Send primaries early June without MCAT score?

[danny89]

I'm taking the MCAT July 2. Should I submit my AACOMAS application on the first day they accept submissions without my MCAT or should I send with my score later in July? I have a feeling if I send it early w/o a score, they can potentially put me aside whereas if I submit in July, they'll see my complete application, yet later in the cycle. What are the advantages and disadvantages of submitting an application early w/o an MCAT? Thanks for the help.

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[hallowmann]

I'm taking the MCAT July 2. Should I submit my AACOMAS application on the first day they accept submissions without my MCAT or should I send with my score later in July? I have a feeling if I send it early w/o a score, they can potentially put me aside whereas if I submit in July, they'll see my complete application, yet later in the cycle. What are the advantages and disadvantages of submitting an application early w/o an MCAT? Thanks for the help.

Yes, submit early, without the MCAT. They won't even review your app until the MCAT comes in. There is no setting it aside, once your app is updated you could contact the schools. The benefit is getting your app verified early, so that when your scores come in, everything could be complete in a week, as opposed to being at the back of the queue.

Don't worry about them setting it aside. Depending on your GPA and the school's policies, some may even send you a secondary without the MCAT, which you could also get started on fast.

If you are really worried about it, you could apply to one school that you don't care too much about first, and then when your app gets updated with your MCAT score, you could add the remaining schools.

 

[LaughingMan]

Yes, submit early, without the MCAT. They won't even review your app until the MCAT comes in. There is no setting it aside, once your app is updated you could contact the schools. The benefit is getting your app verified early, so that when your scores come in, everything could be complete in a week, as opposed to being at the back of the queue.

Don't worry about them setting it aside. Depending on your GPA and the school's policies, some may even send you a secondary without the MCAT, which you could also get started on fast.

If you are really worried about it, you could apply to one school that you don't care too much about first, and then when your app gets updated with your MCAT score, you could add the remaining schools.

You're doing really kind work here Hallowmann. Though I must ask, what do you mean "contact the schools" when the MCAT comes out. Shooting them an email saying "Hey my MCAT is in?"

I would assume it would just be automatic.

 

[hallowmann]

You're doing really kind work here Hallowmann. Though I must ask, what do you mean "contact the schools" when the MCAT comes out. Shooting them an email saying "Hey my MCAT is in?"

I would assume it would just be automatic.

It is automatic. It updates the Tuesday after things come in. That being said, some schools don't always download the updated apps right away. I had to contact 2 schools that didn't update my file, and then I got paranoid and contacted all the rest, but they said they received the update .

I contacted them and just said that I recently updated my application with my ____ (for me it was "semester grades"). I also used it as an opportunity to add any other updates.

 

[advair250]

We need to make a Application support thread, these questions will be asked more frequently closer to app date..

 

[danny89]

Thanks for the helpful advice.

 

[pgoyal]

hey sorry to hijack this thread - but i'm thinking about taking the june 20th mcat (pushed back from may 30th). does this strategy look good:

1. submit 1' june 1st to get verified asap (just 1 school)
2. take mcat june 20th
3. depending on how i think i did apply to other schools & prewrite secondaries
4. scores come out july 20th - add schools and turn around secondaries asap.

i guess the big question is how long after you receive your mcat scores do schools turn around with a secondary - i assume it just varies?

 

[danny89]

So I emailed this to my advisor and he told me the following:
"Because it is an expensive process on the front end and it is more difficult to be a re-applicant on the back end. Submitting before you have the score doesn’t give you any advantage. No decision will be made by the medical school and in essence you only end up paying for the process if you don’t get an admissible score on the MCAT.
It works out better for you in regards to re-application potential as well. If you apply without the score then your application is live no matter what the outcome."
Anyone agree with this? Thoughts?

 

[BB8730]

So I emailed this to my advisor and he told me the following:
"Because it is an expensive process on the front end and it is more difficult to be a re-applicant on the back end. Submitting before you have the score doesn't give you any advantage. No decision will be made by the medical school and in essence you only end up paying for the process if you don't get an admissible score on the MCAT.
It works out better for you in regards to re-application potential as well. If you apply without the score then your application is live no matter what the outcome."
Anyone agree with this? Thoughts?

Your advisor is missing the point. The advantage is that you get verified so you don't need to wait up to 6 weeks AFTER you get your score for the schools to actually see your application. Yes, it's a little expensive ($195) if you get a bad score and decide to abandon this cycle, but that's the price you pay to have your application verified up to 6 weeks earlier.

As hallowmann said, if you're worried about your score, just submit your primary to one school that you don't want to go to. Then you won't be considered a reapplicant next year if you decide not to follow through with applying this cycle. If you do get a good score, you can add the rest of your schools as soon as your score comes back.

 

[hallowmann]

hey sorry to hijack this thread - but i'm thinking about taking the june 20th mcat (pushed back from may 30th). does this strategy look good:

1. submit 1' june 1st to get verified asap (just 1 school)
2. take mcat june 20th
3. depending on how i think i did apply to other schools & prewrite secondaries
4. scores come out july 20th - add schools and turn around secondaries asap.

i guess the big question is how long after you receive your mcat scores do schools turn around with a secondary - i assume it just varies?

Seems fine to me. It varies. Some will send it out once they get the app, others will take weeks, one for me took months (only after I contacted them like 3-4 times).

So I emailed this to my advisor and he told me the following:
"Because it is an expensive process on the front end and it is more difficult to be a re-applicant on the back end. Submitting before you have the score doesn’t give you any advantage. No decision will be made by the medical school and in essence you only end up paying for the process if you don’t get an admissible score on the MCAT.
It works out better for you in regards to re-application potential as well. If you apply without the score then your application is live no matter what the outcome."
Anyone agree with this? Thoughts?

Your advisor doesn't understand how the application process works. This is true about most advisors, especially when it comes to the AACOMAS application process. Smile, nod your head, and ignore most of what he says.

Listen to brakk! Submit day 1 to at least 1 school. You spend a whopping $175, so its one of the least expensive parts of the process (its cheaper than the MCAT).

Next, you will only really be a reapplicant to that 1 school if you get a bad score, and you can even pull your app before the school gets it (making you no longer a reapplicant) as long as you do it before verification. Plus, the whole stigma of being a reapplicant is in my opinion overstated. About 50-75% of the people I saw on interviews were in fact reapplicants. The only hurdle you need to overcome as a reapplicant is explaining how you improved your app, which could be as simple as saying you retook the MCAT and improved a ton.

 

[danny89]

First of all, thanks for the replies, brakk026 and hallowmann.
Once my app is verified, its automatically sent to the school of my choice, right? Im assuming that I have a period of 6 weeks (length of verification) after I submit my app to rescind, just in case.

 

[BB8730]

First of all, thanks for the replies, brakk026 and hallowmann.
Once my app is verified, its automatically sent to the school of my choice, right? Im assuming that I have a period of 6 weeks (length of verification) after I submit my app to rescind, just in case.

Correct. You will have up to 6 weeks before your app is verified - it could be much earlier. You can check out the AACOMAS verification thread from last year to see how long it took for people to get verified last cycle.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=920583

 

[danny89]

Just looked at the link. On average, it takes about 5-6 weeks for someone submitting their app in August for it to be finally released (with the exception of you, that is).
Also, after being verified, how long does the school take to update your app with a new mcat score?

 

[Sephy]

Yea sure why not?

 

[hallowmann]

Just looked at the link. On average, it takes about 5-6 weeks for someone submitting their app in August for it to be finally released (with the exception of you, that is).
Also, after being verified, how long does the school take to update your app with a new mcat score?

Each school is different, but every time AACOMAS updates your app with something like new grades/MCAT scores, the new app gets rereleased to schools the following Tuesday. So by Wednesday all schools should have received your updated app.

Some of them will update your file right away, others will take a long time (a couple weeks). If you end up applying to more then 1 program at first, then you might even want to email/call the programs you don't hear from and make sure they received the update.

 

[Columbia09]

Yea. My advisor told me to send in the apps without my MCAT score. Apply to those schools you think you have a good shot at based on your GPA. When it comes time for the MCAT, submit that bad boy and you're on your way !