Secondary - quality vs timeliness?

[omegalulz]

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As secondary applications are flooding in my email, I am wondering, which is more important? Quality or timeliness. Would it make a huge difference whether I submit within 2 days or 4 days? Would adcoms expect the same quality that is seen in my PS?

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

Quality..... ABSOLUTELY quality.

I heard from ADCOMS at my school that the reason so many good applicants (better stats than mine) didn't get an interview was because of weak personal statements and secondaries. Mine were quite polished on the other hand.

 

[Hi_I'mPaul]

As secondary applications are flooding in my email, I am wondering, which is more important? Quality or timeliness. Would it make a huge difference whether I submit within 2 days or 4 days? Would adcoms expect the same quality that is seen in my PS?

Quality, Quality, QUALITY. I turned in most of my secondaries within two weeks of receipt and was more than fine. Prioritize your secondaries (in-state secondaries first, then target schools, then reach schools). I remember it actually took me a month to finally get to one of my secondaries because it was so long... ended up interviewing there.

EDIT: Of course, don't wait and take your time on secondaries. Timeliness does matter (rules of thumb I heard from advisors is 2 weeks max), but don't submit if your work isn't quality. A blend of timeliness and quality is always preferred.

 

[Moko]

Both are important. At this point in the application cycle, there is no difference between a return time of 2 vs 4 vs even 14 days. Having the application completed before August is still considered early. Our first adcom meeting isn't until early August.

 

[Rachapkis]

Quality is of paramount importance, but you should not ignore timeliness. That said, the difference between submitting in two versus four days is immaterial.

 

[907914]

Both are important. At this point in the application cycle, there is no difference between a return time of 2 vs 4 vs even 14 days. Having the application completed before August is still considered early. Our first adcom meeting isn't until early August.

On that note, however, look up the secondary tracker from last year on reddit, the vast majority of schools will start sending interview invites out next week or the week after



At this point, Moko is right that quality >>>> quantity, but at the same time earlier is always better...just don’t submit early with an unfinished product.

 

[Moko]

On that note, however, look up the secondary tracker from last year on reddit, the vast majority of schools will start sending interview invites out next week or the week after

This is true. For almost all of these schools though, there will still be plenty of interview spots left for those who aren't complete until August. Interview slots generally don't start thinning out until September, though I'm sure there are exceptions to this.

When it comes to interview invites, it's not first-come first-serve. Applicants are filtered by GPA/MCAT, undergrad institution / region, etc., and the decision to offer an interview ultimately depends on the quality of the whole application. So while both are important, quality should be emphasized as you said 🙂

just don’t submit early with an unfinished product.

QFT

 

[907914]

This is true. For almost all of these schools though, there will still be plenty of interview spots left for those who aren't complete until August. Interview slots generally don't start thinning out until September, though I'm sure there are exceptions to this.

When it comes to interview invites, it's not first-come first-serve. Applicants are filtered by GPA/MCAT, undergrad institution / region, etc., and the decision to offer an interview ultimately depends on the quality of the whole application. So while both are important, quality should be emphasized as you said 🙂


QFT

Can’t seem to find the chart, but it is something like 10% of interview invites are out by end of July, 25% by end of August and 50% by end of September. So everything in by end of July really only benefits the types of applicants that are likely to get those first-day type interviews. So definitely everything in by August ends is early, as 75% of interview slots are still available.

 

[Goro]

As secondary applications are flooding in my email, I am wondering, which is more important? Quality or timeliness.

Quality or timeliness: both are important.
Would it make a huge difference whether I submit within 2 days or 4 days? Nope
Would adcoms expect the same quality that is seen in my PS? What do you think???????????

 

[faerie62]

I waited 4 weeks to submit some secondaries last year and still got interviews from those schools, but n=1 I guess?