach for such an applicant (and VTech's numbers are lower than that)?

Or are you considering additional factors in determining whether or not to recommend those schools?

It's a seller's market and people who have reinvented themselves have to compete with people who didn't have to reinvent themselves. There for their choices are more limited.

 

[Unlimited Apps]

It's a seller's market and people who have reinvented themselves have to compete with people who didn't have to reinvent themselves. There for their choices are more limited.

Makes sense, really glad I don't fit into the "reinvention" category. Thats a bumper. Good luck to OP though!