do schools look at every application?

[gogetter898]

do med schools get through all of their apps? I know schools like rosalind have been transparent enough to say they reject students simply because they did not get to their app. With so many applications, how is it possible for every student to actually be viewed?

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[Angus Avagadro]

Yes. Some are I outright rejected due to stats, and late submission

 

[aSagacious]

There was more than one school where they graciously accepted my $100 secondary application fee and subsequently rejected me within 30 minutes. Fair to assume no human ever laid eyes on my application.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

As an applicant who submitted a good amount of apps between September and October this is my worst fear

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Yes. Some are I outright rejected due to stats, and late submission

How late are those submissions?

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Submissions after the application date. Our school is like March or April, can't recall precise date. This is posted on schools website. Earlier is always better.

 

[gogetter898]

Submissions after the application date. Our school is like March or April, can't recall precise date. This is posted on schools website. Earlier is always better.

but as long as it's an application complete prior to deadline with good stats it is still reviewed?

 

[KnightDoc]

do med schools get through all of their apps? I know schools like rosalind have been transparent enough to say they reject students simply because they did not get to their app. With so many applications, how is it possible for every student to actually be viewed?

Yes. Some are I outright rejected due to stats, and late submission

There was more than one school where they graciously accepted my $100 secondary application fee and subsequently rejected me within 30 minutes. Fair to assume no human ever laid eyes on my application.

Right, but I don't think the two posts I quoted above directly address OP's question. OP is asking if apps are never even reviewed before being rejected because schools are simply overwhelmed and never get to them, not whether apps are rejected shortly after submission, or if they are submitted after the deadline.

OP -- I am not an adcom, but I'd be shocked if any school, even Rosalind, did this given how easy it is for their application platform to screen based on stats. Why risk losing a perfect fit due to time while wasting resources reviewing applications of people clearly unqualified to be admitted?

I am sure that MANY applications, at MANY schools, are not read by humans if minimum stat thresholds are not met. Beyond that, it's hard to believe applications would just be ignored without being touched due to time constraints, but, as long as the school is happy with its incoming class, anything is certainly possible and applicants have no way to know one way or the other.

 

[Deltasidearm]

Applications which are not pre-screened out based off of stats will have it assigned to a reviewer and reviewed. Now, how long and how careful it is reviewed after being assigned to someone will depend heavily on both the reviewer and their impression of you as they go long the application. I can certainly imagine a world in which a reviewer does not screen your entire application after reaching an early conclusion that you are not fit or at least stops paying close attention. Those with stronger applications will naturally be given more attention overall. However, I'm not an adcom and this is speculation based off of what I know about the process.

Edit: I'm also aware of some schools numerically scoring each section of your application using a pseudo-objective rubric to both speed up and standardize the process somewhat to evaluate the absurd amount of applications received.

 

[LizzyM]

For a "non-MD" program I have responsibility for, I can review an application in under 5 minutes for some basic stuff and issue a "reject" but I hold the application for at least 2 weeks so that it isn't so obvious.

The MD applicants also get 3-5 minutes of eyeballs before rejection although it takes months and months. Some schools will send rejections very quickly and others will hold on just in case the news arrives that your grandparents include three Nobel Laureates and the Queen of Sheba.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

but as long as it's an application complete prior to deadline with good stats it is still reviewed?

Yes, that's my understanding.

 

[wya2020]

What does it mean then when people say it is “too late” to submit a secondary?

I submitted some secondaries in early October and haven’t heard back except from one so was curious if schools will ever even get to my application. I have read of people on this forum submitting secondaries even in November this year with the same concern. This gives me hope that maybe eventually my application will also get a chance and I just need to wait

 

[LizzyM]

Every school is going to save a few interview slots for late applicants who are superstars. Those folks are often non-trads who didn't know about the unwritten rules around early submissions and who, sometimes, had more interesting things going on in August. So, you might do okay with a late application or you might get lost in a crowd of thousands of applications that are somewhat "average".

 

[deleted877060]

Every school is going to save a few interview slots for late applicants who are superstars. Those folks are often non-trads who didn't know about the unwritten rules around early submissions and who, sometimes, had more interesting things going on in August. So, you might do okay with a late application or you might get lost in a crowd of thousands of applications that are somewhat "average".

Then, are applications still reviewed roughly based on the order of submission time? (although I understand that schools can stratify and prioritize based on criteria i.e. stats, URM, etc.)
For example, if you are a high-stat September applicant, you'd be reviewed roughly at the same time as other high-stat September applicants.

 

[LizzyM]

Then, are applications still reviewed roughly based on the order of submission time? (although I understand that schools can stratify and prioritize based on criteria i.e. stats, URM, etc.)
For example, if you are a high-stat September applicant, you'd be reviewed roughly at the same time as other high-stat September applicants.

It would seem to work that way in theory but there is such a flood of applications that there becomes a bottle neck as the applications are sent to reviewers a few dozen at a time with a 1-2 week deadline for reviews. Someone will be the first applicant reviewed and somone else will be the last. Some unfortunates will be assigned to someone who is always delinquent and who does not complete their reviews until they are 2 weeks overdue. The reviewers are volunteers on the faculty so they can't be fired if they are pokey. As my sig line says, this is like a trip to Mars -- it is going to take many months so sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

It would seem to work that way in theory but there is such a flood of applications that there becomes a bottle neck as the applications are sent to reviewers a few dozen at a time with a 1-2 week deadline for reviews. Someone will be the first applicant reviewed and somone else will be the last. Some unfortunates will be assigned to someone who is always delinquent and who does not complete their reviews until they are 2 weeks overdue. The reviewers are volunteers on the faculty so they can't be fired if they are pokey. As my sig line says, this is like a trip to Mars -- it is going to take many months so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Thanks for always being open to shedding light on what goes behind the scenes. Somedays I feel really down about not getting approval from X and Y and Z school and I'd try to find fault within myself, and I think I can speak for many when I say there are times that I've felt like I can barely hold it together under the competitiveness of the process. But that's okay and it will be okay, it may be a wild and unpredictable ride but that's how the rest of life is.

 

[southernhope1]

I can review an application in under 5 minutes for some basic stuff and issue a "reject" but I hold the application for at least 2 weeks so that it isn't so obvious.

@LizzyM i find it incredibly painful to read your posts because you know what you're talking about. I imagine what you wrote above is what many schools at the MD level practice...they know right away whether a person is right or not but they don't reject too quickly because 1) manners and 2) it would be bad-form to get $100+ out of a person and not pretend that more work didn't go into it.

Sigh.

onward.

 

[KnightDoc]

@LizzyM i find it incredibly painful to read your posts because you know what you're talking about. I imagine what you wrote above is what many schools at the MD level practice...they know right away whether a person is right or not but they don't reject too quickly because 1) manners and 2) it would be bad-form to get $100+ out of a person and not pretend that more work didn't go into it.

Sigh.

onward.

And I'm not even sure how much work most people think goes into it in the first place. I haven't applied yet, but from reading the forums for the past two years, my assumption always was that it took forever to get to an app, due to the numbers, and that's why it takes forever to receive a decision. I never actually thought adcoms spent any significant time on applicants receiving Rs.