Submitting AMCAS Without MCAT Score

[Pathobio1]

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I'm signed up for the May MCAT but I think I want to push it back to June. I know people on here say to submit your AMCAS the first week of June for one school to at least get verified... But what if I do bad on the MCAT and want to wait to retake and apply next cycle? AAMC says you're not a re-applicant to a school if you did not specifically designate that school in a previous cycle. However, someone told me that some secondaries ask if you are a re-applicant to medical school. Is this true for most secondaries, and are those school-specific questions? What do in-state schools think think when they see you're a re-applicant but didn't apply to them in the 'previous' cycle? Any thoughts on the application timeline and re-applicant status are appreciated.

BTW, I'm not looking for the "take the MCAT when you're ready" advice. If I think I am not prepared before the exam, I will void and and am willing to wait a cycle anyway.

 

[NonTradJp]

I'm not sure what school actually ask that specifically. As in did you ever apply to US MD schools. Maybe you can browse through the secondaries of your most interested school and see if it's there. I never saw that myself.

 

[NonTradJp]

Double posted somehow.

 

[Fedekz]

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm taking the Mcat June 22nd, and was planning on submitting my transcripts June 1st to get verified early.

I had the same concerns about being a reapplicant if my mcat score isn't great... But I learned you're only a reapplicant to the schools you applied to. So my plan is to submit my transcript to AMCAS and select a school I don't truly want to go to (I'm choosing Meharry - nothing against the school I just don't like the location). When I get my mcat scores and if they are acceptable then I'll go back and select University of Washington, etc.

But if my mcat scores are ****, and I need to take the mcat again and apply next cycle I'll ONLY be a reapplicant to Meharry. You can find all this information on the AMCAS faq page to verify it.

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[Doug Underhill]

You should select one of the UC schools for your throwaway app. They need the money and generally aren't recommended for OOS applicants.

 

[PantherPride]

I say just submit your app with one school you do want to apply to, but isn't your top choice or anything

 

[Pathobio1]

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Hospitalized]

You will indicate your reapplicant status per school in the Medical Schools section of your application.

I understand that you aren't considered a reapplicant at specific schools, but your AMCAS application, as a whole, was submitted. So therefore, you are a reapplicant because you are submitted the AMCAS for a second time, correct? If correct-- how is this viewed by admission committees? Or can they even tell?

For instance, I plan on submitting my primary on the first day of the application cycle next year, and then take the MCAT in late June. Apply to one reach school. Say I get my MCAT score back and it's not competitive. At that point, I would rather not apply to my IS and desired schools and just retake the MCAT. Would my IS and desired schools be able to see that I applied to (reach) school and submitted the AMCAS in the previous year? Or do I appear as a first time applicant to them?

 

[Hospitalized]

Only the one school had a completed AMCAS transmitted to in the first cycle would see you as a reapplicant in the second cycle.. Any other school you applied to in second cycle would not know that you applied anywhere the cycle before. To extend this further, any school you apply to in any cycle does not know from AMCAS where else you are applying.


https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/305002/canschoolsseeotherschools.html

Can schools see the names of or number of other schools that I applied to?
No. Schools will never know which other schools or how many other schools you applied to through AMCAS. In the February of each application cycle, schools will have access to the Multiple Acceptance Report, which will show them which of their accepted applicants are holding acceptances from other schools.

For example, let's say you applied to schools A, B, X, and Y. You were accepted by A and B. When the Multiple Acceptance Report becomes available, schools A and B will both see that you have been offered acceptance at the other school. You were rejected by school X, so they won't see any information about where you were accepted. No action has been taken by school Y, so they won't see any information about where you were accepted. If school Y accepts you a week later, school Y will then see that you are holding offers from A and B, and A and B will know that you now have an offer from Y as well.

In April of the application year, medical schools will have access to the National Acceptance Report, which lists every applicant with an acceptance or matriculated action.

Thanks so much for the help!