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is this too late???
- Thread starter basketball
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Its kinda late.. but kinda not that late.. Being canadian the benefit of applying very very early will help you out tremendously. So taking a earlier mcat might not be bad... but in the end its all up to when you think you will be able to score a higher score.
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You should start the AAMC application as soon as it is available. That way everything is lined up and only waiting on your scores to come in. Start working on your PS now (definitely the longest step).
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I think you'll be fine if you strategize a bit:
Taking a June 17 MCAT means it will be mid July before you get the score back. If you submit then, it takes a month to get your transcripts verified by AMCAS (so it's August before schools get the entire application). So instead submit the first week or two in June when it takes a week or so to get verified, but only apply to one school (since you don't know how competitive the new score will be).
While you're waiting for the score, you have a month to prewrite the Secondary essays (They don't change much from year to year. SDN posts the prompts for each year for US schools, but I don't know if they do it for Canadian schools too. Since this is your second application cycle, you probably know them anyway.)
When you get the score, add more schools depending on how competitive it is (or not). Newly-added schools get the entire application within a business day. You'll receive the formal Secondary. You can send it back within a few days and be complete at each school quickly to gain maximum consideration by the end of July.
Taking a June 17 MCAT means it will be mid July before you get the score back. If you submit then, it takes a month to get your transcripts verified by AMCAS (so it's August before schools get the entire application). So instead submit the first week or two in June when it takes a week or so to get verified, but only apply to one school (since you don't know how competitive the new score will be).
While you're waiting for the score, you have a month to prewrite the Secondary essays (They don't change much from year to year. SDN posts the prompts for each year for US schools, but I don't know if they do it for Canadian schools too. Since this is your second application cycle, you probably know them anyway.)
When you get the score, add more schools depending on how competitive it is (or not). Newly-added schools get the entire application within a business day. You'll receive the formal Secondary. You can send it back within a few days and be complete at each school quickly to gain maximum consideration by the end of July.
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Speaking as someone who took the MCAT twice during this cycle (once in may and once in august-- yes, august); you can get in with a "late" MCAT. I am a US resident, but I followed what was said above and took a huge financial risk by applying with my old MCAT scores to get my AMCAS certified as early as possible. 10 interview invites so far and I've gotten in every where I have heard back from post-interview...You can do it!
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1) Yes. It takes increasingly longer to get the verification completed, the longer you wait.
2) Yes, you must apply to one school, pay the basic fee, and your transcripts must have been sent and received by AMCAS before they will begin the verification process.
Why only one school? I've seen it happen that the MCAT score came back so low that the applicant decided not to continue with the application process after spending hundreds of dollars on application fees. And also, until the score is back, you don't know what level of selectivity to aim for in a schools list. You'd target different schools if you got a score of 30 vs 37, for example.
You usually want to submit your LORs as you get them. Some schools have their LOR collection system where all your letters are kept in a file and then you can choose which letters to send as a packet to AMCAS. The processing time for LORs usually takes a 2-5 days plus mailing time to get verified.
This is why you want to submit the AMCAS application while specifying only one or two schools that you feel confident you will apply to no matter what, like a state school. Remember, you can always add more schools to the list after getting the score back and submit AMCAS to the remaining schools you feel you have a good chance of admission. This way, you will not end up wasting money on schools end up being out of reach if your score seems like it won't be competitive enough for that school.
