Submitting MCAT in June before re-taking the MCAT?

[lakertodoc]

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I am planning to re-take the MCAT in June and also apply this Summer. I received a subpar score on my first MCAT attempt a couple years back.

Which of the following would be most advisable (assuming quality of application is held constant):

1. Sending in my application on June 1st WITH MY LIST OF SCHOOLS and then update with scores later?
2. Sending in my application on June 1st APPLYING TO JUST 1 SCHOOL and then adding schools of choice after I receive scores?
3. Waiting until July to submit my entire application

Will admissions see my profile before I update it with the new score?

I could see #1 and #2 being advisable if submitting on day 1 is of utmost importance - with #2 allowing me to compare my scores to the schools I want to submit to. I could see #3 being most advisable if I am banking on having a great score and don't want my application to be viewed without it.

Any insight on this?

 

[SwordOfTheMorning]

If you plan on taking the MCAT in June, I would recommend option 3 and just wait. While waiting for your score you can complete your application during June and submit when you receive your results (assuming they meet your target and you decide to apply).

I retook my MCAT this past summer in early July and submitted my application to one school two weeks after, like July 24. I received my score during the second week of August and was verified a week later in mid-August. I was happy with my score and then added all my other schools soon after.

As a re-applicant, I don't think I was harmed by submitting in late July. (So far I've received 5 MD IIs -despite my horrible first score.) But I submitted my app before receiving my secondscore because I was tired of the whole process and wasn't planning on retaking my MCAT no matter what I received -if it was another low score I would've just went DO.

tl;dr: Applying in early July is not late. So wait.

 

[gamieg]

option 1.5: submit with list of your top choices (recommend 5-10), get verified, receive your score, and add more schools according to your score.

quite a lot of schools have automatic secondaries now, so you can write those while waiting for your score. ultimately it's up to you and you could have success with whichever option, but this is what I'd do.

for AMCAS, submit day 1. AACOMAS you can wait if you'd like, but earlier is always better.

 

[lakertodoc]

option 1.5: submit with list of your top choices (recommend 5-10), get verified, receive your score, and add more schools according to your score.

quite a lot of schools have automatic secondaries now, so you can write those while waiting for your score. ultimately it's up to you and you could have success with whichever option, but this is what I'd do.

for AMCAS, submit day 1. AACOMAS you can wait if you'd like, but earlier is always better.

Great thinking, might as well chop away at some of the secondaries.

I may go option 3 if I'm not completely finished writing my application by June and need more time to polish it.

Thanks!

 

[SwordOfTheMorning]

option 1.5: submit with list of your top choices (recommend 5-10), get verified, receive your score, and add more schools according to your score.

quite a lot of schools have automatic secondaries now, so you can write those while waiting for your score. ultimately it's up to you and you could have success with whichever option, but this is what I'd do.

for AMCAS, submit day 1. AACOMAS you can wait if you'd like, but earlier is always better.

Great thinking, might as well chop away at some of the secondaries.

I may go option 3 if I'm not completely finished writing my application by June and need more time to polish it.

Thanks!

If you decide to submit, submitting to your top choices while waiting for your score is actually a horrible idea. If you submit and wait then select a school you wouldn't care much for. That way if you have to retake again you won't be a reapplicant at your preferred schools. If you want to pre-write secondaries you can do that without submitting to your top schools. Those essays are posted on SDN, you can look them up without submitting your application to them. I still recommend option 3 though.

 

[gamieg]

^but.. this is listed in the reapplicant forum so I'm assumjng OP is already a reapplicant. I know this is against SDN consensus, but being a reapplicant really doesn't matter that much if you can demonstrate improvement since the last application cycle. almost every school I've visited has given positive feedback for reapplicants.

when you submit, there's an option to mark if you will be taking an upcoming mcat. that means that your application will be verified and then placed on hold pending your score, but it'll still be in queue. the point is to beat the rush and extra long verification time (AMCAS especially, AACOMAS is less crazy). if you look at previous years' verification threads, you can see how long it took for someone submitting in June/July to get verified. the time for submitting in July is significantly longer which means there'll be more people applying, schools can be pickier, and you'll be placed behind a lot of other applications. it may not matter a whole lot if your stats end up being stellar, but I'm risk averse so I tend to want to mitigate any in my control.

my way of thinking is that you'll apply to your top choices anyway, so it won't matter the score because you'll give them a shot. but you could also apply to some schools you don't care about -- that's not a bad idea either.

 

[Goro]

Apply once, with the best possible app. You can apply to a throwaway school to get the verification process going, and await your MCAT score.

I am planning to re-take the MCAT in June and also apply this Summer. I received a subpar score on my first MCAT attempt a couple years back.

Which of the following would be most advisable (assuming quality of application is held constant):

1. Sending in my application on June 1st WITH MY LIST OF SCHOOLS and then update with scores later?
2. Sending in my application on June 1st APPLYING TO JUST 1 SCHOOL and then adding schools of choice after I receive scores?
3. Waiting until July to submit my entire application

Will admissions see my profile before I update it with the new score?

I could see #1 and #2 being advisable if submitting on day 1 is of utmost importance - with #2 allowing me to compare my scores to the schools I want to submit to. I could see #3 being most advisable if I am banking on having a great score and don't want my application to be viewed without it.

Any insight on this?

 

[gyngyn]

^but.. this is listed in the reapplicant forum so I'm assumjng OP is already a reapplicant. I know this is against SDN consensus, but being a reapplicant really doesn't matter that much if you can demonstrate improvement since the last application cycle. almost every school I've visited has given positive feedback for reapplicants.

when you submit, there's an option to mark if you will be taking an upcoming mcat. that means that your application will be verified and then placed on hold pending your score, but it'll still be in queue. the point is to beat the rush and extra long verification time (AMCAS especially, AACOMAS is less crazy). if you look at previous years' verification threads, you can see how long it took for someone submitting in June/July to get verified. the time for submitting in July is significantly longer which means there'll be more people applying, schools can be pickier, and you'll be placed behind a lot of other applications. it may not matter a whole lot if your stats end up being stellar, but I'm risk averse so I tend to want to mitigate any in my control.

my way of thinking is that you'll apply to your top choices anyway, so it won't matter the score because you'll give them a shot. but you could also apply to some schools you don't care about -- that's not a bad idea either.

Some schools have a posted limit on the number of applications. Others just don't let applicants know.
Some will evaluate a complete application as soon as it is available whether a score is pending or not.
There are many reasons not to submit or re-submit to schools that you might be interested in before having an MCAT score.