MCAT Score timing with application timing

[globalmobile]

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Hi,

I went through other MCAT/Application threads to look for the answer and haven't found exactly the one I want for my question, so please any help with this, I would really appreciate it.

I am between taking the MCAT May 7 and May 24. The difference will be in when the grades come out (June 7, and June 24.) I have all the application material ready because I want to submit my app as soon as possible to be in the first round.

My question is: If I take the later MCAT date, can I only submit the application until after the score comes out? Or even if I submit the app, am I not reviewed until the score comes out? Is my application set aside until June 24, and then reviewed, so then it doesn't even matter if I submit my application before June 24, because the schools will wait for the score anyway?

Thanks a lot for your help, I would really appreciate it!

 

[2050vlsb]

Hi,

I went through other MCAT/Application threads to look for the answer and haven't found exactly the one I want for my question, so please any help with this, I would really appreciate it.

I am between taking the MCAT May 7 and May 24. The difference will be in when the grades come out (June 7, and June 24.) I have all the application material ready because I want to submit my app as soon as possible to be in the first round.

My question is: If I take the later MCAT date, can I only submit the application until after the score comes out? Or even if I submit the app, am I not reviewed until the score comes out? Is my application set aside until June 24, and then reviewed, so then it doesn't even matter if I submit my application before June 24, because the schools will wait for the score anyway?

Thanks a lot for your help, I would really appreciate it!

Your MCAT score availability doesn't affect your AMCAS submission .. you can submit your AMCAS whenever your ready.

As to whether or not schools wait to review your app until they get your score (someone can correct me on this), I think it depends on the school. Some schools will send everyone a secondary, and only look at your MCAT score once your file is complete and actively being reviewed. Other schools that screen for secondaries may wait to get your MCAT score in deciding whether or not to send you a secondary. You can check the MSAR to see which schools screen (mostly, its the UCs and some others).

One thing to remember is that schools don't get your application the same/next day you submit your AMCAS. There's a verification period after submission where people at AMCAS verify your grades against your transcript. Depending on when you submit, the wait can be pretty long (I submitted around mid-June and had to wait ~4 weeks I think). Accordingly, if everything else is ready and you're just waiting on the MCAT score, I'd submit your AMCAS asap and forward your score once you get it.

 

[globalmobile]

Thanks a lot for the reply! I really appreciate it, and for the note about the verification period. Do u know if the period is shorter the earlier I submit the application, or it depends on the amount of people applying at that time that would make them busier?

 

[2050vlsb]

Thanks a lot for the reply! I really appreciate it, and for the note about the verification period. Do u know if the period is shorter the earlier I submit the application, or it depends on the amount of people applying at that time that would make them busier?

Both ... usually, the more people that have submitted applications, the longer the verification takes. It only takes about a day or two after the application first opens, and gets progressively longer as the application cycle goes on. So, if you have all your stuff ready, its better to just get it submitted and beat the rush

 

[courtnes]

OP, either date should be fine for you to take the MCAT.

Here's what the AMCAS timeline looks like:
-Early May: AMCAS opens and you can start filling out your app.
-June 1st?: Earliest day AMCAS can be submitted, then your transcripts undergo verification once they are in.
-June ~25th: first date AMCAS submits applications to schools.

So, if you take the later MCAT, your score should still be loaded before AMCAS gets sent to any schools. (Hypothetically, at least, as we know these things can still get messed up somehow.)

Other things to consider: transcripts may not be ready this early (my school had a delay before finalized transcripts were available, not until early June), also, your committee letter if you're going that route may take longer to be submitted (my school submitted letters in batches, one in June and one in August.) Both are necessary in order to have a complete application.

 

[globalmobile]

Thank u so much for your replies! I'm really thinking of taking the MCAT on May 24th, now. If my application is going to be submitted around June 25th anyway, then I might as well have the extra time to prepare for the MCAT. This is how I'm thinking about it. But if you have any other advice/ suggestions, about maybe taking it earlier would be better for me, do let me know! I plan to register sometime this week. Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my post.

 

[vuze142]

OP, I am having this same problem because I decided to move my mcat date to late may and am also worried about the timing of my application. So what you guys are saying is that I can take the late May mcat, submit AMCAS on June 1, get verified hopefully sometime within June, get my score back in late June, and still be considered early?

When do schools start sending out secondaries? Will my mcat score go straight to AMCAS on the day I receive my score, or do I have to send it out myself? Are the transcripts part of the primary app or the secondary app? Also, I will be waiting for my committee letter to be finalized, which my school said would take up to another month from when they receive my mcat score. Are LORs submitted with the primary app or the secondary? I know that these are a lot of questions, and I apologize, but I am super worried about this right now...thank you so much for any help you can give me!

 

[2050vlsb]

Thank u so much for your replies! I'm really thinking of taking the MCAT on May 24th, now. If my application is going to be submitted around June 25th anyway, then I might as well have the extra time to prepare for the MCAT. This is how I'm thinking about it. But if you have any other advice/ suggestions, about maybe taking it earlier would be better for me, do let me know! I plan to register sometime this week. Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my post.

Sounds like a good plan! Good luck!

 

[2050vlsb]

OP, I am having this same problem because I decided to move my mcat date to late may and am also worried about the timing of my application. So what you guys are saying is that I can take the late May mcat, submit AMCAS on June 1, get verified hopefully sometime within June, get my score back in late June, and still be considered early?

When do schools start sending out secondaries? Will my mcat score go straight to AMCAS on the day I receive my score, or do I have to send it out myself? Are the transcripts part of the primary app or the secondary app? Also, I will be waiting for my committee letter to be finalized, which my school said would take up to another month from when they receive my mcat score. Are LORs submitted with the primary app or the secondary? I know that these are a lot of questions, and I apologize, but I am super worried about this right now...thank you so much for any help you can give me!

Yeah, that timeline's about right ... just remember that the later you submit your AMCAS, the longer the verification time

Schools will start sending secondaries as soon as you've submitted your AMCAS, ... I had a few before I was even verified, and then most came with a few weeks after verification.

AMCAS will ask if you're planning on taking the MCAT again, and I believe (you should verify this) as long as you've allowed for the score to be released to MCAT, it'll automatically get transferred

You can submit your LORs with your primary or after, but you need to make sure to have them sent to schools by the time they receive your secondary .. otherwise, your app won't be complete and undergo review. The easiest thing, if you have your LORs set up, is to just have them sent to all the schools via AMCAS Letters ... one less thing you have to worry about later

And don't worry about all the questions .. I had the same ones last year, and SDN's a great resource for this kind of thing!

 

[globalmobile]

Thanks again, 2050vlsb!! Now I feel confident about this and much better. I'm really glad I posted here 🙂

As a note about LOR's and maybe it will help you vuze142, Interfolio has worked for me really well regarding timing of the letters, because it takes out the details of having the authors send it at a certain time. You can ask for all of the letters ahead, save them, and send them whenever. I think it's like $40 for 3 yrs and you do have to pay when you have a document sent overnight to AMCAS, but it is incredibly worth it for me, as someone who has moved around a lot and is dealing only electronically for my contacts who are dispersed all over the country. Any thoughts about using Interfolio or not using it?

 

[courtnes]

OP, I may have inadvertently given you some wrong info on the timeline. LizzyM just posted an article with changes that are going into effect with next year's application cycle, I'd suggest checking out her link and seeing what you can find out about another poster saying that AMCAS may transmit applications to schools as early as the 10th of June.

Just wanted to give you the heads up!

 

[globalmobile]

OP, I may have inadvertently given you some wrong info on the timeline. LizzyM just posted an article with changes that are going into effect with next year's application cycle, I'd suggest checking out her link and seeing what you can find out about another poster saying that AMCAS may transmit applications to schools as early as the 10th of June.

Just wanted to give you the heads up!

Thanks a lot for the post!! I am definitely not enjoying these application changes... 😱 For others to view it, here is the LizzyM link:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10767011

And here is one by another user regarding the changes:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=804620&highlight=amcas+2012

I'm going to try to contact AMCAS and ask them directly about the verification timeline and post here what they say. It seems that so far, the application will open May 5th and you can submit it the earliest on June 1 and the verification can take about 2 weeks or more, so I guess schools can get them as early as June 15 this way. So I'll ask them and see what they say.

I don't understand pushing back the application so early, this really makes it difficult for people to be on perfect timing who want to take the MCAT after the school year is over. The whole process takes a year anyway. What's the point of doing that, if mostly everyone rushes to get their apps in by August THE VERY LATEST? I really don't understand...

 

[vuze142]

Thanks again, 2050vlsb!! Now I feel confident about this and much better. I'm really glad I posted here 🙂

As a note about LOR's and maybe it will help you vuze142, Interfolio has worked for me really well regarding timing of the letters, because it takes out the details of having the authors send it at a certain time. You can ask for all of the letters ahead, save them, and send them whenever. I think it's like $40 for 3 yrs and you do have to pay when you have a document sent overnight to AMCAS, but it is incredibly worth it for me, as someone who has moved around a lot and is dealing only electronically for my contacts who are dispersed all over the country. Any thoughts about using Interfolio or not using it?

Thanks a lot for the heads up, but my school does a committee letter, so basically all of my recommendations go to the committee, then they interview me and write a composite letter, which will be sent to AMCAS. That's why I was worried about the timing, since they said they need an extra month after my mcat date is released to finalize their letter. I followed your link, this is definitely bad news for us =/ Seems as though AMCAS will be sending the apps out to schools around June 10, which is a whole 2 weeks early. I guess we will not be in the early pile if we both end up taking a late May mcat.

 

[globalmobile]

I followed your link, this is definitely bad news for us =/ Seems as though AMCAS will be sending the apps out to schools around June 10, which is a whole 2 weeks early. I guess we will not be in the early pile if we both end up taking a late May mcat.

A member posted that submitting the application on June 28th will still be considered very early, and should not make such a big difference compared to submitting it on June 10th. Any thoughts?

 

[globalmobile]

Originally Posted by LizzyM

Also, what's the point if the interview season isn't going to be any earlier? I suspect that most schools schedule the interview season to correspond to the return of M2 students from summer break (as they are often hosts and tour guides), the return of interviewers from summer vacation, and the completion of applications including MCAT scores, LORs and supplementals. If you think that some of the big feeder schools are going to be writing their letters 2 weeks sooner, you might be mistaken.

I have been a big believer in "be early or go home" but over these past 2 cycles I've seen that computerized files are making "being early" less advantageous. It is so easy to sort and skim the cream on a daily basis and leave the less desirable behind (although we set a 2 week deadline for looking at an application once it has been assigned to a reviewer). Consequently, a really strong applicant might get through the process and be invited for interview in 48 hours while a less desirable one might take 4 weeks -- and there is no telling how long you might sit just because there are 3,000 applications in the queue and not more than 600 are assigned to readers at a time.

Frankly, anything before July 15 is early. Secondaries submitted by August 1: early. Relax and enjoy the ride.

(Source: Link pasted above)

 

[wanderer]

I sense the amount of neuroticism increasing this year due to the earlier transmission date. Relax guys, 2 weeks won't make a difference and I'd guess that most schools won't release secondaries until July, much less early to mid June.

 

[vuze142]

Hi,

I went through other MCAT/Application threads to look for the answer and haven't found exactly the one I want for my question, so please any help with this, I would really appreciate it.

I am between taking the MCAT May 7 and May 24. The difference will be in when the grades come out (June 7, and June 24.) I have all the application material ready because I want to submit my app as soon as possible to be in the first round.

My question is: If I take the later MCAT date, can I only submit the application until after the score comes out? Or even if I submit the app, am I not reviewed until the score comes out? Is my application set aside until June 24, and then reviewed, so then it doesn't even matter if I submit my application before June 24, because the schools will wait for the score anyway?

Thanks a lot for your help, I would really appreciate it!

I was also wondering, when you submit your AMCAS without your mcat how many schools should you apply to? Can you add as many as you want later?

 

[globalmobile]

I was also wondering, when you submit your AMCAS without your mcat how many schools should you apply to? Can you add as many as you want later?

I think you go ahead and apply to all the ones you plan on applying to, so you can get the secondaries as soon as possible, as opposed to waiting and adding the schools and getting the secondaries later. If you find out your MCAT and decide that you don't want to continue with a couple of the schools, you don't have to continue with the secondary then. Although, it doesn't hurt to still try if you can afford the fees.

If anyone has any corrections abt what I said or added advice, please add.

 

[vuze142]

I think you go ahead and apply to all the ones you plan on applying to, so you can get the secondaries as soon as possible, as opposed to waiting and adding the schools and getting the secondaries later. If you find out your MCAT and decide that you don't want to continue with a couple of the schools, you don't have to continue with the secondary then. Although, it doesn't hurt to still try if you can afford the fees.

If anyone has any corrections abt what I said or added advice, please add.

Thanks a lot for the reply, everything you said was very helpful!