Is it bad that I only have 11 secondaries submitted right now

[evenfeather]

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About half were submitted before end of July, about half in the past week. I intend to apply to around 30-35 schools, and if I'm able to finish everything by end of August I may or may not add a few more (nontrad CA ORM, no research, 3.77/3.62/510, 3000+ hr clinical experience, 600+ hr nonclinical volunteer).

I could not pre-write (keeping up with personal life has been difficult), and I'm wondering if I'm on the right track. I know the 2-week deadline has been mostly debunked by the adcoms here, but I'm still paranoid about it because it looks like almost all of my secondaries will be closer to 3 weeks when submitted rather than just a day or two "late." Since apps are not evaluated based on submission time, and I have somewhat mediocre stats to begin with, I'm worried this will make it even worse for me.

 

[chilly_md]

Have you received more secondaries and are working on completing them? Are you waiting for them to still come?

 

[evenfeather]

Have you received more secondaries and are working on completing them? Are you waiting for them to still come?

i've received 26 so far out of the 30 i've applied to, so a bit under half done for the ones that i've received. I decided not to continue with 2 of them though so it's more like 11 done out of 24 secondaries for 28 schools applied. I'm currently working on secondaries, my pace right now is around 1 secondary per day and maybe half of the next secondary

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Previously

E

MD Post in: 'WAMC + School List Help, 3.78 cGPA, 3.63 sGPA, no research, California ORM 5 years nontrad'

Jun 18, 2025

You have the clinical and non clinical hours and activities that Loyola is looking for. Include Ponce and Virginia Commonwealth.

How is this updated school list? As far as I know, all of the OOS public schools I included have at least moderate OOS friendliness.

3.78cGPA, 3.63sGPA, 510 MCAT, WARS 63, LizzyM 68.80, no research, 4000 hours clinical, 600 hours nonclinical volunteering, advocacy narrative


Alice Walton
Roseman
Quinnipiac
Albany
Burnette TCU
California University of Science and Medicine
Rosalind Franklin
Drexel
Marshall
Medical College of Wisconsin
Rush
Toledo
Belmont...

• evenfeather

If you made your list, make it work. Your success relies on your time/project management skills as it is about getting a high GPA/MCAT.

At this point, three weeks is not going to kill your chances, but you don't want to wind up on an "interview hold" because all the interview spots have been filled.

 

[chilly_md]

i've received 26 so far out of the 30 i've applied to, so a bit under half done for the ones that i've received. I decided not to continue with 2 of them though so it's more like 11 done out of 24 secondaries for 28 schools applied. I'm currently working on secondaries, my pace right now is around 1 secondary per day and maybe half of the next secondary

You can scan through each of them and do ones that are shorter or you already have some written material on to increase your pace. If you have less obligations on weekends, you should really crank through them while you have the chance.

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

Without knowing when you received secondary invites, per school it's hard to say. In general, while it true there isn't a hard two week deadline, a CA applicant with your stats benefits from good secondaries put in earlier than great secondaries sent later.

 

[polymerization]

Without knowing when you received secondary invites, per school it's hard to say. In general, while it true there isn't a hard two week deadline, a CA applicant with your stats benefits from good secondaries put in earlier than great secondaries sent later.

When I saw you post this on 7/30:

For those who have received verification on the 25th or before, August 1st should be either a) "I'm already all done sending secondaries" or b) "I'm 99% of the way done with secondaries."

...a few neurons synapsed in my brain, my face flushed, and it pushed me to stop grammar-Nazi-ing myself and just submit the secondaries I had left.

Maybe it will help OP too. Nothing like being told "just getting started? You're already late!" to make a Type A personality squirm in their seat.

OP, it does get easier! It's a little paradoxical but I've found that doing the hardest ones first (in your case, I think Dartmouth) is helpful because it's easier to adapt essays down (by cutting words) than it is trying to elaborate on micro-responses (like USCs for example). On a good, free, focused weekend, I could get 15-20 schools submitted.

It definitely takes getting used to character limits and what you can reasonably say in a given number of words/characters. If you're anything like me, I'd say don't rack your brain trying to economize for every character: if a count is very low, that's the school telling you that they're not interested in the nitty-gritty details. Now that I'm over the hump, I can see how the best advice is just being straightforward in answering the question they're asking (vs the one you wish they had asked). Good luck!

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

When I saw you post this on 7/30:



...a few neurons synapsed in my brain, my face flushed, and it pushed me to stop grammar-Nazi-ing myself and just submit the secondaries I had left.

Maybe it will help OP too. Nothing like being told "just getting started? You're already late!" to make a Type A personality squirm in their seat.

OP, it does get easier! It's a little paradoxical but I've found that doing the hardest ones first (in your case, I think Dartmouth) is helpful because it's easier to adapt essays down (by cutting words) than it is trying to elaborate on micro-responses (like USCs for example). On a good, free, focused weekend, I could get 15-20 schools submitted.

It definitely takes getting used to character limits and what you can reasonably say in a given number of words/characters. If you're anything like me, I'd say don't rack your brain trying to economize for every character: if a count is very low, that's the school telling you that they're not interested in the nitty-gritty details. Now that I'm over the hump, I can see how the best advice is just being straightforward in answering the question they're asking (vs the one you wish they had asked). Good luck!

We prefer writing to squirming, much more effective at getting words on paper 🙂 Glad to see folks are paying attention!


OP! If it's a piece of advise that helps you get things down, write your secondaries with the mindset of answering an interview question, say it out loud, keep it simple! We often have clients go through generic or recycled prompts and practice responding to them out loud before writing. It will give you a good sense of your word economy and what you actually think is meaningful.

To this point, READ THE PROMPT. Oh goodness so many people see "marginalized communities" or "diversity" or "interests" and they make assumptions about the rest of the words. Schools often differentiate themselves with subtle differences - it will always save you time and energy to slowly and thoroughly read the prompts themselves.

Also, not everything has to tie back to your Activities, Personal Statement, or medicine, or science even, in general.

If you can answer a prompt with a hobby or memorable event (outside of medicine/volunteering/etc.) or whatever, then use that - it's an easy way to differentiate. Hope this makes it more intuitive what you need to do and helps you find ample material and ease of flow.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

As I have advised students, secondary essays are written interviews with an opportunity to edit/finesse your answer. I agree that you should read your essays (including primary application essays and descriptions) aloud or into your voice recorder before you finally submit.