Need advice: Submitting application June 2nd vs. waiting

[Melvin the King Moose]

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Hi,

The final grades at my university have just been posted a few days ago. However, there was an error in one of my science grades where it should have been reported as an A. I contacted the professor and he has agreed to submit an appeal, which may take over 7 days (assuming he submits it in a timely matter, which might be too optimistic knowing his personality).

The issue is this:
I had my official transcript automatically sent as soon as grades were posted, not thinking there would be an issue. AMCAS should be receiving it within the next 10 days. Should I wait to submit the AMCAS application until I am able to send the updated transcript? I think the question really comes down to: How much better does a .015 GPA change look with regards to applying on the earliest date possible?

Options
-Submit application June 2nd/ GPA is .015 point lower
-Submit application June 10th/GPA is .015 point higher
It seems like a small change, but everything is so competitive so who knows.

The impression that I get from people online is that you must submit it the first day possible or else your chances will drop big time.

I am sorry for contributing to SDN pre-med's rampant neuroticism.

Thanks!

 

[cactus8910]

6/2 vs 6/10 is a very minor difference. Chances are you'll receive most secondaries at the same time or 1-2 days later than people who submitted on the first day.
I don't think 0.015 will make any difference on your application, but waiting and submitting with the corrected version would prevent there being any problems down the line with discordant transcripts.

 

[Melvin the King Moose]

You bring up a great point, I now remember that medical schools require a final transcript to be sent and it would look strange to see the conflicting grades.

 

[Lamel]

If you submit on June 10th it is very likely that you will still be verified before secondaries are sent out. So wait for your grades.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

If you submit on June 10th it is very likely that you will still be verified before secondaries are sent out. So wait for your grades.

Would there be no significant effect if I wanted till June12 until I receive my MCAT scores then?

 

[DokterMom]

Would there be no significant effect if I wanted till June12 until I receive my MCAT scores then?

Exactly -- June 12 is NOT late.

 

[steelersfan1243]

And there really is no difference being transmitted to school July 1st or July 21st

Can you go into further details of this?

People who are taking the MCAT in June will be getting their scores 21st, if we have secondaries prewritten, and plan on getting them done before August hopefully (dependent when secondaries are received), there is no difference than those that applied in June?

 

[Glazedonutlove]

well you will be submitting around a month later so it wil make a difference but idk how significant. Obviously the best approach is to apply as early as possible.

 

[Banco]

If you are complete at schools before August (LORs and secondaries in), you are still early. So yeah submitting mid-june is no problem.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

I know a lot of my state schools start looking in July so I think it depends on the school

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Rule 1 take breath!

Assuming a primary application is verified and completed and assuming the MCAT score is good (applying without knowing what your score is like gambling without knowing the odd), a score received on the July would be verified and transmitted in a day or two.

Now what happens at a school when they get these few thousand applications? Many send out secondaries without screening or have a basic MCAT/GPA formula for cutoffs. Some may start scheduling interviews. But the bulk of any actions taken during the process is not done on a individual application but rather when a large pile of applications have been received and looked at in bulk. Its batch processing not individual in many ways. It is also likely that this trend will continue as the trend to holistic review and core competencies (instead of core prerequisites) becomes the norm

The only real advantage of early in the season (and not early by an hour or week) is choice of selection for interview slots. Not any real increase in likely hood of getting a slot but rather when you get an II (Interview Invitation) is the dates/times of remaining slots. Some schools give you a choice, some assign and you can request a change. Some this is the date, take it or leave it.

In terms of workflow/processing approximately on primary submission

very Early: June 1- June 21
mid Early: June 22-July 15
a bit late: July 16-Aug 1
late: August
very late: September

While July 1 is first transmission, mid-July to mid-August or so is when the bulk of primaries are transmitted from AMCAS to schools.

How each school does their application work flow from initial intake, secondary intake, etc, can be quite different in who makes what decision at what point based on which criteria in an application. Early processing can be done by admissions staff/director, a few readers/evaluators from adcom, subcommittee of adcom to full adcom.

This obsessive nature and belief in early is so vitally imperative to the success of an application that it fuels the neurosis that is common across premeds. So get it quickly and carefully not frantically and carelessly as a trauma surgeon once taught me

Where are you getting this information?