to EDP or not?

[awh112]

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I am wondering whether it would be a wise choise to consider Early Decision Program or not. I am very set on one of my in-state schools, and was wondering if EDP was better if you had good, bad, or average stats. I am a Kentucky resident really hoping to go to University of Kentucky for medical school. Would applying for EDP be a bad idea, given that I would probably have average stats?

 

[245399]

Dont do it.

 

[NotAndrew]

You should only apply for an early decision program if you have very competitive stats. Otherwise you will not be able to apply to other schools until October. I believe with the EDP you will find out if you have been accepted or not by October 1st, however if you apply as soon as possible and complete secondaries in a timely manner you may have a decision in October anyway.

 

[amph119]

EDP is really only for people who will be unable to complete the application process during the normal time. It is NOT intended for someone to show an exorbitant amount of love for a specific school. You can do that at the interview, via a letter of intent, etc (as long as you do it appropriately, of course). Unless you are going overseas from November to Feburary or are otherwise hugely detained, do not do EDP.

 

[MSU2012]

I was told by my state school that it's a big mistake to apply early with average stats. You do NOT increase the chance of being accepted by the school you choose (the same standards are applied to all applicants), and you really hurt your chances elsewhere.

If you apply for the regular cycle and are a really competitive applicant for the school you may hear back as early as October 15th anyways.

 

[woodgate1234]

I am wondering whether it would be a wise choise to consider Early Decision Program or not. I am very set on one of my in-state schools, and was wondering if EDP was better if you had good, bad, or average stats. I am a Kentucky resident really hoping to go to University of Kentucky for medical school. Would applying for EDP be a bad idea, given that I would probably have average stats?

sure if u like to gamble. i know a couple of people that got accepted edp at uk. it depends on ur stats, what's ur gpa and what can u break a 30 on the mcat?

 

[BlueElmo]

hey guys fo you guys have any idea exactly how many apply EDP and how many get accepted in a typical medical school?

 

[UGAmkw]

I don't think you have to have amazing stats to get in EDP. Of course it depends on the school, I would agree if it is a top tier school. But many schools see this and KNOW you have to go there, don't you think that helps? And they see EDP apps before the regular decision apps, so instead of being better than the many,many, many more that apply regular decision, you only have to be better than those who apply EDP. If two people were to have the same stats, one applies reg. decision, the other EDP to the same school.... I'll bet the EDP has a better chance

 

[NotAndrew]

I don't think you have to have amazing stats to get in EDP. Of course it depends on the school, I would agree if it is a top tier school. But many schools see this and KNOW you have to go there, don't you think that helps? And they see EDP apps before the regular decision apps, so instead of being better than the many,many, many more that apply regular decision, you only have to be better than those who apply EDP. If two people were to have the same stats, one applies reg. decision, the other EDP to the same school.... I'll bet the EDP has a better chance

The thinking behind needing amazing stats to apply for an EDP is that if you don't get in you are then applying very late in the cycle to regular decision programs.

 

[Cadams1]

I did EDP this cycle and got deferred to regular admission so I didn't get to app other places til late and they are right, it sucks bigtime!

 

[UGAmkw]

The thinking behind needing amazing stats to apply for an EDP is that if you don't get in you are then applying very late in the cycle to regular decision programs.

why would someone with amazing stats apply EDP though? when they probably know they could get into several. In my opinion, it would benefit if your stats are below average to apply EDP (of course to a bottom tier school) just because the school has the benefit of knowing you will go there, and since you probably wouldn't get in any where else

 

[NotAndrew]

why would someone with amazing stats apply EDP though? when they probably know they could get into several. In my opinion, it would benefit if your stats are below average to apply EDP (of course to a bottom tier school) just because the school has the benefit of knowing you will go there, and since you probably wouldn't get in any where else

Maybe, but the lower your stats are the harder time you have estimating your chances anywhere. I think it would be pretty hard to pick one school where you have a decent to good chance at getting in. If I had below average stats I would apply to as many schools as possible as early as possible to increase my odds as much as possible.

 

[UGAmkw]

thats true, but look at Mercer for example, ONLY accepts in state apps, below avg stats, and about half are accepted EDP. I'll bet the ones who got in EDP probably have the low stats of the entire class. Just because after EDP, you have to compete with so many more. It is a gamble either way, but in my situation for example (want to go to school in georgia and not so good stats) then i would think it would benefit me to apply EDP

 

[awh112]

Thanks for all of your responses. I was very unsure about what to do, because I really like my in-state school, and it would be my first choice, but I can't decide whether it is a good idea to apply early or not. I'm not quite sure how they look at applicants, or how many apply through EDP, but I think it would be something to ask their admissions people about. I hear people that either have great experiences with EDP, or bad ones.

 

[amph119]

I'm going to reiterate that applying EDP is NOT meant to be a way to show a school that they are your number one choice. You will gain no advantage in doing so in that sense. The ONLY reason you should apply EDP is if, for example, you are traveling to Europe to live there for the bulk of the application cycle and interviewing at that time would be impossible. EDP is not, again, is not for showing that a school is your number one choice (and given that you haven't seen any other schools and, for that matter, won't even be APPLYING to them much less interviewing at them before a decision would even be made on your app, how could it be?).

Don't do it.

 

[twoinone]

If suppose during the EDP process, only ~10 applicant apply, then wouldn't each application get a better look than say during the regular cycle when the school might receive upwards of 3000 applications..

 

[BlueElmo]

If suppose during the EDP process, only ~10 applicant apply, then wouldn't each application get a better look than say during the regular cycle when the school might receive upwards of 3000 applications..

I don't know if this would be a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

The only benefit to apply EDP is saving money on application fees.

 

[Zaibatsu]

I'm going to reiterate that applying EDP is NOT meant to be a way to show a school that they are your number one choice. You will gain no advantage in doing so in that sense. The ONLY reason you should apply EDP is if, for example, you are traveling to Europe to live there for the bulk of the application cycle and interviewing at that time would be impossible. EDP is not, again, is not for showing that a school is your number one choice (and given that you haven't seen any other schools and, for that matter, won't even be APPLYING to them much less interviewing at them before a decision would even be made on your app, how could it be?).

Don't do it.

I'd like to know where you got this information.

 

[NotAndrew]

I'd like to know where you got this information.

Me too.

Since most participating schools admit only a small portion of their entering class through the program, only applicants with an excellent chance of admission to a particular school should apply under the Early Decision Program.

This is from the AAMC's website and it refers to applying for the EDP. As you can see nothing on the website refers to being out of the country or any other reason why you should apply for the EDP.

 

[moonshine2]

I applied EDP as a nontrad, and it worked out for me. Honestly though, I don't know if I would do it again. The closer to October 1 it got with the phone not ringing, the more I was wondering if I made the right choice. We would have had to do some major planning to move though, so the backup plan was to apply late to one additional school, and then reapply more broadly the next year.

Call the school and ask what stats you need to be considered competitive for early decision. The school I applied to told me that I needed to have at least the average GPA and MCAT of the previous year's incoming class to be competitive. If you don't meet those numbers, I wouldn't risk it. Just be prepared to apply early. There were people there the day I interviewed who did not apply early decision, just applied early.

 

[virusgirl]

why would someone with amazing stats apply EDP though? when they probably know they could get into several. In my opinion, it would benefit if your stats are below average to apply EDP (of course to a bottom tier school) just because the school has the benefit of knowing you will go there, and since you probably wouldn't get in any where else

People with amazing stats apply EDP because they know where they want to go, they know that they'll be accepted there regardless of whether or not they apply EDP, and they want to bypass the effort and expense of applying to many schools. So applying EDP with less-than-stellar stats is NOT a good idea, as you are being evaluated in the context of applicants who are even stronger than the regular pool.

I don't think it really matters to a school that they "know you will go there." I think at this point there are more than two applicants for every allopathic seat, so no school needs to worry about filling its class. Either they fill early with EDP applicants, or they fill later. As much as we like to think it helps, declaring your undying love for a particular school probably has relatively little impact upon admissions (except maybe for people who are wait-listed).

 

[Zaibatsu]

People with amazing stats apply EDP because they know where they want to go, they know that they'll be accepted there regardless of whether or not they apply EDP, and they want to bypass the effort and expense of applying to many schools. So applying EDP with less-than-stellar stats is NOT a good idea, as you are being evaluated in the context of applicants who are even stronger than the regular pool.

This is probably more accurate than assuming that EDP is only for candidates that cannot apply normally.

 

[HansSpemann]

I'd like to know where you got this information.

Here, this is from University of Chicago's website:

Q. Is Early Decision a good way to show my interest in Pritzker?

A. No, it is not a good strategy. Early Decision was created to allow applicants to apply to medical school who would be unavailable to interview during the usual application cycle. It compacts the application cycle into the summer and early autumn, and restricts the applicant to applying to only Pritzker. The decision for acceptance or not must be made by October 1. If the applicant is accepted, their application cycle is complete—they cannot apply to other medical schools. If they are not accepted, they are then allowed to begin applying to other schools. However, entering the application cycle in late September or early October will jeopardize the application at schools with rolling admissions.

 

[bleedblue]

Here, this is from University of Chicago's website:

Q. Is Early Decision a good way to show my interest in Pritzker?

A. No, it is not a good strategy. Early Decision was created to allow applicants to apply to medical school who would be unavailable to interview during the usual application cycle. It compacts the application cycle into the summer and early autumn, and restricts the applicant to applying to only Pritzker. The decision for acceptance or not must be made by October 1. If the applicant is accepted, their application cycle is complete—they cannot apply to other medical schools. If they are not accepted, they are then allowed to begin applying to other schools. However, entering the application cycle in late September or early October will jeopardize the application at schools with rolling admissions.[/quote

right, also with schools that are lower tier they don't take stellar applicants as serious sometimes and that would help.... but i dunno anyone with average stats or below that applied edp at UK dude, everybody i know that got accepted edp had something special or really good stats

 

[nehuHI]

If I apply for early decision earlier than another early decision candidate, does that mean I get the secondary essays and such faster or is the packet sent out all at once?

 

[redlight]

Here, this is from University of Chicago's website:

Q. Is Early Decision a good way to show my interest in Pritzker?

A. No, it is not a good strategy. Early Decision was created to allow applicants to apply to medical school who would be unavailable to interview during the usual application cycle. It compacts the application cycle into the summer and early autumn, and restricts the applicant to applying to only Pritzker. The decision for acceptance or not must be made by October 1. If the applicant is accepted, their application cycle is complete—they cannot apply to other medical schools. If they are not accepted, they are then allowed to begin applying to other schools. However, entering the application cycle in late September or early October will jeopardize the application at schools with rolling admissions.

thanks! i wasnt considering edp, but now i at least know the initial reasoning behind it (at pritzker at least).