Completing Secondaries while studying MCAT

[JustinMC]

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Should I submit my primary apps with all schools a week or 2 before a July MCAT, risking having to do secondaries while prepping for a July MCAT? Or should I submit to 1-2 schools, and add more schools after to space out any secondaries? I hope it isn't more expensive to add schools after I submit primaries.
Thanks everyone!

 

[LittleDandelion]

You're not getting any secondary until your mcat score is in. Even if it's a retake, if schools see that you're retaking, they will put off sending you secondary until they get the new score. So just add 1 school to your primary app now to get verified, and add more schools when you get your score back later.

 

[NickNaylor]

Why do you need to "space out your secondaries?"

 

[JustinMC]

Why do you need to "space out your secondaries?"

Like I said, if applying to ~25 schools 2-3 wks before mcat, that's a lot of possible secondaries to do. I was wondering if I should space them out by applying to 1-2 schools just for verification to start, then like the day of my mcat i could add the rest of the schools? as long as schools are added before the mcat scores arrive, does it really matter when you add the schools for auto secondaries? Thanks!

 

[pdxjazz]

Like I said, if applying to ~25 schools 2-3 wks before mcat, that's a lot of possible secondaries to do. I was wondering if I should space them out by applying to 1-2 schools just for verification to start, then like the day of my mcat i could add the rest of the schools? as long as schools are added before the mcat scores arrive, does it really matter when you add the schools for auto secondaries? Thanks!

Yes, that's a good plan. Some schools have deadlines as to when they need the secondary returned and you don't want to be worried about them while you are trying to study. If you added them all now, you would receive roughly 1/2 of the secondaries as many have internal MCAT cutoffs, or pre-screen. The other plus is you will have a pretty good idea of how you did on the MCAT and can adjust your school list if needed. As to staggering, you won't get them all at once so it's not really as much of a concern as you would think.