What is considered applying early?

[woltej1]

So I'd like to apply very early this year, but what is usually considered early for the primary and secondary apps?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[engineer16]

Apply on the day they accept the primary. Very doable if you give your LORs fake early dates so they get them submitted. Make sure your PS is bulletproof, I wasn't finished with mine until a week after AMCAS started accepting apps and it added a couple weeks to my wait. I forget exactly how long. Send in your secondaries as fast as you can manage. My first interview and acceptance came much earlier than my others because I did that school's secondary very quickly and the others got done in a batch during August.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Yep. Send in your AMCAS on day 1 and return secondaries within a week of receipt. That is my opinion of "early" (and smart!).

 

[woltej1]

So it opens at the start of june, +6 weeks for processing, so about mid july, then 1 week for secondaries. So aim for the last week of July to have at least my top schools completely done with and submitted?

 

[Harpsx]

If you submit in early June, it usually takes less than 6 weeks. The first transmission date of AMCAS data to schools is usually at the end of June (June 27th, 2014 according to AAMC). As long as you submit and have your AMCAS processed before the first transmission date, you will be in the first batch of apps that schools get. Most secondaries usually come out around mid-July. If you can be complete by mid-July, then you should be in the first batch of applicants.

 

[milski]

Apply on the day they accept the primary. Very doable if you give your LORs fake early dates so they get them submitted. Make sure your PS is bulletproof, I wasn't finished with mine until a week after AMCAS started accepting apps and it added a couple weeks to my wait. I forget exactly how long. Send in your secondaries as fast as you can manage. My first interview and acceptance came much earlier than my others because I did that school's secondary very quickly and the others got done in a batch during August.

You don't need the LORs to submit your primary, you can add them later. AMCAS will not start verifying your application until they get your transcript, so you need to send that in time, at least a week or two before the day you want to submit. The bare minimum that you need to start the verification is:
- transcript
- personal statement
- activities and their descriptions
- at least one school to apply
Once you submit, you cannot change any of these.

So it opens at the start of june, +6 weeks for processing, so about mid july, then 1 week for secondaries. So aim for the last week of July to have at least my top schools completely done with and submitted?

If you submit on day one, it is unlikely that you will have to wait so long, you have a very good chance of being verified by the end of June, which is when the schools start receiving the applications.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

So it opens at the start of june, +6 weeks for processing, so about mid july, then 1 week for secondaries. So aim for the last week of July to have at least my top schools completely done with and submitted?

Yeah, just keep in mind that a lot of schools don't send secondaries immediately. Mine trickled in a few per week through July and August (which worked out well -- getting swamped with 20+ at the same time would be a nightmare!).

 

[woltej1]

Yeah, just keep in mind that a lot of schools don't send secondaries immediately. Mine trickled in a few per week through July and August (which worked out well -- getting swamped with 20+ at the same time would be a nightmare!).

well I'm definitely not looking at 20+ schools so I shouldn't have to worry about that.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

So I'd like to apply very early this year, but what is usually considered early for the primary and secondary apps?

June 1

 

[snowflakes]

So, an overview of the application process:
1. You submit your primary application and add schools (earliest submission is ~June 1st)
2. The primary gets verified (takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on when you submit)
3. Your verified primary gets sent to schools on your list
----BUT, your primary will only be sent to schools after ~June 28, so there's no difference between being verified on June 4th versus June 27th. If you are verified after June 28th, it will get sent to schools right away
--your primary will be sent to schools without your MCAT score if its unavailable, but most schools will not consider your application until your MCAT score has been added. Once your score is released, it will automatically be added to your application and updated to schools.
4. Schools receive your primary and send you a secondary
5. You submit your secondary, and your app is considered complete if the school now has your LORs, your MCAT score, and your primary/secondary aps.

To be complete early, you want be at step 5 by July. August is considered normal. September and onward is getting late. Schools always give out their interview invites in a rolling manner and most schools give out acceptances in a rolling manner as well. So, the earlier your app is in, the less people you are competing against. If you have a very strong app, you can still apply after September and be fine, but for most people, this is a bad bad idea.

 

[milski]

-1. You submit your transcript
0. AMCAS confirms that they have it
You cannot proceed to step 1. until this is done.

So, an overview of the application process:
1. You submit your primary application and add schools (earliest submission is ~June 1st)
2. The primary gets verified (takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on when you submit)
3. Your verified primary gets sent to schools on your list
----BUT, your primary will only be sent to schools after ~June 28, so there's no difference between being verified on June 4th versus June 27th. If you are verified after June 28th, it will get sent to schools right away
--your primary will be sent to schools without your MCAT score if its unavailable, but most schools will not consider your application until your MCAT score has been added. Once your score is released, it will automatically be added to your application and updated to schools.
4. Schools receive your primary and send you a secondary
5. You submit your secondary, and your app is considered complete if the school now has your LORs, your MCAT score, and your primary/secondary aps.

To be complete early, you want be at step 5 by July. August is considered normal. September and onward is getting late. Schools always give out their interview invites in a rolling manner and most schools give out acceptances in a rolling manner as well. So, the earlier your app is in, the less people you are competing against. If you have a very strong app, you can still apply after September and be fine, but for most people, this is a bad bad idea.

4b. Schools know that you have applied as soon as you submit your primary (before it is verified and they get it). A few schools will send you a secondary right after that, without waiting for your primary to be verified. They will still wait for it to start processing your application. At the end, this does not affect the timeline of your application, but you may end up waiting for the secondary invitation email when it has been sitting in your spam folder for more than a month.

 

[QuantumJ]

Have everything ready to apply within the first week. I guess the first few weeks is early but there's no reason not to apply the first few days.