How much does applying late hurt you?

[student2008]

I am new to this forum and to this whole applying to medical school process. I've read a lot about and heard from friends that starting late in the application cycle can really hurt your chances. I am just wondering how bad it is to take your mcat in september and submit your amcas immediately after. Given that most california schools have a primary deadline of nov. 1, I'll probably still make that deadline.

Let's say I have a 3.8 (overall gpa) 3.9 (science gpa) and gets a 33 on the mcat. I have some health related EC all throughout college as well as a leadership position in one student organization. I worked mainly on the business side of health care industry after I graduated college and that's when I found out that my true calling should've been medicine. I have some LORs ready to go.

I'm planning to apply to just California schools and strongly thinking of applying this year.

Any advice? Should I do it? Would it be a waste of time and money? Thanks a lot!

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[Phoenix.]

First off, if you're planning on applying this cycle get your primary submitted to AMCAS ASAP, not after you get your MCAT score back. Verification can take awhile. Also, I would check with the schools that you plan to apply to that they actually accept a September MCAT test. I don't believe that they all do. Furthermore, getting into a CA school is ridiculously hard to do even in the best of circumstances. Applying right at the deadline strikes me as....well....giving yourself a very poor shot at an acceptance. I'm sure it's been done, but not often. Good luck.

 

[drizzt3117]

Personally I think it'd be a waste of money, but the thing is, since CA schools have screened secondaries and not that many people have received the secondaries, you'd be better off than in states that have offered a lot of interviews already. That said, by the time you will be complete at schools, 60-70% of the interviews will likely be given out at the UCs. I'd just apply next year. BTW, don't assume you'll get a particular score on the MCAT.

 

[Jaded03]

I am new to this forum and to this whole applying to medical school process. I've read a lot about and heard from friends that starting late in the application cycle can really hurt your chances. I am just wondering how bad it is to take your mcat in september and submit your amcas immediately after. Given that most california schools have a primary deadline of nov. 1, I'll probably still make that deadline.

Let's say I have a 3.8 (overall gpa) 3.9 (science gpa) and gets a 33 on the mcat. I have some health related EC all throughout college as well as a leadership position in one student organization. I worked mainly on the business side of health care industry after I graduated college and that's when I found out that my true calling should've been medicine. I have some LORs ready to go.

I'm planning to apply to just California schools and strongly thinking of applying this year.

Any advice? Should I do it? Would it be a waste of time and money? Thanks a lot!

Wait up. Although what the above post is true, if you have not even STARTED the AMCAS, then you're wasting your time. I'm just being honest here. I would never apply at this point from scratch. I'd say apply next cycle. I know enough people who heard nothing from schools by applying late. I'm just saving you a cool grand at least.

 

[trevagandalf]

Yes, you are a little bit late. However, you still have a chance, you just have to apply broadly. I started on my application at about this time last year and got into medical school. You'll often feel frustrated due to a delay in your interview/acceptance/etc.. and you'll be at a disadvantage, but if you start your AMCAS now and submit it before september, you still have a chance. Watch out though because cali schools are incredibly hard to get into, so you might consider applying to out-of state med schools.

 

[littlealex]

You're late, but not impossibly late. I know a girl who applied relatively late with average stats last year (verified in early September) and applied out of state to UC Irvine. She completed her secondaries for Irvine by early November and still got an interview in April.

 

[Law2Doc]

You're late, but not impossibly late. I know a girl who applied relatively late with average stats last year (verified in early September) and applied out of state to UC Irvine. She completed her secondaries for Irvine by early November and still got an interview in April.

There are always very strong students who get in even toward the end of the cycle. But it's undeniable that in a rolling process, the later you are, the fewer interviews and seats you are competing for. So you need to sort of ignore the deadlines -- those are really the extremes, not the targets in this process.

OP, you could still have a shot, but you would need to really get cracking and would be well advised to apply far more broadly than just the CA schools at this juncture. As a prior poster indicated, if you want to apply in this cycle, you cannot wait to see your MCAT score -- you'd have to get the app in before you saw the score, which enhances the risk of not applying widely. If you have your heart set on CA, it would be a higher percentage play to spend the year productively and then get your app in in early June of next cycle, after having seen the MCAT, and retaking it if it comes back lower than you "hope". And as I say in lots of threads -- assuming ("let's say") a high MCAT score before you get your score has become a bad cliche on SDN -- so very few people who assume a great score actually get one, that it is much safer to give advice assuming you don't get a 33.

 

[TheRealMD]

Next year pal, next year.

 

[premedathon]

If you apply in the next two weeks you should be fine. You won't be in the first stack, but if you are a strong applicant they will still find an interview for you.

 

[cruz21]

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh can we please all come to a consensus that applying late is a bad idea and stop starting a thread about it every other day?

 

[student2008]

Thanks everyone for all your input. I know applying late is a terrible idea and wish I had started on the process earlier. I would probably give it a try (submitting my amcas ASAP and choose out of state schools) since it seems like my chances of getting in somewhere are not entirely precluded. I will keep you updated or come back to answer other ppl's "is it too late to apply" thread next year.

What out of state schools might be a good match for my stat and might accept someone who "procrastinated" till this late? Any ideas?

To Cruz21, yeah, I agree with you it's a bad idea to apply late, but couldn't resist the urge to post. Sadly, there will always be people like me in any application cycle.

 

[Jaded03]

Thanks everyone for all your input. I know applying late is a terrible idea and wish I had started on the process earlier. I would probably give it a try (submitting my amcas ASAP and choose out of state schools) since it seems like my chances of getting in somewhere are not entirely precluded. I will keep you updated or come back to answer other ppl's "is it too late to apply" thread next year.

What out of state schools might be a good match for my stat and might accept someone who "procrastinated" till this late? Any ideas?

To Cruz21, yeah, I agree with you it's a bad idea to apply late, but couldn't resist the urge to post. Sadly, there will always be people like me in any application cycle.

Since you seem pretty adamant about it...

Just get your secondaries in at least a month before deadline, if not two. If you're in the last month stretch, you better be "auto-invite" material.

Oh, and that nov. 1 deadline will get you nowhere in Cali, unless you have some publications... I know someone who "made" deadlines. He didn't get one interview in his whole batch. Pretty strong applicant as your projected self.

 

[Omyss]

for US schools its not good... but Canadian med schools don't care.

 

[sawood]

Hi, I've been lurking around the "applying late" posts since that's what I am doing unfortunetely.

Do schools also tend to look less favorably on those who apply late compared with those who applied in June - like we're less on top of things? I'm a non-trad. applicant, switching careers from engineering, in a graduate program now. This summer was my first and only relevent medically related experience, although I have a lot of general volunteering over the years. But to apply before having that experience to talk about in my personal statement and list on my activities seemed to be a bad idea. I was considering explaining this in secondaries so they understand I didn't just wake up one day and go "I think I'll apply to medical school today". Good idea? Bad idea?

 

[mvenus929]

Do schools also tend to look less favorably on those who apply late compared with those who applied in June - like we're less on top of things?

I don't think it's really a matter of how schools look at you (unless you submit everything like a minute before the deadline...). It's a matter of them only giving a certain number of interview invites/acceptances, and those at the top of the pile have less 'competition' than those at the bottom of the pile. You basically have to impress them more if there are lots of people ahead of you, than if there were only a few. That's what advantage you gain in applying early.

That being said, if you had applied early, schools probably wouldn't have given your application much thought. I mean, you wouldn't have known what you were getting into.

And now I'm getting paranoid about my application again... *sighs*

 

[Quix]

Hi, I've been lurking around the "applying late" posts since that's what I am doing unfortunetely.

Do schools also tend to look less favorably on those who apply late compared with those who applied in June - like we're less on top of things? I'm a non-trad. applicant, switching careers from engineering, in a graduate program now. This summer was my first and only relevent medically related experience, although I have a lot of general volunteering over the years. But to apply before having that experience to talk about in my personal statement and list on my activities seemed to be a bad idea. I was considering explaining this in secondaries so they understand I didn't just wake up one day and go "I think I'll apply to medical school today". Good idea? Bad idea?

I'd recommend not applying this cycle.

I applied late last cycle (August MCAT, but got all of my applications in before November). I got one interview and was waitlisted. You haven't provided any other stats, so I really can't say if this will be the only weakness. My stats last application cycle were 3.24 QPA, 32T (11/11/10), Ph.D. in hand, with publication experience, ~6700 clinical hours (between graduate education and employment), etc., etc. I repeat: one interview.

This cycle, I had everything done by the first week of this month, and have two interviews so far (Georgetown and Pitt). My QPA improved to 3.29 because apparently AMCAS recalculated something (there were literally no changes to my courses), I am the PI for two studies, and have quite a few new publications (including chapters/sections in two forthcoming textbooks).

Applying earlier next cycle and increasing your EC's/clinical time can only help your application. Don't rush it - all you will likely be doing is throwing money away between your primary and secondary apps.