First of all, I want to make sure you understand the entire process:
It is not that med schools don't look at your application before they see your score, they don't consider your application file COMPLETE until they get everthing (this includes all of your letter of recommendation, MCAT scores, AMCAS application and secondary application).
I would advise you to submit your AMCAS application as soon as possible because it takes about 1 month for them to varify your application (basically matching your transcript to what you put down on the amcas application).
Once they varify your amcas application, they then transmit your info to the med schools that you designate. It then takes anywhere from 1-3 for schools to get back to you and either tell you how to access their secondary or actually send you their secondary. Still, some schools sometimes take months to get back to you with secondary information.
After you get the secondary, it is wise to try to finish it and send it out as quick as possible because the main goal is to get your file COMPLETE in all of the med schools as soon as possible.
Once you have send in your secondary application, you then have to make sure all of your Letters of recommendation are send out. Most schools have committees for this and this makes it a bit easier for the applicant because it takes a lot of pressure off you and they do all of the work. Sometimes you can get a lazy committee office that takes forever to send your letters to the schools. In the end it is your responsibility to make sure that everything is sent out and complete.
I also took the august exam and the main thing for people in our position is to make sure that in each school all that separates your file from being officially COMPLETE are the mcat scores which they will get sometime in the middle of October. This means that now you really should be doing your secondaries and at the very least submitting your amcas application.
The name of the game that is applying to med school is speed. In order to be as successful as possible you have to submit everything as early as it is humanly possible. Normally, if you don't take the august mcat, the same applies to you but then you have to submit it even earlier because people are already being interviewed, which means that their file was complete weeks ago. Which means that they sent in everything about a month ago.
Basically, I can only advise you and can't really tell you what to do but believe me. Speed is your friend and you should make sure you do everything as fast as possible. I have known people with great numbers (33+ on mcat and 3.7 gpa) not get into med school because they turned in their application very late and I know people that have average numbers for getting into med school or even below that (28 mcat and 3.4 gpa) who's application and success was aided by the fact that the applied to a lot of schools and sent in everthing very early.
I hope that I helped you in any way.
good luck.
dmitri
