Do med schools put your application in the "reject" pile even before secondaries?

[babyface10111]

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Or do they wait until they get secondaries?

Otherwise there's not even a point in completing some of the secondaries.

A lot of schools don't screen and they send secondaries to everybody (because why not get $100+ from all those applicants?).

 

[jared_the_great]

Do you think there's going to be something in your secondary that would totally change the picture from your primary?

If so, redo your primary so that it includes whatever amazing thing your secondary was supposed to contain.

If not, and you're sure you're going to be rejected anyway, then don't apply to that school.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Of course they would! It's a huge revenue stream to get secondary applications. It sucks for the applicant, but there's too much money to not leave at the table for medical schools. It's up to the applicant to apply smartly, and not reach too high. Someone with a 3.5 GPA and 28 MCAT should not be applying to a school like Harvard.

 

[lmn]

Many of those schools instantly send out secondaries to everyone submitted a primary app, before they look at your primaries at all. I highly doubt they look at your primary before secondaries come in, so many people turn in a primary and not the secondary that they would waste valuable time reviewing apps that don't end up being completed anyway. Now that doesn't mean that when they receive your secondary (and the $$), that your primary stats don't go through the screening process leading to an instant rejection.

 

[IL Pre Med]

I think a better question is: are there any schools that only send secondaries to applicants they're seriously considering?

 

[Keladry]

I think a better question is: are there any schools that only send secondaries to applicants they're seriously considering?

I believe at least some California schools do that. Otherwise, pretty much everywhere sends everyone a secondary because $$.

 

[lmn]

I think a better question is: are there any schools that only send secondaries to applicants they're seriously considering?

Yes, there are a good number of "good guy" schools, that don't care to just farm your application fees thankfully.

 

[babyface10111]

I can think of three scenarios:

1. If your stats are competitive from your primary app, they wait for your secondary (but they don't look at it in-depth yet b/c your app is technically not complete)
2. If your stats are not competitive, they send you a secondary anyways but put your app in the reject pile.
3. Schools don't "reject" applications until secondary, but they have a "not-competitive" pile.

Now I've read on these forums about many people who already submitted their primaries but are retaking the mcats in June or July (even August). What would it take for their app to be saved from the reject pile? Is it even possible for your app to be saved from the reject pile? Will adcoms read secondary essays, look at new mcats/grades/etc and take the app out of the "non-competitive" pile to give it a second chance?

Perhaps there is a "not-competitive but retaking mcats so we'll see later" pile. Who knows what goes on in that room?

Reading SDN just creates more and more questions haha

 

[alpinism]

Depends on the school.

From last cycle: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/schools-that-screen-secondaries.1019562/#post-14243627

Schools with a pre-secondary screen:

Public
Central Michigan: GPA 3.25 / MCAT 24
Cooper Rowan: "We have accepted candidates with MCAT scores below 24 or GPAs below 3.0 whose experiences and history were exceptional."
East Carolina U (0.0% OOS matriculants in 2012)
East Tennessee State
Eastern Virginia
Florida Atlantic (only screens for felony convictions; sorry, all you hopeful premed felons)
Florida State: "We have no minimum requirements for [GPA and MCAT] scores."
Indiana U
Louisiana State, New Orleans
Louisiana State, Shreveport
Marshall: 3.0 GPA / 22 MCAT
Oakland Beaumont: sGPA 3.00 / cGPA 3.2 / MCAT 24
Southern Illinois (0.0% OOS matriculants in 2012)
U of Toledo
U of Arizona Phoenix
UC Davis (0.0% OOS matriculants in 2012)
UC Irvine
UCLA
UC Riverside
UCSD
UCSF
U of Central Florida
U of Hawai'i
U of Illinois
U of Iowa Carver: 2.5 GPA
U of Kentucky
U of Louisville
U of Minnesota
U of Mississippi (0.0% OOS matriculants in 2012): GPA 2.8 / MCAT 21
U of Missouri-Columbia
U of Nevada
U of New Mexico
UNC Chapel Hill
U of South Dakota
U of Tennessee
U of Utah: sGPA 3.2 / cGPA 3.2
U of Washington
U of Wisconsin
Virginia Commonwealth
Wayne State
West Virginia U: "The committee reserves the privilege to consider an applicant with a GPA lower than a 3.2 if there are other circumstances."

Private
Quinnipiac
Hofstra: 3.0 GPA / 25 MCAT
Loyola
Mayo
Meharry
Mercer (does not accept non-Georgia applicants)
Morehouse: 2.0 GPA
Vanderbilt: "The School does not require a minimum GPA or minimum MCAT score, but intense competition tends to eliminate applicants with low GPA's and/or MCAT scores."
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest
Western Michigan: 3.25 GPA / 24 MCAT

 

[Keladry]

@alpinism thanks for all the info, I was unaware!

 

[GoPelicans]

I really doubt they put anyone in the reject pile before the secondary. First they will do you the courtesy of letting you pay a $120 secondary fee. At that point they will probably reject you.

 

[DK2014]

I submitted my secondary app to a school last cycle, then was rejected the next day in less than 24 hours. Literally felt like my wallet was robbed.

 

[babyface10111]

I submitted my secondary app to a school last cycle, then was rejected the next day in less than 24 hours. Literally felt like my wallet was robbed.

Wow....
that probably happens quite often though.
When did you submit your secondaries? July? August?

 

[mrh125]

I submitted my secondary app to a school last cycle, then was rejected the next day in less than 24 hours. Literally felt like my wallet was robbed.

what school was that? that's awful, was it one of the longer secondaries?

 

[lmn]

what school was that? that's awful, was it one of the longer secondaries?

I've definitely seen this happen with UCI, within 24-48 hours of secondary submission an email rejection. Strange how it appears on alpinism's list of schools that supposedly don't do that.

 

[mrh125]

I've definitely seen this happen with UCI, within 24-48 hours of secondary submission an email rejection. Strange how it appears on alpinism's list of schools that supposedly don't do that.

that's really annoying. Why do they even bother sending a secondary to people they reject that quickly? I wonder if they actually look at the secondary in detail before doing it or what makes a difference in those cases.

 

[DK2014]

that's really annoying. Why do they even bother sending a secondary to people they reject that quickly? I wonder if they actually look at the secondary in detail before doing it or what makes a difference in those cases.

It's free money for them lol

 

[Goro]

The answer is yes. Secondaries are a tax on the hopelessly naive or unrealistic. You have figured out the reason they do so below.

Or do they wait until they get secondaries?

Otherwise there's not even a point in completing some of the secondaries.

A lot of schools don't screen and they send secondaries to everybody (because why not get $100+ from all those applicants?).

 

[lmn]

The answer is yes. Secondaries are a tax on the hopelessly naive or unrealistic. You have figured out the reason they do so below.

Ahh so this is where the budget for all the sandwich lunches for interview season come from huh?

 

[Goro]

Unless the Admissions dean is good at holding onto money, it goes into general University funds. Even our wily old Dean can't keep the President's hands off of that money.

Ahh so this is where the budget for all the sandwich lunches for interview season come from huh?

 

[cookiemonsters]

what school was that? that's awful, was it one of the longer secondaries?

Happened to me at Pritzker. Some people were waiting 2-3 weeks to get rejected, so I was really curious why mine only took a day.