Contacting medical schools about secondaries

[dovedust]

Hi everyone!

I applied to about 30 medical schools (being a California resident without any MCAT score I don't really know how competitive I am at any of them. I'm also a FAP applicant). I should find out my MCAT score this month, on July 19th. I have only received one secondary email, though many of the schools that I applied to do not screen. My primary app was verified June 14. Should I contact the schools? Is there a possibility for a technical error? Or is it more likely that my app is just too incomplete with a MCAT score?

I can also just wait until the 19th, but if it is due to a technical glitch that could possibly delay my app even more?

p.s.
This is my first post on SDN and I'm super excited!!

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[anonymoose1640]

My first advice would be to check your spam folder! A lot of my application stuff went there without me realizing at first. Second - I think most of the CA schools screen at first, so that would delay a good portion of your applications. Have you checked the school specific forums for the other schools to see if other students verified around the same time as you have received their secondaries? It's possible that some schools just haven't released them yet. It's possible it's a technical error, but it would seem unlikely to me. To answer your question though, usually most schools will send the secondary without the MCAT score. You just can't be marked "complete" until they get the score. I'd check your spam and school specific threads before contacting any schools.

Good luck with your applications!!

 

[dovedust]

Hello! Thank you so much for getting back to me! I have checked my spam folder and haven't seen anything there I also have been looking at school-specific threads, and it seems like other applicants have been receiving secondaries for some of the schools that do not screen.

Thank you so much though! Hope you have a wonderful weekend <3

 

[anonymoose1640]

Hmm, I'm sorry to hear that then. Sometimes the secondaries come in waves though and you just haven't gotten the email yet. It's not necessarily done by date of verification. Keep an eye on those school specific threads and always check the spam folder. If by Wednesday you haven't gotten a secondary from a school you know sends them out quickly, consider calling and politely asking if they've received your application. It might be a glitch, in which case it would stink to lose 9 days waiting for your MCAT scores to get back before you realized there was a problem. Sorry this is happening to you, hopefully those secondaries will start pouring in soon!

 

[dovedust]

Hmm, I'm sorry to hear that then. Sometimes the secondaries come in waves though and you just haven't gotten the email yet. It's not necessarily done by date of verification. Keep an eye on those school specific threads and always check the spam folder. If by Wednesday you haven't gotten a secondary from a school you know sends them out quickly, consider calling and politely asking if they've received your application. It might be a glitch, in which case it would stink to lose 9 days waiting for your MCAT scores to get back before you realized there was a problem. Sorry this is happening to you, hopefully those secondaries will start pouring in soon!

Thank you, again! I also appreciate the sympathy aha. I guess I can also just work on the secondaries without access to the portals... It just seems a little odd to me that I haven't heard back from so many...

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you, again! I also appreciate the sympathy aha. I guess I can also just work on the secondaries without access to the portals... It just seems a little odd to me that I haven't heard back from so many...

Your application is not really complete until they see your MCAT. Patience and ability to delay gratification are 2 qualities to have as a medical student.

 

[dovedust]

Turns out I was using a school email address that expired June 30th...

 

[anonymoose1640]

Turns out I was using a school email address that expired June 30th...

ooh that's rough, I'm sorry! It helps to create a separate gmail address specifically for med school so you can keep all the emails straight. Glad you solved the problem though, good luck!

 

[Goro]

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

Are you really such a special snowflake that you think medical schools should be tripping all over themselves to get back to you, when you don't even have an MCAT score?????

Your file is incomplete. That means you will not have your file reviewed until it is.

Patience is a virtue, the need for instant gratification is not.

Hi everyone!

I applied to about 30 medical schools (being a California resident without any MCAT score I don't really know how competitive I am at any of them. I'm also a FAP applicant). I should find out my MCAT score this month, on July 19th. I have only received one secondary email, though many of the schools that I applied to do not screen. My primary app was verified June 14. Should I contact the schools? Is there a possibility for a technical error? Or is it more likely that my app is just too incomplete with a MCAT score?

I can also just wait until the 19th, but if it is due to a technical glitch that could possibly delay my app even more?

p.s.
This is my first post on SDN and I'm super excited!!