"Earliest date primary application can be submitted" vs "Application review begins" ?

[hat]

Based on the pre-update MSAR, I had been operating under the assumption that applications can be submitted around June 7 and that adcoms start reviewing them immediately. I thought it was best to apply on June 7 or as close to that date as possible. But now in the new MSAR I'm seeing that there is an "Earliest date primary application can be submitted," which is June 1 at most places, and an "Application review begins," which is June 7 at USC Keck and June 15 at Albert Einstein, but no earlier than July 1 everywhere else I'm applying, and as late as August at some places.

Is there any advantage to applying as early as possible if application review does not begin until a month later? ie, at UNC Chapel Hill, the earliest application date is June 1st but application review starts on July 5th - is there any advantage to applying closer to June 1st versus on July 5th?

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[efle]

Here's how it works:

• You can start filling it in during May
• You can press "submit" in early June to put it in queue to be verified
• The first that schools will see any applications is early July, because AMCAS does not send out the apps they've verified until the last day of June.
• For some schools, despite starting to receive apps in early July, they will not begin doing any review until August. For others they will start review/sending secondaries immediately.

Submitting the first possible day vs a week later or something does not confer any advantage at all. Both will get sent out June 30 and reviewed starting July or August, depending on the place.

 

[hat]

Thanks! So really submitting your application any time by mid-June is equally good, regardless of the school? And are USC Keck and Einstein really exceptions to this? According to the MSAR and going by what you're saying, they claim to start reviewing applications before the MSAR sends them any. How does that work?

 

[efle]

So really submitting your application any time before the end of June is equally good?

It takes a couple weeks for your app to get verified during the busiest times, so submitting right before June 30 would probably mean your app goes out like July 10-15 or something. Still not a disadvantage whatsoever, but technically not as early as the first cohort.

How does that work?

It doesn't. Whoever filled out that part of the MSAR just put the wrong date from the AAMC calendar. You can see the calendar here:

Pre-Med Calendar

Clearly they just put down "apps can be submitted" date by accident instead of "apps sent to med schools" date.

 

[hat]

Thank you both, that was very helpful (and reassuring). I'm realizing how little I know about this process. I should do some reading up...

 

[Spr1ngrolls]

AMCAS 2018 Timeline Summary (post count #005)
-AMCAS May 2, 2017, Primary application opens up. Can send formal requests for transcripts from your schools and letter requests to your letter writers.
-AMCAS June 1, 2017, Primary applications can be submitted . You enter the verification queue only when both primary application and all transcripts have been received.
-AMCAS June 30, 2017, begins transmission verified applications until late June (though some schools have secondaries sent to contact info upon submission to AMCAS)
-Verification peak is about August 1st and takes 20 days
-Most Primary Apps are transmitted early July thru early September
-Secondaries timelines can vary widely as to when to they are sent out from almost immediately upon submissions to 3 months, though most are in the range 1-3 weeks after transmission.
-Letters via AMCAS are processed/transmitted separately from primary
-Letters can be added after primary has been submitted and transmitted and are mostly not needed until secondary reviews at the earliest.
-Application and candidate evaluations timeline varies widely by school may not ddone in a linear, chronological order. EDP, High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process.
-Most adcoms dont start meeting for review of evaluated applicants until at least mid-August, more likely September, though some reviews may be done earlier for groups mentioned above.
-Submitting Primary Application June is Early, July Medium, August Late
-Having Primary verified and transmitted to school by end of August is normal speed
-Having Secondary and all LORs complete to school by Labor Day is early. By late or end of September is about normal speed, by end of October is about late.
--After that point you will generally start getting impacted by the number of applications submitted, the finite number of interview slots, and seats given by rolling admissions. This isnt an absolute date nor is it a fixed timeline. It should be used as a guideline

Getting primary in on time does matter because of all the other items that follow it. But applicants often see the beginning and not understanding how it flows from there. Additionally, how each school then opens a file, reviews them on GPA, MCAT, and other factors, and what order they wind up in a queue has less to do with when the primary arrives then when the secondary is completed and received. Since the majority of schools, I dare say, send out pre-transmission, unscreened, or minimal cut off screened secondaries, this is probably a larger factor in where you wind up in the queue for 1) reading an application and 2) decision on interview invite. As I have said previously, and will undoubtedly say dozens of time during this 2017 application cycle (see count above) review of apps is not simply done in a linear chronological order. High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process.

You are seriously amazing. Thank you so much.