Transcript Without Spring Grades

[AUD]

I'm trying to put together the initial steps of my AMCAS app as soon as I can because I won't have much time in the summer. My concern is that my spring semester grades won't be out until early June, and the app opens May 5th (according to the site). I've been reading conflicting views about sending in a transcript before spring grades are out:

1. I won't be able to submit until June anyway so just wait for my Spring grades
2. It takes a few weeks to verify transcripts, so send it now
3. If your GPA will go up, then wait (mine is going to go down from 3.87 to something lower, I'm probably going to get 2 B's)
4. The schools won't look at an updated transcript

Can anyone clarify these conflicting points? I pretty much want to know whether I should wait for spring grades or not.

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[BlueElmo]

Well if your GPA is going to go down significantly, I wouldn't wait.

 

[JJMrK]

I'm in the same position as you.

1. AMCAS is available tomorrow, can be submitted in June and takes a few weeks to process, but won't actually send anything to schools until early July.
2. Just wait. In the scheme of things, a few days won't matter.

 

[AUD]

Well if your GPA is going to go down significantly, I wouldn't wait.

Not significantly, probably down to 3.8 or so. Hopefully, haha.

 

[CupcakeMD]

I'm trying to put together the initial steps of my AMCAS app as soon as I can because I won't have much time in the summer. My concern is that my spring semester grades won't be out until early June, and the app opens May 5th (according to the site). I've been reading conflicting views about sending in a transcript before spring grades are out:

1. I won't be able to submit until June anyway so just wait for my Spring grades
2. It takes a few weeks to verify transcripts, so send it now
3. If your GPA will go up, then wait (mine is going to go down from 3.87 to something lower, I'm probably going to get 2 B's)
4. The schools won't look at an updated transcript

Can anyone clarify these conflicting points? I pretty much want to know whether I should wait for spring grades or not.

I think you should send in your transcripts ASAP, especially since you said you are planning to apply early.

AMCAS accepts transcripts starting on or about May 5 (FAQ from their website).

 

[BlueElmo]

Not significantly, probably down to 3.8 or so. Hopefully, haha.

I would wait if I were you.

 

[funkydrmonkey]

I'm trying to put together the initial steps of my AMCAS app as soon as I can because I won't have much time in the summer. My concern is that my spring semester grades won't be out until early June, and the app opens May 5th (according to the site). I've been reading conflicting views about sending in a transcript before spring grades are out:

1. I won't be able to submit until June anyway so just wait for my Spring grades
2. It takes a few weeks to verify transcripts, so send it now
3. If your GPA will go up, then wait (mine is going to go down from 3.87 to something lower, I'm probably going to get 2 B's)
4. The schools won't look at an updated transcript

Can anyone clarify these conflicting points? I pretty much want to know whether I should wait for spring grades or not.

If I waited for my spring quarter grades my GPA would have gone down, so therefore I submit my AMCAS before the grades came out. No one has castigated me on it, so far...

 

[Appless]

2. correct
3. considering you are dropping from a 3.87 to a 3.8 seriously that wont matter.
4. Thats false schools sometimes request this.

really its a personal decision that isnt going to really make or break you either way. Me personally im paranoid as hell and with my low MCAT i want to get my apps out asap + right now i have time and over the summer i wont have a lot of time. One big thing to consider is that are you a junior or senior? If you are a junior then I would wait as most schools want to see your progress. If you are a senior its not as big a deal as ideally all the pre med reqs are already on the transcripts and they realize that the transcripts you are sending them are basically your final transcripts since most graduate in the spring. As a senior they can better evaluate everything since you have more classes on there.

 

[Raryn]

The usual rule of thumb is this:

If you are applying after three years (i.e. application process during your fourth year), you should wait till your spring grades are posted, because otherwise you are only showing 2.5 years of grades.

If you are applying after you graduate (or with only a few months left), you have plenty of academic record already, and you can get away without waiting, because you have 3.5+ years of academic record to go off of

 

[SiR99]

But is submitting your application in Mid June too late vs on the first day you can submit it??

I keep hearing people say that they dont send out the first set of applications before a certain date, but about what day can you submit your application and get it verified in time to be sent out with this first set?

 

[BlueElmo]

I've heard it doesn't matter.

 

[majestic red]

My adviser has basically said that, unless you think your spring grades will push you over some edge, it isn't really worth it to wait. However, I go to a quarter system school, so when I applied at the end of my junior year, I had 8 quarters worth of grades. I don't think it matters that much if your GPA isn't changing that much. You can always update your schools with your new grades later.

 

[junkct]

My adviser has basically said that, unless you think your spring grades will push you over some edge, it isn't really worth it to wait. However, I go to a quarter system school, so when I applied at the end of my junior year, I had 8 quarters worth of grades. I don't think it matters that much if your GPA isn't changing that much. You can always update your schools with your new grades later.

Yeah, the difference between 8 and 9 quarters is a lot smaller than the difference between 5 and 6 semesters. However, if you've been consistently strong, I don't think it should be a problem submitting early; why would they think you would've done any worse in your final semester? Also, if you go to a UC where school doesn't end till 6/15 and grades won't come out for 1.5-2 weeks later, then you're already hitting july, which is kinda late. If your GPA isn't gonna improve that much with a final quarter, then it's probably not worth risking a late app.

 

[witness23]

I thought you had to submit spring grades because the course would be over by the time AMCAS is open for submission or something like that. egh I waited. I'm not sure what the policy is. Some Universities actually hold the transcript themselves if they are waiting for grades or graduation.

 

[vickpick]

I would wait if I were you. AMCAS don't send the apps to Med schools until June 1st (?) anyways..

 

[byurazorhog]

Some Universities actually hold the transcript themselves if they are waiting for grades or graduation

What universities do this? If you choose the option on the transcript request to send it out ASAP then they'd do it, period.

If waiting only a few weeks in June would seriously hurt your chances of getting in med school then you should go ahead and submit it now.

 

[Bromination]

Im struggling on what to do because people are saying different things. So heres my situation. I graduate in a few weeks, have over 125 credits under my belt and am only in 10 credits this semester. If I send my transcripts today, it wont have spring grades and could potentially make my primary complete almost a month earlier (schools wont have spring grades on transcripts until mid june). What should I do??

 

[Raryn]

Im struggling on what to do because people are saying different things. So heres my situation. I graduate in a few weeks, have over 125 credits under my belt and am only in 10 credits this semester. If I send my transcripts today, it wont have spring grades and could potentially make my primary complete almost a month earlier (schools wont have spring grades on transcripts until mid june). What should I do??

You're fine if you send it now. The conflict is more with Juniors that don't have three full years of recorded coursework yet.

 

[WaterBird]

The usual rule of thumb is this:

If you are applying after three years (i.e. application process during your fourth year), you should wait till your spring grades are posted, because otherwise you are only showing 2.5 years of grades.

If you are applying after you graduate (or with only a few months left), you have plenty of academic record already, and you can get away without waiting, because you have 3.5+ years of academic record to go off of

Agreed
OP - are you a 3rd or 4th yr?

In your situation, one advantage of waiting is you still have a great GPA, so adcoms might be less likely to notice your mediocre spring term. If you have to send it in as an update, then they are going to see it as a separate page (about 1/3 of the schools i interviewed at had update sheets on interview day with any classes you had taken since submitting w/ grades). I personally think a 3.8 looks better than a 3.87 plus a most recent semester of 3.4 or whatever.

Also, mid-June is fine. That is still "early".

 

[AUD]

Agreed
OP - are you a 3rd or 4th yr?

In your situation, one advantage of waiting is you still have a great GPA, so adcoms might be less likely to notice your mediocre spring term. If you have to send it in as an update, then they are going to see it as a separate page (about 1/3 of the schools i interviewed at had update sheets on interview day with any classes you had taken since submitting w/ grades). I personally think a 3.8 looks better than a 3.87 plus a most recent semester of 3.4 or whatever.

Also, mid-June is fine. That is still "early".

3rd year, this will be my first time applying. If mid June is considered early, then I'll just have everything else ready ahead of time and send a transcript as soon as grades are released. I dunno, I might just flip a coin and decide, since so both options seem equally unimportant.

 

[mvenus929]

Just to clarify some things...

AMCAS opened today. That just means you can start filling out the application, but even if you finish it all today, you can't do anything with it until around June 2.

June 2 (or so), you can submit your application for verification. That means that once they have your transcripts, they will cross check the information you put in with that on your transcript. Throughout June, this only takes a couple days. In July, it takes a little longer. In August, we're looking at two weeks or so, and if you submit later than August, it'll be a few weeks. Two years ago, I submitted on June 19th, and it took 2-3 days to be verified. It does not take weeks at the beginning.

MIDDLE of June (on or around the 20th), AMCAS will begin submitting the primaries to medical schools. So even if you submit on the 2nd, you'll be waiting about a month before the secondaries start rolling in.

Yes, you should apply early, but don't worry if you don't submit your application at midnight on the 2nd. You'll be fine, and you'll still be ahead of the game if you get your application in anytime in June.

 

[AUD]

Just to clarify some things...

AMCAS opened today. That just means you can start filling out the application, but even if you finish it all today, you can't do anything with it until around June 2.

June 2 (or so), you can submit your application for verification. That means that once they have your transcripts, they will cross check the information you put in with that on your transcript. Throughout June, this only takes a couple days. In July, it takes a little longer. In August, we're looking at two weeks or so, and if you submit later than August, it'll be a few weeks. Two years ago, I submitted on June 19th, and it took 2-3 days to be verified. It does not take weeks at the beginning.

MIDDLE of June (on or around the 20th), AMCAS will begin submitting the primaries to medical schools. So even if you submit on the 2nd, you'll be waiting about a month before the secondaries start rolling in.

Yes, you should apply early, but don't worry if you don't submit your application at midnight on the 2nd. You'll be fine, and you'll still be ahead of the game if you get your application in anytime in June.

THANK YOU. That's one of the best answers I've seen yet; it looks like it would be best to just wait for my grades.

 

[junkct]

but if we feel like we aren't going to be doing as well this quarter, wouldn't it be smarter to just submit now? I go to a quarter school and I'm in my third year. I figured 8 quarters (and I have 130+ units.. yay engineering) would be enough to prove to them that I'm a consistently strong student. A 9th quarter wouldn't really add to it, and the fact that I've been a little bit lax about grades this quarter might actually detract from it....

 

[Roy3333]

I'm in a similar situation as you junkct. I would really like to find an answer to this question. My school doesn't get out until June 15th, meaning I won't get my grades until at least the 22nd. Considering I will have my mcat scores back way before that, and considering that my GPA will probably go down, would it be better to just send in 8 quarters worth of grades? Would it be possible to get someone like LizzyM to reply with this, as she would probably know best.

 

[BlueElmo]

Just to clarify some things...

AMCAS opened today. That just means you can start filling out the application, but even if you finish it all today, you can't do anything with it until around June 2.

June 2 (or so), you can submit your application for verification. That means that once they have your transcripts, they will cross check the information you put in with that on your transcript. Throughout June, this only takes a couple days. In July, it takes a little longer. In August, we're looking at two weeks or so, and if you submit later than August, it'll be a few weeks. Two years ago, I submitted on June 19th, and it took 2-3 days to be verified. It does not take weeks at the beginning.

MIDDLE of June (on or around the 20th), AMCAS will begin submitting the primaries to medical schools. So even if you submit on the 2nd, you'll be waiting about a month before the secondaries start rolling in.

Yes, you should apply early, but don't worry if you don't submit your application at midnight on the 2nd. You'll be fine, and you'll still be ahead of the game if you get your application in anytime in June.

Wow, you are amazing. Finally a clear cut explanation.