submitting optomcas too early..PLEASE HELP.

[jdom29]

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is it stupid to send your optomcas app. w/o having your essay + LOR

the thing is, i just want schools to have my app. already, and then i'll be sending my essay in shortly, however, if i wait til my LOR's are ready to be sent out, i'd be waiting at least a month and a half because i have to schedule an prehealth interview date (~2 weeks) then a month after that prehealth interview they actually write a "committee letter", then they send out all my LOR's + committee letter in one bundle to each school but thennn i'd be waiting for the processing of optomcas (i think that takes a few more additional weeks)

but i was just wondering if i can just send in my optom cas w/o having these LOR's yet + essay yet (i'm still editing my essay..want to make it really good), so that way i can save some time..or is this not a smart thing to do?

please help!!! (so desperate...i want to get these apps out ASAP)

 

[swtster]

You can submit your OptomCAS application without the LORs as long as you've already designated who your references will be, but you can't submit it without your essay. I don't even think the system will let you submit it without your essay because it'll be considered "incomplete".

 

[optoapp2012]

You can submit your OptomCAS application without the LORs as long as you've already designated who your references will be, but you can't submit it without your essay. I don't even think the system will let you submit it without your essay because it'll be considered "incomplete".

That's my thinking too. Take the time to finish your essay, then submit regardless of the LOR status. OptomCAS will process your application at that point (took a week and a half or so to process mine and I submitted at the end of Sept). If you have outstanding stats, some schools might process your application and get in touch with you that early. But I don't think that's the norm - I think most schools wait until they have a complete file for you before processing anything...so it wouldn't really benefit you to get the OptomCAS application in at this point anyway (especially without your personal statement).

 

[od2016]

I sent out my OptomCAS yesterday while still waiting on 2 letters. I had sent my transcripts a month before I even submitted to make sure everything was ready when I hit submit. I did it last night (Sunday) and had everything calculated this morning! (9 AM PST) So now I can use the long weekend to get started on supplementals =) (Remember, those take time to write too)

 

[wolfpacknation]

I sent OptomCAS almost immediately after they opened up. If you school has a review committe they put together your whole portfolio, you just have to upload it onto your schools website. I already got into PCO and had two other interviews, one being at Alabama and the other being at Ohio State this Friday. Not sure if I'm going to go to that interview since I really liked Philly

 

[Mewcakes]

It's been 2 years since I applied, but I could swear that LOR services...when they send the committee letter and all your LORs (bundled), they only count as one for optomCAS. Especially since they want your letter writers to complete a survey about you as a person, when you send it bundled like that, they can't respond to those questions. So they count the WHOLE thing as ONE letter when it comes to filling LOR reqs.

I could be completely wrong or things may have changed since then, but please go to optomCAS FAQ regarding LORs and just make sure this isn't the case. I'd hate for you to find out too late.