No II's 2 weeks from Thanksgiving (complete mid August/September)

[jordij94]

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[teenyfish]

Might be that school just haven't gotten to your app yet? I was complete early-late August and only over the past 3 weeks have I started to hear anything.

 

[chemdoctor]

Might be that school just haven't gotten to your app yet? I was complete early-late August and only over the past 3 weeks have I started to hear anything.

OK I have to ask. Does "complete" mean having all primaries sent in?

 

[teenyfish]

OK I have to ask. Does "complete" mean having all primaries sent in?

To be "complete" happens once secondaries, fees, CASPer, MCAT scores, LORs etc are all in. You should have gotten an email from the school stating that you were complete.

 

[chemdoctor]

To be "complete" happens once secondaries, fees, CASPer, MCAT scores, LORs etc are all in. You should have gotten an email from the school stating that you were complete.

LOL I'm several years away from applying. I'm just curious because I see the word thrown around here on SDN. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

[EMS0821]

Only you would know about your own red flags, but your stats and school choices seem pretty good to me, and your MCAT shouldn't be holding you back. I wouldn't give up yet, but definitely keep working to improve your application in any way you can and if you need to reapply add in DO schools.

 

[Goro]

As a CA resident who completed secondaries to 30 schools in mid to late August/early September, I am starting to worry about the amount of silence (2 pre-interview waitlists / 2 Rs) that I've received over the past 2+ months. I know the general guideline is to wait until Thanksgiving to start worrying but do you think given my stats (especially MCAT) I have just been placed in a later pile? Or do I have a red flag? I had my PS read by 5+ med students and all my secondary essays received thorough feedback as well.

Half Caucasian/Half Asian, LGBT

cGPA: 3.87 // sGPA: 3.90 from UC Berkeley

MCAT: 513 (125/128/128/132)

Clinical hours: 2000+ hours as a medical assistant in SF; 250 hours of hospital volunteering

Volunteer hours: 500+ hours tutoring underprivileged students

Research: 240 hours (6 month project)

Schools include: UCI, UCR, UCLA, UCSD (W), UCSF (R), Drexel, NYMC, Rosalind Franklin, George Washington (W), Georgetown, Loyola, Tufts, Jefferson, Rush, U of A Tucson (W), U of A Phoenix, SUNY Downstate, Toledo, U of Miami, Rochester, USC, Ohio State, Dartmouth, Hofstra, Einstein (count LGBT as URM), Mount Sinai (count LGBT as URM), Michigan, Pitt (R), Yale (count LGBT as URM), Colorado, UCD (no secondary)

**Side note: I recently started working as an SAT/ACT tutor and volunteering at a local LGBT center; are these activities significant enough to update the appropriate schools?

I think that you have a good list and you still should be patient. You can get an II tomorrow, or in March!

You should always be working on Plan B.

I continuing volunteering with LGBT communities. Alas, I don't know if "I just started this" types uof updates will be of any help here.

Walk the walk and don't merely talk the talk. You'd be surprised how many unethical capplicants magically discover their Native American or Hispanic heritage upon application to med school, and it wouldn't surprise me if these same types of people are "coming out" at app time as well.

 

[jordij94]

As I tell every applicant, from the moment you submit AMCAS, you must continue to enhance your record as 60% of all applicants are ultimately rejected. Of the over 800,000 individual applications filed across schools, at most 150,000 are given II.

As always, thanks for the perspective and reality check @gonnif

 

[Goro]

I received negative feedback about my school list so thank you for the reassurance In terms of Plan B would you recommend applying late to DO schools this cycle? Otherwise I would definitely retake the MCAT and focus on research opportunities for next time I apply for MD/DO.

IF you wish to save a year in your process of becoming a doctor, and are OK with both learning OMM/OMT AND having 50-50 odds that you'll end up in Primary Care, it is NOT too late for a DO app. You'll help your app by shadowing a DO or getting a LOR from one. And so help me, if your retake a perfectly good MCAT, I'll reach through the electrons and smack you upside the head!

 

[Goro]

Quick question--given that Ca average matriculant mcat is 513.6--what mcat score is too high for a Ca student to retake? I have a 512 and quite low gpa, and I've been considering a retake with gpa repair since my mcat is well below the Ca average matriculant. Thoughts?

Forget the CA resident business. CA is the exporter of medical students. I think that no one should retake a 507 or higher without going through one app cycle.

IF one is boning for a CA school, then a retake might be reasonable for someone who has a < 509. Keep in mind that AMCAS recommends that scores be averaged. The best best thing is to take the MCAT once and do well.

USC and UCSF reward reinvention, but an MCAT of 515+ is needed, in my view.

Your 512 isn't going to keep you out of med school. I think that you should be at peace with going to an MD school outside of CA, or going to Western or Touro-CA if you wish to stay in state.

 

[LizzyM]

Thanksgiving is more than 2 weeks away and it is early this year. For the love of all that is holy, enjoy the next 3 weeks and worry about this on November 29th. Everything slows down leading up to AAMC annual meeting. Once everyone is back to their desks, things get moving again, then slow down for Thanksgiving. You have 26 applications out there... it just takes one interview and that can happen sometime in the next 4 months! Be patient.

 

[gonnif]

Thanksgiving is more than 2 weeks away and it is early this year. For the love of all that is holy, enjoy the next 3 weeks and worry about this on November 29th. Everything slows down leading up to AAMC annual meeting. Once everyone is back to their desks, things get moving again, then slow down for Thanksgiving. You have 26 applications out there... it just takes one interview and that can happen sometime in the next 4 months! Be patient.

Let us say "Amen."

 

[Tree1996]

Just wait, you have better stats and ECs than me, and I just got my first II today for MD. It's all an evil waiting game organized by medical schools to destroy Pre-Meds for our neuroticism.

 

[mariposas905]

Thanksgiving is more than 2 weeks away and it is early this year. For the love of all that is holy, enjoy the next 3 weeks and worry about this on November 29th. Everything slows down leading up to AAMC annual meeting. Once everyone is back to their desks, things get moving again, then slow down for Thanksgiving. You have 26 applications out there... it just takes one interview and that can happen sometime in the next 4 months! Be patient.

With this, do you mean schools extending an II can happen within the next four months, or the applicant attending the II can happen? Do schools typically extend interview invites after the new year? Or do they usually extend the interview invites now but schedule the date after the new year? Sorry if this question is a little confusing!

 

[fathergoat]

Schools can extend interviews thru nex January & early Feb, but “prime” II season thru end of November

I wonder about this because there are many people applying to 20+ schools who are getting multiple interviews and getting multiple admissions. I would think that some of the lower tier schools are going to interview people who will not attend their school, and they will have an unforeseen number of open spots heading into March. For example, I know some people who interviewed at lower-tier schools also interviewing at some upper/middle tier. They will choose the upper tier schools over the lower tier and there will be more than the expected number of spots available.

My stats are not as good as OP, but I have one II. I currently have zero R's, but I know some of the schools I applied to rejected other applicants (some with similar stats to mine). I feel like they are on the fence about my application, and I am hopeful for more.

Are there numbers concerning II's, when applicants get them, how many a person with one II by Nov 1st will get by the end of the cycle, etc. Data comforts me more than hearsay.

 

[balkan]

Have near identical stats to OP and 2 interviews at schools they did not apply to (USUHS and CalMed). Similar school list and completion dates. Have also not heard from many school with nothing from 32/38. Just another data point. Best of luck!

 

[Arturiase]

You finished your secondaries kinda late so its not unusual to not have any II, come back when its Feburary. I didn't get my interviews till December/January in my previous cycles and there are plently of ppl who don't get interview early.

 

[SkinnyPremed]

I was complete mid/ end of August and I didn’t get my first II until mid November and ended up with 5. You really never knowwwww. Hang in there, stay positive and find something to distract yourself with!!

 

[LizzyM]

A few years ago, a state that was in financial difficulty interviewed OOS applicants who were in the area for college in June to bulk up the class with OOS students who would pay OOS tuition. This year, with no clue as to where folks are holding offers, schools may find that they have empty seats and shrunken waitlists when the music stops on May 1. It is entirely possible that some interview invites will come very late in the season. Hang in there and find something distracting to do until then.

 

[Goro]

And last WL conversions will occur next August so this cycle will go on that long for some

Welcome to our world of DO school admissions! This has what we've had to deal with for years.

 

[DameJulie]

Not likely; most schools are simply trying to get thru the backlog of 5,000-15,000 applications. They can only get thru several hundred an week so as the number of application per applicant go up, the number of applications at each school goes up, and the overall time to process increases. This is even more impactful this year as Thanksgiving in early. So what used to be mostly down by Thanksgiving, completely done by Christmas, now moves to thru January and MLK weekend.

Does this mean that application update during the cycle (new class grades, publications, etc) will play a stronger effect since the wait is longer? I know that these updates usually won't overturn the application significantly, but would these updates be helpful if we are in silent or post-secondary "hold"?

 

[she-doctorwannabe]

Thanksgiving is more than 2 weeks away and it is early this year. For the love of all that is holy, enjoy the next 3 weeks and worry about this on November 29th. Everything slows down leading up to AAMC annual meeting. Once everyone is back to their desks, things get moving again, then slow down for Thanksgiving. You have 26 applications out there... it just takes one interview and that can happen sometime in the next 4 months! Be patient.

So.. still early to freak out although thanksgiving is right around the corner?

 

[subdermallight]

1) I dont think updates are all that helpful generally unless they are pointing out something significant or making up for a notable deficiency
2) most updates also a badly written. Not professional, way too long, way too whiny, way too desperate.
3) As long as update is written well and has some substantial content, it wont hurt.
4) But I dislike the risk of sending in a bad update and not just for the current cycle but for the next cycle. It has happened to me reviewing a reapplicant and looking at his previous file, the first thing I saw was the last thing sent in was a whiny, desperate, crappy update. I realized it colored my attitude while reading the rest of the application. Sounds like nothing but it can have a negative impact

Could you describe generally what a “whiny” update is? When I wrote mine, I gave the info you’d find on an amcas experience and then a paragraph of why it was meaningful to me/what I’ve learned

 

[libertyyne]

Could you describe generally what a “whiny” update is? When I wrote mine, I gave the info you’d find on an amcas experience and then a paragraph of why it was meaningful to me/what I’ve learned

all updates are by definition whiny unless they are related to new publications or national awards.

 

[LizzyM]

So.. still early to freak out although thanksgiving is right around the corner?

This thread is more than 10 days old. Freak out on November 29th. In the meantime, enjoy some holiday time with people you love.

 

[chemdoctor]

This thread is more than 10 days old. Freak out on November 29th. In the meantime, enjoy some holiday time with people you love.

What if you don’t love anyone? Jk

 

[LizzyM]

What if you don’t love anyone? Jk

 

[Talkbirthytome]

Now is the time to freak out.

Just kidding! Hang in there!

 

[jordij94]

Now is the time to freak out.

Just kidding! Hang in there!

Currently waiting to get off work so I can go home and freak out bc no IIs for me still

 

[Talkbirthytome]

Currently waiting to get off work so I can go home and freak out bc no IIs for me still

Give it until the new year. If no news by then, I would say to think hard about your plan B (not to include retaking the MCAT unless there's a specific school in California that you want to attend). Double check for spelling errors in your primary and secondary essays + EC descriptions. Have people read your secondary essays to see if there are any flags there.

 

[jordij94]

Give it until the new year. If no news by then, I would say to think hard about your plan B (not to include retaking the MCAT unless there's a specific school in California that you want to attend). Double check for spelling errors in your primary and secondary essays + EC descriptions. Have people read your secondary essays to see if there are any flags there.

I just thought December would be a more sparse II month given the upcoming holidays but I guess I wouldn't mind putting off freaking out for a little while longer! And I had 5+ medical students read my PS and give solid feedback and my secondaries also all received feedback so I'm not really sure.
The only red flags I can think of is my 125 in Chem/Phys, a not so solid LOR from a professor (wasn't too close to many profs bc I didn't go to OH and went to a larger school), and/or writing about my coming out experience and desire to work with LGBT patients without volunteering with the LGBT population (a new activity I just started).

 

[Talkbirthytome]

I just thought December would be a more sparse II month given the upcoming holidays but I guess I wouldn't mind putting off freaking out for a little while longer! And I had 5+ medical students read my PS and give solid feedback and my secondaries also all received feedback so I'm not really sure.
The only red flags I can think of is my 125 in Chem/Phys, a not so solid LOR from a professor (wasn't too close to many profs bc I didn't go to OH and went to a larger school), and/or writing about my coming out experience and desire to work with LGBT patients without volunteering with the LGBT population (a new activity I just started).

Those don't seem like real flags (LGBTQ is not ever a flag) when you look at the complete package. I think even January 31st should suffice as the new freak out date considering all of the information listed in the above posts from the experts!