Does timing of secondaries matter?

[SolarBear]

Hello SDN, I submitted my TMDSAS app late July and it wasn't processed until early September. Knowing it would take a while for the primary to get processed I took my time with secondaries and most of them I submitted either right before or a few days after my primary was processed because I was thinking that the schools wouldn't look at the app until they get my primary. So instead of submitting my secondaries close to when I submitted my primaries I submitted them more than a month later around when the primary was processed. Now its been more than two months since my primary has been processed and I have no interviews. How likely that the reason for no interviews is the timing of my secondaries?

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[infectiousdisease101]

Ask yourself, if timing doesn't matter at all, why are people already getting acceptances?

 

[Premed2295]

Early primary and secondary definitely help your chance but they arent a deal breaker. Seats fill during rolling admissions though so honestly the sooner you get them out the better

 

[SolarBear]

What I am asking is if it made a difference if I had submitted the secondaries when I submitted my primary or if I did what I did by submitting secondaries right around when my primary was processed

 

[Goro]

Hello SDN, I submitted my TMDSAS app late July and it wasn't processed until early September. Knowing it would take a while for the primary to get processed I took my time with secondaries and most of them I submitted either right before or a few days after my primary was processed because I was thinking that the schools wouldn't look at the app until they get my primary. So instead of submitting my secondaries close to when I submitted my primaries I submitted them more than a month later around when the primary was processed. Now its been more than two months since my primary has been processed and I have no interviews. How likely that the reason for no interviews is the timing of my secondaries?

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

Schools stratify the apps as they come in and don't send out IIs merely in chronological order.

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

Not calling you out OP, but SDNers should avoid thinking that they're God's gift to Medicine and med schools will be falling all over themselves to send them IIs.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

What I am asking is if it made a difference if I had submitted the secondaries when I submitted my primary or if I did what I did by submitting secondaries right around when my primary was processed

For the following schools, submitting 2nds ASAP after submitting your primary makes a difference: Southwest, A&M, TCOM

For the following schools, submitting 2nds after your primary is processed, transmitted to the schools, and 2nds received from the school makes a difference: TT-Lubbock, TT-El Paso

For the following schools, submitting 2nds after your primary is sent, screened by the school, and 2nd received from the school makes a difference: Dell, Rio Grand Valley

For the following schools, no difference since there are no secondaries required after primary is received by school: McGovern, Galveston, San Antonio

**With the volume of applicants, level of competition, and limited seats, being complete as early as possible makes a huge difference in receiving IIs.

GL

 

[SolarBear]

For the following schools, submitting 2nds ASAP after submitting your primary makes a difference: Southwest, A&M, TCOM

For the following schools, submitting 2nds after your primary is processed, transmitted to the schools, and 2nds received from the school makes a difference: TT-Lubbock, TT-El Paso

For the following schools, submitting 2nds after your primary is sent, screened by the school, and 2nd received from the school makes a difference: Dell, Rio Grand Valley

For the following schools, no difference since there are no secondaries required after primary is received by school: McGovern, Galveston, San Antonio

**With the volume of applicants, level of competition, and limited seats, being complete as early as possible makes a huge difference in receiving IIs.

Thanks for the response! As far as UTSW TAMU and TCOM I am wondering how it would make a difference when the secondary is submitted if the primary had not been submitted as well? Does that mean they look at application profiles before they are processed?

 

[SpoiledMilk]

No. Schools will only looked at your whole app (primary and secondary) after you are complete. You don't have control of how fast/slow your primary is processed and sent to the school after you submit it to TMDSAS, but you do have control of when you complete and submit the secondaries of UTSW, TAMU, and TCOM (after you submit your app to TMDSAS).

The goal is to get you whole app completed ASAP so that schools can put you in the queue for review. If your profile fits the school's objectives and you receive one of the earlier IIs, then it means the school likes your profile and considers you a worthy candidate for an early invite.

 

[SolarBear]

No. Schools will only looked at your whole app (primary and secondary) after you are complete. You don't have control of how fast/slow your primary is processed and sent to the school after you submit it to TMDSAS, but you do have control of when you complete and submit the secondaries of UTSW, TAMU, and TCOM (after you submit your app to TMDSAS).

The goal is to get you whole app completed ASAP so that schools can put you in the queue for review. If your profile fits the school's objectives and you receive one of the earlier IIs, then it means the school likes your profile and considers you a worthy candidate for an early invite.

So does that mean if I submitted those secondaries near when my primary was processed it is similar to if I had done them as soon as the primary was submitted? (About six weeks earlier).

Thanks again for the insight, you seem to know a lot about TMDSAS. If no schools have contacted me for an interview at this time when my primary was processed early September should I start planning for a gap year?

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Yes to the first question. Since a school needs both primary and secondary done, submitted, and received to consider you complete and ready for review. Ideally, you should have finished and submitted the 2nds after submitting your primary, but the difference is negligible.

To answer your 2nd question, since you stated your app was processed/transmitted by TMDSAS in early Sept, that means you submitted you app to TMDSAS in late July or early August? So according to the following chart from TMDSAS, you should be in the 45% (July 27%+Aug 18%) pool of interviews sent out by schools.

Some SDN Adcoms have said to not start worrying about next year's app until Thanksgiving (if you don't received IIs by then), but I don't know if it is specific to only AMCAS. In regards to TMDSAS, @wysdoc should be able to provide better advice regarding whether it is time to start worrying about a gap year if you have not received IIs yet.

 

[wysdoc]

Yes to the first question. Since a school needs both primary and secondary done, submitted, and received to consider you complete and ready for review. Ideally, you should have finished and submitted the 2nds after submitting your primary, but the difference is negligible.

To answer your 2nd question, since you stated your app was processed/transmitted by TMDSAS in early Sept, that means you submitted you app to TMDSAS in late July or early August? So according to the following chart from TMDSAS, you should be in the 45% (July 27%+Aug 18%) pool of interviews sent out by schools.

View attachment 224564

Some SDN Adcoms have said to not start worrying about next year's app until Thanksgiving (if you don't received IIs by then), but I don't know if it is specific to only AMCAS. In regards to TMDSAS, @wysdoc should be able to provide better advice regarding whether it is time to start worrying about a gap year if you have not received IIs yet.

DV-T has explained this all very well, not much to add to it. They would not have read your file until the primary was processed and maybe not until they got your secondary.
Your credentials have much more influence on whether you get interviewed than the date of submission.
Several Texas schools are still sending out invitations. They generally finish interviewing in December with a couple continuing into January, and Baylor (AMCAS) has an interview date in February. There is nothing for you to do at this point, @SolarBear , but wait to see how it plays out. You can make plan B in January in the event that you don't get interview invitations this year.

 

[SolarBear]

DV-T has explained this all very well, not much to add to it. They would not have read your file until the primary was processed and maybe not until they got your secondary.
Your credentials have much more influence on whether you get interviewed than the date of submission.
Several Texas schools are still sending out invitations. They generally finish interviewing in December with a couple continuing into January, and Baylor (AMCAS) has an interview date in February. There is nothing for you to do at this point, @SolarBear , but wait to see how it plays out. You can make plan B in January in the event that you don't get interview invitations this year.

Thanks @DV-T and @wysdoc for the responses, they are very helpful. Also Wysdoc, when you say several Texas schools are still sending out invitations does that mean most of them have stopped and there are only a few I might get an interview for? Also if not accepted do TMDSAS schools allow applicants to visit with them to see why they were not accepted?

 

[wysdoc]

Thanks @DV-T and @wysdoc for the responses, they are very helpful. Also Wysdoc, when you say several Texas schools are still sending out invitations does that mean most of them have stopped and there are only a few I might get an interview for? Also if not accepted do TMDSAS schools allow applicants to visit with them to see why they were not accepted?

I don’t know exactly which schools are done inviting but if you add all the school threads to your “watched thread” list you can see posts pop up and follow the action. Texas A&M has held a reapplicant workshop in past years.