The earlier the interview the better?

[DMBFan]

I was wondering if you apply in April, get your secondaries in, is it better to be in the first pool of interviewees that get invite to interview, in say, October verses January? Are your chances as high that you will be accepted if you were invited to interview in January verses say, December?

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I was wondering.

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[brodaiga]

if the school is on rolling admissions, they have more open space for the incoming class.

 

[HrsNJ]

You can't apply to any school that uses the AMCAS application until early June and you can't be notified of your acceptance until mid-October.

There is a lot of debate about whether applying early makes a difference. It certainly can't hurt. Personally, it made a world of a difference for me because all of my secondaries were in before school started and I had my first acceptance (that first wonderful, I've just lifted a huge weight off my shoulders acceptance) in October.

However, I'm friends with a girl who applied at the very last minute. She's an awesome candidate and has had interviews at places that haven't contacted me even though they've had my application for months. In the end, it all depends on your file. Good luck with everything!

 

[tacrum43]

I was wondering if you apply in April, get your secondaries in, is it better to be in the first pool of interviewees that get invite to interview, in say, October verses January? Are your chances as high that you will be accepted if you were invited to interview in January verses say, December?

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I was wondering.

How do you apply in April? You can't even begin to fill out AMCAS until May and you can't submit it until June. Also, they give interviews in September. But, yeah, it is (so I've heard) better to get interviews early if it's a rolling school, and most are. If they're non-rolling, meaning they decide who to send acceptances to after they have interviewed all the candidates that they're going to, it doesn't matter. I suppose in that case it could actually help you to have interviewed later because your interviewer might remember you better. And FYI: "verses" is spelled versus. Sorry if I'm being nitpicky but I've been up all night studying for a midterm. Stupid school, aren't I done yet?

 

[Chachie2682]

I honestly think it doesn't matter. I had one friend who had the first day of interview at UIC in september of 2003, and another who had an interview in March. The one who had the interview in march, got accepted a month later, the other ended up getting a rejection in July. One applied early, the other applied later. So who knows when it comes to the admisssions process.

 

[DMBFan]

How do you apply in April? You can't even begin to fill out AMCAS until May and you can't submit it until June. Also, they give interviews in September. But, yeah, it is (so I've heard) better to get interviews early if it's a rolling school, and most are. If they're non-rolling, meaning they decide who to send acceptances to after they have interviewed all the candidates that they're going to, it doesn't matter. I suppose in that case it could actually help you to have interviewed later because your interviewer might remember you better. And FYI: "verses" is spelled versus. Sorry if I'm being nitpicky but I've been up all night studying for a midterm. Stupid school, aren't I done yet?

Sorry I meant May...

 

[winsicle]

Here's why it is better to have everything in early (including taking the April MCAT), and have an early interview:

1. You will get notification on schools decisions in the fall and don't have to be stressing as much in the spring

 

[akpete]

I think that at rolling schools, it truly does matter. At my MCW interview, they said that they have so many apps and so many were turned in early that they might not even get past October completion dates.

Perhaps it matters most if you're "average." Your app then gets tossed into the pile, and reviewed in order, and you may end up with interviews in Feb and March for waitlist spots.

 

[bidster]

I think even at schools that have "non-rolling" admissions and don't give anyone a final decision till March, granting of interviews can be very largely "rolling" and earlier submission can make a difference. Logically, schools have more spots for interviews available early on--they're more likely to be generous towards the beginning when there are upwards of 600-1000 interview slots open (the range for a lot of schools anyway), rather than later in the application season when they're down to their last 50-100 available invites and have to be even more particular over who gets invited for an interview.

There's also the benefit of not having to deal with secondaries if you're still in school or if you're really busy after the summer is over. I can think of a few secondaries I would have given up on if I hadn't turned them over before fall semester started