Too Late to apply DO this cycle?

[Prettywoman0172]

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Hello again,

I was *just granted an AACOMAS fee waiver on Wednesday for this cycle. My AACOMAS app is done, but I wasnt going to submit it this cycle because I postponed my MCAT to 1/10. I checked the deadlines and called the four schools I would be applying to and I would make it in under the deadlines. Is it even worth it? Bad idea?

 

[ridethecliche]

It's really late right now. Why not just apply in the fall?

Schools have very few interviews slots left and you haven't even completed secondaries yet. I would call this cycle a wash at this point...it started in June/July for most. I know DO started a bit later but it's really late.

Your MCAT score won't be out till feb. It's way too late tbh.

 

[Gordon Gekko]

KCUMB is full now. Others are only half full, but Feb is really late. Seeing your stats and ECs from your other post, you'd be snapped up easy next cycle if you have everything ready by July. If you have $ to burn, try the four, but call them again in Feb to see how long their waitlist is.

 

[QofQuimica]

Apply this summer. If you have so much spare cash that you can afford to waste a few thousand dollars for no good reason, send it to me instead of to AACOMAS. I promise *I* won't waste it.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Q, I was about to suggest the same thing. At this point you'd just be making a donation to AACOMAS or the DO schools. Applying makes absolutely no sense. I'm sure both Q or myself will make much better use of the money [*hint* *hint*].

P.S. I sat for the Sep 6 MCAT. My MCAT was released in early Oct and I was complete with AACOMAS in mid-Oct. It took some schools a month to get my a secondary so I turned some in late Nov/early Dec. Despite reading sdn a lot, I was no aware of this huge delay in schools sending out secondaries after your primary is complete. You might actually miss most March deadlines with a Feb MCAT score release.

Apply this summer. If you have so much spare cash that you can afford to waste a few thousand dollars for no good reason, send it to me instead of to AACOMAS. I promise *I* won't waste it.

 

[Prettywoman0172]

I was granted a fee waiver from AACOMAS - last week...which was the reason I asked. I, too, think I should wait...but it wont cost me anything to apply with the fee waiver.

 

[mspeedwagon]

If the fee waiver is ONLY valid this cycle, then apply to as much as you can at no cost. I'm guessing you'll have secondary fees waived as well. If you would qualify next cycle, I'd wait and just re-apply for the fee waiver (I don't know too much about how fee waivers work).

I was granted a fee waiver from AACOMAS - last week...which was the reason I asked. I, too, think I should wait...but it wont cost me anything to apply with the fee waiver.

 

[QofQuimica]

Does that fee waiver cover secondary fees at each school? Gas/hotels/car rentals/plane tickets for interview trips? Buying a suit to interview in if you don't have one already? Compensating you for lost wages for the days you take off work?

The money you spend on your primary is a drop in the bucket. You have to look at the big picture here, not just at one tiny detail. I don't care how much "assistance" you think you're getting; applying to med school is still tremendously expensive. Definitely not something to half-a**.

 

[Siggy]

Does that fee waiver cover secondary fees at each school? Gas/hotels/car rentals/plane tickets for interview trips? Buying a suit to interview in if you don't have one already? Compensating you for lost wages for the days you take off work?

The money you spend on your primary is a drop in the bucket. You have to look at the big picture here, not just at one tiny detail. I don't care how much "assistance" you think you're getting; applying to med school is still tremendously expensive. Definitely not something to half-a**.

I don't think that the interview costs should be considered. If you get an interview, you've got an interview. At least when I applied (granted, 5 years ago), I applied late to DO schools (complete in Nov, secondaries in December/early January) and ended up with 4 interviews which resulted in 2 "wait list, but if we don't get to you, we'll accept you for next year automatically."

The problem is even if AACOMAS gets verified quickly, you're still looking at January to Feburary for secondaries, so the vast majority of interview spots will be full. So at this point, waiting for next year will probably be the best. In the mean time you can shore up you package, especially if you don't have a DO letter (shadow if you have to).

 

[QofQuimica]

If you or some other secret Santa is planning to pay her interview costs, sure, she can discount them. Otherwise, she'd better be prepared to pay up. Why apply in the first place if you don't plan to interview? The goal of applying is to get a med school acceptance, not just an interview invite. The latter is simply a single step on the path to the former. It's not an end goal in and of itself.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I don't know about other schools, but at my school we interview until April. It's not unheard of to get either an acceptance or a deferred acceptance for next cycle.

 

[Prettywoman0172]

I think I might do it then...

Thank you everyone.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I wouldn't factor in interview costs. If you are getting interviews, there is a chance of acceptance (and you'd be paying these whether you apply this cycle or next). It also seems many DO schools are willing to guarantee you admittance to the following class if the current one is full (not a common practice at MD schools, but I've heard of this from several DO schools).

The only thing I'd say is that if you apply early the following cycle you can apply both MD/DO (especially if you'd prefer to save some tuition in-state over going DO). You may ultimately have more choice applying early. Good luck!

If you or some other secret Santa is planning to pay her interview costs, sure, she can discount them.

 

[Dreamstoo]

I do know someone who had a 3.4/29 (GPA was lower than the school's average) and got in applying mid January a couple of cycles ago. Generally, it is best to get everything in by October-November for DO schools.

 

[W19]

I think I might do it then...

Thank you everyone.

Apply also to WVSOM; I interviewed there in March last cycle and was accepted, but declined and chose MD.