Turnaround time for secondaries

Started by TheBoneDoctah
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threesparrows said:
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.
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Yes, it will be my first MCAT. I plan to work on them extensively after my MCAT...
 
onceawolverine said:
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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Here's my situation. A few of my schools recommend that we submit secondaries within 2-weeks, but it is not a firm deadline. Will it be a major problem if I submit within 2.5 weeks? Last Friday was the 2-week mark, and I will get it in today!
 
aspiring20 said:
Here's my situation. A few of my schools recommend that we submit secondaries within 2-weeks, but it is not a firm deadline. Will it be a major problem if I submit within 2.5 weeks? Last Friday was the 2-week mark, and I will get it in today!
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Major problem? I certainly doubt it. But they might take some pause over the length of time it took you to submit. It definitely won't make-or-break your application, though, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
onceawolverine said:
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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It's funny, I have heard the same thing as you from my advisers and that the "2 week rule" was just a recommendation so that secondaries don't pile up like crazy. Not sure which side I should support. But I am hoping adcoms prefer quality over speed. I took close to two weeks for many of my schools but it was not because of lack of interest.
 
^I would imagine adcoms prefer to read a well planned and executed prompt in 2-3 weeks than a hastily submitted one in 1-2 days.
 
blubearzangel said:
If my committee letter won't be in until later, should I still rush to get my secondary in? Besides the fact that I would want a complete email the fastest?
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I was in the same situation and my adviser told me to still submit them within the 2 week time period. So that's what I did...
 
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