Medical School Application Timeline

[hopefulfuturemed]

Hi,

I will be applying to medical school this year, and I did a lot of research online trying to understand the timelines but I'm still a little bit confused. From my research, I learned that
AMCAS application opens May 4th, 2020
First date to submit AMCAS is May 28th, 2020
First application released to medical schools is June 26th, 2020

I was told that applications are rolling admission, and it is best to submit as soon as submissions are opened (in this case as close as May 28th as possible). Then what I don't understand is what it means that applications are released to medical schools June 26th. Then what is the point in submitting May 28th for example when it wont even be submitted until after June 26th (a whole month after)? I don't understand the difference/significance between these two dates.

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

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[rdyotz]

It takes between 0-14 days for your application to be verified if submitted on day 1...that number continues to climb until early July submits. To allow more applications to be ready and not subject to a long wait, med schools don't get them until late June at which point secondaries can begin. If you submit late June, you get verified late July and then can receive secondaries.

 

[GetAdmittedMD]

With the current national situation, I bet the delay in verification (that is traditionally 0-14 days) will be longer this year. To be on the safe side, I would submit your application on the first day possible (5/28) so that your application will be near the top of the list when they start the verification process.

 

[hopefulfuturemed]

I just want to make sure I understand this all correctly. So you said it takes 0-14 days to verify, but say, submitting on May 28th, and then having it sent out to schools June 26th is way more than 14 days in between. For the sake of example, does that mean that someone submitting about 2 weeks after May 28th and someone submitting exactly May 28th makes no difference (since schools receive the one who submitted on may 28th about 4 weeks after)? Schools receive both applications at the same time?

Also, the AAMC just posted an update saying they will "open the AMCAS application as planned on May 4, and delay transmitting AMCAS applicant data to medical schools by two weeks. This transmission delay – moving from June 26 to July 10 – will give applicants additional time to complete their applications during this rapidly changing situation due to COVID-19. We do not expect this two-week delay to impact AMCAS operations, including application processing and verification."

How does this effect us in terms of my previous questions?

 

[u_raptor]

I just want to make sure I understand this all correctly. So you said it takes 0-14 days to verify, but say, submitting on May 28th, and then having it sent out to schools June 26th is way more than 14 days in between. For the sake of example, does that mean that someone submitting about 2 weeks after May 28th and someone submitting exactly May 28th makes no difference (since schools receive the one who submitted on may 28th about 4 weeks after)? Schools receive both applications at the same time?

Also, the AAMC just posted an update saying they will "open the AMCAS application as planned on May 4, and delay transmitting AMCAS applicant data to medical schools by two weeks. This transmission delay – moving from June 26 to July 10 – will give applicants additional time to complete their applications during this rapidly changing situation due to COVID-19. We do not expect this two-week delay to impact AMCAS operations, including application processing and verification."

How does this effect us in terms of my previous questions?

Submitting a couple days later I believe it takes a tad longer to verify. Submitting the first day is useful because you can ensure you go out with the first batch. That isn't a certainty if you wait a week or two I believe. However, submitting a couple days or a week later than the first submission day won't hurt you.

 

[Moko]

It's also important to emphasize that the quality and polish of an application should NEVER be compromised for an earlier submission. Too many applications are hurt because of rushed submissions.

 

[Engrailed]

Hi,

I will be applying to medical school this year, and I did a lot of research online trying to understand the timelines but I'm still a little bit confused. From my research, I learned that
AMCAS application opens May 4th, 2020
First date to submit AMCAS is May 28th, 2020
First application released to medical schools is June 26th, 2020

I was told that applications are rolling admission, and it is best to submit as soon as submissions are opened (in this case as close as May 28th as possible). Then what I don't understand is what it means that applications are released to medical schools June 26th. Then what is the point in submitting May 28th for example when it wont even be submitted until after June 26th (a whole month after)? I don't understand the difference/significance between these two dates.

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

if you can pre-write lots of secondaries during the verification waiting period, submitting 2-3 weeks after opening is still OK imo. Just make sure you have your other ducks in a row.

source: Me. Lol

 

[KnightDoc]

I just want to make sure I understand this all correctly. So you said it takes 0-14 days to verify, but say, submitting on May 28th, and then having it sent out to schools June 26th is way more than 14 days in between. For the sake of example, does that mean that someone submitting about 2 weeks after May 28th and someone submitting exactly May 28th makes no difference (since schools receive the one who submitted on may 28th about 4 weeks after)? Schools receive both applications at the same time?

Also, the AAMC just posted an update saying they will "open the AMCAS application as planned on May 4, and delay transmitting AMCAS applicant data to medical schools by two weeks. This transmission delay – moving from June 26 to July 10 – will give applicants additional time to complete their applications during this rapidly changing situation due to COVID-19. We do not expect this two-week delay to impact AMCAS operations, including application processing and verification."

How does this effect us in terms of my previous questions?

Just taking AAMC at its word, it sounds like they are building in a two week speed bump in order to reduce pressure to submit on day one (5/28), since, no matter when you submit, or how quickly you are verified, schools won't see anything until 7/10 at the earliest. This is very likely to reduce the advantage those who have already taken the MCAT have over those whose tests were cancelled from March -May. It never hurts to submit as early as possible if you are ready, but this looks like the first baby step in pushing back the cycle, to the extent schools ever actually did anything with applications between 6/26 and 7/10.

 

[hopefulfuturemed]

Okay, someone told me it actually takes 4 weeks to verify. So then assuming it takes 4 weeks to verify, and not 2 weeks, then when it says "First application released to medical schools is June 26th, 2020", all applications verified by June 26th are released in bulk, right? So now that "release to medical schools" is extended by two weeks during Covid, submitting May 28th, vs two weeks after May 28th, would make no difference because all applications verified prior to the new deadline (July 10) will be submitted together in bulk? Is that right???

 

[KnightDoc]

Okay, someone told me it actually takes 4 weeks to verify. So then assuming it takes 4 weeks to verify, and not 2 weeks, then when it says "First application released to medical schools is June 26th, 2020", all applications verified by June 26th are released in bulk, right? So now that "release to medical schools" is extended by two weeks during Covid, submitting May 28th, vs two weeks after May 28th, would make no difference because all applications verified prior to the new deadline (July 10) will be submitted together in bulk? Is that right???

Yes, but I'm not sure how accurate your 4 weeks to verification timeline is. My understanding is that it varies, based on the queue, from a few days to a few weeks. So, it might be 4 weeks at the peak, which is certainly not on 5/28, and many people in past years reported being verified only a few days after submitting early in the cycle. The hold in the beginning is probably more to avoid having applications trickle in at the beginning, before many schools are set up to do anything with them, than anything else. It's not because it takes 4 weeks to verify on day one.

Bottom line, without having an exact date, but probably everyone submitting from 5/28 through sometime towards the end of June will go in the first batch, and it's not like you're late if you're not in the very first batch.

 

[rdyotz]

I just want to make sure I understand this all correctly. So you said it takes 0-14 days to verify, but say, submitting on May 28th, and then having it sent out to schools June 26th is way more than 14 days in between. For the sake of example, does that mean that someone submitting about 2 weeks after May 28th and someone submitting exactly May 28th makes no difference (since schools receive the one who submitted on may 28th about 4 weeks after)? Schools receive both applications at the same time?

Also, the AAMC just posted an update saying they will "open the AMCAS application as planned on May 4, and delay transmitting AMCAS applicant data to medical schools by two weeks. This transmission delay – moving from June 26 to July 10 – will give applicants additional time to complete their applications during this rapidly changing situation due to COVID-19. We do not expect this two-week delay to impact AMCAS operations, including application processing and verification."

How does this effect us in terms of my previous questions?

Okay, someone told me it actually takes 4 weeks to verify. So then assuming it takes 4 weeks to verify, and not 2 weeks, then when it says "First application released to medical schools is June 26th, 2020", all applications verified by June 26th are released in bulk, right? So now that "release to medical schools" is extended by two weeks during Covid, submitting May 28th, vs two weeks after May 28th, would make no difference because all applications verified prior to the new deadline (July 10) will be submitted together in bulk? Is that right???

14 days if you submit on day one. 20+ if you submit 2 weeks later. Last year, the longest was around 30 days (assuming no errors). I'm not at home, or I would repost the chart.

 

[KnightDoc]

14 days if you submit on day one. 20+ if you submit 2 weeks later. Last year, the longest was around 30 days (assuming no errors). I'm not at home, or I would repost the chart.

It does NOT take 14 days on day one.

These posts are from last year:

Submitted 5/30 @ 9:34 AM EST.
Verified 5/30 @ 2:19 PM EST.

2 transcripts.

Submitted 5/30 @ 9:35 AM EST
Verified 5/30 @ 3:57 PM EST

Had 6 transcripts

Submitted 5/30 @ 8:24PM EST
Verified 6/6 @ 3:22PM EST

Submitted 5/30 @ 9:33 am
Verified 5/30 @ 11:29 am

*had 5 transcripts

Submitted 5/30 @ 9:37 AM EST.
Verified 5/31 @ 7:36 AM EST.

1 transcript.

 

[TheDataKing]

It does NOT take 14 days on day one.

These posts are from last year:

Be aware that 4/5 of the people you quoted submitted within 10 minutes of it opening. They may be outliers. Notice that the person who submitted 11 hours after it opening had to wait 7 days - it really does vary

 

[rdyotz]

It does NOT take 14 days on day one.

These posts are from last year:

Yes, I should have classified that it is up to 14 days. some people do get verified in an hour. Some get verified in 14 days. Look at AMCAS Twitter and the thread from last year for proof.

Edit: SDN tends to self report earlier data and times than the official Twitter account.

 

[TheDataKing]

Yes, I should have classified that it is up to 14 days. some people do get verified in an hour. Some get verified in 14 days. Look at AMCAS Twitter and the thread from last year for proof.

Edit: SDN tends to self report earlier data and times than the official Twitter account.

Yeah, hard agree with ya. You can also see from Lucca's data that a lot of people who submitted day one waited 0-25 days to be verified, BUT SDN as a whole does not extrapolate to the population at large (isn't generalizable)

 

[KnightDoc]

Yes, I should have classified that it is up to 14 days. some people do get verified in an hour. Some get verified in 14 days. Look at AMCAS Twitter and the thread from last year for proof.

Edit: SDN tends to self report earlier data and times than the official Twitter account.

Your point is well taken. I think we can all agree that it takes from same day to 3-4 weeks, depending on when you submit. Given that AMCAS is going to hold submissions until 7/10, hopefully we can also agree that everyone submitting from 5/28 through at least the middle of June will be in the first batch, so there should be less neurosis than usual about getting an application in within the first 5 minutes on 5/28.

 

[rdyotz]

Your point is well taken. I think we can all agree that it takes from same day to 3-4 weeks, depending on when you submit. Given that AMCAS is going to hold submissions until 7/10, hopefully we can also agree that everyone submitting from 5/28 through at least the middle of June will be in the first batch, so there should be less neurosis than usual about getting an application in within the first 5 minutes on 5/28.

I looked at the data I have, and the average time for verification for day 1 submitters from self reported folks on SDN was 4.61 days (this was for people that had every transcript in and no corrections were needed). Day 2 from SDN was 10.48 days. AMCAS Twitter reported the final day of verifying day 1 folks as 13 days and day 2 as 14. AMCAS and SDN get reasonably close in estimated on day 6. For last cycle, those that submitted on day 15 took 25.06 days on average based on SDN data and 26 days for AMCAS.

I don't think the neurosis level will change. It might already so do to done people not wanting to submit without an MCAT or other check box items.

I do agree with gonnif that this cycle may take longer to process. Hopefully not though, there are already so many anxiety inducing things this cycle, that some stability would be good. If things stay the same (unlikely as there could be fewer or more submissions as well), those that submit on day 15 would likely get verified on July 7th.

 

[KnightDoc]

I looked at the data I have, and the average time for verification for day 1 submitters from self reported folks on SDN was 4.61 days (this was for people that had every transcript in and no corrections were needed). Day 2 from SDN was 10.48 days. AMCAS Twitter reported the final day of verifying day 1 folks as 13 days and day 2 as 14. AMCAS and SDN get reasonably close in estimated on day 6. For last cycle, those that submitted on day 15 took 25.06 days on average based on SDN data and 26 days for AMCAS.

I don't think the neurosis level will change. It might already so do to done people not wanting to submit without an MCAT or other check box items.

I do agree with gonnif that this cycle may take longer to process. Hopefully not though, there are already so many anxiety inducing things this cycle, that some stability would be good. If things stay the same (unlikely as there could be fewer or more submissions as well), those that submit on day 15 would likely get verified on July 7th.

Hopefully you can answer a question regarding processing time taking longer. How can anything happen same day if it isn't done electronically? Assuming that's the case, why would processing time take longer just because people are working from home?

I honestly think placing the speed bump in the cycle is to benefit those whose MCAT scores are going to be delayed rather than to accommodate the schools' inability to process on 6/26 (i.e., if processing were really expected to take longer, why would AAMC hold the apps rather than sending them even earlier than normal in order to give the schools more time to process?). I think the whole cycle is going to take longer, not because it's going to take longer to verify a transcript or read an app, but because MCATs are delayed for some, and interviews are going to be pushed back as schools try to avoid online interviews.

 

[rdyotz]

Hopefully you can answer a question regarding processing time taking longer. How can anything happen same day if it isn't done electronically? Assuming that's the case, why would processing time take longer just because people are working from home?

I honestly think placing the speed bump in the cycle is to benefit those whose MCAT scores are going to be delayed rather than to accommodate the schools' inability to process on 6/26 (i.e., if processing were really expected to take longer, why would AAMC hold the apps rather than sending them even earlier than normal in order to give the schools more time to process?). I think the whole cycle is going to take longer, not because it's going to take longer to verify a transcript or read an app, but because MCATs are delayed for some, and interviews are going to be pushed back as schools try to avoid online interviews.

AMCAS verification is the long part that holds everyone up. When working from home, people are usually less efficient (dealing with kids and other issues and watching the price is right slows things down. There could also be more technical issues without tech support on site.

I don't believe a single secondary was sent out before July 10th last year. The earliest I recall was July 17th, although I was not following every school.

Most medical schools won't start looking at applications until August and some don't start until September.