Is it worth applying late if it seriously beefs up my ECs? alternative solutions?

[mrh125]

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edited

 

[theseeker4]

I have gotten two clinical experience internships that start this summer including a very prestigious surgical internship at my university and I was wondering if applying later this cycle so I could include hours would make me a more competitive applicant? I have a good ecs, and clinical experience, but this will make it a lot better. My gpa is avg (3.73 scigpa, 3.62 gpa, and I have borderline mcat of a 29 and i'm waiting to see my retake score). What should I do? Should I wait to apply until after I get some experience in the prestigious surgical internship (mid-summer) or should I apply early and just put it in my ecs and say something like ("this is what I will do, it's very important, and I will have this many hours done." ) Thoughts?

How late are you talking about applying? If you are talking about submitting in July instead of June, that probably won't seriously hurt you, but if you mean waiting until August or later to submit your primary, it would be better to either apply early and update schools about the program, or if you are completely lacking in ECs, delay your application for a year.

 

[mrh125]

How late are you talking about applying? If you are talking about submitting in July instead of June, that probably won't seriously hurt you, but if you mean waiting until August or later to submit your primary, it would be better to either apply early and update schools about the program, or if you are completely lacking in ECs, delay your application for a year.

I have a ton of ECs (I easily filled up all of the E.C.s on my app w/ research, jobs, clinical experiences, activities, and awards), but these ECs are super prestigious and look better than most of what I already I have. I'd probably have to apply in late july or august if I waited until I actually got the hours. Would I be able to submit my app and then update it in july? Is there any negative repercussion of putting ECs that are in progress/that I haven't started yet, but will look very good?

 

[vanillabear55]

I definitely wouldn't wait to apply, it seems like that's the biggest regret of people who didn't have successful cycles, but that depends on how long you'd wait.

I don't think you can just put "this is what I will do, etc" anywhere on the AMCAS (someone correct me if I am wrong), but I think on secondaries you can say what you are up to, which by the time you get them you should be a decent amount into your internship

 

[CyberMaxx]

OP, don't wait! If you are worried about your ECs just take an extra year. I applied this cycle and did what you are proposing, I waited an extra month to send in my application so that I could get a publication. I sent in my application in early July (just a little over a month after AMCAS opened for submission) and didn't get verified until the last day of August! That meant I didn't even get all of my secondaries until mid-September and, even though I had many of them pre-written, didn't get them all submitted until the end of September.

If I were you I would submit within the first few weeks that AMCAS is open (first month max) or I would wait until next year.

 

[mmmcdowe]

No, just indicate they are pending/you were accepted to the program. They aren't nearly as prestigious/important as you think, since you'll have done them anyways either way why hurt yourself by applying late? You'll still be able to talk about it on interviews/essays.

 

[Oso]

Submit your app as early as possible. Having a few extra hours of the clinical EC on your app won't make a big difference and is not worth submitting later.You can always discuss it in secondaries and interviews.

If you really want your clinical EC to be an important part of the app, consider taking a gap year.

 

[mrh125]

OP, don't wait! If you are worried about your ECs just take an extra year. I applied this cycle and did what you are proposing, I waited an extra month to send in my application so that I could get a publication. I sent in my application in early July (just a little over a month after AMCAS opened for submission) and didn't get verified until the last day of August! That meant I didn't even get all of my secondaries until mid-September and, even though I had many of them pre-written, didn't get them all submitted until the end of September.

If I were you I would submit within the first few weeks that AMCAS is open (first month max) or I would wait until next year.

Good idea. Yea, im just going to apply. There's no point in holding myself back over some of ECs bc I and really we all have worked too hard to not give things a chance and seeing where they go. My EC list is full anyway.

 

[Oso]

My EC list is full anyway.

Most applicants don't use all 15 spots. I just want to suggest making sure the activities you're including are important and you're not just listing everything you've done to fill up the spots. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt though.

 

[mmmcdowe]

Most applicants don't use all 15 spots. I just want to suggest making sure the activities you're including are important and you're not just listing everything you've done to fill up the spots. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt though.

Agree, 9 solid ECs shine better if they aren't diluted by 6 mediocre ones that draw attention away. Same goes for essay limits. A concise, well argued essay is better than a sprawling one full of random stuff. They are only spending a few minutes reading your application.

 

[mrh125]

Most applicants don't use all 15 spots. I just want to suggest making sure the activities you're including are important and you're not just listing everything you've done to fill up the spots. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt though.

Good to know. There was a lot that I did and I want to put all of the important stuff in. None of it's bs or padding, and each of one of them gives me an important lesson. I put stuff such as my hobbies (piano and tennis as one, learning languages and cultures as another) and my first job in college (working at a convenient store, which gave me an important basic understanding of addressing customer's needs). I did a lot of stuff during my time in college and I think it's important to include them. Thoughts about those things? most of them are solid ecs (fundraising for a school where students who had dysfunctional home lives were given a last chance, global health internship, evolution and ecology internship, tutoring, working with a cosmetic dentist for a long period of time, and scribing for a GI Doc).

 

[About28]

I applied late this cycle with a similar gpa but a 34 mcat and I won't be looking at any acceptances. I've talked to schools and thy've said my only error was applying super late. Don't apply late.

 

[UCSDMember]

I applied late this cycle with a similar gpa but a 34 mcat and I won't be looking at any acceptances. I've talked to schools and thy've said my only error was applying super late. Don't apply late.

Hi About28,

When you say that you applied late that cycle, what would you consider late? (When did you have most of your secondaries in?) I'm submitting most of my secondaries in September.. and wondering if this is "super late" to schools.

Thank you!

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Hi About28,

When you say that you applied late that cycle, what would you consider late? (When did you have most of your secondaries in?) I'm submitting most of my secondaries in September.. and wondering if this is "super late" to schools.

Thank you!

How did you find a thread from April 2014 without finding one of the several dozens of threads from this summer about what is considered late?