I will have the scores back on July 15th. Can I submit AMCAS before I get my MCAT scores? I am not really sure how the whole process works will being verified, etc. Can someone give me a detailed explanation? I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
You can and should submit your AMCAS application the first week you're allowed to (first week of June??) even without having taken the MCAT. It will probably take a few weeks to be verified. The day after you submit your AMCAS, you will start getting sent secondary applications from schools that
don't screen. Get cracking and return these as soon as possible. You may also get some secondary applications from schools that
don't screen once your AMCAS is officially verified. Get cracking and return these as soon as possible. You probably won't get secondary applications from some of the schools that
do screen, but you will be able to find the essay questions listed on studentdoctor.net and you should definitely start writing those essays. Once your scores come back, they will be automatically forwarded to the schools you have applied to, and if you pass the screen at those schools, you will be sent a secondary application. However, since you've already found the questions on studentdoctor.net, you should have the essays ready to copy/paste right into the secondary so that you can send it back
as soon as possible. Once your secondary application has been submitted to a school and marked as "complete," they will put you in the line to be reviewed for an interview decision.
Realize that being "complete" includes having your letters of recommendation sent in. Most schools will use interfolio/virtualevals (an electronic system) so the letters issue is simple. However, if you are sending hard-copy letters for any reason, be sure to get them in or you won't be in line to be reviewed.
Check MDApps and you will see that people interview in August. Realize that if you get your scores back July 15, and it takes a week for you to be marked complete (allowing for them to receive/process your scores etc) you probably won't be interviewing in August. You're still on track, though.
As an example, I got my MCAT scores back in the middle of October and was complete at most of my schools by November 1st. My schools had already started
accepting people on October 15, which means they interviewed back in September. Given my application, I think that I had a decent shot at top 20 schools (to whom that matters) but by the time I got in line to be reviewed (Nov 1st) it was taking the full 7-8 weeks for adcoms to make interview decisions. I personally feel like it hurt my chances at some of the bigger name schools, even though I had competitive stats.
Good luck.
PS- whether your program was actually harder or not, that sounds like a pretty lame excuse to an admissions committee, in my opinion. Like everyone else says, let your MCAT score make the excuses for your GPA.