Turn in secondary within two weeks or face rejection?

[medstuddude]

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I've heard some people say that if you don't turn in your secondaries within two weeks of receiving them, many schools will automatically reject you - whether or not they have "official" deadlines. They said not turning them within two weeks show that you are not dedicated enough for those schools. Is this true?

 

[HailMary]

Sdn Myth!!!!!

 

[medstuddude]

Is it?hmm

 

[voirlesetoiles]

Yep, bogus. Although turning the secondary in earlier increases a person's chances, so most likely... the late applicants are rejected because of the rolling admissions at medical schools. It's school specific. Most websites I have browsed have set secondary app due dates (nov, dec, jan)... The two week thing does apply to UNC, their deadline itself is 2 weeks...

 

[medstuddude]

actually some schools, such as St Louis - they have no essays by the way- said that although they have no deadlines, they give you negative marks if you turn in your secondary after two weeks. Come on. They have no essays. There is no reason for delay. I didn't ask when your letters should be turned in by though. I am sure they would understand as long as it doesn't take a whole freaking month

 

[jochi1543]

On a related note, is it 2 weeks post-marked or do they have to RECEIVE it in 2 weeks from the date THEY sent it? It'd be a huge issue for me, because it'd take 2 weeks for most regular mail correspondence to reach me, if not 3 - and then at least a week for express mail to reach the school. So I basically wouldn't be able to make any of those under 1-month deadlines.

 

[medstuddude]

actually, most schools like St Louis and UC's you can submit secondaries online.
However, there might be some schools that would want you to submit them by mail

 

[viciouz]

I believe post-marked.

 

[chucky85]

I applied to med schools last year. Northwestern-Feinberg gave 2 week deadline. I don't remember any other school with a deadline.

 

[neopentanol]

Sounds bogus to me. Although, I can see how it would look bad if you took longer than a month

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Sdn Myth!!!!!

Not exactly. Some schools do have deadlines, like University of Miami, where if you don't get the secondary in by the deadline you are screwed. Now, I'd suspect a school that didn't have a deadline would think...hey, this person didn't fill out our secondary for three months...are they really interested in us?

 

[GWmdwannabe]

On a related note, is it 2 weeks post-marked or do they have to RECEIVE it in 2 weeks from the date THEY sent it? It'd be a huge issue for me, because it'd take 2 weeks for most regular mail correspondence to reach me, if not 3 - and then at least a week for express mail to reach the school. So I basically wouldn't be able to make any of those under 1-month deadlines.

Well, the sooner the better, although the only school at which I've been accepted so far was the one for which I sat on the application for over a month and returned it the day before their deadline.

That said, if there's a legitimate reason why the mail is going to take so long, you may want to just send a note in with your secondary explaining as such.

 

[skinnylindsay]

For the schools that have short deadlines (like UNC's 2 weeks), is that just to have in your actual secondary application, or the date by which your file should be complete with recommendations? One of my professors has asked that I give him 3 weeks notice for deadlines...

 

[63768]

myth but as with everything in this app process, earlier the better. 2 weeks is plenty of time though. unless you have a 50 hour work week + family, you have no excuse for not getting a secondary out within 2 weeks.

 

[greg1184]

Not exactly. Some schools do have deadlines, like University of Miami, where if you don't get the secondary in by the deadline you are screwed. Now, I'd suspect a school that didn't have a deadline would think...hey, this person didn't fill out our secondary for three months...are they really interested in us?

The deadline isn't until January.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

Total myth. Most of my secondaries didn't go out till 4 weeks after I recieved them (I was too busy working). Northwestern has a 2 week deadline but they still emailed me after 2 months to get me to complete it. Wish I could tell you if it went through or not but I didn't want to go to that school by then.

 

[MChitty]

I know some schools will give you a certain date that you had to submit the secondary by. I think the whole 'two week thing' is just a good amount of time to complete a secondary so you aren't inundated with them. Once they start coming there are a lot of them, so if you can get rid of them within 2 weeks of receiving them, you won't be buried under a pile of secondaries.

 

[Depakote]

Unless the school gives you a specific deadline of 2 weeks (which some schools do do), you are not going to be rejected for holding onto a secondary for a couple of weeks.

That said, it's always good to complete your file as quickly as possible so it gets reviewed sooner, you have a better chance of getting an earlier interview and you're competing for more seats.

so... 2 weeks is a great goal for secondary turn-around but it is far from a rule. Just be sure to double check every secondary you recieve for a deadline the instant you get it and prioritize accordingly.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

lol, some say vehemently that it's myth, some say it's not. I'd read the directions on each secondary, and if it says that there is a deadline, I wouldn't hold to the idea that it is a myth.

 

[PBandJ]

I applied to 24 schools last year, and I can only think of 1 that had an actual 2 week deadline (U Miami). In my experience, schools with short deadlines will give you electronic notification of the secondary and have electronic submission as well. There's no way anyone could expect the US mail system (let alone canadian (jochi) or other country) to be reliable enough to get mail out and back in 2 weeks.

 

[mave]

I can think of a couple situations in which this may not be the worst idea ever. What if schools made a 2-week deadline, but in turn, were committed to reviewing your secondary within, say, a month of reception? That way, the school receives your secondary (and your money) earlier, and you aren't waiting around until April to find out whether or not you are going to be interviewed. Plus, if you were really committed to a particular school, you would be sending in all of your stuff ASAP anyway.

 

[kateycat]

case has a 2 week deadline. i forgot, and completed it online after 3. they still interviewed/waitlisted me despite that, and they were definitely a reach school for me. just my 2 cents.

 

[scrubsrfun]

OK that definitely scares me because I have already submitted AMCAS, it's waiting to get verified but it should probably get done within in the next few days cause verification time seems to be pretty short still. BUT if schools send secondaries to me in July then that's bad? I'm going to be in India for the entire month of July to volunteer in some health camps; How do I let schools know this is the reason I won't be sending secondaries back until August? And, you are all saying to get them in early, is August too late? That would make me sad, I've tried so hard to get everything else in early 🙁

 

[chable]

Loyola gives a 2 or 3 week deadline. I called them up and asked them if it was okay if I sent it in a day late and did so, and never heard from them again... If there's a deadline, follow it strictly, and even if there's none, you should still work as fast as you can to get them out.