Medical School Application TIMELINE

[koolkid596243]

Last year, around this time, I was pissing in my pants cause I had NO IDEA WHAT THE TIMELINE OF APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL WAS LIKE. And yes, given that this is SDN, I am sure that few of you may be as out of the loop as I was.

Nonetheless, I wanted to level the playing field by being blunt about how this app cycle works. I created a 20 minute video highlighting HOW and WHEN I completed everything. I made a video about when I submitted my primary, how long it took to get verified, when I started getting secondaries, how I could've prepared better for the secondaries, and which secondaries to prioritize completing first.

I think the best way to learn is through the experience of others. I can't explicitely link the video because of SDN policies, but it is in my signature ("A Detailed Look at the Medical School Application Timeline"). However, here are the basics (which should be conserved to this year):

For me:
05-01-2016: AMCAS Application OPENED (but you cannot SUBMIT it YET)
06-07-2016: The FIRST DAY AMCAS COULD BE SUBMITTED (different date this year, but similar)
06-10-2016: WHEN I SUBMITTED MY AMCAS
06-27-2016: AMCAS Verified (This would take much longer if your transcript wasn't in and if you submit later than 06-10 - primarily because I'm convinced that AMCAS is overloaded with thousands of apps).
06-27-2017 to 07-07-2016: Received well over 20 secondaries and felt overwhelmed af. May or may not have spent a couple days just shedding tears of desperation.

PRE WRITE SECONDARIES.

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[koolkid596243]

Also, just realized, I didn't specify the secondary types. When you get secondaries, it is important to focus on schools that are rolling. Some schools are non-rolling, and thus, even if you submit your secondary late, it doesn't matter as much. This is because if you submit your secondary late, and end up getting a "later" interview, you are still okay! This is because, in these non-rolling schools, the entire class is picked at once, and thus, interviewing later is fine since no one has been selected yet.

In fact, I would argue that interviewing later (And submitting your secondary later) to these select schools is advantageous since you get a chance to practice your interview skills.

With that being said, the schools that are NOT rolling (in terms of decisions and based on my experiences) are:
™Mayo, Harvard, Cornell, Yale, Upenn, Columbia

The schools that ARE rolling and whose secondaries you should prioritize finishing early include (again, based on my experiences):
™Umich, UCD, UCLA, UCSD, UCSF, UCR, UCI, Northwestern, WashU, USC

Please let me know if you have any more Qs.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

is there a section on MSAR that says if the school is rolling or non-rolling??

 

[GCS-15]

is there a section on MSAR that says if the school is rolling or non-rolling??

I was just about to ask this question.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

I was just about to ask this question.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

From what I see on the internet, it says most schools are rolling besides the harvard, yale, penn...etc. But idk how true that is

 

[DameJulie]

From what I see on the internet, it says most schools are rolling besides the harvard, yale, penn...etc. But idk how true that is

Based on my knowledge in browsing these school's website, I believe ALL schools are rolling admission...or else they wouldn't be able to interview in Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec.

 

[CyrusHabs7695]

Based on my knowledge in browsing these school's website, I believe ALL schools are rolling admission...or else they wouldn't be able to interview in Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec.

Makes sense, thanks!

 

[Welshman]

Gonnif already has a great thread on this btw

 

[sat0ri]

Gonnif already has a great thread on this btw

Do you or @gonnif have a link? I've tried searching but can't find it, probably due to my ineptness but still, I'd like to see it

 

[koolkid596243]

Gonnif already has a great thread on this btw

Would love to see the thread. Link it if you can! However, some people say that no medical school is TRULY rolling. The reason they say this is that: "early interview = they review your app earlier and you're likely to get a larger golden stamp. However, I will say that these "non-rolling" schools are still much less sensitive to late secondaries than are schools that rolling!

 

[Welshman]

Do you or @gonnif have a link? I've tried searching but can't find it, probably due to my ineptness but still, I'd like to see it

no problem
AMCAS Dates for 2018 Cycle

It's fairly comprehensive, very good thread to read/follow

 

[koolkid596243]

AMCAS 2018 Timeline Summary (post count #004)
-AMCAS May 2, 2017, Primary application opens up. Can send formal requests for transcripts from your schools and letter requests to your letter writers.
-AMCAS June 1, 2017, Primary applications can be submitted . You enter the verification queue only when both primary application and all transcripts have been received.
-AMCAS June 30, 2017, begins transmission verified applications until late June (though some schools have secondaries sent to contact info upon submission to AMCAS)
-Verification peak is about August 1st and takes 20 days
-Most Primary Apps are transmitted early July thru early September
-Secondaries timelines can vary widely as to when to they are sent out from almost immediately upon submissions to 3 months, though most are in the range 1-3 weeks after transmission.
-Letters via AMCAS are processed/transmitted separately from primary
-Letters can be added after primary has been submitted and transmitted and are mostly not needed until secondary reviews at the earliest.
-Most adcoms dont start meeting for review until at least mid-August, more likely September (though adcom staff may be doing early reviews).
-Submitting Primary Application June is Early, July Medium, August Late
-Having Primary verified and transmitted to school by end of August is normal speed
-Having Secondary and all LORs complete to school by Labor Day is early. By late or end of September is about normal speed, by end of October is about late.
--After that point you will generally start getting impacted by the number of applications submitted, the finite number of interview slots, and seats given by rolling admissions. This isnt an absolute date nor is it a fixed timeline. It should be used as a guideline

Getting primary in on time does matter because of all the other items that follow it. But applicants often see the beginning and not understanding how it flows from there. Additionally, how each school then opens a file, reviews them on GPA, MCAT, and other factors, and what order they wind up in a queue has less to do with when the primary arrives then when the secondary is completed and received. Since the majority of schools, I dare say, send out pre-transmission, unscreened, or minimal cut off screened secondaries, this is probably a larger factor in where you wind up in the queue for 1) reading an application and 2) decision on interview invite. As I have said previously, and will undoubtedly say dozens of time during this 2018 application cycle (see count above) review of apps is not simply done in a linear chronological order. High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process.

I totally think you make REALLY valid points. However, I don't know if these interview slots are ENTIRELY filled based on the sequence of applications received. I'm sure that is a big part of it, but for schools that were non-rolling, I got interviews in Late-Jan even though I submitted my app pretty early. Here, I think the fact that I sent in an update actually came in handy. Moreover, even though most schools DO have finite interviews, this sometimes changes. For example, UCLA said that they had a high volume of applicants this year and because of that they opened up more interviews and interviewed through March (based on my interview there in Feb). Overall, though, I think your post is right on!