How important is turning in your application early?

[akaopua]

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I finish my semester at the beginning of May and I'm studying O-chem, Microbiology, and Physics.

I was planning on taking the DAT mid May so that I get my scores back in the beginning of June and can turn in my application right at the beginning of the cycle.

If I wanted a little more time to study and get volunteer/shadowing in, would it be significantly less advantageous to turn in my application mid-July or August instead?

Thanks

 

[mariobrosdoctor]

With the new electronic AADSAS system, schools receive apps instantaneously. I started getting interviews starting mid-July and I submitted the first week of July. I would aim for June but submit early July by the latest.

I’m sure plenty of people got accepted this cycle even though they turned in apps much later but I think for most schools it’s advantageous to submit as early as possible.

 

[JLT223]

Probably one of the most important things there is. However, your application can't be incomplete/rushed because that just reflects poorly upon the applicant.

 

[californiway21]

I submitted my application in late July. Just try and get it in as early as you can, but I wouldn’t wait till mid-August.

 

[hotandsoursoup]

Try to submit everything as early as possible, but if you need an extra week or two to really master a section of the DAT, it's worth pushing back. Shadow in this time period only if you still need to reach the minimum requirement.

I planned on taking my DAT mid-July too but pushed it back twice to late August since I wasn't confident. I was also working & shadowing then too, so that took away valuable study time. My application was completed by mid-September (whoops). Still, I got a handful of interviews that I don't think I would've gotten without both my shadowing and DAT score.

 

[doc toothache]

The rush to June 1; the myth of the early bird advantage.

 

[WolfsBane]

I finish my semester at the beginning of May and I'm studying O-chem, Microbiology, and Physics.

I was planning on taking the DAT mid May so that I get my scores back in the beginning of June and can turn in my application right at the beginning of the cycle.

If I wanted a little more time to study and get volunteer/shadowing in, would it be significantly less advantageous to turn in my application mid-July or August instead?

Thanks

It is not as important as it was in the past. Now all the schools get the apps electronically and not in batches. It is better to be earlier than later because I would want to be one of the earlier applications read because as time goes on adcoms will have higher expectations since they have given out interviews already. If you kill the dat you will be fine no matter. Whats your gpa btw? Also its so important to make sure you have a good personal statement as well as having good LOR.

 

[Tatu78]

Somewhere in this forum I saw that up till mid-end of July the app is still considered early? Is that the general concensus?

 

[Lau Sang]

It is not as important as it was in the past. Now all the schools get the apps electronically and not in batches. It is better to be earlier than later because I would want to be one of the earlier applications read because as time goes on adcoms will have higher expectations since they have given out interviews already. If you kill the dat you will be fine no matter. Whats your gpa btw? Also its so important to make sure you have a good personal statement as well as having good LOR.

Wouldn't the removal of batches thing make it more important??

And yeah, I'm pretty sure it's best to be early, though it varies school to school. Even if it doesn't ultimately help your chances much, getting invites in the summer definitely helps you manage your schedule if you're expecting many interviews. What are your hours looking like right now? If they are low then, yeah you probably want to delay your app until you can squeeze in more. But if you're already at like 100 hrs for shadowing, the difference between 100 and 200 is like nothing.

 

[akaopua]

Thanks all. My GPA is like a 3.8-3.9 with a possibly 4.0 sGPA (depending on whether or not they are gonna factor in an introductory chemistry class I took when I was 15, otherwise like a sGPA of 3.9)