Taking more than a month to turnaround secondaries...am I screwing up my chances?

[coolpianocat123]

So I applied to 36 schools and didn't anticipate burnout from writing so many secondaries. I submitted 14 schools within two weeks of receipt of secondary. I took >2 weeks but less than 3 weeks to submit 6 schools and submitted 4 schools around the one month mark. These schools had really long secondaries (ie Vandy, UCSD) I still have 12 schools to submit and I will be at 3-5 weeks for most of these schools. Is this really going to affect my chances?

My committee letter still isn't in so I haven't been marked complete anywhere yet. I have decent stats (3.68cGPA/3.73sGPA/519) and average to moderately impressive ECs from a T10 undergrad. I'm hoping for a T20 or T30 school but I'm getting neurotic and hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot! Any consolation and advice would be greatly appreciated.

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[KnightDoc]

So I applied to 36 schools and didn't anticipate burnout from writing so many secondaries. I submitted 14 schools within two weeks of receipt of secondary. I took >2 weeks but less than 3 weeks to submit 6 schools and submitted 4 schools around the one month mark. These schools had really long secondaries (ie Vandy, UCSD) I still have 12 schools to submit and I will be at 3-5 weeks for most of these schools. Is this really going to affect my chances?

My committee letter still isn't in so I haven't been marked complete anywhere yet. I have decent stats (3.68cGPA/3.73sGPA/519) and average to moderately impressive ECs from a T10 undergrad. I'm hoping for a T20 or T30 school but I'm getting neurotic and hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot! Any consolation and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Earlier is better than later, but the general two week rule is more to accommodate the adcom by spacing out when they are returned (for those schools that space out when they send them) than a strict metric used to determine your level of interest.

Also remember that the general rule assumes everything else is in and you will be complete and ready for review once the secondary is received. In your case, it makes no difference at all since they are still waiting for your committee letter, so relax! It can't possibly affect your chances since you haven't yet been reviewed anywhere and wouldn't be reviewed at your remaining schools regardless of how quickly you turn around your secondaries until your LORs are received.

 

[Goro]

So I applied to 36 schools and didn't anticipate burnout from writing so many secondaries. I submitted 14 schools within two weeks of receipt of secondary. I took >2 weeks but less than 3 weeks to submit 6 schools and submitted 4 schools around the one month mark. These schools had really long secondaries (ie Vandy, UCSD) I still have 12 schools to submit and I will be at 3-5 weeks for most of these schools. Is this really going to affect my chances?

My committee letter still isn't in so I haven't been marked complete anywhere yet. I have decent stats (3.68cGPA/3.73sGPA/519) and average to moderately impressive ECs from a T10 undergrad. I'm hoping for a T20 or T30 school but I'm getting neurotic and hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot! Any consolation and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Nope.

You're still way early in this age of COVID, and med schools aren't like jealous prom dates; they're standing around with a stopwatch waiting to see how fast you respond their their offer.

Quoting the wise gonnif: People don't get in because their application is first, they get in because their application is good

 

[coolpianocat123]

Thanks for assuaging my fears!! I get that my application won't even be reviewed until my LORs are in, but I was asking more from an interest angle. Wouldn't an application that's been submitted within one week be viewed more favorably than an application submitted a month later--all other factors being equal? Could taking too long to submit an application potentially harm your chances because adcoms sense that you're not interested? Maybe I'm thinking like this because the apps I've waited the longest to submit are the schools I'm not as excited about

 

[KnightDoc]

Thanks for assuaging my fears!! I get that my application won't even be reviewed until my LORs are in, but I was asking more from an interest angle. Wouldn't an application that's been submitted within one week be viewed more favorably than an application submitted a month later--all other factors being equal? Could taking too long to submit an application potentially harm your chances because adcoms sense that you're not interested? Maybe I'm thinking like this because the apps I've waited the longest to submit are the schools I'm not as excited about

Assuming they are tracking it and taking it into account, which, as the wise adcoms have repeatedly pointed out, they aren't. They want them back within a certain time frame to control their work flow, not to gauge your level of interest. You are taking the time to apply; it's safe to assume you are interested!

Do they worry that you'll judge them based on how long they take to get back to you after you apply? It actually works both ways, and, as @Goro keeps saying, they are not your prom dates and nobody on these adcoms takes any of this personally. The schools also wait the longest to get back to the candidates they are not as excited about. Their excitement about you will directly relate to how strong your application is as compared to the rest of their pool, and not how fast you turn around a secondary while your committee letter is still pending!

Why on earth would they possibly care how long your application sits in a pile waiting for LORs to come in? Just give each application the attention it deserves, and get them in as soon as you can.

 

[gamache]

Wouldn't it be nice if people could just get in by sending a secondary back quickly? Wait... no...

 

[Student189045]

Submitted a secondary after 8 weeks last cycle and got accepted

n=1 of course but I’ve seen many similar stories.