Best time to submit secondaries?

[229141]

If one gets all their secondaries completed by Mid-July, would this be considered early/right on time? A lot of kids I know didn't send them in until the end of September and it seemed to hurt them..

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[RySerr21]

If one gets all their secondaries completed by Mid-July, would this be considered early/right on time? A lot of kids I know didn't send them in until the end of September and it seemed to hurt them..

submitting all secondaries by mid july isnt going to be possible for most applicants. Even if you submit your AMCAS really early, there will be a delay for some schools on when they send you a secondary. Ive received a secondary up to a month or two after a school had received my application.....i dunno why, but thats just how it is. That being said, if you are turning arond secondaries in July, then yes you are REALLY early. If you are finishing up your secondaries in august, thats still right on time and no need to worry. At that point, there will be people that are still working on their primaries.

 

[229141]

submitting all secondaries by mid july isnt going to be possible for most applicants. Even if you submit your AMCAS really early, there will be a delay for some schools on when they send you a secondary. Ive received a secondary up to a month or two after a school had received my application.....i dunno why, but thats just how it is. That being said, if you are turning arond secondaries in July, then yes you are REALLY early. If you are finishing up your secondaries in august, thats still right on time and no need to worry. At that point, there will be people that are still working on their primaries.

Yeah- I am taking May 28th MCAT, and will be working on the secondaries while I wait for my score since a lot of them get posted here on SDN. You're right- a lot of schools delay sending them out...but when my friend applied he got half of his the next day so who knows. I just don't want to be late!

 

[RySerr21]

Yeah- I am taking May 28th MCAT, and will be working on the secondaries while I wait for my score since a lot of them get posted here on SDN. You're right- a lot of schools delay sending them out...but when my friend applied he got half of his the next day so who knows. I just don't want to be late!

Oh youll for sure get a good majority of them with a few days of being verified, but the schools that actually screen their applicants take a little longer. I took the MCAT pretty much the exact same time, May 27th of last year. I didnt submit my AMCAS til i got my score back so not until June 26th...I was verified about two weeks later and started gettin in secondaries right away. I think the first batch i finished went out on the last few days of July. I was chosen for the first interview group of the year at a handful of schools, and had many other early interview invites...so in no way did my timeline hamper me. You will be more than fine.

 

[229141]

Oh youll for sure get a good majority of them with a few days of being verified, but the schools that actually screen their applicants take a little longer. I took the MCAT pretty much the exact same time, May 27th of last year. I didnt submit my AMCAS til i got my score back so not until June 26th...I was verified about two weeks later and started gettin in secondaries right away. I think the first batch i finished went out on the last few days of July. I was chosen for the first interview group of the year at a handful of schools, and had many other early interview invites...so in no way did my timeline hamper me. You will be more than fine.

Ok great thats exactly what I was wondering. With rolling admissions these days it seems to me you're hurting yourself big time by applying in September or so.

Also- is it possibe to submit AMCAS while your MCAT is pending so you're verified right when you get the MCAT back? Not a big deal but it'd be nice!

 

[linguini]

Also- is it possibe to submit AMCAS while your MCAT is pending so you're verified right when you get the MCAT back? Not a big deal but it'd be nice!

I think it's possible. However, it may not be the best idea if you (hopefully not, of course) do poorly on your MCAT and need to adjust your list of schools (which you would have already paid the primary fees for).

 

[BluntSurgeon]

I personally believe that it really depends on the strength of the applicant as perceived from your numerical stats. If you are a 3.65 with a 31 from CA you better get those guys in as early as possible. If you are a 3.9 with a 38 from CA you could turn them in late september and still get interview invites before the year ends. The latter was my situation (slightly different numbers to preserve anonymity). However, Alaska, I think you, as somebody who won't know their mcat score when submitting the AMCAS, should send that puppy off ASAP.

Another word of advice: don't sacrifice quality for timeliness--if you think your personal statement would benefit from another week of revisions then forget about turning the AMCAS in on June 1st, and try for June 8th.

 

[aznb0y129]

Also- is it possibe to submit AMCAS while your MCAT is pending so you're verified right when you get the MCAT back? Not a big deal but it'd be nice!

I did this so it's definitely possible, but linguini is right since you are taking a risk that you may not get the score you want. If you're taking the May exam, I would wait for the scores to come back before submitting.

 

[Kaustikos]

I personally believe that it really depends on the strength of the applicant as perceived from your numerical stats. If you are a 3.65 with a 31 from CA you better get those guys in as early as possible. If you are a 3.9 with a 38 from CA you could turn them in late september and still get interview invites before the year ends. The latter was my situation (slightly different numbers to preserve anonymity). However, Alaska, I think you, as somebody who won't know their mcat score when submitting the AMCAS, should send that puppy off ASAP.

Another word of advice: don't sacrifice quality for timeliness--if you think your personal statement would benefit from another week of revisions then forget about turning the AMCAS in on June 1st, and try for June 8th.

From what I saw THIS year about how long it took people to get their primaries verified, even turning it in on the 1st (which, correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't they experience an overload?) didn't make much difference as the range of people getting verified was from late june to mid-late july. I can only imagine how much worse this year will be for applicants

I agree with your advice, though. As long as you're in the june/early july for primary you'll be fine imo.

 

[Kaustikos]

Ok great thats exactly what I was wondering. With rolling admissions these days it seems to me you're hurting yourself big time by applying in September or so.

Also- is it possibe to submit AMCAS while your MCAT is pending so you're verified right when you get the MCAT back? Not a big deal but it'd be nice!

I would have everything complete before June 1st and, depending upon how happy you are with practice test scores - which more than often are great predictors of your actual score -, submit june 1st or maybe wait to see what your score actually is.

ie - if you're scoring low to mid 30s consistently on practice tests, then I would have it ready and sent imo.

 

[Myuu]

See, I wanted to submit them all as soon as I got them. Unfortunately, most schools weren't sending them out mid-june, so I thought I was turning them around in decent time. Then I got hit by a giant July-full of secondaries and that ended up taking the rest of the summer (a girl's gotta work, you know (and get there, too)). I would say that the earlier you get them in, the better shot at getting earlier interviews you have.

 

[229141]

I would have everything complete before June 1st and, depending upon how happy you are with practice test scores - which more than often are great predictors of your actual score -, submit june 1st or maybe wait to see what your score actually is.

ie - if you're scoring low to mid 30s consistently on practice tests, then I would have it ready and sent imo.

My 4 practice scores are: 36 (AAMC), 36 AAMC, 35 Kap, 32 EK (failed a passage in PS ). I'll be nervous on test day though..so who knows.

I'm going to work on that statement and have AMCAS ready to go first week of June. I get done with school late April so I'll have time.

I know a guy who last year had a 3.9+ gpa and 33 MCAT, but got rejected from 18 of 20 schools. They were hard schools yeah, but he did his AMCAS in late August and got secondaries in like the end of Sept . Being late had to hurt him IMO

 

[Kaustikos]

My 4 practice scores are: 36 (AAMC), 36 AAMC, 35 Kap, 32 EK (failed a passage in PS ). I'll be nervous on test day though..so who knows.

I'm going to work on that statement and have AMCAS ready to go first week of June. I get done with school late April so I'll have time.

I know a guy who last year had a 3.9+ gpa and 33 MCAT, but got rejected from 18 of 20 schools. They were hard schools yeah, but he did his AMCAS in late August and got secondaries in like the end of Sept . Being late had to hurt him IMO

Again, there are more than that to interview invites. His gpa looks fine and his overall MCAT is fine, but what were his subscores? How was his personal statement? His EC's? Etc, etc etc. That and applying THAT late in the cycle will have detrimental affects as well, not to mention what schools he applied to. Take his case as an example of how you don't want to handle the application process. Apply early and broadly. Remember that you're going to medical school, in which most students in medical school seem to agree that if all you want is to become a doctor than listening to US rankings/applying ivy league is ridiculous. There are over 100 medical schools in this nation. Find out which schools don't offer oosers any chance and which schools do. Don't stick to applying to top tier schools - you're smarter than that. In the end, they're all training you in pretty much the same way. You're practice scores tell me that you'll be fine, but you're right in not letting those scores alone decide your score. But, in the end, if you score in that range, and get your app in by early - mid june and you have decent/average ec with a non-halfassed personal statement, you will be fine.

edit
I don't mean to belittle your friend. He could be a great person and just had badluck as well - which I'm seeing a lot of recently.

 

[dw2158]

i need some reassurance here... do most schools change their secondaries from year to year? i'm already pretty positive i have my list of schools and i've started drafting both my PS and some secondary essays using the 2009 prompts. am i going to regret starting the secondaries so early when i receive them and see totally new questions?

 

[229141]

Again, there are more than that to interview invites. His gpa looks fine and his overall MCAT is fine, but what were his subscores? How was his personal statement? His EC's? Etc, etc etc. That and applying THAT late in the cycle will have detrimental affects as well, not to mention what schools he applied to. Take his case as an example of how you don't want to handle the application process. Apply early and broadly. Remember that you're going to medical school, in which most students in medical school seem to agree that if all you want is to become a doctor than listening to US rankings/applying ivy league is ridiculous. There are over 100 medical schools in this nation. Find out which schools don't offer oosers any chance and which schools do. Don't stick to applying to top tier schools - you're smarter than that. In the end, they're all training you in pretty much the same way. You're practice scores tell me that you'll be fine, but you're right in not letting those scores alone decide your score. But, in the end, if you score in that range, and get your app in by early - mid june and you have decent/average ec with a non-halfassed personal statement, you will be fine.

edit


I don't mean to belittle your friend. He could be a great person and just had badluck as well - which I'm seeing a lot of recently.

Great post. I totally agree...so many kids here (my school) with VERY average stats (3.5, 30, light EC's) apply to all schools like Dartmouth, Harvard, USC, Hopkins..I'm like why!?!? I doubt I will apply to a single one like that no matter how good my MCAT. I am currently researching for what schools are nice to OOS'ers and do not have ridiculous criteria. That and the fact I will get my stuff in on time makes me feel pretty good about applying..and hey I'm not going to that sad at all if I end up needing to wait a year til I get in.

Also I think the MCAT was unbalanced...like 13 bio, 12 VR, 7 PS...

 

[aznb0y129]

i need some reassurance here... do most schools change their secondaries from year to year? i'm already pretty positive i have my list of schools and i've started drafting both my PS and some secondary essays using the 2009 prompts. am i going to regret starting the secondaries so early when i receive them and see totally new questions?

I would focus on your personal statement at the moment, but if you really want to get a head start on your secondaries, go with the tried and true.

1) Why do you want to go to X school?
2) Describe an obstacle you overcame.
3) Describe a situation where you demonstrated leadership.
4) How would you contribute to diversity?

With the exception of #1, you can probably use the others for multiple schools. Feel free to add more to the list if I've forgotten any.

 

[dw2158]

I would focus on your personal statement at the moment, but if you really want to get a head start on your secondaries, go with the tried and true.

1) Why do you want to go to X school?
2) Describe an obstacle you overcame.
3) Describe a situation where you demonstrated leadership.
4) How would you contribute to diversity?

With the exception of #1, you can probably use the others for multiple schools. Feel free to add more to the list if I've forgotten any.

thanks-- good advice, but that didn't answer my question. i've gone through SDN and made a list of what each school asked this year on their secondaries. do schools change them from year to year, or can i expect to see basically the same things from each school when i get them this summer?

 

[229141]

I would focus on your personal statement at the moment, but if you really want to get a head start on your secondaries, go with the tried and true.

1) Why do you want to go to X school?
2) Describe an obstacle you overcame.
3) Describe a situation where you demonstrated leadership.
4) How would you contribute to diversity?

With the exception of #1, you can probably use the others for multiple schools. Feel free to add more to the list if I've forgotten any.

Thanks that helps a lot! In terms of diversity, I was going to talk about how Alaska is extremely culturally diverse and how living here for my entire life has given me exposure to both a wide array of cultures as well some of the challenges rural cultures face, especially in terms of health care.

 

[Kaustikos]

Great post. I totally agree...so many kids here (my school) with VERY average stats (3.5, 30, light EC's) apply to all schools like Dartmouth, Harvard, USC, Hopkins..I'm like why!?!? I doubt I will apply to a single one like that no matter how good my MCAT. I am currently researching for what schools are nice to OOS'ers and do not have ridiculous criteria. That and the fact I will get my stuff in on time makes me feel pretty good about applying..and hey I'm not going to that sad at all if I end up needing to wait a year til I get in.

Also I think the MCAT was unbalanced...like 13 bio, 12 VR, 7 PS...

That 7 is DEFINITELY a red flag and cause for rejection for some schools. (I think the average required subscore on sections was 9, maybe 8) I can almost assuredly say that's his weakness and he should have retaken the mcat to get that score up to a more respectable level. Despite this, applying to only top-tier schools is ridiculous, imo. The standards are so high and the selection is not in your favor that you're really setting yourself up for disaster. Keep up the good work. Seems to me you have a handle of the situation for the most part.

thanks-- good advice, but that didn't answer my question. i've gone through SDN and made a list of what each school asked this year on their secondaries. do schools change them from year to year, or can i expect to see basically the same things from each school when i get them this summer?

Here's the thing - some schools DO change their secondaries but what I've found is that all schools tend to ask the same assortment of questions that you'll end up either
a) reusing secondary answers completely
b) formatting one schools secondary answer with minor modifications to fit the other schools
Keep an eye on the ones asking about their schools. It would be in your favor to have an idea of what you ilke about each school because that's one question they can ask that you can't really copy.

 

[Kaustikos]

Thanks that helps a lot! In terms of diversity, I was going to talk about how Alaska is extremely culturally diverse and how living here for my entire life has given me exposure to both a wide array of cultures as well some of the challenges rural cultures face, especially in terms of health care.

Be sure to mention that russia is your next-door neighbor too and that you've had experience in international affairs, too, dealing with Russians.

Also, if they ask for a picture of yourself, send a picture of the Northern Lights

jk

 

[229141]

That 7 is DEFINITELY a red flag and cause for rejection for some schools. (I think the average required subscore on sections was 9, maybe 8) I can almost assuredly say that's his weakness and he should have retaken the mcat to get that score up to a more respectable level. Despite this, applying to only top-tier schools is ridiculous, imo. The standards are so high and the selection is not in your favor that you're really setting yourself up for disaster. Keep up the good work. Seems to me you have a handle of the situation for the most part.

Yeah I definitely share your perspective more than my friends. He is like..WOW only big private schools take OOS'ers! I have a better chance there! While he is correct that they take OOS'ers...MANY more applicants (with great stats) apply to these schools..your chances are slim. When I suggested he apply to schools state schools and lower tier private ones he just laughed lol...all the US Med Schools are good so I don't see why he's like that but oh well

 

[229141]

Be sure to mention that russia is your next-door neighbor too and that you've had experience in international affairs, too, dealing with Russians.

Also, if they ask for a picture of yourself, send a picture of the Northern Lights

jk

First question for me at all interviews will be about either Sarah Palin or Ted Stevens... NO POLITICS PLZ

 

[aznb0y129]

thanks-- good advice, but that didn't answer my question. i've gone through SDN and made a list of what each school asked this year on their secondaries. do schools change them from year to year, or can i expect to see basically the same things from each school when i get them this summer?

It depends on the school. Some change them and some don't. It's tough to predict which ones stay the same so that's why I gave the advice above. That way you don't end up doing extra work.

 

[RySerr21]

First question for me at all interviews will be about either Sarah Palin or Ted Stevens... NO POLITICS PLZ

be thankful you didnt apply during an election year. I had something related to politics almost every time.