Turnaround time for secondaries

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Anywhere between one day and one week, depending on the difficulty. I am submitting a few secondaries past the two week deadline only because they are way too long. Better to have a well-written secondary than a hastily-written one.
 
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DenTony11235 said:
I'm applying to 30. Care to share ur stats with me?
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Not to derail, but there is no reason to apply to 30 or 35 schools, unless MAYBE your stats are really low. You will be turning down interviews in a couple months and kicking yourself for wasting the money. I would pick some secondaries to not submit.
 
im not verified yet so I'm taking my time and prewriting all of them, and starting the ones i have gotten pre-verification to be sent in first, so that as soon as i get them they will be submitted within a few hours. hoping to be verified by the end of the month
 
between a day to 1 week, depending on how important the med school is to me. Though possibility of schools like Rush's secondaries going past the 1 week deadline is super possible since i am getting swamped right now haha
 
My AMCAS is not yet verified, but I have received a couple of secondaries. One of the secondaries specifically said that they wouldn't count mine as complete until my primary was verified. I've decided to wait on submitting any secondaries until after verification.

As far as turn-around time after that goes, my pre-med adviser told me that two weeks was the maximum turn-around time I should aim for. I'll try to prewrite a lot of these secondaries, though. I also applied to over 30 schools with okay stats (average for med school matriculants). My friend only had three interviews (with similar stats), so I sort of panicked and maybe over-stretched my application.
 
what if your app hasnt been reviewed/verified yet? should you still get the secondary in right away?
 
oh wait i just read @G_Marker 's post. that is my plan as well, hopefully that's an okay thing to do.
 
Going on two weeks for some of the schools I received during the first batch in late June...

Yuh oh, better start cranking them out more efficiently XD
 
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Two weeks +/- a day or two is my turnaround time.

Still waitin on 2 prof to send their letters in and I wont have my MCAT for another 2 days. No point in getting it done immediately.
 
For people who received secondaries before verification, you think 2 weeks after verification is still an okay rule of thumb, or should they be faster ?
 
DenTony11235 said:
I'm applying to 30. Care to share ur stats with me?
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3.94/ 34. But I have a huge caveat that I have one very selective state school and I am applying after 2 years of undergrad (graduating in 3 years). So I have a fairly significant strike against me.

rfenzo said:
Not to derail, but there is no reason to apply to 30 or 35 schools, unless MAYBE your stats are really low. You will be turning down interviews in a couple months and kicking yourself for wasting the money. I would pick some secondaries to not submit.
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Yes thats exactly what I'm doing. I'm slowly picking schools that I'm not interested in.
 
Most of my secondaries were done a week after I got them. Ones I had to write >1 essay for took a week and a half or so. Did 19 in all.
 
claduva94 said:
3.94/ 34. But I have a huge caveat that I have one very selective state school and I am applying after 2 years of undergrad (graduating in 3 years). So I have a fairly significant strike against me.


Yes thats exactly what I'm doing. I'm slowly picking schools that I'm not interested in.
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Thank you. Goodluck.
 
rfenzo said:
Not to derail, but there is no reason to apply to 30 or 35 schools, unless MAYBE your stats are really low. You will be turning down interviews in a couple months and kicking yourself for wasting the money. I would pick some secondaries to not submit.
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It grants me some peace of mind at the least. I'd be glad to turn down interviews given the chance.
 
Fastest turnaround was same day, several hours after receiving the email in the morning (I get up really late on days I don't have work lol). Slowest turnaround was 4 days because I had to wait until after July 4th weekend to go to school and digitalize my passport for Rush's secondary. I have completed 16 so far. I applied to 22 schools. No pre-secondary or post-secondary rejects yet. No interview invites yet. Stats are cGPA/sGPA/MCAT of 3.73/3.78/36 coming out of WUSTL. Applied mainly to mid to lower tier schools that love community service as much as I do. LOTS of community service, zero research.
 
applied to 25 schools and I've sent back 10 secondaries so far. Average turn around of 1-2 days.
 
claduva94 said:
35. I have done 21 so far.
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That's still so expensive though! Average cost of secondaries for me has been $75 a pop and that's not counting adding them to AMCAS. Parents refused to pay for more than 15 for me and I'm saving up my own cash for plane tickets to interviews.
 
ForHumors said:
That's still so expensive though! Average cost of secondaries for me has been $75 a pop and that's not counting adding them to AMCAS. Parents refused to pay for more than 15 for me and I'm saving up my own cash for plane tickets to interviews.
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!! Thru 21 submitted, my calculated avg is $100.95 per secondary - I expected the number to be around $100 when applying, so my resources are budgeted adequately.
 
ForHumors said:
That's still so expensive though! Average cost of secondaries for me has been $75 a pop and that's not counting adding them to AMCAS. Parents refused to pay for more than 15 for me and I'm saving up my own cash for plane tickets to interviews.
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My parents aren't paying either. I just have a lot of money saved up and I find it a worthwhile cause.
 
applied to 30 schools. have received and submitted 16 secondaries. all of them have been within 48 hour turnaround time, with ~12-13 being within 24 hour turnaround time. woohoo pre-writing! one II, no rejections.

yes, i know it'll be expensive. but i was worried that my app was somewhat weak, and i wanted to maximize my chances. i worked all through college to save money for apps; my parents aren't paying for my AMCAS, secondaries, or travel expenses. definitely pricy, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
 
is the fast turnaround time more for getting the app in early or because schools monitor how quickly you turn them back in to gauge interest? also, what would the difference in being complete now versus late july be?
 
manofmen said:
is the fast turnaround time more for getting the app in early or because schools monitor how quickly you turn them back in to gauge interest? also, what would the difference in being complete now versus late july be?
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I've heard the latter being true in some cases. Maybe there's not much of a difference between now and late July since it's within the same month. I just don't like things piling up. I also consider myself a pretty average applicant, so I wanted to maximize my chances by turning things ASAP so that the pool of applicants would be smaller by the time they review my app. Quick turnaround has always been one of my strongest traits.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
I know 2 weeks is the "goal" turnaround time for secondaries, but what are YOUR current turnaround times?
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I got mine while on vacation. Brought my computer for this reason and one morning while I was drinking my coffee, I did it, drove to a local UPS store, printed it our and mailed it priority mail from Florida. This was about 2 days after they sent them out for my school so there was less than a week between me getting it and it getting back to the office of my school.

This is just what I did because Im neurotic. What's best for you is what is best for you.


EDIT: Im also doing ED so there was that determining how fast I needed to turn it in too.
 
1-2 weeks for me. Submitted 7 with 7 more to go so far. I work on them in batches and submit all when I'm done with a batch.

Since it is still early in the process, I like taking my time when writing. I'll write everything in a day or two and then rest for a couple of days to come back and edit. Once I feel comfortable with the edits, I'll submit.
 
Has everyone gotten their letters from their schools? Anyone with a committee letter or a letter packet?
 
Been taking several days to actually write the letters and have my gf proof read them. Mostly been waiting on upcoming pay checks to send them in. Should have 4/8 secondaries in today though. So like 2-3 week turn around maybe.
 
from 48 hours to a week has been normal. duke and vandy much longer due to the essays
 
Variable.. Anywhere from same day to 2 weeks. I'm over the 2 week mark for some -_- hard to compete when you work full time with odd hours..
 
SynapticDoctah said:
Right? I work full time 3:30am-noon.
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For sure.. I also work full time and weird hours too 8pm-4am its nuts. Fastest secondary I submitted was today for NYMC (within 10 mins literally).Rest? Not so much.. GWU and Creighton were received 2 weeks ago, I must....get....to.....them.. -_-
 
GOK<3 said:
For sure.. I also work full time and weird hours too 8pm-4am its nuts. Fastest secondary I submitted was today for NYMC (within 10 mins literally).Rest? Not so much.. GWU and Creighton were received 2 weeks ago, I must....get....to.....them.. -_-
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It took me 2 weeks to turn around GWU's secondary too 🙁
 
Mayday_ said:
It took me 2 weeks to turn around GWU's secondary too 🙁
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16 days for me.. I just hate writing schools specific answers coz most of them are so darn alike! COFFEE TIME AND I WILL START CHUGGING AWAY!
 
GOK<3 said:
16 days for me.. I just hate writing schools specific answers coz most of them are so darn alike! COFFEE TIME AND I WILL START CHUGGING AWAY!
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Yeah I agree, those ones take me longer as well. GWU has some cool programs and opportunities though so it wasn't too bad. They also have a new(ish) 1.5 year pre-clinical curriculum with clinical rotations starting in the second year 😍
 
Mayday_ said:
Yeah I agree, those ones take me longer as well. GWU has some cool programs and opportunities though so it wasn't too bad. They also have a new(ish) 1.5 year pre-clinical curriculum with clinical rotations starting in the second year 😍
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That's pretty cool! I haven't started on my research yet 🙁.. I really feel like an ant trying to climb Mt. Everest with these secondaries lol
 
If your MCAT score won't be received for another month or so, would you still recommend a 2-week turnaround? I received my GWU secondary but haven't had a chance to complete it due to MCAT studying. =\
 
quickie32 said:
If your MCAT score won't be received for another month or so, would you still recommend a 2-week turnaround? I received my GWU secondary but haven't had a chance to complete it due to MCAT studying. =\
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Try to get it outta the way..
 
GOK<3 said:
For sure.. I also work full time and weird hours too 8pm-4am its nuts. Fastest secondary I submitted was today for NYMC (within 10 mins literally).Rest? Not so much.. GWU and Creighton were received 2 weeks ago, I must....get....to.....them.. -_-
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Where do yuu work? Also how? Nymc had like 5 essays
 
quickie32 said:
If your MCAT score won't be received for another month or so, would you still recommend a 2-week turnaround? I received my GWU secondary but haven't had a chance to complete it due to MCAT studying. =\
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MCAT is way more important. Study first and foremost! You can start the secondary after your test date has passed (assuming it's soon?) Is this your first MCAT or a retake? If it's your first, no school is going to look at your app until the score is posted so no rush on the secondaries.

On second thought, that probably applies even if it's a retake. They are going to wait for the new score.
 
claduva94 said:
3.94/ 34. But I have a huge caveat that I have one very selective state school and I am applying after 2 years of undergrad (graduating in 3 years). So I have a fairly significant strike against me.


Yes thats exactly what I'm doing. I'm slowly picking schools that I'm not interested in.
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I think your stats are fine and I am also applying after two years of undergrad, but I don't believe that it is a "significant strike". Applying to that many schools shouldn't be necessary unless your stats are really low. I'm applying to 19.
 
I guess I have low stats with a 3.4/34. I applied to 24 schools and have received/completed 18 so far. All MD, no DO received yet. I am also a reapplicant. My school list this time around is much more targeted.
 
1-3 weeks. I don't believe the 2 week thing. No one is going to say "well this applicant is great, but he submitted his application after 16 days. He's clearly not serious about medicals school."
 
My shortest turnaround time is 20 minutes, my longest turnaround was 6 and 1/2 days.

An MD admissions officer and a well-known pre-health advisor at my school both recommended turning in secondaries within 2 weeks. @phunky, apparently there are adcoms who say exactly that. Maybe not after 16 days, but if you wait nearly a month to turn in a secondary, then they might look down on that. I'm not saying its true for all schools, or even most of them. But I know for a fact that there are some adcoms who stick to the unspoken < 2 week rule.
 
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