There's a similar thread in the Pre-Allopathic forum but I was wondering if the screening vs. send-to-all-applicants of AMCAS applications was the same for all schools for MSTP. Namely, Stanford and Northwestern. Any thoughts?
I don't really remember, but I'll try to answer as best as I can.
Usually, the MD/PhD application is an add-on to the school's MD application. This means you have to get the MD application first, and sometimes this means screening. However, the level of screening is usually only a numbers cut, and I don't think anyone who's confidently applying to MD/PhD is going to be in that first cut.
Stanford seems to automatically send secondaries to all applicants (like most it seems like). The only ones from the ones I've applied to that actually looks and screen the AMCAS primary are Washington and UCSF.
If Stanford screens the AMCAS, it does so very quickly. Within a few days after my AMCAS primary was officially transmitted to schools (i.e. they told me it was sent and not just being confirmed), I heard back from Stanford. If they really looked at it, it was just the numbers. Both UCSF and Washington, though, sent e-mails saying that they were looking at the primary and it would take 5-10 weeks for them to decide if they wanted to give me a secondary.