Too Late

[NonTradHopeful]

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Hey guys,

I spoke to my pre-dental committee and they said they won't have my committee letter written and submitted to AADSAS until around July 19 or 20. This means that AADSAS won't send it out (i.e. schools won't get updated with my committee letter) until around end of July.

Everything else in my application is completed and it has been mailed to schools in the first batch (DAT scores, GPA verified, application mailed, etc...).

My question is, is end of July considered "late"? Will I still have a good shot at getting interviews if my application is updated with my committee letter by end of July?

 

[KittySquared]

That is really awful. I was afraid something like that might happen to me so I told my professors that they might have to mail letters individually so they were all prepared. At this point, I'd have them mail their individual letters by Monday or Tuesday the latest to be in the mid-July batch. The last thing you need is for a committee to slow you down in the process. Although it somewhat also depends on your stat. If you have great stats, DATs and such, end of July to late August completion of secondaries should not affect you too much. Alternatively, if you want to bypass the committee letter and have individual letters, the risk you will have to take is the fact that you don't really know if your individual letters are good. Your committee will try to pick out good things from all the letters and compile them to make it sound the best.

Completed application by end of July/early August means you won't be doing secondaries til end of August or even September.

 

[sacapuntas]

We are in the same boat. My committee letter has been in the works since March and I keep being told by the writers that they assure me they will complete the letter in time that it won't negatively impact admissions. I found out today I am about 45th in line to be completed and the prof writing them has taken a 2 week personal vacation. I believe that they are doing 100% of the pre-med letters before they do any pre-dental letters and my letter may not be complete until August at the soonest. Really, really regretting the committee letter process at this point.

 

[diene]

You aren't the only one. I feel like a lot of committees work this way, so I am hoping that dental schools know this

 

[vlaura0214]

This is slightly worrying to me that late July is considered late. My preprofessional committee will be woefully late in comparison to everyone else then. D: Luckily, the school I really want to get into doesn't require letters of recommendations.

 

[NonTradHopeful]

This is slightly worrying to me that late July is considered late. My preprofessional committee will be woefully late in comparison to everyone else then. D: Luckily, the school I really want to get into doesn't require letters of recommendations.

Thanks guys, I guess I'm just panicking for no reason. Having been on SDN for many years, I think I've grown accustomed to the idea that I MUST get my application completed to schools by like mid-July at the latest.

But from the information that I'm gathering, it seems like any time from June to mid-August is still considered "early application" and is still in good shape to get early interviews.

Am I right?

 

[asdfray]

I've been here for years as well and it seems this question comes up every month or two.

The answer seems to be..

June - Early
July - Not early, not late so it's ok
Aug. - Not early nomore. (borderline late)
Sept. - Late

^however, it's speculation.. there's no exact answer to what's considered early. It's not worth worrying about, just get it in when you can. Save your energy elsewhere bud.

 

[Zbtb7]

Committees usually follow the premed application cycle's timeframe which is annoying for predental applicants.

I don't think you should worry.

I go to a top 25 university and most schools in the same tier have prehealth committees. Dental schools know that many schools' committees don't send letters until late July or August and they'll schedule their interview slots accordingly. It's unlikely that they'll shut the door on so many quality applicants.

At my school, all dental applicants go through the committee. We get our letter sent in August but we still place well, feeding into our in-state schools and top tier schools like Penn and Columbia. Many of my friends have had not problems with the "late" committee letter. In fact, they told me that if your school has a committee and you decide to apply around them, dental schools that know your school has a committee will view that as a red flag and wonder why you decided to bypass them.

 

[yellowishbluish]

july to august is good

just don't wait 'til february like i did the first time i applied

 

[znny19]

I had a similar problem at my school. They assign one person to compose the letter and there are a lot of people waiting for com. letters. I personally harassed my advisor so I would be the first one done (it worked mailed in second batch) but I am really close with him so I don't think that would work for everyone.

 

[frosama]

I have the same problem.


Do you think its worth it to pester them(tell them how important it is to you that it gets done ASAP with a nice tone) or just let them finish it when they can? I feel like if I pester them they might be inclined to rush it and/or not write a good one but at the same time, it is really annoying that this could affect me.

 

[cmcner]

Most schools won't determine your order based on committee letter unless it isn't in by review time. Review time generally doesn't start until the new class has entered the school because the admissions office is much more concerned about filling the class of 2016 right now and making sure everyone gets there than they are about looking for people for 2017. Usually DAT scores and Committee letters that arrive before Aug don't hurt an applicant, the other stuff however usually does because they make their files for someone in an order and without that AADSAS app being sent out you don't get a file, secondary fees/applications are also usually an important thing to get out early.

 

[diasIItema]

I had first-round interviews to every school I applied to and my letters weren't sent out until mid-August.