Chronological order of events

[Zmoody33]

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what up guys, i would like to know when to get things rolling if i am going to take the mcat in august. when to fill out the amcas if taking the mcat in august, and basically whether i can apply before my mcat score is recieved? some input on this would be great... if i forgot to ask some things enlighten me

 

[drmota]

if it were me, I would focus only on my MCAT until august. once the test is over, you have about 2 months before you get your score back. during that time, get your personal statement done (put at least 2 weeks work into it...like SERIOUS work) and submit your AMCAS. most schools will send you secondaries without your MCAT score but some will not. but by the time your MCAT scores comes out you want to be done with at least your AMCAS and as many secondaries as possible. the secondaries will come in AS SOON AS your amcas is verified (~2 weeks after you submit it)

so take mcat
submit amcas 2 weeks later
1 month after MCAT get as many secondaries done as possible
2 months later - your scores will come out and you will receive more secondaries (or not)

good luck.
-mota

 

[ND2005]

what up guys, i would like to know when to get things rolling if i am going to take the mcat in august. when to fill out the amcas if taking the mcat in august, and basically whether i can apply before my mcat score is recieved? some input on this would be great... if i forgot to ask some things enlighten me

Ok. As someone currently going through this, I'll try to help.

AMCAS: Do it as soon as possible. Have it done before your MCAT (I did not follow this advice, and I think it hurt me at a couple of places).

LORS: Same goes, especially if you're using a service like virtual evals.

A number of schools give out automatic secondaries to all applicants, so the sooner your AMCAS is in, the sooner you will be able to fill those out. Then you'll have 2 big advantages - (1) being complete at those schools the moment they get your MCAT scores, (2) having more time to complete the secondaries of the schools that do screen based on MCAT.

Get everything in as soon as possible. At a lot of schools, if you turn in your app on the deadline, you're basically just paying them money to throw your app in the trash.

 

[drmota]

oh ya i forgot to mention. get your LORs dealt with NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW. If you ever ask when I will smack you upside the head. Make sure you have them all by mid-summer LATEST or this will bite you in the ass later. TRUST me.
-mota

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

oh ya i forgot to mention. get your LORs dealt with NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW. If you ever ask when I will smack you upside the head. Make sure you have them all by mid-summer LATEST or this will bite you in the ass later. TRUST me.
-mota

If you are taking the MCAT this August I believe you will also have the option of taking a computerized version, which should get you the scores in like 2-4 weeks compared to 2 months..


I have a LOR question: Do we have to submit all the LOR's that our advisors hold for us, or do they somehow choose which ones to send? Like I think I should ask my prof to write one for me, but he is kind of weird and it is kind of a gamble... so in the event that next year I get a bunch more, do I have to send all of them?

 

[drmota]

If you are taking the MCAT this August I believe you will also have the option of taking a computerized version, which should get you the scores in like 2-4 weeks compared to 2 months..


I have a LOR question: Do we have to submit all the LOR's that our advisors hold for us, or do they somehow choose which ones to send? Like I think I should ask my prof to write one for me, but he is kind of weird and it is kind of a gamble... so in the event that next year I get a bunch more, do I have to send all of them?

it depends on the school. At UC berkeley they bank them all in this database and then you choose which letters you want to be sent to which schools. if your school has a committee letter that they write though, your weird prof's letter will factor into the committee's letter. do some investigative work and find out what your school offers.
-mota

 

[Snowboarder]

Have you taken the MCAT before? What is your GPA like?

If you take the August MCAT your application will not be reviewed until scores come out in mid-October which is also the last possible day to submit a primary application. Thus, your application will be one of the very last reviewed. Unless you have a truly stellar application, scores, and grades, I think it is a waste of money to take the August MCAT and apply in the same year. Just my two cents . . .

 

[snobored18]

I would definitely suggest to try and take care of your LORs and maybe your personal statement during the spring semester when professors and others (people to read through your essay...you will want to have i think a minimum of five people read it for clarity and content) are easily accesible. Once thats down just focus everything you've got on the MCAT...take a break and fill in the biographical stuff on the AMCAS here and there but make the MCAT your priority. Once the MCAT is done if you feel somewhat ok about it proof your AMCAS and submit it. If you get this done by Sept. 1st you are in good shape as the secondaries will start to roll in and you will have plenty of time to finish them up. I wouldn't advise to what I did and that is wait until your scores come out in october before submitting your AMCAS...I have multiple acceptances but I can tell you it really kills your chances at schools like MCW and SLU so to be sure you have every option available I would say try and submit your AMCAS by september and make sure all secondaries are in by november at the latest...then you will be golden

 

[Zmoody33]

Now what does my personal statement consist of? How do i go about filling this out? Is this something I need to just write on my own, or is it something i submit with the amcas? thanks for all the info though

 

[drmota]

Now what does my personal statement consist of? How do i go about filling this out? Is this something I need to just write on my own, or is it something i submit with the amcas? thanks for all the info though

its on the AMCAS. but you can get to work on it as soon as you want. the prompt is basically "why do you want to be a doctor' and you write a one page answer to it. pretty straightforward. you want to get it edited a lot. my 7th draft was the one that stuck. and it looked MARKEDLY different from my first one.

-mota

 

[snobored18]

Mota has the right idea for you...when you write your personal statement don't just re-hash your CV or resume make sure it is personal or else it would simply be called a statement. Thats the key. We each have different experiences that led us to medicine this is your time to express yours. SDN has a great guide available to help get you going. Again have a TON of people read it over, have MDs, PhDs, parents, friends whomever you can find give it a look. If you start now it will make the process that much easier because trust me once you are done with the MCAT its gonna be tough to motivate yourself to do anything.

 

[Zmoody33]

hey thanks for the ideas, you guys have helped me a lot. i'm definitely going to get started on my lor's and personal statement soon. since ii'm taking the mcat in august, i need to be as prepared as possible. i mean i have like over 6 months...

 

[SuzieQ3417]

Now what does my personal statement consist of? How do i go about filling this out? Is this something I need to just write on my own, or is it something i submit with the amcas? thanks for all the info though

If you have a pre-med office at your campus they probably have paperwork to help you get started on your personal statement. My school gave everyone an entire packet of info, including brainstorming for your personal statement and the deadlines at our school in terms of LOR/committee interview, etc. I second (third, fourth...whatever) to get your LOR taken care of now. Don't be shy and ask the profs...and make sure to give them an early deadline to have them done (so if your pre-med committee needs them by August 1, tell your LOR writers to have them done by June 1 or something....because a lot of them will not write them in time and you will have to repeatedly ask for them and pester them).

 

[gostudy]

Have you taken the MCAT before? What is your GPA like?

If you take the August MCAT your application will not be reviewed until scores come out in mid-October which is also the last possible day to submit a primary application. Thus, your application will be one of the very last reviewed. Unless you have a truly stellar application, scores, and grades, I think it is a waste of money to take the August MCAT and apply in the same year. Just my two cents . . .

Lots of August MCATers get in with less than stellar stats. Believe it or not a lot of people apply after taking the August MCAT. Schools know this. And many schools review your app before your score comes in. So, regardless of when the MCAT is taken, AMCAS should be done as soon as possible. Applying with the April MCAT cannot hurt you in the game. But I'm not completely convinced that taking August MCAT affects greatly the chance of you getting in. You may be notified of secondaries, interviews, acceptances, etc. later in the game than April people, but in the end it shouldn't adversely affect you that much.

 

[ND2005]

Lots of August MCATers get in with less than stellar stats. Believe it or not a lot of people apply after taking the August MCAT. Schools know this. And many schools review your app before your score comes in. So, regardless of when the MCAT is taken, AMCAS should be done as soon as possible. Applying with the April MCAT cannot hurt you in the game. But I'm not completely convinced that taking August MCAT affects greatly the chance of you getting in. You may be notified of secondaries, interviews, acceptances, etc. later in the game than April people, but in the end it shouldn't adversely affect you that much.

The August MCAT does hurt. There is really no denying it. The question is just how much it hurts.

 

[snobored18]

The August MCAT does hurt. There is really no denying it. The question is just how much it hurts.

Honestly the hurt comes at certain schools...mainly the mid to lower tier private schools...these guys fill their rosters so fast that taking the MCAT in August is a HUGE disadvantage...MCW still hasn't reviewed my application not that I really care...but I think it is a good illustration of how the August MCAT can kill you...on the other hand the big ten and big 12 schools seem to almost save slots for August MCATers...and im not talking final pool stuff I'm talking rolling admissions slots...

 

[ND2005]

Honestly the hurt comes at certain schools...mainly the mid to lower tier private schools...these guys fill their rosters so fast that taking the MCAT in August is a HUGE disadvantage...MCW still hasn't reviewed my application not that I really care...but I think it is a good illustration of how the August MCAT can kill you...on the other hand the big ten and big 12 schools seem to almost save slots for August MCATers...and im not talking final pool stuff I'm talking rolling admissions slots...

Yes, it does come down a lot to the particular schools. When I sat down with my pre-med advisor, we crossed certain schools off my list just because of their track record with August MCATs. I still applied to a couple of schools despite the August MCAT stigma...we'll see how it goes with them ultimately.

 

[gostudy]

Honestly the hurt comes at certain schools...mainly the mid to lower tier private schools...these guys fill their rosters so fast that taking the MCAT in August is a HUGE disadvantage...MCW still hasn't reviewed my application not that I really care...but I think it is a good illustration of how the August MCAT can kill you...on the other hand the big ten and big 12 schools seem to almost save slots for August MCATers...and im not talking final pool stuff I'm talking rolling admissions slots...

Right, I think this is more what I was getting at. I don't think I was clear in that the August MCAT does hurt. I am just not sure how much. It most hurts for rolling schools that don't waitlist many people. And of course for the non-rolling you are on pretty much equal ground chronologically if you manage to get an interview.