Taking my MCAT on July 27th, 2012

[Golaso]

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Hi all,

I'm planning to apply for the 2012-2013 cycle and my first MCAT score willbe released on August 28th, 2012..... I'm also planning to submit myapplication to AAMC/ACOMAS early May; would it be verified without my MCATscore? If yes, then what should I be doing during the month of August whilewaiting for my scores? What about LOR, should I request them to be sent to thedesignated schools a week before or after my MCAT score release date?

Once my file is totally complete, the committee will look at it and if theylike my application they will send me secondary, my question is how long wouldthe school take to send their secondaries?

Basically, I planning to apply as early as possible with my MCAT released onAugust 28th. If it’s possible to have your opinion on what you thinkabout my plans and please correct me if I have anything deviated from thestandard application process.

Thanks

 

[Tatarin1989]

I suggest waiting for your MCAT, securing a good score and applying as early as possible next year. That way you will be confident going in, without any doubts. Taking a gap year or two is totally fine if that's what you are worried about.

 

[RedSox10]

This might be helpful. A similar thread was posted a few days ago. Might not answer all your questions, but some.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=900380

For reference, I took a mid-July MCAT, but before that I had all my LOR's in, and completed my AMCAS- essays, experiences, etc. I put only ONE school on the list (my state school) with the assumption that regardless of a good or bad score, I'd still apply to my state school. One school was necessary for the processing of the application to begin which took about 3 weeks. As soon as my MCAT score was released in mid-August my application was good to go and I added schools which were within my range based on my MCAT. Within days I got most of my secondaries (emailed directly from the schools) and began writing my secondary essays.

 

[kexy]

I took a late July MCAT last summer because I felt I needed the extra study time. It paid off--I did well--but I think I would have been better off scoring a few points lower in June, than a few points higher in July. So keep that in mind.

If you do take this late of an MCAT, you'll want to submit your AMCAS in June (you can indicate you'll be taking a July MCAT) and have your LOR's already uploaded before you take the test. Your AMCAS can be verified without an MCAT score, so ideally it will be all ready to go before you even take the MCAT. Then, after taking the test and while waiting for your scores, you need to prewrite your secondaries. Some schools will send you a secondary before you get your score; others won't. Either way, work on the prompts (which can be found on the School Specific Discussions forum) before you get the secondaries. That way you can turn them around in a couple days, and you should be complete everywhere no later than the first week of September. So it's doable, and you won't be terribly late, but you won't be doing yourself ANY favors.

 

[PatPham]

.

 

[ppfizenm]

I suggest waiting for your MCAT, securing a good score and applying as early as possible next year. That way you will be confident going in, without any doubts. Taking a gap year or two is totally fine if that's what you are worried about.

ignore this. Do what the other posters have suggested.

Also you can come on here and find out what the essays are for schools you think you may want to apply to and complete them early so that by the time you get the secondary you can just copy/paste and send it right back to the schools.

 

[Golaso]

You Guys Rock...thanks for the replies really cleared alot of questions 😀

Thanks Again

 

[Golaso]

Hi Guys,

Just a quick question regarding transcript, if i have my transcript be sendon May 1st and have it received by AMCAS maybe May 5th, can they begin theprocess of approving or I must submit my application (without LOR) on June 1st(that's the earliest date) to have my application approved?

 

[inmyimmddo]

What is the reasoning for only putting 1 school down at first? Once the MCAT score comes in August and other schools are added, is the AMCAS application sent to them immediately?

 

[jevo]

I believe that If you get your mcat back and it's less than ideal, you can withdraw your app and only be considered a reapplicant at the 1 school you applied to. If you were to apply to all of your schools, get a mediocre mcat, and choose to withdraw your app, then you'd be considered a reapplicant to all those schools the following cycle.

I think this is the case, though I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Golaso]

What is the reasoning for only putting 1 school down at first? Once the MCAT score comes in August and other schools are added, is the AMCAS application sent to them immediately?

From my understanding, applicants who are expecting their MCAT score in theend of August (like me and others) and are NOT sure if they will have a decentscore then will tend to apply for their state's school only to save some Ca$h . if however an applicant felt that he/she did well, then I would add moreschools right after the exam and probably receive secondaries (depends on theschool)

Question to be answer?

for all of us who are writing their MCAT for the first time on July 27th,would it hurt to have your application being verified in August, I mean does itmatter to the medical school if your application isverified and submitted (with LOR) early July (without MCAT score) compare tobeing verified and submitted (with LOR) late August (With MCAT score)? will Medical school consider you as an early applicant if you tend to apply ealy July (without MCAT score)is that why it's better to submit you application early even if you don't have yourMCAT score?

 

[jevo]

The biggest issue is the time it takes to get verified. Most med schools won't even look at you until you are "complete" (meaning you are verified, mcat score given, LORs received, etc...). So in regards to your question, it really wouldn't matter in what order you did it in, as long as your transcripts get verified before/same day you get back your mcat score

 

[MT Headed]

The problem with this strategy is you can't get and complete a secondary until a school has gotten the verified primary. If you are going to wait until the end of augus to even give a school your primary you are going to be complete very late and it will damage your chances of getting an interview.

There is nothing inherently wrong with taking a July 27th mcat (I did, after all) but when August 27th rolled around and the scores were available I had already submitted my primary, had it verified, and returned all the secondary applications for all my schools. When my mcat score arrived at the end of august I was instantly complete at all of them.

 

[Golaso]

yah it turns out that schools take 4-6 weeks to verify primaries (+ LOR) 😀 and kexy said that you want to have your AMCAS and LOR verified before taking the exam.

cool cool!!👍