Can someone please explain the Early Decision policy?

[Stewie]

How does the Early Decision policy to medical schools work? Do you interview earlier as well? Could anyone who applied ED please share his/her experience?

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[Amy B]

You can only apply to one school. You apply at the same time , however you have a sooner dealine. You are interviewed before October and are given your acceptance in October, I think by the 15th. If you are accepted by that school, you are obligated to attend that school and can not apply to any other schools.

Or you could be rejected and then you would apply to other schools, but you would have a late start.

You really have to be an outstanding applicatant to apply Early decision.

 

[DrJ2B]

Hey Stewie!

Speaking from experience (I applied ED to UPenn this year and got deferred to regular admissions and now await my decision in March), I can tell you that you are taking a risk by applying early decision. I will tell about the general info first. Usually, you have to have your application in at a certain earlier time . I had to have my AMCAS in by Aug. 1st and all supplementary materials (Letters of recommendation, secondary, application fee, transcript) by Aug. 15th. I had my interview in mid-September. If you apply ED to a school, the school is required to make its decision by Oct. 1st so you will not be too late in the process to apply to other schools if you get deferred to regular admissions (happens most of the time) or outrightly rejected. You will probably have an interview in August or mid-September at the latest. Now, if you are accepted, you are legally binded to go. If you are not accepted, you are, as aforementioned, usually deferred to regular admissions where you will be further considered for admission. That is the boat I am in. I am updating my application. I have sent in a new letter of rec and I am going to send my transcript from this semester since I have been doing rather well. I love UPenn so much and I totally feel it is a perfect fit for me. You will have to decide if the school you want to apply ED to is the same for you. Many people I have heard of who have applied ED to a school have done so because they want to stay in a certain state or area. I applied to UPenn, against the advice of my pre-health advisor, because I felt it was right to do for me. Now, I am later that I would like to be in the process with respect to applications to other schools, but since I applied to mostly non-rolling schools (interview everyone before they make a decision and usually send decisions in March), I am not in such a bad position. If I had applied to mostly rolling schools, I would have been in a worse predicament. I am a competitive applicant but I am not "all that" by any means. I just had a strong inclination towards UPenn because I love the program and feel it is the best school for my future plans to be a pediatric oncologist. It is a huge decision to apply ED. Please consult your pre-health advisor and make sure you really want to go to a particular school. If you need any more info, please do not hesitate to private message me. Good luck with making that important decision! Happy Holidays! 😀 😀

 

[DrJ2B]

You are not allowed to apply to any other schools until the decision on your application is rendered. As aforesaid, you will hear by Oct. 1st at the latest.

 

[bigbaubdi]

Do not apply ED, especially to a top school.

I seriously considered applying early to Hopkins this year but I was advised by my pre med advisor to not make up my mind so quickly (thankfully). I interviewed there on 9/18, thought the interviews went well, but got waitlisted in early October. Fortunately, I applied to a bunch of other places and got interview invites at other places at around the same time so I wasn't totally screwed.

That said, if you are competitive enough of an applicant to consider applying ED - don't do it. The process is way too competitive for you to make any assumptions about getting in to any particular school.

 

[DannGee]

i agree with everyone else that EDP isn't a particularly good idea. here's my reason: i was seriously considering applying to my state school EDP, but decided against it when my advisor seemed really against it. instead, i applied to 10 schools that i thought i'd want to go to. going to interviews and seeing other schools, i found that i actually liked a lot of things about the other schools MORE than my state school, namely the curriculum. Now, I'm not even sure if my state school is my first choice anymore.

Basically, I'd say not to apply EDP because going to a lot of different schools helps you to get an idea of what you'd like in a med school. i don't think you're really at much of an advantage applying EDP; the only real benefits is that you could save a bit of money on travel expenses, and if you are accepted, it saves you from the neuroticism that comes from waiting all this time to hear from everyone. that said, if you don't get in EDP, you'll probably be a lot MORE stressed out, because you'll be 2-3 months behind everyone else.

 

[flaming_gypsy]

Couldn't you just apply to one school early decision and a bunch of schools regular decision and then withdrawl all your other applications if accepted to the early decision program? I guess AMCAS probably doesn't work that way though...

 

[jlee9531]

no...how would it look if you allegedly only want to go to that one school but apply to others....

thats why if you do ED you are not allowed to apply to any other school until you get rejected. thats why its a risky choice or else everyone would do ED and then there would be no point for an ED program.

 

[DrJ2B]

I totally agree with Jlee. You are not allowed to apply anywhere else at all before a decision is rendered, not even to DO or offshore schools. Applying ED means that you will only apply to one school, await the decision, and depending upon the decision, you will either have to go since it is legally binding or apply to other schools if deferred or rejected. I have done this. I got the news that I was deferred in late September and I applied to other schools immediately so I would not waste any time in the process since I had lost a good deal of time because I applied ED. I definitely think that ED is a huge decision and should not be taken lightly. I did it because it felt right for me and I really loved the school. You have to decide after talking it over with your pre-health advisor and even the school you are interested in. I had a contact in the school since January. I wanted to discuss my interest before I pursued applying ED. After talking to the wonderful Gaye Sheffler, I decided to apply ED. I really hope I get accepted in March. ::crosses fingers::

 

[jlee9531]

i hope u do too man...

if there has been anyone else more gungho about getting into upenn...well i havent seen that person.

someone should tell the adcoms there to read sdn haha.

 

[Spacekat]

I basically agree with all of what previous posters have said, but thought I would share my experience on the other side of this type of program.

I'm about to be married to someone who graduated from medical school in May, so basically we had to choose a residency for my honey BEFORE I could begin applying to medical schools. Clearly, if I did not get into the school in that city, life would get very ugly for us in a hurry.

Under these circumstances, applying EDP made all the difference in the world for me. The school saw that I was committed to coming there, and since I'm living out of state I think that really helped me gain admission. On the upside, too, these difficult circumstances resulted in saving thousands of dollars on app fees and travel. Plus, I was done with the admissions process by the end of September and could concentrate on my current graduate studies, secure in the knowledge that I would be attending my first-choice school in a year.

I would say choose this path with caution, since there is clearly a large risk involved, but it is not a bad idea in all circumstances.

 

[johnnyMD]

they should push the ED acceptance deadline to Aug 1. waiting until oct 15 is ridic.

but i guess an oct 15 its a great deterrent for not-so-serious ED'ers