Medical Should I wait to submit application until I get final transcripts?

[TheDataKing]

Hello, I am currently a senior in my last semester of classes and I am planning on applying MD/DO. I am maintaining a 4.0 this semester, which will help my cGPA and sGPA. I know how important it is to submit the primary application early, which is why I am wondering if I should wait to have my transcripts sent til my spring semester grades get put in or if I should request it immediately when the application opens? My last day of finals is May 4th and I imagine my official transcript will be available around May 20th.

How much would the 4.0 help your GPA? If your official transcript is available May 20th, that should give you ample time to have it sent to AMCAS so you can still submit May 28th when it opens for official submission. I'd wait and send your transcript at the end of the semester but make sure everything else is ready to go as well on May 28th.

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[TheDataKing]

Appreciate your advice. It will bring my cGPA up from a 3.78 to over a 3.8 and my sGPA will go up in a similar fashion. My MCAT is not stellar which is why I want my GPA to be as high as possible.

No problem. You should be fine. Even if your transcript took longer than 8 days to get to AMCAS which I doubt would happen, and you had to wait another week or so, you'd still be verified before July 10th.

 

[TheDataKing]

Last question, is it possible to have them sent through the national student clearinghouse or does it have to be sent via letter from my university?

You can use national student clearinghouse -

AMCAS accepts official PDF eTranscripts from:

• National Student Clearinghouse
• Parchment
• Credentials Solutions

All eTranscripts must be in PDF format and conform to the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) PDF Attachment standard.

AMCAS is equipped to work with third-party vendors that provide transcript fulfillment services as well as with institutions that are approved to send transcripts directly to AMCAS. If your transcript orders are managed by a third party vendor, please contact your vendor account representative to determine whether your students’ transcripts can be sent to AMCAS electronically. If your institution is set up to transmit PDF transcripts directly, please review the Sender Guidelines. If your system can submit by a secure file transfer (SFTP) as defined in the Sender Guidelines contact [email protected] to transition your submission process from paper transcripts to eTranscripts.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Agreed. Note that you have early access to AMCAS/AACOMAS but you shouldn't pay/press send until your final semester grades post. Attention to detail is necessary for itemizing your transcript in AMCAS/AACOMAS as well, so don't rush to push send/pay too fast.