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PSA (rehashed from last year's thread):
If you are rushing to submit your application on May 30th, do not do it! Every year we see applicants rush to submit their applications. They subsequently notice mistakes or realize that they could have written a much better (read: error-free!) essay had they given themselves a couple extra days or week(s) to review. From the reviewer standpoint, we receive many applications that read like they were written the night before. In fact, some applicants even forget to paste entire essays into their application (true stories!). Do not let this be you.
So what should you do on May 30th? For the vast majority of applicants who are finishing / just recently finished their essays, take a day off and don't do anything application related. Then take the next several days (early June) to review your application word by word and line by line to make sure that there are no silly mistakes or typos. For good measure, print your application and check it twice or even thrice! Don't read the essays in the same order every time. Does an essay make you sound arrogant, overconfident, negative, or unconfident? Did you accidentally forget to paste in an essay? If so, now is your last chance to change it. Once you hit “Submit”, that is it. You are stuck with your applicant's essays for the rest of the cycle. There is no option to revise your essays post-submission (see p 84 of the AMCAS Applicant Guide); and should you unintentionally withdraw your application, you will NOT be able to apply again this year. READ: your cycle will be over before it even began. Yes, this has happened before.
Applying to medical school is not a race. Applications are not necessarily reviewed in the order they are received. Being verified by June 5th (if you were to submit on May 30th) will also have literally zero impact on your chances as verified applications are not transmitted to schools until June 30th. Realistically, your odds of success will be similar regardless of whether your application is 'complete' in late June vs mid July (see below for verification times).
You can and should start pre-writing secondaries during the verification process so that secondaries can be completed in a timely manner after verification. However, prior to submitting your secondary applications, be sure that a school's prompts have not changed and that you are directing them at the right school! Also have a system in place to stay organized!
So, avoid the urge to submit on May 30th. There is no benefit to doing so. Take a breather, enjoy the holiday weekend (responsibly!), and make sure that you allow for sufficient time to triple check your application for any mistakes and subpar essays after a brief break from your application. If you truly cannot improve anything even after reviewing the printed version, then submit your application at that time. Best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Time to verification (2020-2023 cycles)
Take-aways:
- last year, people who submitted on 06/06 still had their application verified by 07/01 (one day after applications were first transmitted to schools)
- those who submitted their primary application in mid-June were verified around mid-July. These applicants still had ample opportunity to complete their secondaries and be considered early. Pre-writing secondary essays during the verification process is key!
tl;dr:
- Do NOT rush to submit your primary application on May 30th. You have nothing to gain, and potentially everything to lose.
- Once you hit “Submit”, that is it. You are stuck with this application for the rest of the cycle. There is no option to revise your application post-submission; and should you unintentionally withdraw your application, you will NOT be able to apply again this year.
- You can submit your primary application on June 6th and still be among the first batch of primary applications received!
- You can submit your primary application in mid-June and still be considered 'early' at schools if you have most of your secondary essays pre-written. Pre-writing secondary essays during the verification process is key!
If you are rushing to submit your application on May 30th, do not do it! Every year we see applicants rush to submit their applications. They subsequently notice mistakes or realize that they could have written a much better (read: error-free!) essay had they given themselves a couple extra days or week(s) to review. From the reviewer standpoint, we receive many applications that read like they were written the night before. In fact, some applicants even forget to paste entire essays into their application (true stories!). Do not let this be you.
So what should you do on May 30th? For the vast majority of applicants who are finishing / just recently finished their essays, take a day off and don't do anything application related. Then take the next several days (early June) to review your application word by word and line by line to make sure that there are no silly mistakes or typos. For good measure, print your application and check it twice or even thrice! Don't read the essays in the same order every time. Does an essay make you sound arrogant, overconfident, negative, or unconfident? Did you accidentally forget to paste in an essay? If so, now is your last chance to change it. Once you hit “Submit”, that is it. You are stuck with your applicant's essays for the rest of the cycle. There is no option to revise your essays post-submission (see p 84 of the AMCAS Applicant Guide); and should you unintentionally withdraw your application, you will NOT be able to apply again this year. READ: your cycle will be over before it even began. Yes, this has happened before.
Applying to medical school is not a race. Applications are not necessarily reviewed in the order they are received. Being verified by June 5th (if you were to submit on May 30th) will also have literally zero impact on your chances as verified applications are not transmitted to schools until June 30th. Realistically, your odds of success will be similar regardless of whether your application is 'complete' in late June vs mid July (see below for verification times).
You can and should start pre-writing secondaries during the verification process so that secondaries can be completed in a timely manner after verification. However, prior to submitting your secondary applications, be sure that a school's prompts have not changed and that you are directing them at the right school! Also have a system in place to stay organized!
So, avoid the urge to submit on May 30th. There is no benefit to doing so. Take a breather, enjoy the holiday weekend (responsibly!), and make sure that you allow for sufficient time to triple check your application for any mistakes and subpar essays after a brief break from your application. If you truly cannot improve anything even after reviewing the printed version, then submit your application at that time. Best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Time to verification (2020-2023 cycles)
Take-aways:
- last year, people who submitted on 06/06 still had their application verified by 07/01 (one day after applications were first transmitted to schools)
- those who submitted their primary application in mid-June were verified around mid-July. These applicants still had ample opportunity to complete their secondaries and be considered early. Pre-writing secondary essays during the verification process is key!
tl;dr:
- Do NOT rush to submit your primary application on May 30th. You have nothing to gain, and potentially everything to lose.
- Once you hit “Submit”, that is it. You are stuck with this application for the rest of the cycle. There is no option to revise your application post-submission; and should you unintentionally withdraw your application, you will NOT be able to apply again this year.
- You can submit your primary application on June 6th and still be among the first batch of primary applications received!
- You can submit your primary application in mid-June and still be considered 'early' at schools if you have most of your secondary essays pre-written. Pre-writing secondary essays during the verification process is key!
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