Two questions. . .

[Meridian]

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you know how schools encourage early decision applicants to apply as early as june? Does this mean that these early decision peeps fill out the AMCAS in the beginning of june? But then again, don't we all regular applicants do it around that time as well?

second, does amcas ask to include math courses in the calculation of the science gpa? what if I don't include it? is it upto me? danke shoen

 

[relatively prime]

1) Only really anxious pre-meds (i.e. most SDNers) who are not early action fill out the AMCAS in June... however, most non-early action pre-med send it in sometime before Sept.

2) math classes MUST be included in your science gpa... it is NOT your choice.

good luck 🙂

 

[Meridian]

thanks for clearing that up. but i do have another question... are people who send out super early at an advantage than those who send it out before sept?

(eff, gotta repeat calc)

 

[surge]

Originally posted by Meridian
you know how schools encourage early decision applicants to apply as early as june? Does this mean that these early decision peeps fill out the AMCAS in the beginning of june? But then again, don't we all regular applicants do it around that time as well?

I submitted my AMCAS in early October....😀

As for the advantage of early application, I think it's up for debate, but most would argue that it's definitely an advantage to apply early.
I don't think it hurt me, but my situation was different in a lot of ways, starting with the fact that I was applying to MD/PhD programs. Also, I felt my application was better in October than it would have been in June.
For schools that don't have rolling admissions it truly shouldn't matter.

 

[Meridian]

do you mock me? 😕

gotta head to class.. laterz

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by Meridian
thanks for clearing that up. but i do have another question... are people who send out super early at an advantage than those who send it out before sept?

(eff, gotta repeat calc)

There has been many debates on this subject. I think the consensus is that applying early does not put you at a great advantage, but any little bit of help can be crucial in this game. Also, applying early can help you in case the unexpected happens... Such as detecting the loss of LORs early before deadlines pass.

Remember as well that AMCAS requires you to submit all of your grades, whether you repeated a class or not. I hope you didn't do TOO badly in calc, or your previous low grade may pull down your BCPM GPA.

 

[relatively prime]

Originally posted by Meridian
thanks for clearing that up. but i do have another question... are people who send out super early at an advantage than those who send it out before sept?

(eff, gotta repeat calc)

Yeah... at a lot of schools (like UMich and Vanderbilt) there is an advantage to submitting early.

Also... if you submit early, then you have time to add more schools... or clear things up if AMCAS goofs.

However, I don't think there's much an advantage to applying in early June vs. early July. If you have it in by mid-July you're golden. But at some schools (like the ones that don't start doing anything until Oct.) it doesn't matter...

It's like... ideally you should have it in by mid-July... but having it in by Oct won't kill you.

 

[surge]

Originally posted by Meridian
do you mock me? 😕

gotta head to class.. laterz

No, no, I was actually mocking myself 😀
Clearly I'm not a 'regular applicant'....😎

 

[VienneseWaltz]

Surge--
You rule for quoting "Take This Waltz."

Meridian --
AMCAS calculates your GPA automatically, so at least you don't have to worry about messing it up. (I, for one, was relieved.)

Good luck.

 

[DW]

yeah, there's no point in rushing yourself to send your SCAMCAS the first day, but time is of the essence. If you get it sent off sometime in early July, thats great. If you put it of until october or something and you're NOT an august mcater, thats kinda silly.

with schools such as jefferson, umich, ushus, vandy, and other examples i'm sure, its very worth your while getting your applications done as quickly as possible. umich accepted people who interviewed in september via email at the stroke of midnight on october 15th (first day schools are alowed to accept non-edp applicants). A friend of mine applying in the texas system had half of his interviews finished before the fall semester started. Even some of your "non rolling" top 25 schools make decisions on a rolling basis, and even give out a handful of decisions to applicants they really like before march (for example, cornell and northwestern gave out a handful of acceptances in december to people who interviewed early on in the year)

and do you REALLY want to be doing secondaries through the school year? 😀

take home: dont rush yourself into turning in a half assed primary, but get it done as soon as you can 🙂

 

[Meridian]

Thanks guys for the feedback. The reason I asked was, I wanted to take summer courses, that is the summer right before I apply, like maybe repeat that ***** class or take an upperlevel science course. And I wasn't sure if I'll be able to finish the summer courses and still put those grades on my transcipt before sending them off to AMCAS. I guess I could take the 1st 6 week session that runs from May - June though. But I really wish I could take the second six week also, but 'grades for that session comes in only like end of august - and that's a little too late, I think.


sorry surge for the misunderstanding.. here's a joke for you.. a rather lame one

what's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?



.
.
.
.
.
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anyone can roast beef.. hehe

 

[MD-2007-Gal]

When you file AMCAS, you can put down courses you are currently taking or will be taking in the future. So, even if your BCPM GPA is a bit lower than you'd like, they'll see that you are trying to make ammends. Also, one bad calc grade won't bring the BCPM GPA down that much when it's combined with all of the science courses.

I filed my AMCAS at the end of June. I had taken the April MCAT, and I had some time off between the end of school and starting my summer job, so I worked on it then. It could have been submitted starting around June 11, but I didn't want to be one of the first people to submit, considering last year's technical problems, so I waited about two weeks.

Advantages to early AMCAS filing:
I didn't want to have to do secondaries during the school year when I would have homework and other responsibilities. Yeah, it sucked doing them during the summer, but it was such a huge weight off my back to get them done before going back to school.

Looks good to the schools. Many interviewers commented that they like students doing things orderly and early.

Early interviews. Good for rolling schools. At some of my interviews, there were EDP applicants interviewing on the same day. Also good for non-rolling schools, since it looks responsible. Also, early interviews mean early acceptances. So if a school you like lets you know in October, you may be able to cancel some November and December interviews, and save a good deal of $$$$. Since you start interviewing earlier, you see what it's like, and by November, you'll be a lot less nervous, and may appear a lot more confident then someone who has never interviewed before.

You application may be looked at several times. For many schools, they go through applications in rounds, and each time select a certain number to interview (or accept). If your file is in early, it will go through more of these rounds.

Since your interview invites will come in earlier, you will have a bigger selection at open dates at some schools, making scheduling a lot easier, and often cheaper as well.

Good luck! I'm sure everyone here will do well.