Primary - Secondary - Complete

[JesseVenturaMD]

How long, on average, does it take to go from a complete primary to a complete secondary? Assuming pre-written essays and a 1 day turnaround time. Knowing every school is different, if I have a verified and transmitted primary to 25 schools with committee letter etc. on August 31, where might I expect to stand by labor day (Basically secondary immediately available)? Mid-September?

I am asking more from a "when can I go back to work full-time" perspective rather than "am I late if . . .". I want to make sure I have the majority turned around and back to schools before I go back to 60 hours a week. I also have had difficulty finding information on how long it takes to fill out the average secondary apart from essays.

This question must be answered many places, but an hour of searching hasn't really gotten me anywhere. I realize this is somewhat subjective and appreciate any insight. Thank you all.

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[anonymoose1640]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, here's my answer from my own personal experience:

Option 1: School A sends their secondary to everyone, even before they receive your verified primary. You complete it with a 1 day turnaround. You submit it, the school takes 1 day, probably less to acknowledge that everything has been received. You receive a "your application is complete" email once the school has your secondary and your primary and your letters.

Option 2: School B sends their secondary to everyone, but waits to receive your verified primary first. They get your primary on day 1, send you the secondary on day 2, you submit secondary on day 2, they mark you complete either instantaneously or within 1-2 days.

Option 3: School C screens prior to sending the secondary. This could take anywhere from a few hours (if it's just a stats screen) to weeks if it's a more tedious screen looking into your ECs (think Mayo). You get the secondary way later, you submit it within one day, then within 1-5 days of that you're marked complete.

There are of course every option in between. I think Hopkins took a few days to get their secondary to me after I submitted my primary to them (like 3 days I want to say). VCU never sent me a secondary via email, I just happened to log onto their online portal and find it. Mayo waited 1 day to request the fee, then 3 days to request my letter, then 2 more days to mark everything complete. Those schools are exceptions. In general, you can expect to be "complete" within 1 or 2 days of submitting your secondary (if the school received your letters from AMCAS).

Hope that helps. I wouldn't bank on it taking a certain number of days per school and I wouldn't panic if it takes longer than a day to be marked complete.

 

[JesseVenturaMD]

It does help and thank you for taking a shot at a confusing question. It sounds as if the majority should be in my hands within a week after everything else is in order and they can be turned around quickly (essays aside).

Congratulations and I hope school goes/is going well for you.