One word of advice from a pro applicant...

[jbone]

APPLY EARLY!!!!!!!!
Don't wait! You will be surprised at the responses you get from medical schools. Good luck!

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[n0chi]

good words of wisdom... lets see what happens!

 

[theraball]

APPLY EARLY!!!!!!!!
Don't wait! You will be surprised at the responses you get from medical schools. Good luck!

Good advice! But, what do you define as "early"? AACOMAS has already sent out the first batches of applications, so aren't we now in the middle of the cycle, or is this still considered on the early side? By the way I just sent out mine on 3-Jul-06 so I hope I'm not too, too late!

 

[Soccer885]

Good advice! But, what do you define as "early"? AACOMAS has already sent out the first batches of applications, so aren't we now in the middle of the cycle, or is this still considered on the early side? By the way I just sent out mine on 3-Jul-06 so I hope I'm not too, too late!

I am sending mine out today or tomorrow, just as sson as I read through it all again and make sure its perfect. I really hope it is early enough as well. I heard early July is still considered early. But what do I know? This is my first time applying (and hopefully last!) Good luck!

 

[HunterGatherer]

For me being early means getting an acceptance before the end of December.
For some people it means getting an acceptance by October.

Time of submitting application:

Early Early=June. You might be the one to start the class of 2011 thread for your first acceptance.

Early=July.

Somewhat Early= August: You can still get some interviews and possibly an acceptance before the end of the year. Applying after August makes it tough to be ahead of the August MCAT retakers and first-time takers.

September or later you are no longer early since the August MCAT takers will probably be complete BEFORE you. Getting interviews before winter break becomes increasingly difficult with each week.

All this will change for the class of 2012 because of the CBT MCAT

 

[jbone]

Good advice! But, what do you define as "early"? AACOMAS has already sent out the first batches of applications, so aren't we now in the middle of the cycle, or is this still considered on the early side? By the way I just sent out mine on 3-Jul-06 so I hope I'm not too, too late!

Early as in the day they start accepting applications early. My first interview was August 29th and was accepted 2 days later. That is early. I believe I had 14 interviews and was accepted into all 14 schools (overkill I know ). I didn't have an interview/acceptance any later than October (had a couple more MD and DO interview invites since then but nothing to write home about). I attribute this to my early application. Had I waited a little longer, I probably wouldn't have been accepted into so many schools. A lot of people like to take their time etc. and this can really hurt you and your chances. Just some advice from an old timer. Good luck to everyone.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Any idea what early will be once the CBT MCAT comes out?

 

[scpod]

Any idea what early will be once the CBT MCAT comes out?

"Early" will always begin on the same day-- the first day that you can submit applications in any given year. The only thing that will change is the slight advantage that April testers once had over August testers. If you have great scores, it probably won't affect you at all. The one thing that will never change is the relationship that exists between scores, application date, and number of applications-- the lower your scores, the sooner you need to apply and the more schools you need to apply to. Yes, it is very vague, but there are soooooo many other factors involved in the selection process. Still, that is the ONLY rule that you can follow. There is NO mathematical formula that can be used as a predictor of acceptances, and there is NO quantitative value of "early."

 

[rgerwin]

My pre-med advisor said anytime by mid- July is early. I'm submitting Monday. Don't let anyone make you feel like you've missed your shot by applying after early June.

 

[jbone]

My pre-med advisor said anytime by mid- July is early. I'm submitting Monday. Don't let anyone make you feel like you've missed your shot by applying after early June.

I agree and that wasn't my intention to scare people etc.
With the record number of applicants these past couple of years, it just makes sense to get out of the gate fast and furious. Let's take for example being waitlisted at a school. Now if your waitlisted early, every time the adcom of that school meets (usually weekly), they will go over your application again. So if you applied early they will, in theory, go over your application almost every week until the class is full or school starts. However, if you delay your application and get waitlisted, then you will not be so lucky.
To me, getting your name and face out early is just as important as a good personal statement/application. Good luck to everyone.

 

[cee]

what if you have a super crappy april MCAT and you're retaking in august? isnt an early application not much of a necessity at that point (since schools are just gonna wait on your august mcat scores anyways?)

 

[heyimnick]

Sorry if this has already been addressed,but has anyone spoken with AACOMAS and heard when the next batch of primaries will officially be mailed out?

 

[Micah6:8]

Sorry if this has already been addressed,but has anyone spoken with AACOMAS and heard when the next batch of primaries will officially be mailed out?

I received an e-mail from AACOMAS today saying the next batch would go out 'later this week'.

 

[scpod]

what if you have a super crappy april MCAT and you're retaking in august? isnt an early application not much of a necessity at that point (since schools are just gonna wait on your august mcat scores anyways?)

Turn it in early anyway. Even with the crappy MCAT, one of those schools might want to go ahead and interview you, or at least send you a secondary. Plus, if your application is already in, you will still be ahead of the people foolish enough to wait to apply until after they get their MCAT scores back in October.

 

[jbone]

I guess I forgot to mention that applying early doesn't mean jack crap if you don't fill out the secondaries just as fast.

 

[dr.z]

APPLY EARLY!!!!!!!!
Don't wait! You will be surprised at the responses you get from medical schools. Good luck!

 

[munchkin910]

does it take the primary application to be completely reviewed?? One month?? two months??