Transcripts and primary application verification

[winterwind_23]

I'm planning to submit my application the first day it opens, but I have one problem. My last final for the semester is on May 11, and the professor teaching this class is notorious for taking weeks to grade exams. She did not return our first midterm until a full month after we took it. So going off of this pattern, I will probably not get my final grade for this class until mid-June. I know I'll have the rest of my grades in by early May from my other classes.

My question is: should I obtain and submit my transcripts before I get this final grade? What happens if I list this class with a preliminary grade? Will I not get verified because I'm missing one grade from my transcript? If so, can I NOT list this class, submit my transcript, get verified early, and then when the grade finally comes out, edit my verified application to include this class and send in a new transcript with the final grade?

Or is it a better option to just wait for my grade and then submit everything? In this case, the transcript will not get to AMCAS until late June.

The difference between having this class on my transcript is a 3.39 vs. 3.41 (assuming I get an A). If I can go with the first option and edit my application with an updated transcript later, schools will see my "new" GPA, right?

What is your advice here??? Thanks for the help!

EDIT: my cGPA will actually be 3.39 without the class, and 3.41 with the class.

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[Doug Underhill]

It probably won't make much of a difference to have a 3.40 vs. a 3.41.

 

[winterwind_23]

It probably won't make much of a difference to have a 3.40 vs. a 3.41.

So your advice is to go ahead and send in my "preliminary" transcript and not list the class on my application? Would I be able to update my verified application with the class and grade once I receive the grade?

 

[musicalfeet]

So your advice is to go ahead and send in my "preliminary" transcript and not list the class on my application? Would I be able to update my verified application with the class and grade once I receive the grade?

On that note..I thought we'd probably list a class as "In progress" since you've already taken this class and you will be updating the schools later on what grade you've received (pretty sure AMCAS won't take updates) ? I also heard that's a good strategy as it gives you an excuse to contact the schools later in the cycle. I really want a clear answer to your question to as I'm in pretty much the exact same situation (but only with 1 non-science class...so I'm not sure if it's even worth waiting)

 

[winterwind_23]

On that note..I thought we'd probably list a class as "In progress" since you've already taken this class and you will be updating the schools later on what grade you've received (pretty sure AMCAS won't take updates) ? I also heard that's a good strategy as it gives you an excuse to contact the schools later in the cycle. I really want a clear answer to your question to as I'm in pretty much the exact same situation (but only with 1 non-science class...so I'm not sure if it's even worth waiting)

If I were to list the class as "In progress", I would later need to update each school individually? So will the first GPA they see be 3.39 (instead of 3.41, with my last class)? I won't be able to update my AMCAS application to reflect my updated GPA? I don't want schools to get a bad impression by seeing 3.39, even after updating my transcripts!

 

[Snakes]

In previous years once you were verified, there was no updating of your GPA that would be seen by ADCOMs.

I haven't seen this year's rules, but I would assume the same would apply.

My entire semester's grades are pending and they will all be listed as "in progress" for this semester. They will not count towards my GPA calc.

 

[winterwind_23]

In previous years once you were verified, there was no updating of your GPA that would be seen by ADCOMs

If that is the case, then I guess it would be better to just wait for my grade and hope it comes out earlier than I expect? Or would you advise to just submit and get verified earlier?

Is the 3.41 vs. 3.39 worth it to wait until mid-June to be able to order a transcript? If the transcript gets in by late June, when will I be verified? Will this make a huge difference?

 

[Snakes]

My question is: should I obtain and submit my transcripts before I get this final grade? What happens if I list this class with a preliminary grade? Will I not get verified because I'm missing one grade from my transcript? If so, can I NOT list this class, submit my transcript, get verified early, and then when the grade finally comes out, edit my verified application to include this class and send in a new transcript with the final grade?

1. Yes.
2. You can't list it with a preliminary grade. That's not how AMCAS works.
3. You will be verified with the transcripts immediately available to you. If you do so in May, your classes for this semester will say "in progress". That is how they should be reported. If you report something else, they will not match and AMCAS will make you fix them before verifying you.
4. No. The class will appear on your transcript as currently enrolled. Once you are verified, your grades and GPA will not be re verified. That's why making sure everything is correct pre-verification is so important.

I personally would submit without this semester's grades, but I think being verified and submitted early is better than the small GPA bump you're talking about.

 

[electrophile1984]

My friend applied last year - we are on the quarter system so transcripts can't be sent out with updated grades til mid June. She had her transcripts sent out immediately after they updated with the grades, but the verification process wasn't started until very late June and she wasn't verified until mid August.

 

[Snakes]

If that is the case, then I guess it would be better to just wait for my grade and hope it comes out earlier than I expect? Or would you advise to just submit and get verified earlier?

Is the 3.41 vs. 3.39 worth it to wait until mid-June to be able to order a transcript? If the transcript gets in by late June, when will I be verified? Will this make a huge difference?

I would submit earlier, personally. First, look at your school calendar and see when final grades are due. There's always a deadline and that's when they will appear on your transcript. That's the date you should go by. Professors can't just turn in grades whenever they want. There is a deadline.

If you don't order your transcript until mid-June, there will probably be a decent transcript review backlog by then. AMCAS shows on their webpage how long it's taking them to "see" transcripts that have been received by their office. Then it must be verified. That can take quite some time. By August it takes about a month to six weeks. Generally the earlier you submit, the shorter the verification time.

AMCAS is projecting that verified apps will go to schools the first week of July. You may decide that the wait difference isn't that much but mid-June to order transcripts would make me nervous about timing.

 

[winterwind_23]

My friend applied last year - we are on the quarter system so transcripts can't be sent out with updated grades til mid June. She had her transcripts sent out immediately after they updated with the grades, but the verification process wasn't started until very late June and she wasn't verified until mid August.

Verified by mid-August vs. by late-June...I definitely want to be verified before August! Thanks for the input. This definitely pushes me toward just submitting my transcript early rather than later!

 

[winterwind_23]

I would submit earlier, personally. First, look at your school calendar and see when final grades are due. There's always a deadline and that's when they will appear on your transcript. That's the date you should go by. Professors can't just turn in grades whenever they want. There is a deadline.

If you don't order your transcript until mid-June, there will probably be a decent transcript review backlog by then. AMCAS shows on their webpage how long it's taking them to "see" transcripts that have been received by their office. Then it must be verified. That can take quite some time. By August it takes about a month to six weeks. Generally the earlier you submit, the shorter the verification time.

AMCAS is projecting that verified apps will go to schools the first week of July. You may decide that the wait difference isn't that much but mid-June to order transcripts would make me nervous about timing.

Thanks for the detailed response. I will talk to my professor to see if she can expedite grading for me. I have also emailed the registrar's office to check the due date for grades.

When would you recommend be the latest I send in my transcript if I want to submit my application the first week of June? Can I wait until the last week of May to see if my grade for the class has come in before I order my transcript? Or would that be too late? I could rush order the transcript at that point too.

EDIT: One more thing - how do I update schools after I receive my grade for this last class? Once I do update them, will they see 3.41 (as opposed to the old 3.39), or will they still see 3.39 with the additional course listed with the grade?

 

[winterwind_23]

Looks like part of my question is answered here: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/faqs/183144/amcas_2010_faqs-6.8.html

From AAMC website:
----------------
Should I wait to send my transcript(s) until my Spring semester or Summer session grades are available?

If you want grades from your last quarter or session to be calculated into your AMCAS GPAs, they must be:

• entered correctly in the Course Work section of your application, and
  
• reflected on your official transcript.

Therefore, if these grades are not available when AMCAS receives your transcript, they will not be included in your AMCAS GPAs. In this situation, your AMCAS GPAs will NOT be recalculated even if your registrar sends an updated transcript.
----------------

I guess since AMCAS does not recalculate GPA, I will probably wait for my Spring grades and just hope that they come out earlier than I expect. The 3.39 -> 3.41 boost is probably more psychological than anything, but I still want to be over that 3.40 mark when I apply.

Let's say that my grades are available June 15 and I order transcripts and have them sent in on the 15th, when will AMCAS be able to verify my application by? Will it be before they start sending out the primaries to schools? Does anyone have experience submitting their completed application around the 3rd or 4th week of June?

 

[Snakes]

Thanks for the detailed response. I will talk to my professor to see if she can expedite grading for me. I have also emailed the registrar's office to check the due date for grades.

When would you recommend be the latest I send in my transcript if I want to submit my application the first week of June? Can I wait until the last week of May to see if my grade for the class has come in before I order my transcript? Or would that be too late? I could rush order the transcript at that point too.

Asking your professor to expedite grading will not make a difference. The grades are due when they are due. There will be professors who will submit final grades as soon the final exam is over and there will be professors submitting grades on the date they are due to the registrar. No grades will appear on your transcript until the grade submission deadline passes.

Speed of transcript submission depends largely on the institution. E-transcripts are available very quickly if your institution(s) offer them. None of mine do, so it's a factor of how long it takes for them to pull up the transcript and for it to be mailed out and actually get to AMCAS. It took my institutions approximately 3 weeks total for all of my transcripts to arrive at AMCAS last year (I thought I was going to apply last year and requested my transcripts in May, but opted to take the MCAT later, so I never submitted my app for verification). I have 4 institutions requiring transcript orders. Of those, 1 transcript was received in a week from request, 2 were received within 2 weeks of request, and the last took 3 whole weeks to get there). That is just my personal experience. You may have institutions that offer E-transcripts and those may be received by AMCAS extremely quickly. It depends on the institutions you need to request transcripts from.

I guess since AMCAS does not recalculate GPA, I will probably wait for my Spring grades and just hope that they come out earlier than I expect. The 3.39 -> 3.41 boost is probably more psychological than anything, but I still want to be over that 3.40 mark when I apply.

Let's say that my grades are available June 15 and I order transcripts and have them sent in on the 15th, when will AMCAS be able to verify my application by? Will it be before they start sending out the primaries to schools? Does anyone have experience submitting their completed application around the 3rd or 4th week of June?

You may want to ask some of the moderators who are on ADCOMs whether the 3.39/3.41 difference makes any substantial difference at their institutions that would justify waiting for Spring grades. @Goro, @gyngyn, @LizzyM ?? Given that your GPA is a little on the low side, my guess is they are going to say that you would be better off applying as early as possible and forgetting about the bump, but I defer to their expertise.

When AMCAS will be able to verify your app is dependent on too many variables to even guess (number of applicants, whether your app has no mistakes that need to be rectified, speed of AMCAS in general). An overview of earlier threads on this topic might help you. People who have submitted for verification on day 1 with no mistakes have reported verification as quickly as a few minutes. As the days go on, this becomes days and then weeks. Based on my transcript ordering experience last year, AMCAS wouldn't even have received all of my transcripts until the end of the first week of July if I had requested them on June 15th. I would guess about 4-6 weeks after that would have been verification. If you could order on June 15th and have them received by AMCAS almost immediately, I would guess you could be verified by mid to late July. Once again, this is only a very rough guesstimate based on previous years' reporting by other students. You may wish to review some of those threads to get a better idea. But no one can really give you a specific answer.

 

[gyngyn]

You may want to ask some of the moderators who are on ADCOMs whether the 3.39/3.41 difference makes any substantial difference at their institutions that would justify waiting for Spring grades. @Goro, @gyngyn, @LizzyM ?? Given that your GPA is a little on the low side, my guess is they are going to say that you would be better off applying as early as possible and forgetting about the bump, but I defer to their expertise.
.

I am not a moderator but in my opinion, an early well chosen application is better than a late one with a minute gpa difference.

 

[Snakes]

I am not a moderator but in my opinion, an early well chosen application is better than a late one with a minute gpa difference.

I assume all of you ADCOM experts are moderators Moderator part not necessary, thanks for weighing in.

 

[LizzyM]

I am not a moderator either, but I do think that there are schools where the cut point may be 3.40 or higher so to apply with a 3.39 could hurt you far more than the delay associated with waiting for Spring grades and a bump to 3.41.

Also, even without a screen, there is a psychological thing where a 3.4x is better than a 3.3x.

 

[MrLogan13]

.

 

[winterwind_23]

Thank you all for chiming in. This has been extremely informative not only for my specific situation, but also for learning about the primary application and verification process! I emailed my registrar's office and they said the grades should be available 3 weeks after the last final exam, which is June 1. If this were the case, I could rush order the transcripts and they should hopefully be in AMCAS's hands by mid June at latest. I think this will be the ideal situation.

I would rather risk a slightly later application than get screened out at places!

 

[Goro]

Concur. But a 3.4 is perfectly fine neighborhood for any DO school.

It probably won't make much of a difference to have a 3.40 vs. a 3.41.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Concur. But a 3.4 is perfectly fine neighborhood for any DO school.

Concerning DO schools, is there a huge difference between a 3.3 and a 3.4, particularly in the science GPA?

 

[Goro]

Not at my school. 3.1? That's a concern.

Concerning DO schools, is there a huge difference between a 3.3 and a 3.4, particularly in the science GPA?