Early Decision Submission Timeline

[bwest406]

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I am planning on applying early decision, but probably wont be verified until June 8/9th. Will this be a problem? Do my letters also need to be in as early as possible in order to have a good shot at early decision?

Thanks!

 

[bwest406]

Bumping this so that someone with some insight might be able to help me out. Are Early Decision application verified more quickly than regular decision applicants? Will secondaries also be sent sooner?

 

[ace12345]

The general consensus is to not do Early Decision. If you do not get into the one school where you apply, regular decision applications will be much more stressful/poorly timed.

 

[bwest406]

The general consensus is to not do Early Decision. If you do not get into the one school where you apply, regular decision applications will be much more stressful/poorly timed.

I have already weighed the costs and benefits and have decided to do Early Decision, that isn't the issue. I just havent been able to find much information about the process besides the few basic sentences posted on the AAMC website.

 

[ace12345]

If this is indeed the path you have set yourself on - after looking at the Early Decision MSAR stats I hope to make sure students at said school have actually been received out of Early Decision recently - then call the admissions department of the school you are interested in and state your desire/any helpful information. Your process throughout will be markedly different, and an admissions staff member at the school will undoubtedly be able to provide more information as to the process at that school than anyone here. Hope that helps.

 

[aspirantmed]

What the previous poster said. Most schools work a lot more closely with their early decision applicants. At my state medical school, for example, it's not uncommon for students who are considering early decision to informally meet with an admissions dean or staff member to discuss whether they would be a competitive EDP applicant. Contact the school and see what your timeline will be like ASAP - like, tomorrow.

 

[Flashfan]

At our state school they strongly encourage making an appointment with the dean. The good thing is that you can actually take a bit more time to submit since it is due by August. Two of my friends even took a late June MCAT rather than rushing because they intended to apply only to IU. It worked well for them- they both got in EDP.

 

[Annabell Lee]

The general consensus is to not do Early Decision. If you do not get into the one school where you apply, regular decision applications will be much more stressful/poorly timed.

Is that the only reason you would discourage it?

 

[bwest406]

What the previous poster said. Most schools work a lot more closely with their early decision applicants. At my state medical school, for example, it's not uncommon for students who are considering early decision to informally meet with an admissions dean or staff member to discuss whether they would be a competitive EDP applicant. Contact the school and see what your timeline will be like ASAP - like, tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback! I called the admissions office a little while back to ask more about the ED program and they said that normally around 20 apply each year and that 5 or so are accepted early. My stats are also above the average for the applicants that they accept early, so I really do like my chances of getting in. That being said I didnt hear anything about what the timeline was like and I didn't want to be overbearing and pry (I had already asked a number of questions at the point). So I thought I would check here and see if there is a standardized way that schools normally receive primaries, send out secondaries and conduct interviews for ED applicants, but from what I am hearing it seems like there is variability depending on the school... Maybe Ill muster up the courage for another call. Or just try to submit as soon as possible and not worry about it (of course not the sdn way 🙂)

 

[plumazul]

Is that the only reason you would discourage it?

There are valid reasons to apply ED. (e.g elderly parents that need your care, family/children that can not move at this time, etc. ) The question is not "why not" apply ED. Instead, you should have a very good reason for taking this route and all the liabilities that come with it.

 

[Annabell Lee]

There are valid reasons to apply ED. (e.g elderly parents that need your care, family/children that can not move at this time, etc. ) The question is not "why not" apply ED. Instead, you should have a very good reason for taking this route and all the liabilities that come with it.

Oh, that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up!
I'm no where near being able to apply, but have been hoping to do ED if my stats are good. I think there are 2 MD schools in my area and due to custody issues I will probably never be able to move out of state.

 

[ace12345]

Is that the only reason you would discourage it?

Yeah I agree with a lot of what has been said above. If you have a really good reason to be in a very specific area, then it might be worth going for. All I can say is that I've seen people try and fail get really upset. That is why I am more apprehensive.

For most applicants, the question should probably be "do you want to become a doctor?" Are you willing to do what it takes and, if need be, go where you need to go? Because with Early Decision, you are putting yourself in a position where the probability of becoming a doctor, somewhere, has probably gone down to some varying degree. Now are there certain things that can and should override that? Absolutely. That is at least partially why the program is there. Is Early Decision recommended for the average applicant that just wants to become a doctor? Probably not.

That said, I do not mean to attack the OP in any way. They have there own reasons for making a decision like this, and there's nothing wrong with that. Others should definitely think about this though before applying.

 

[bwest406]

Yeah I agree with a lot of what has been said above. If you have a really good reason to be in a very specific area, then it might be worth going for. All I can say is that I've seen people try and fail get really upset. That is why I am more apprehensive.

For most applicants, the question should probably be "do you want to become a doctor?" Are you willing to do what it takes and, if need be, go where you need to go? Because with Early Decision, you are putting yourself in a position where the probability of becoming a doctor, somewhere, has probably gone down to some varying degree. Now are there certain things that can and should override that? Absolutely. That is at least partially why the program is there. Is Early Decision recommended for the average applicant that just wants to become a doctor? Probably not.

That said, I do not mean to attack the OP in any way. They have there own reasons for making a decision like this, and there's nothing wrong with that. Others should definitely think about this though before applying.

I completely agree. If not for a few very strong reasons that I have to apply Early Decision I would consider myself crazy and foolish to only apply to one school.

 

[chddoc]

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