The earliest day to submit primaries is June 1. I am taking the May 11 MCAT and will try to get verified by June 1 w/o MCAT, then submit the primary including the MCAT on June 11 when I get my score. Do the LORs have to be submitted at the same time for me to be considered early? Or can I submit them later on?
When can LORs be submitted without being late?
- Thread starter janutt345
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Most schools don't require the LORs with your primary. You'll need to have them in by the time you're submitting secondaries, as most schools will need them before offering interviews.
Long story short, no you don't need to submit them by June 11, just have them in when you start submitting secondaries.
1. does this apply to DO schools too, or just MD schools?
2. and I can only submit secondaries once the schools send them to me, right? (beyond my control)
thanks
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1. I don't know how the DO application works, sorry.
2. Yes, you have to wait until you are invited to complete the secondary. Most schools send out secondaries within a few days to a couple weeks after you're verified. Some schools have the secondary available online, visible to anyone, but if you send it in without being invited, you are auto-rejected.
The popular opinion seems to be that submitting primaries in early-mid June = very early applicant.
What would be considered early for submitting secondaries? End of June? July?
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It depends on when the school sends the secondary. It might take a few days to a few weeks for you to receive the secondary. I suggest no more than a few days to turn around each secondary but spend enough time on them as to not sacrifice quality.
So most people only spend a day or two on per secondary? How can you have these critiqued then? (or do you not have secondaries proofread the way you do your personal statement?)
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It depends on the secondary. Some schools have you write a paragraph for a common question which you can just copy paste for multiple schools(but do it carefully and make sure it answers the question perfectly well). Others make you write nearly 4 pages, but these are rare. In general, you can get through a secondary in about an hour or two or maybe a day or two with the harder ones. I don't think most people get their secondaries proofreaded as that is overkill unless the school is really important to you. I only got one of mine proofreaded but that was only because it was a really long one and it was my top choice at the time.
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The health advisory committee at my school just held a meeting for everyone applying in the 2013-2014 cycle. We are to submit a form requesting a committee LOR in April, and a second form when we get our first request to submit a secondary application. The thing is, they will not start actually writing a letter until you receive your first request for a secondary application, and this turnaround time is around a month. They told us that schools typically will not hold it against applicants if letters of recommendations are submitted later than the secondary app, but I'm skeptical and afraid this will hurt my chances of admission.
Will medical schools typically look at secondary applications before LORs come in?
Will medical schools typically look at secondary applications before LORs come in?
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It'll depend on the school but I had several both MD and DO where I wasn't marked complete until all my letters were in.
