Late July primary submitters NOT VERIFIED YET??? Labor Day incoming?!

[ghost.7]

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August 1 submitter. AMCAS status says it's not even through July yet. My state school screens and there are additional verification layers after the primary. Even if I prewrite, I could be looking at late Sep early Oct completion at places that screen. Does the in-by-Labor Day advice hold this year with the chopped verification time or am I DOA???

 

[polymerization]

My opinion based on my n=1 experience: if you're submitting secondaries in October, cut your losses and wait for next cycle. Use the rest of the year to pre-write secondaries and continue your longitudinal activities. Submit for verification Day 1 (which should not be a problem because you know what to do now). You can reuse your PS and activities, since schools don't review your application until you're complete—i.e., nobody's read it yet.

Your odds are obviously not zero applying this cycle (assuming you have a competitive-enough application), but I think where you go to school is important enough that you would be better served as an early applicant.

If you are not a superstar applicant, applying in October is a significant risk you should not ignore, because the problem shifts from getting interviews at the schools you want, to potentially not getting interviews at all.

Remember that just shooting your shot does not come cheap. Possible reapplicant bias is a thing. It may not be quantified (i.e., reported for public consumption) or equally considered (formally) across all institutions, but schools ask for a reason.

This part is just a broader guess, but it's possible that we are turning to a more front-loaded application process where the bulk majority of competitive applicants submit for verification ASAP and turn over secondaries to become complete ASAP. I don't think that it is necessarily something schools are conspiring to have happen, but it is a population-level pressure that rubs up against a rolling admissions model.

In other words, if most competitive applicants are also early, and most interviews go out very early in response, the cycle could be functionally over way before it is formally over. There are more interesting philosophical and procedural questions for medical school admissions teams there that would be interesting to mull over... but I digress.

 

[ghost.7]

My opinion based on my n=1 experience: if you're submitting secondaries in October, cut your losses and wait for next cycle. Use the rest of the year to pre-write secondaries and continue your longitudinal activities. Submit for verification Day 1 (which should not be a problem because you know what to do now). You can reuse your PS and activities, since schools don't review your application until you're complete—i.e., nobody's read it yet.

Your odds are obviously not zero applying this cycle (assuming you have a competitive-enough application), but I think where you go to school is important enough that you would be better served as an early applicant.

If you are not a superstar applicant, applying in October is a significant risk you should not ignore, because the problem shifts from getting interviews at the schools you want, to potentially not getting interviews at all.

Remember that just shooting your shot does not come cheap. Possible reapplicant bias is a thing. It may not be quantified (i.e., reported for public consumption) or equally considered (formally) across all institutions, but schools ask for a reason.

This part is just a broader guess, but it's possible that we are turning to a more front-loaded application process where the bulk majority of competitive applicants submit for verification ASAP and turn over secondaries to become complete ASAP. I don't think that it is necessarily something schools are conspiring to have happen, but it is a population-level pressure that rubs up against a rolling admissions model.

In other words, if most competitive applicants are also early, and most interviews go out very early in response, the cycle could be functionally over way before it is formally over. There are more interesting philosophical and procedural questions for medical school admissions teams there that would be interesting to mull over... but I digress.

I understand the logic. The problem is that the front loading of the apps alone would presumably yield a steeper spike of application processing time, and thus, narrowing the processing time of those who applied after the first wave, right?
It at least would thin out somewhat by Mid-July.

Maybe I’m missing something but the fact the processing time for applicants in late July early August essentially doubling historical wait tines would suggest a much larger pool all throughout the cycle.

I read somewhere about 75% of applicants are submitted before August to AMCAS noted as ready to review. Obviously we won’t know until it’s over, but the in by Labor Day advice could mean nearly 10s of thousands ought to sit out.

And this would mean that late July primaries or early August are now considered DOA which is insane

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It also puts pressure on everyone to get everything done early from MCAT/PREview exams to letters. It would make committee letter processes a disadvantaging factor, and anyone who decides to "wait for a better score" would be better served reapplying. It also pushes up the experiences required for interview consideration.

This doesn't even cover the direct admission/linkage seat game. Early Decision becomes a liability because one cannot afford getting rejected then adding schools late in October.

 

[ghost.7]

It also puts pressure on everyone to get everything done early from MCAT/PREview exams to letters. It would make committee letter processes a disadvantaging factor, and anyone who decides to "wait for a better score" would be better served reapplying. It also pushes up the experiences required for interview consideration.

This doesn't even cover the direct admission/linkage seat game. Early Decision becomes a liability because one cannot afford getting rejected then adding schools late in October.

Sir smiles the 12, do you have any insight on my app timing and if the same late by Labor Day should hold this year?

 

[polymerization]

I understand the logic. The problem is that the front loading of the apps alone would presumably yield a steeper spike of application processing time, and thus, narrowing the processing time of those who applied after the first wave, right?
It at least would thin out somewhat by Mid-July.

Maybe I’m missing something but the fact the processing time for applicants in late July early August essentially doubling historical wait tines would suggest a much larger pool all throughout the cycle.

I read somewhere about 75% of applicants are submitted before August to AMCAS noted as ready to review. Obviously we won’t know until it’s over, but the in by Labor Day advice could mean nearly 10s of thousands ought to sit out.

And this would mean that late July primaries or early August are now considered DOA which is insane

Yes, except that the "first wave" is getting bigger, and the AMCAS verification office and its employees do not necessarily respond dynamically to increased demand. They will have at least as many staff as they had the year before and continue to process applications. A backlog is not a halt and students will still be verified, submit for secondaries, and become complete. If 8000 of their future applicants are still waiting to be verified, schools have no awareness of their intention. They will review the 3000 that are complete today.

Any statistic is going to be aggregated and abstracted and interpreted through today's lens on yesterday's circumstances... and remember that AAMC is still a business holding what is basically a monopoly on gatekeeping a socially salient, prestigious, lucrative profession. They are motivated to make the numbers look good.

I don't know how the queue is organized internally and they do not tell us where we are located within it or offer a guaranteed processing window, so my perspective is that you should assume most applicants will behave rationally and apply as soon as possible.

Of course, not everyone will, but I would bet that given what you have to do to get into medical school today, most serious applicants are not approaching applications casually... and those are the people you are competing against for seats in any case (presuming you are amongst the serious).

At the same time, a school is probably never going to be "short" on reviewable applications and find themselves waiting in the wings for AMCAS to give them batches to download. They will be reviewing, and making decisions, and AMCAS will continue offering applicants as they trudge through the queue. They are under no obligation (or external pressure) to "save" interviews to give later applicants a fighting chance.

Some schools will say there are equal chances for interview throughout the summer, fall and even into the late winter months, but I don't buy it. Again, this does not require specific statistics, it's just definitionally what rolling admissions are.

Also, a clarification: I'm not really giving advice to the entire population of students who were verified late, they are not a monolith and could have specific variables that would change my response.

I'm offering my perspective on what I would do given the little I know about you (and what I have assumed). Assuming you are the typical reasonable applicant and not secretly an astronaut, I would guess you want every advantage you can get. I would guess you are risk-averse and wouldn't want to reapply. I would guess you are not willing to apply DO. I would guess you would want to go to the best school/affiliate with the best hospital system possible for your specific application, in the most desirable location... so that you have connections with your home program and are welcome to stay for your chosen specialty after your 4 years are up. In other words, I assume you want the best bang for your (application) buck.

So, based on that, the way I see it, it is not desirable to accept unnecessary risk for this year's cycle when your application could probably benefit from additional padding and you could be maximally early and prepared for a cycle next year.

But hey, my assumptions could be totally wrong, and I'm open to that. This could not speak to you and your specific situation and that's OK. I'm here if you want to share more. Just know that I'm as incredulous as you are and feel that this process can be profoundly unfair for a lot of people. And yet, it persists. It has to. But we cannot make the change we want to see from the outside.

 

[polymerization]

It also puts pressure on everyone to get everything done early from MCAT/PREview exams to letters. It would make committee letter processes a disadvantaging factor, and anyone who decides to "wait for a better score" would be better served reapplying. It also pushes up the experiences required for interview consideration.

This doesn't even cover the direct admission/linkage seat game. Early Decision becomes a liability because one cannot afford getting rejected then adding schools late in October.

I think that is all already true today. I think it is particularly criminal for committees to time their processes such that they are delivering letters into October, but I digress again.

I don't think medical school admissions as a corpus would find this outcome to be particularly convenient, but I also don't see them deliberately slowing down their processes to wait for a larger batch of applicants to then go about the process of sorting them how they want anyway and reviewing the same people they would have reviewed in July later in September, let's say (assuming for the sake of argument that my premise has some merit and competitive applicants are available to review maximally early in the cycle and there are enough of them to reasonably populate the year's interviews with this much smaller pool of students that escaped the backlog).

I don't know that it would ever be a formal threshold, but we have the Labor Day and Mardi Gras date guidelines despite there being formal application and cycle deadlines. I would call that an escalation in the direction I'm arguing for. There is the formal clock, and there's the clock we socially construct.

Of course, it can change. If AMCAS would just have all applicants verified by some date so everyone "applies" at the same time, none of this would happen. I'm sure someone would find it to be unfair for some reason I'm not thinking of right now...

 

[ghost.7]

Yes, except that the "first wave" is getting bigger, and the AMCAS verification office and its employees do not necessarily respond dynamically to increased demand. They will have at least as many staff as they had the year before and continue to process applications. A backlog is not a halt and students will still be verified, submit for secondaries, and become complete. If 8000 of their future applicants are still waiting to be verified, schools have no awareness of their intention. They will review the 3000 that are complete today.

Any statistic is going to be aggregated and abstracted and interpreted through today's lens on yesterday's circumstances... and remember that AAMC is still a business holding what is basically a monopoly on gatekeeping a socially salient, prestigious, lucrative profession. They are motivated to make the numbers look good.

I don't know how the queue is organized internally and they do not tell us where we are located within it or offer a guaranteed processing window, so my perspective is that you should assume most applicants will behave rationally and apply as soon as possible.

Of course, not everyone will, but I would bet that given what you have to do to get into medical school today, most serious applicants are not approaching applications casually... and those are the people you are competing against for seats in any case (presuming you are amongst the serious).

At the same time, a school is probably never going to be "short" on reviewable applications and find themselves waiting in the wings for AMCAS to give them batches to download. They will be reviewing, and making decisions, and AMCAS will continue offering applicants as they trudge through the queue. They are under no obligation (or external pressure) to "save" interviews to give later applicants a fighting chance.

Some schools will say there are equal chances for interview throughout the summer, fall and even into the late winter months, but I don't buy it. Again, this does not require specific statistics, it's just definitionally what rolling admissions are.

Also, a clarification: I'm not really giving advice to the entire population of students who were verified late, they are not a monolith and could have specific variables that would change my response.

I'm offering my perspective on what I would do given the little I know about you (and what I have assumed). Assuming you are the typical reasonable applicant and not secretly an astronaut, I would guess you want every advantage you can get. I would guess you are risk-averse and wouldn't want to reapply. I would guess you are not willing to apply DO. I would guess you would want to go to the best school/affiliate with the best hospital system possible for your specific application, in the most desirable location... so that you have connections with your home program and are welcome to stay for your chosen specialty after your 4 years are up. In other words, I assume you want the best bang for your (application) buck.

So, based on that, the way I see it, it is not desirable to accept unnecessary risk for this year's cycle when your application could probably benefit from additional padding and you could be maximally early and prepared for a cycle next year.

But hey, my assumptions could be totally wrong, and I'm open to that. This could not speak to you and your specific situation and that's OK. I'm here if you want to share more. Just know that I'm as incredulous as you are and feel that this process can be profoundly unfair for a lot of people. And yet, it persists. It has to. But we cannot make the change we want to see from the outside.

Strong stats only applying to my state school with deep ties. ECs pretty unique with a notable “spike” factor so I don’t wanna give too much info but I also have the checklist covered.

It’s only the timing my issue

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sir smiles the 12, do you have any insight on my app timing and if the same late by Labor Day should hold this year?

Not really since I don't know about the challenges with AMCAS verification. That's outside the knowledge of most admissions offices.

 

[willowedacorn]

I thought there was a huge spike in AMCAS applications this year? Surely med committees would be aware of this

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I thought there was a huge spike in AMCAS applications this year? Surely med committees would be aware of this

Our admissions teams would share AMCAS reports, but we couldn't say why as we aren't involved with the verification process. We are just responsible for screening apps for the committee at the start of the process. We mostly see what data we get.

 

[ghost.7]

Not really since I don't know about the challenges with AMCAS verification. That's outside the knowledge of most admissions offi

Our admissions teams would share AMCAS reports, but we couldn't say why as we aren't involved with the verification process. We are just responsible for screening apps for the committee at the start of the process. We mostly see what data we get.

Side question, how are pending MCAT treated in the screening

 

[polymerization]

Strong stats only applying to my state school with deep ties. ECs pretty unique with a notable “spike” factor so I don’t wanna give too much info but I also have the checklist covered.

It’s only the timing my issue

Come back and tell us what happens. I'm sure there are other people in your position who would be interested in knowing how you did.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Side question, how are pending MCAT treated in the screening

The MCAT score release schedule has been reliable, so we work around it.

 

[ghost.7]

Come back and tell us what happens. I'm sure there are other people in your position who would be interested in knowing how you did.

Absolutely. Will provide my data point once it’s all said and done.

Whatever happens I can’t wait for this process to be over lol

 

[willowedacorn]

Not really since I don't know about the challenges with AMCAS verification. That's outside the knowledge of most admissions offices.

if someone has high stats, and schools review applications in order of stats/mission fit not application submission, then isn't it completely fine to apply later this month given that most schools wouldn't have sent out more than a quarter of their interviews. Especially considering that early II's go to the strongest applicants. @Mr.Smile12

 

[Mr.Smile12]

if someone has high stats, and schools review applications in order of stats/mission fit not application submission, then isn't it completely fine to apply later this month given that most schools wouldn't have sent out more than a quarter of their interviews. Especially considering that early II's go to the strongest applicants. @Mr.Smile12

Read

Applications: While You Are Waiting

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of medical school admissions? Here we explore how an application moves through the process.

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[willowedacorn]

Read

Applications: While You Are Waiting

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of medical school admissions? Here we explore how an application moves through the process.

www.studentdoctor.net

I know I’m just very disappointed since I have high stats and a strong app, but won’t get most of my secondaries in till the end of this week.

 

[WildWing]

I was curious if the long delays this year is due to the number of people who submit on the first day. Specifically, if AMCAS got overwhelmed by first day/first week submissions because everyone tries to get stuff in early, which slowed processing down for everyone. So we did some querying of our AMCAS Tracker data and found that the percentage of people who submit first day/first week is pretty consistent year over year, without a huge jump this year:

Metric	2026-27	2025-26	Change
First day submissions	49	40	+22.5%
First 7 days	290	199	+45.7%
Reports through matched 111-day window	821	638	+28.7%
First day share	6.0%	6.3%	-0.3 points
First week share	35.3%	31.2%	+4.1 points

Historic data (through last cycle) showing when people submitted:


Based on that, my guess is one or more of the following happened:
1. Number of applications is up this year, which often happens when the economy is soft. We did have a lot more AMCAS tracker reports this year, but that could just be more people using it.
2. AMCAS implemented some new system that didn't work as intended, increasing the time to verification
3. AMCAS is understaffed on human verifiers

Edit: Data images/table didn't save properly, so edited to fix that. Also clarified that the percentages haven't moved, though the total number did increase.