Need help from Med Students

[AF1892]

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Hi all,

I'm in a tight situation: I just sent in my AMCAS. How long before secondaries come?

I'm retaking the MCAT this August and here's my problem: I have two letters of recc and I won't be able to get my 3rd letter until early September!

Do most secondaries come in September? Since I'm retaking the Aug MCAT will I even get any?

Thanks

 

[Sheon]

If I recall correctly, most of my secondaries came in August and September. Also, I don't recall any school asking for more than two letters of reccommendation, but you are probably more ambitious than I was in your school selection.

This I do know, if you put down on your AMCAS that you would be retaking the MCAT in August, many schools will not review your application until those scores are in. 😡

 

[spring]

I was in the same situation as you a year ago,...u know retook the aug mcat, didnt even get my reccomendations in until late sept. and I still manage to get my secondaries on time...i think most are due by dec. or jan...got invited to interiviews from all 8 schools i chose to send in my sec and accepted to all except one.
One thing you have to keep in mind is whether the schools have rolling admissions or not,
'cause if they do, classes tend to fill up pretty quick and you might wanna give priority to those
schools first, i.e. getting your forms in as soon as you can. Also keep in touch with the schools
making sure they got your forms, 'cause stuff can happen like getting lost in the mailing process,
anyways lots of good luck http://www.studentdoctor.net/ubb/smile.gif

spring

 

[jcd311]

Secondaries start coming as soon as the school receives your file. The only problem is is AMCAS won't release your file until it's complete. They want all transcripts, recs, and test scores before they'll notify schools of your interest.

 

[SirJosh]

Good luck with this year--from what I heard from the people in our admissions office (I am helping some of the MS-1's transition to medical school) AMCAS apps are being received really slowly this year at all medical schools due to the inability of AMCAS to handle the number of applicants. About the August MCAT thing--I have no idea. Good Luck.
-J

 

[audrey1217]

AF 1892-
I took my one and only MCAT in Aug last year. Getting my entire apps done ontime was no problem (incl. the recs). But I will tell you that most likely, you won't be invited for interviews until much later in the application process. I was aggravated because many of my friends had been interviewed and admitted by November. Me, on the other hand, I didn't get my first interview until Feb. and my last one was on April 30. I only got accepted to a school in early July. So my wait was much longer, maybe a bit more agonizing as well. The "lateness" of your app may or may not hurt your chances in getting into school. It is said that it gets more competitive later in the interview season to get accepted, thus the stronger candidates are more likely to get in. But hey, I can tell you that I honestly don't consider myself a strong candidate by any means, and I still got into my no. 1 choice school.
one thing you'll learn over this med school app stuff is that there is so much speculation about whats going on, but no one really knows 100% for sure...
Good Luck!