Submit Primary App in November?

[katiemaude]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So today at my volunteer gig, I met a girl who told me she's *just finishing up her primary app* for MD and DO schools. She plans to submit next week and thinks she is OK because the schools say their deadlines are in December. She went to a 4-year university with premed advising.

Basically everything I know about applying comes from SDN because I don't have a premed adviser. She's insanely late, isn't she? I don't want to be the one to tell her she might be better off waiting til June so she can save her money on a wasted application cycle. I mean, who am I to tell her that? But as someone who is going to be seeing her a lot (I'm training her), it feels remiss not to say anything. Should I?

 

[gettheleadout]

She's insanely late. If you feel its your responsibility to tell her, you probably should, and in any case even if she doesn't want to hear it it's better for her to know.

 

[gravitywave]

if she's 4.0/40 she'll get in somewhere. but even then her options would likely have been broader had she applied smarter. I don't get these advising offices that can't even explain to people the importance of not applying this late. I heard some pretty weird ***t from mine, but they were on the ball about telling people to apply early. then again, some pre meds just don't listen.

It's mad late. If you don't know her well, she's probably not going to listen to you anyway. Then again, if you don't know her well, you might not care if she decides not to like you after telling her this.

 

[NickNaylor]

She's boned.

 

[Catalystik]

I don't want to be the one to tell her she might be better off waiting til June so she can save her money on a wasted application cycle. I mean, who am I to tell her that? But as someone who is going to be seeing her a lot (I'm training her), it feels remiss not to say anything. Should I?

Since you don't know all the details of her application, and her relative competitiveness for the schools on her list, it is probably best not to give an opinion. Telling someone you think they should hold off on applying when they are already set on doing so is rarely regarded, anyway. And it's not impossible that she'd get in somewhere.

 

[equios]

I would tell her that, while it is possible to get in applying this late, she would have markedly better chances if she applied early, and recommend that if she does apply this late, to apply only to schools that she feels she has an "excellent" to "this is just a formality" chance of getting in, and to save her reach schools for another cycle, since her chances there will be diminished this late in the cycle.

 

[juliedi]

I think whether or not you give her advice depends on your relationship with her. I know you just met, so may just hold off and not say anything unless a good opportunity arises.

 

[wanderer]

I think whether or not you give her advice depends on your relationship with her. I know you just met, so may just hold off and not say anything unless a good opportunity arises.

This. In my experience it's almost never worth it to be the bearer of bad news as it almost always ends up damaging your relationship (if you care), unless you are very close with that person. Never even broach this issue again.
She sounds very stubborn so she will have to learn the hard way.

 

[startswithb]

This reminds me of the kid that is volunteering in my lab because his tiny private school has NO research labs (he is a science major). He said he is applying to MD/PhD programs. He has no research experience!!! And I know for a fact that he has an advisor. I just didn't know what to say...other than, "good luck!"

 

[getright]

I would just advise her to read up on the riskiness of applying late.

 

[barcoderider]

If she seemed like a decent person at all, I would tell her. You don't have to tell her "You're completely screwed" (though she likely is) But at least mention to her that she's applying very late in the cycle, and some schools have awarded nearly ALL of their interview slots.

Who knows. Maybe she had to retake the MCAT and just got her scores back or something along those lines.

 

[normtheniner]

So today at my volunteer gig, I met a girl who told me she's *just finishing up her primary app* for MD and DO schools. She plans to submit next week and thinks she is OK because the schools say their deadlines are in December. She went to a 4-year university with premed advising.

Basically everything I know about applying comes from SDN because I don't have a premed adviser. She's insanely late, isn't she? I don't want to be the one to tell her she might be better off waiting til June so she can save her money on a wasted application cycle. I mean, who am I to tell her that? But as someone who is going to be seeing her a lot (I'm training her), it feels remiss not to say anything. Should I?

I think a lot of DO schools primary deadlines are in the spring... so she may not be so bad there..

But I thought most school's filing dates have passed now for AMCAS? I doubt you'd have to tell her. I'm pretty sure AMCAS takes schools of the "add schools" list once their deadlines have passed.

If she has state schools I say let her apply. The state schools in my area pretty much promise a courtesy interview to every first time applicant that applies (no matter how late you apply).

 

[Hemichordate]

If she has state schools I say let her apply. The state schools in my area pretty much promise a courtesy interview to every first time applicant that applies (no matter how late you apply).

That's awesome. What state would that be?

 

[anfleisch]

That's awesome. What state would that be?

I see that as a negative. Dilutes the interviewee pool and you take the time to go out there and interview without any feedback on your potential candidacy. It's nice to go on interviews that have already made cuts and chosen you as a potential good fit.

 

[barcoderider]

I see that as a negative. Dilutes the interviewee pool and you take the time to go out there and interview without any feedback on your potential candidacy. It's nice to go on interviews that have already made cuts and chosen you as a potential good fit.

Yeah but I know quite a few marginal candidates with no interviews who would kill for that one chance to sell themselves to an adcom. It's only bad if you're a stellar applicant who really wants to go to that school.

I too am curious what school this is.

 

[normtheniner]

Yeah but I know quite a few marginal candidates with no interviews who would kill for that one chance to sell themselves to an adcom. It's only bad if you're a stellar applicant who really wants to go to that school.

I too am curious what school this is.

NC is very good to all of its applicants. I personally know people with 25's and 26's on their MCAT who were interviewed at both state schools their first time applying. I think UNC used to have on their website that 25 is considered minimally competitive, which I think meant you'll get an interview your first time around as long as you're above that cutoff (not super sure about that).

As a reapplicant at these schools you aren't guaranteed an interview unless you've made substantial changes to your application (improve your mcat score, add more clinical experience, raise your GPA).

I do know that ECU receives around 850-900 applications a year (all of them are NC applicants). Of those 900 people, around 500 are given an interview. A little less than 50% of ECU's entering class are reapplicants. Only NC residents are considered for admissions (I think they haven't admitted a non-NC native in over 20 years).

 

[235009]

it's none of your business. she didn't ask for your advice. all you're going to do is freak her out and then when she gets an interview (which isn't as unlikely as people on SDN make it sound) she'll think you were just trying to sabotage her or freak her out. mind your own business.

 

[wanderer]

I see that as a negative. Dilutes the interviewee pool and you take the time to go out there and interview without any feedback on your potential candidacy. It's nice to go on interviews that have already made cuts and chosen you as a potential good fit.

I agree. A courtesy invite to unqualified applicants will usually end up with an auto-rejection. Why even waste the applicant's time and keep their hopes up?

 

[katiemaude]

She told me she had a 29 MCAT and a ~3.6ish gpa plus she has a year in a research lab. She just started volunteering and is applying to all of the MD and DO medical schools in Pennsylvania and a few in NYC (not sure which ones in NY).

I'm not going to dissuade her but I'm not sure I was able to control my eyebrows from going up when she mentioned she was still working on her personal statement last week. We've ended up on the same volunteer shift once since then and it's pretty obvious I'm one of a very few pre-meds she knows so we'll be talking a lot about applying. She's ahead of me in that regard - it's not like I'm dishing out advice to her. I thought it might be kind to mention the lateness if it ends up saving her thousands in application fees yet I can also see that she'd be relieved to get in anywhere this cycle and get started with the next phase of her life. She has also told me she is in major debt from undergrad and she's waitressing to make ends meet.

I would be happy to MYOB but I'm having a hard time talking to her about her apps (at her initiative) without saying anything. Oh well. Seems like the consensus is I should can it and hope for the best for her.

 

[IHeartNerds]

Unfortunate, because she'd probably be reasonable good for PCOM or Drexel if she'd applied, you know, three months ago.

That being said, anything is possible...

 

[MCAT guy]

[YOUTUBE]kI6MWZrl8v8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[courtnes]

Unfortunate, because she'd probably be reasonable good for PCOM or Drexel if she'd applied, you know, three months ago.

That being said, anything is possible...

Temple and probably Jefferson too. Maybe Commonwealth even though it's late, since they are the only PA school that truly has in-state preference. (Drexel accepts a lot of PA residents but tuition is the same IS or OOS.)

The problem is, this year has been ubercompetitive so late apps could really work against her (plus it might be too late to submit her primary AMCAS to some schools), and, she should probably have a little more volunteering under her belt unless she has a really compelling story.

As far as actually talking to her about her application, I'd say if she asks you a question, be honest BUT don't go out of your way to give her advice she isn't asking for.

 

[runawayclock]

Temple and probably Jefferson too. Maybe Commonwealth even though it's late, since they are the only PA school that truly has in-state preference. (Drexel accepts a lot of PA residents but tuition is the same IS or OOS.)

The problem is, this year has been ubercompetitive so late apps could really work against her (plus it might be too late to submit her primary AMCAS to some schools), and, she should probably have a little more volunteering under her belt unless she has a really compelling story.

As far as actually talking to her about her application, I'd say if she asks you a question, be honest BUT don't go out of your way to give her advice she isn't asking for.

+1 on the advice... if she DOES get an interview and miraculously gets in somewhere, she will think of you as weird. If you really want to comment on it, I would say something like "Oh, November? But I thought some schools already had deadlines before that..."

 

[katiemaude]

I am also aware I am biased about the timelines for the app process from spending so much time on SDN.

For her sake, I hope she does get in somewhere this cycle. I've already decided not to speak out; and she's not going to ask me specifically if I think she's late. I did ask her the other day something along the lines of "Oh, I thought the AMCAS deadline(s) passed?" and she said that the schools she is interested in have deadlines in December. I really don't think she gets what secondaries are about from a few comments she's made. She didn't know the terms "primary" or "secondary" either, but maybe those are just SDN terms? She seems to be getting zero info from her university (she graduated last spring) and what she does know is from a medical school guidebook.

 

[runawayclock]

Primary and secondary are definitely not SDN terms... the schools themselves use them all the time! on their websites, even!