Medical School Application Timeline HELP

[deleted1078137]

Hello,

I am applying to medical school in the 2022-2023 cycle and would like some advice on my timeline.

All but one class will be done by May 3.
OCHEM 2 will be finished July 18th.
MCAT test date June 4 with score back by July 6.

I want to apply as soon as possible to have the best chances of admission so I don't know if submitting primaries after both my MCAT and OCHEM 2 classes is too late? Or should I apply to primaries without OCHEM 2 grade and without MCAT score? I'm afraid if I submit primaries after OCHEM 2 (say July 20th) then I won't get secondaries until late August which seems super late.

Thanks

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[KnightDoc]

You don't need to wait for the Orgo 2 grade. It's only one class and won't move the needle on your application.

As far as the MCAT goes, you have no way to know which schools are in range for you without that score. You can guess based on practice exams, but you won't really know until you have the real results.

Rather than waiting until July 6th to submit your primary for verification (a process that can take up to 6+ weeks at the peak of activity), people in your position typically choose to apply to a single so-called "throw away' school when applications open in May so they can begin the verification process ASAP. It's important that the throw away be a school you truly don't care about and wouldn't otherwise apply to, just in case your score sucks and you end up scrapping the application. This way you will avoid being a reapplicant at a school you care about.

You can then add schools after you have your MCAT score (adding schools requires no extra time once you are verified). Hope this helps!

 

[LindaAccepted]

Completely agree with KnightDoc, Although it is hard to work on your app while also prepping for the MCAT and being in school, it can be done. My only additional piece of advice is to start on the writing for the AMCAS (personal statement, MMEs and activity descriptions) so that they are basically drafted and finalized when AMCAS opens up and when you are knee-deep in studying.

 

[deleted1078137]

You don't need to wait for the Orgo 2 grade. It's only one class and won't move the needle on your application.

As far as the MCAT goes, you have no way to know which schools are in range for you without that score. You can guess based on practice exams, but you won't really know until you have the real results.

Rather than waiting until July 6th to submit your primary for verification (a process that can take up to 6+ weeks at the peak of activity), people in your position typically choose to apply to a single so-called "throw away' school when applications open in May so they can begin the verification process ASAP. It's important that the throw away be a school you truly don't care about and wouldn't otherwise apply to, just in case your score sucks and you end up scrapping the application. This way you will avoid being a reapplicant at a school you care about.

You can then add schools after you have your MCAT score (adding schools requires no extra time once you are verified). Hope this helps!

So, apply to a school for the verification process to complete as early as possible then once my MCAT score is back apply to the schools that I am interested in? I may not get my MCAT score back until Mid july, is this too late to send primaries? Because secondaries can take a month to get back.

Thanks

 

[deleted1078137]

Completely agree with KnightDoc, Although it is hard to work on your app while also prepping for the MCAT and being in school, it can be done. My only additional piece of advice is to start on the writing for the AMCAS (personal statement, MMEs and activity descriptions) so that they are basically drafted and finalized when AMCAS opens up and when you are knee-deep in studying.

So, apply to a school for the verification process to complete as early as possible then once my MCAT score is back apply to the schools that I am interested in? I may not get my MCAT score back until Mid july, is this too late to send primaries? Because secondaries can take a month to get back.

Thanks

 

[deleted1078137]

One of the biggest mistakes that an applicant can make is submitting primary application without MCAT score. While @KnightDoc does mention the single throwaway school (ie a school you do NOT want to attend) I am not a fan of the method. The reason for that that you are trying to do multiple things at that same time that each require nearly 100% of focus. In your case
1) Finishing the spring term with good grades
2) preparing, writing, and polishing AMCAS
3) prepping for the MCAT, an exam that may set the course of your professional life
4) And most importantly, OCHEM2 in your case which appears to be a summer class, where you get 15 weeks of schoolin' but doing it 5 weeks.

I think if number 4 is true, I would seriously consider not applying this year as you setting up for a potential cascade from biting off more than you can chew it terms of time, resources, and effort. You will still be finishing OCHEM when you should be working on secondaries. And you wont have secondaries as you can't submit to most schools because you are waiting for MCAT. And you cant submit primaries until you have the score.

And dont be one of these who just knows how well they will do on MCAT, submit to 25 schools without score only to find out you get 8-15 lowers on actual exam.

So you're worried about biting off more than I can chew? I totally understand that.

Also, am i able to apply to the primary portion of schools without my MCAT score? Would it be possible to get secondaries without be submitting the MCAT?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So you're worried about biting off more than I can chew? I totally understand that.

Also, am i able to apply to the primary portion of schools without my MCAT score? Would it be possible to get secondaries without be submitting the MCAT?

I will also add, make sure you don't have to take additional exams like the CASPer to render your application ready for review though CASPer is a completely separate beast from the AMCAS/AACOMAS process.

Yes, you can submit without an MCAT score, but your file gets sent into a holding status until your scores come in. Every day it stays on hold, hundreds more applications with MCAT scores are screened and get a priority score for an interview, and the fewer interview spots become available when they begin to fish out those who should be invited.

It's all about getting your completed application ready for review (including the secondary applications), however that is defined for the program.

 

[LindaAccepted]

So, apply to a school for the verification process to complete as early as possible then once my MCAT score is back apply to the schools that I am interested in? I may not get my MCAT score back until Mid july, is this too late to send primaries? Because secondaries can take a month to get back.

Thanks

The ideal is for someone with good grades for all required classes and a competitive MCAT score to apply shortly after AMCAS opens. From your post, it doesn't seem that option is available -- unless you apply in 2023.

Next best is to submit for one program through AMCAS, as you have been advised to do, so that the verification process can be started and partially completed without the MCAT score. Once you know your score, you can then immediately select the schools you want to apply to and move forward expeditiously.

You can also start pre-writing secondaries after the completion of your exam, or at the latest when you get your score, so that when secondaries come in, you'll have drafts ready or almost ready to send out. you can then turn them around promptly.

Another (expensive) option is to select a broad range of many schools so that if you get a great score or a poor score, you'll actually only submit secondaries to those that you want to attend and are likely to get accepted to. I don't think this will save you a lot of time and it can get pricey.

And if you are extremely confident of your score, you can attempt to apply without knowing the score, but I don't advise this route at all. I've seen too many applicants be surprised by an outcome in both a good and bad way.

The other options is to apply next year. That keeps your life more sane now, allows you to focus on classwork and the MCAT without worrying about the primary, allows you to get more experience, and then next spring apply knowing your MCAT and grades. it also allows for the possibility of a retake. And it allows you the time to do your best on the AMCAS.

 

[KnightDoc]

So, apply to a school for the verification process to complete as early as possible then once my MCAT score is back apply to the schools that I am interested in? I may not get my MCAT score back until Mid july, is this too late to send primaries? Because secondaries can take a month to get back.

Thanks

Exactly!!! Once you are verified, primaries literally go out immediately (or, at the latest, overnight). The vast majority of schools do not screen for secondaries, and they will start coming in almost immediately. Some schools space them out a little to manage their workflow, and that will be fine, since you will be busy as well once they start coming in.

You honestly will be fine waiting until mid July. That is only 2-3 weeks beyond the earliest time you could possibly get anything in. Remember, even though AMCAS opens the application in early May, it does not accept submissions until late May. And then, even if you get it in during the first hour of the first day, they hold them until the end of June before transmitting to schools. This is both because schools don't want applications so early and to eliminate any advantage someone who submits in the first hour, when the queue might be a day or two, would otherwise have over someone who submits a day or two later, when the queue would already be a week or two long. If you check out a few individual school threads, you will find plenty of people utterly bewildered, every cycle, that being the first applicant to be complete does not confer a significant advantage.

Being complete late-ish (mid-September on) can present challenges at certain schools for certain applicants, but being complete in late June does not give someone a quantifiable advantage over someone complete in mid-August.

The only viable alternative is taking the test earlier so you can have your results back by late June. Sending applications out blind and hoping for the best is not a strategy at all. It's gambling. And, in this case, with nothing but downside, since sending in primaries in mid-July rather than late June will have zero impact on your ultimate results.

Getting things going with a throwaway so you can be verified by mid-July is smart, since you don't want to be stuck in the verification queue when it gets crazy at the height of the season. Doing anything beyond that to accelerate your applications is unnecessary and counterproductive.