How late is too late to submit primaries?

[nothing101]

I'm thinking of applying during second week of July due to summer classes, is that too late?

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[djsbaseball2014]

That is like peak verification season honestly. I applied shortly after 4th of July and it took like 5 weeks to get verified. Definitely apply as early as possible. Get rid of any reason for you to not get in. You dont want to look back and say what if i applied earlier.

 

[907914]

October 15th is the latest you can. Any later than July 15th, however, will set you back the whole summer. If you apply June 1st, you will be verified by the next week, receiving secondaries July 1st and starting interviews before Summer even ends.

Everyone has a different timeline, but the earlier you apply the better.

 

[ciestar]

What will your GPA be with and without these grades?

 

[907914]

What will your GPA be with and without these grades?

Even if OP is taking 18 credits at a 4.0 and they currently have something low (let’s just say 3.0?) it will only raise GPA to like 3.2. If OP is already sitting on a 3.5+ It will barely go up to a 3.55. The delay in application verification by 2-3 months from submitting on day one is far more important than <0.1 GPA boost (save for post-bacc* if OP is post-bacc, only apply with grades in hand).

 

[ciestar]

Even if OP is taking 18 credits at a 4.0 and they currently have something low (let’s just say 3.0?) it will only raise GPA to like 3.2. If OP is already sitting on a 3.5+ It will barely go up to a 3.55. The delay in application verification by 2-3 months from submitting on day one is far more important than <0.1 GPA boost (save for post-bacc* if OP is post-bacc, only apply with grades in hand).

Im asking because the neuroticism amongst pre-meds is crazy. Some freak out that they only got a 3.88 and not a 3.90. A minuscule amount (which it tends to be) doesnt matter, apply early.

But thanks for letting me know of the importance of applying early

 

[907914]

Im asking because the neuroticism amongst pre-meds is crazy. Some freak out that they only got a 3.88 and not a 3.90. A minuscule amount (which it tends to be) doesnt matter, apply early.

But thanks for letting me know of the importance of applying early

I am not even waiting for spring quarter transcripts because the GPA bump will only be 0.03 because spring transcripts aren’t even available for me until end of June...

 

[ciestar]

I am not even waiting for spring quarter transcripts because the GPA bump will only be 0.03 because spring transcripts aren’t even available for me until end of June...

That would be pointless.

 

[907914]

That would be pointless.

Agreed. Hence why I am telling OP to do the same.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

Definitely apply as early as possible as others on this post have written.

However, sometimes things happen that are out of your control. So just putting this out there for others on this thread.

This past cycle, I advised several people who were from a top 10 UG whose premed office has trouble with the workload and did not post committee letters until about 20th of September. The middle of the pack applicants were certainly hurt by this. The tippy top applicants were discovered by the top programs pretty quickly (they often do not read the applications in order of receipt - someone is pulling out the tippy top applications). The tippy top students did get T20 II's pretty quickly after being complete, but there were limits to when they could have their interviews as many interview days were already filled. Moreover, they never got II's for their mid and lower tier schools - might be yield protection combined with late completion date.

If you are tippy top applicant, T20 schools will find your app in the pile and you will likely be invited before many others, even if you have a late app date. However, YMMV and middle tier applicants, there is no question it hurt them. (though they did get into at least one place that makes them happy, and since they can only go to one school, they are happy in the end, though the process was maddening!)