Timeline for applying

[ahawke100]

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Hi everyone,

Thanks for all of your help with my posts. So I'm looking for some input of when I should apply. I graduate in May and will be traveling with the Up With People organization ( traveling service based/performing arts organization) from July to early December. I could be anywhere in world during this time as a result of traveling with them- the states, Mexico, Europe etc.

I'm strictly looking at DO schools, but I'm a bit of an underdog (3.87/3.85 GPA with 25 MCAT).
My plan is to get my primary in in early July of this year, and submit secondaries on November 1st, so that I will hopefully be back in the states by the time I may be invited for interviews.
How much more of a disadvantage is submitting secondaries that late going to put me at? Also, let's say I get an interview-when would be the earliest I could except to have to be at an interview?
And finally, if I'm out of the country and invited for an interview, is there any way to work with admissions committed to get it pushed back a few weeks until
I'm back in the states?

 

[IncuriousGeorge]

Personally, if getting into a medical school was my goal (which I did), I wouldn't go on the traveling trip.
You are putting yourself in a disadvantage by having a significant gap returning your secondaries (I still get emails from MUCOM to submit my secondary at this point but... that is not the point and I know they just want the money).
Can you not go next year after your application cycle is nearly over and you either have an acceptance/WL/rejection?
If you get accepted this year, theoretically August - December, you will have ~8 months to travel and stuff.

However, many schools will let you choose an interview date (and change when things come up). So, being out of the country at that point is not that big of a deal as long as you have internet, as you can plan the interview to after returning to US.
Only downside to that is, most schools are rolling admission.
If you had 27+ MCAT, I'd say you would be pretty safe applying late but...

I don't think that trip is going to add a significant deal to your application if that's what you are looking for (Not saying that you are doing this just to put it in your app).

Also, plan to submit your primary in June... then you will end up submitting it in July.

All of the above is what I personally would do. Take no offense.

 

[ahawke100]

Thank you so much for the input. There is the potential I could defer the trip
until January in which case I would travel January-June. This is a concern if I would be invited for a spring interview though.
If I could choose my interview date, or plan to interview when I got back, I would submit my secondaries right after primaries. I will have Internet on the road. Is being able to choose my interview date always a possibility?

 

[IncuriousGeorge]

I can't speak for every school because I was only invited to 5 and only attended 3. Of the 3 that I followed through with, I believe I was able to choose the dates via online portal for all of them (don't know about other 2 because I didn't even look into it).

 

[ahawke100]

I guess the best thing for me to do would be to contact the schools individually to learn about their individual interview processes.
Would you mind sharing the 3 schools that had the online portal interview scheduler? And do you happen to remember the timeframe from which you could choose to interview as well as how long you had to commit to an interview?

 

[ERK123]

I guess the best thing for me to do would be to contact the schools individually to learn about their individual interview processes.
Would you mind sharing the 3 schools that had the online portal interview scheduler? And do you happen to remember the timeframe from which you could choose to interview as well as how long you had to commit to an interview?

I know both Midwestern schools (Chicago, CCOM and Arizona, AZCOM) have online portal interview schedulers. I don't know how many dates they give options for. I think I only had options over like a 2 week time span, and there were instructions to call if none of the dates work for you. I would be a bit nervous how schools would view your inability to interview for a long period of time as a lack of commitment to the application process, though I could be completely wrong about this. I would certainly call the schools and ask about how they view your specific situation. Hopefully they give you the go ahead to attend your trip because it sounds like a great experience.

 

[ahawke100]

I know both Midwestern schools (Chicago, CCOM and Arizona, AZCOM) have online portal interview schedulers. I don't know how many dates they give options for. I think I only had options over like a 2 week time span, and there were instructions to call if none of the dates work for you. I would be a bit nervous how schools would view your inability to interview for a long period of time as a lack of commitment to the application process, though I could be completely wrong about this. I would certainly call the schools and ask about how they view your specific situation. Hopefully they give you the go ahead to attend your trip because it sounds like a great experience.

Thanks so much for the input! There're a lot of questions up in the air. I'm also hoping they don't look unfavorably upon the trip. While becoming a physician is my goal, I won't ever have an opportunity like this once I become one.

 

[ERK123]

While becoming a physician is my goal, I won't ever have an opportunity like this once I become one.

Completely agree

 

[justpedsthings]

If you can get your app in sometime in June and then get it verified and send in secondaries by the end of July/August, you definitely have some potential to hear back before going on the January trip. I submitted my app the first day it opened and then did the same with secondaries. My stats are pretty similar to yours but with a bit of a higher MCAT after a retake. By mid October I had two acceptances and a third interview I decided not to attend. All three schools allowed me to select a date well in advance (NSU, KCUMB, and ATSU-KCOM) and through an online portal. But not being able to attend fall interviews will absolutely hurt your chances. There are far less interviews in spring and a lot of the interview invites turn into waitlists. If you can defer your trip, I promise having an acceptance under your belt will make it much less stressful! Hope it all works out!

 

[ahawke100]

If you can get your app in sometime in June and then get it verified and send in secondaries by the end of July/August, you definitely have some potential to hear back before going on the January trip. I submitted my app the first day it opened and then did the same with secondaries. My stats are pretty similar to yours but with a bit of a higher MCAT after a retake. By mid October I had two acceptances and a third interview I decided not to attend. All three schools allowed me to select a date well in advance (NSU, KCUMB, and ATSU-KCOM) and through an online portal. But not being able to attend fall interviews will absolutely hurt your chances. There are far less interviews in spring and a lot of the interview invites turn into waitlists. If you can defer your trip, I promise having an acceptance under your belt will make it much less stressful! Hope it all works out!

Thanks so much for weighting in! I'm thinking along these lines right now. I keep coming back to the fact I would be submitting secondaries or interviewing as somewhat of an underdog after classes might already be half full. That's a lot of money to spend on chances that could be more in my favor by submitting earlier. Pushing the travel back to January might be my best option-I'd still get the experience and not jeopardize how the admissions staff view my commitment...so long as I can get some responses before January.

 

[justpedsthings]

Thanks so much for weighting in! I'm thinking along these lines right now. I keep coming back to the fact I would be submitting secondaries or interviewing as somewhat of an underdog after classes might already be half full. That's a lot of money to spend on chances that could be more in my favor by submitting earlier. Pushing the travel back to January might be my best option-I'd still get the experience and not jeopardize how the admissions staff view my commitment.

Yeah, your chances will be significantly higher if you apply first thing. When I spoke to both admissions officers at NSU and KCUMB, they were pretty set on having majority of all of their class full by the December deadline for payment. I know both schools have had a few interview slots in the spring this cycle but I'm not sure what the turn around is. I would suggest (to solidify your decision) trying to find each school specific discussion from this cycle and seeing how much activity there's been the last few months. That'll let you see how many IIs are going out and what the stats are like of people getting them. Either way, you'd definitely be risking a lot by waiting till spring! If you are okay with deferring the trip, I think most people who have gone through the application process will advise you to do so