Time between ERAS submission and interviews

[dbeast]

Hey folks, gonna take advantage of all of you who can't sleep before tomorrow to help with some 4th year scheduling. If I understand correctly, ERAS can be submitted on September 1. However, my school doesn't release the dean's letter until October 1. Is that a pretty normal situation? Can my ERAS be submitted without the dean's letter? Or, does it mean I can take my sweet time with my application during all of September since it won't be complete anyway? I know these are basic questions, but search function only has answers from 2007. Thanks, and congrats in advance on your matches!

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[MedStud!]

Hey folks, gonna take advantage of all of you who can't sleep before tomorrow to help with some 4th year scheduling. If I understand correctly, ERAS can be submitted on September 1. However, my school doesn't release the dean's letter until October 1. Is that a pretty normal situation? Can my ERAS be submitted without the dean's letter? Or, does it mean I can take my sweet time with my application during all of September since it won't be complete anyway? I know these are basic questions, but search function only has answers from 2007. Thanks, and congrats in advance on your matches!

Yes you can submit ERAS in September without the Dean's letter (this year's ERAS opened up on September 15th, BTW)... and in my opinion you should! I submitted mine three hours after ERAS opened. There were programs downloading applications from ERAS by the middle of the day. I think the first program that downloaded my application downloaded it at 1pm on the first day it opened. If you haven't submitted its possible they might take it as not being very interested. Its unlikely you will get many interviews until after the Dean's letter is released... but at least they will have your application in hand the first time they access the system. You can also submit your application without all of your LORs completed if one of your writers is dragging their feet. But its better off to request early and give ample time so your application is as complete as possible. I had to badger one of my writers and even write a draft myself to get him to submit on time.

 

[dbeast]

Yes you can submit ERAS in September without the Dean's letter (this year's ERAS opened up on September 15th, BTW)... and in my opinion you should! I submitted mine three hours after ERAS opened. There were programs downloading applications from ERAS by the middle of the day. I think the first program that downloaded my application downloaded it at 1pm on the first day it opened. If you haven't submitted its possible they might take it as not being very interested. Its unlikely you will get many interviews until after the Dean's letter is released... but at least they will have your application in hand the first time they access the system. You can also submit your application without all of your LORs completed if one of your writers is dragging their feet. But its better off to request early and give ample time so your application is as complete as possible. I had to badger one of my writers and even write a draft myself to get him to submit on time.

Awesome, this is exactly the info I was hoping for. Thank you!

 

[JJMrK]

Normal. Submit ERAS within the first day. You have plenty of time to work on it prior to the opening so there's no reason not to do so. You may or may not get interview invites during that time period depending on your specialty and competitiveness.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Normal. Submit ERAS within the first day. You have plenty of time to work on it prior to the opening so there's no reason not to do so. You may or may not get interview invites during that time period depending on your specialty and competitiveness.

Right. OP, programs will download your file between ERAS opening and letters going out.

Standardized ERAS release date was 9/15 last year. Your school was follow the official date, though they may want stuff in early for final review.

 

[chompie]

I rotated at an away elective rotation in August, asked for letter around 8/20 or so from the Chair of that department. I'm not sure that the letter from that away rotation will be submitted by 9/15. I already have 4 supposedly strong letters from my home institution (1 from Peds chair, 1 from peds clerkship director, 1 from FM clerkship director, 1 from IM clerkship director) so I'm not too worried.

However, I would at least like for the program I rotated at to get the letter from the to be included in my application for that program. How should I go about doing that if the letter is not submitted before 9/15? Do I just assign the letter later to the program? Will they see that my app has been updated?

I hope my question is clear...thanks!

 

[HoboCommander]

I wonder this myself.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Yes, you just assign the letter later to the program. This question is all over the place on here. However, you cannot assign more than 4 letters to any one program (although you may have more than 4 in the system) so keep that in mind.

 

[HoboCommander]

Yes, you just assign the letter later to the program. This question is all over the place on here. However, you cannot assign more than 4 letters to any one program (although you may have more than 4 in the system) so keep that in mind.

That's what I thought, but when I tried, this "LOR lock" popped up and it confused me. My 4th letter has not come in yet and it won't let me check the box.

Also, what if your 4th letter writer is too slow and never submits the letter? Would your app forever be incomplete, therefore destroying your residency hopes?

 

[eablackwell]

I've yet to find a program (in gas at least) that requires four letters. Most ask for only 3, some are not specific, so I just automatically assigned them four. One program even asked for only two.

 

[JP2740]

That's what I thought, but when I tried, this "LOR lock" popped up and it confused me. My 4th letter has not come in yet and it won't let me check the box.

Also, what if your 4th letter writer is too slow and never submits the letter? Would your app forever be incomplete, therefore destroying your residency hopes?

Once the letter is actually in, you will be able to check the box even if you submitted your app already.

 

[Kaustikos]

Well, ****. Might as well ask for a LOR from the vascular director.