Finish October secondaries? Or stop and start interview prep?

[nycslice]

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ORM Michigan Resident
GPA: 3.95
MCAT: 514
Paid Clinical: 1200 hrs
Clinical Volunteering: 400 hours
Research: 300 hrs
Nonclinical Volunteering: 900 hrs

I finished 13 out of 22 secondaries and I'm feeling burned out. Haven't written one in 7 days, I work full-time.
My remaining schools are OOS and mostly high volume of applicants (>9000 apps), or with MCAT averages in which I'm ~25%ile.
Namely: USC Keck, Miami, Emory, Temple, Georgetown, George Washington, Virginia Commonwealth, Wake Forest, Toledo

I fear it's way too late (mid-late October) to complete any more. Is it worth doing any of the remaining secondaries, and if so, which schools?
So far, I have one interview next month for an IS school and haven't started prep yet. Is it wiser to focus my time on that?

 

[polymerization]

I'm an applicant like you, but my experience was that even finishing my secondaries in late July was already "late" for many of the schools I applied to. Of my 4 interviews so far, 3 of them were early "trial" secondaries I submitted as soon as I could in early July.

Seeing as my application would not have materially changed between July and August, I can only guess the silence is more reflective of the increasing rate of submission as a critical mass of students become complete. At the same time, all else being equal, your probability of being selected to interview decreases as more interview seats are spoken for.

People will tell you that "it's not too late, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take," and students complaining about silence will get assurances that "we're still very early in the cycle," but I don't agree with that advice in a sort of more practical/logistical sense.

If you're working because you need the money to live, I think sending ~$1000 in secondary fees to brand-name schools in mid to late October is equivalent to a donation, but that's just my guess based on what I've seen. That money could theoretically feed me for months. Trust me, Keck doesn't need it as much as you might.

You should aim to present yourself in the best possible way for your interview, and preparing for reapplication for you would mean actually pre-writing your secondaries well-ahead of time so you can submit them as early as you absolutely can. With a ~4.0/515, I doubt any doors would be closed to you based on metrics, which is even more of a shame.

But I get it, life happens.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Previously

N

Thread 'WAMC/School List: 3.94 GPA, 514 MCAT, ORM, MI Resident'

Jul 12, 2025

a

• nycslice
• Replies: 6
• Forum: What Are My Chances? WAMC Medical

We are now in October at the cusp of initial AMCAS offer announcements, so at this time I would say, finish Toledo (geography). Hope for the best, but I will assume your other secondaries have geographic alignment (mostly your in-state Michigan options). Focus on the interview you have scheduled.

 

[Faha]

Finish your secondaries except for USC Keck, Miami and Emory.