when do med schools see your senior grades?

[junkct]

Hi, I go to school on a quarter system (I'm a Junior), and as such my third quarter grades won't be released until late June. However, I don't want to wait that long before I submit my AMCAS app, so I'm going to submit in early June, without my spring quarter grades. My GPA is already strong and getting a 4.0 this quarter will only raise it like 0.002, so I figured it would be safer to submit early than to wait for the grades. But I have 2 questions:

1) Is it OK to submit AMCAS with having completed only 2 2/3 years? I figured it should be because it seems like it is THAT important to get your stuff in on time..

2) If I submitted before spring quarter grades come out, would I have to update my med schools? when would they see these spring grades? I ask this because there's a class that I want to take P/F because it's a humanities class that I have to take, but cannot feasibly see myself doing well in. but lo and behold! it is a humanities class, and I figured it might not look good to med schools if I were to take it P/F. thoughts?

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[236116]

2 weeks isn't gonna matter that much.

what is the class?

 

[vickpick]

whats p/f?

 

[junkct]

2 weeks isn't gonna matter that much.

what is the class?

yeah, but 4 weeks might matter... the class itself isn't so bad. it's just a lot of reading/work. and i'm an engineering major, so my time is pretty crunched right now, as this is the "killer" quarter

As for the other poster, p/f = Pass/Fail

 

[AdmiralChz]

Submit your transcript in May without your Spring quarter. Then when they are released in June, send AMCAS an updated one. That way you won't have to wait for for them to verify it in June.

There have been A LOT of threads about this same topic... the search function is quite useful people - take advantage of it!!!!!!

 

[vickpick]

ummm.. ok p/f is pass/fail... so why is the OP saying that taking a class p/f look good in any way?

 

[JJMrK]

Submit your transcript in May without your Spring quarter. Then when they are released in June, send AMCAS an updated one. That way you won't have to wait for for them to verify it in June.

At that point, does AMCAS update schools with a new GPA?

 

[AdmiralChz]

I believe they update your file so when they download it, they can see it. But then again, I don't really know.

 

[osumc2014]

Im in quarter system as well, grades dont come out until mid June. I believe I'm just gonna submit it and then update it. I don't see too much of a problem with that.

 

[BlueElmo]

I believe they update your file so when they download it, they can see it. But then again, I don't really know.

I read somewhere in SDN that once you submit your GPA for verification, that's that. AMCAS won't update your GPA. I may be wrong, anyone have a clear cut answer to this?

 

[scarletgirl777]

I believe they update your file so when they download it, they can see it. But then again, I don't really know.

You cannot edit AMCAS once submitted. Some med schools (UCLA???) want your final Junior quarter on your application.

 

[BlueElmo]

You cannot edit AMCAS once submitted. Some med schools (UCLA???) want your final Junior quarter on your application.

Did you check this with AMCAS? Urg, then I gotta wait until 6/11. This blows.

 

[WaterBird]

Last time that this topic came up LizzyM said that if you are applying as a junior, wait until your spring grades are out at quarter schools because 9/12 quarters is signif more than 8/12. She said if you are applying as a senior, then it is fine to submit the grades earlier, as 11/12 quarters is a lot.

You can probably start working on secondaries as people post them here and easily make up the tiny bit of time you lost.

 

[confusedchild]

Yah i agree with the above post. If you're a junior, it's probably more important to wait. But I think another indicator can be the number of units. I"m on a quarter system too (UCLA), and just take the normal 180 units to graduate and multiply by (3/4). If you have over 135 by the end of your winter quarter of your junior year, I think it is okay to apply because it shows you've completed most of the coursework and your GPA probably won't move very much anymore. I'm a senior, and I'm actually staying two quarters additional quarters because of my major (elec engring) + an additional 9 premed courses that do not overlap with EE. I think I'm fine because I'm applying with 167 units by the end of winter which is well over the 135 junior mark.

But then again, maybe the convoluted calculations above is what I'm using to make myself feel better for applying early. Med school probably won't look that deep into your application...

 

[scarletgirl777]

Did you check this with AMCAS? Urg, then I gotta wait until 6/11. This blows.

AMCAS says pretty explicitly in its directions that once you submit, you can't edit (even if it's not verified yet). The junior quarter thing I'm assuming it's an individual school's call (I mean, there are people who technically apply after 2 years of college so I can't see AMCAS policing thing). But LizzyM did say you should wait for your entire junior year to be on your transcript.

Also waiting until 6/11 is NOT a big deal. A year from now you will look at this post and laugh.

 

[confusedchild]

You're lucky you only have to wait till 6/11. I think for my school you can't submit until mid July if you want your grades on your transcript.

I think the main problem people have is that I know for UCLA...we end on 6/13..it takes 2 weeks to report grades to go into the system and an additional week to turn up on the transcript. So three weeks after the end of the quarter is when you can "for sure" know that your spring grades are on your transcript. That said, the earliest that the registrar's office will send out your transcript is first week of July. Add 3 days of processing and 3 or 4 days to get to the east coast. AMCAS receives second week of July. After verification probably first week of August. As opposed to submitting everything first or second week of June and getting everything verified by late June/early July. Also if you read past forums, July is when the most applications go in and the amount of time to verify application increases substantially from 2 weeks in early June to up to 4 to 5 weeks by mid July.

That said, I'm sending it in after I finish finals on Tuesdays probably around June 10th_ish.

 

[BlueElmo]

AMCAS says pretty explicitly in its directions that once you submit, you can't edit (even if it's not verified yet). The junior quarter thing I'm assuming it's an individual school's call (I mean, there are people who technically apply after 2 years of college so I can't see AMCAS policing thing). But LizzyM did say you should wait for your entire junior year to be on your transcript.

Also waiting until 6/11 is NOT a big deal. A year from now you will look at this post and laugh.

LOL. Thanks scarletgirl.

 

[Appless]

You're lucky you only have to wait till 6/11. I think for my school you can't submit until mid July if you want your grades on your transcript.

I think the main problem people have is that I know for UCLA...we end on 6/13..it takes 2 weeks to report grades to go into the system and an additional week to turn up on the transcript. So three weeks after the end of the quarter is when you can "for sure" know that your spring grades are on your transcript. That said, the earliest that the registrar's office will send out your transcript is first week of July. Add 3 days of processing and 3 or 4 days to get to the east coast. AMCAS receives second week of July. After verification probably first week of August. As opposed to submitting everything first or second week of June and getting everything verified by late June/early July. Also if you read past forums, July is when the most applications go in and the amount of time to verify application increases substantially from 2 weeks in early June to up to 4 to 5 weeks by mid July.

That said, I'm sending it in after I finish finals on Tuesdays probably around June 10th_ish.

UCI does the same thing, Im not waiting to applying in mid july just to have my last quarter grades on there...

 

[osumc2014]

I'm so confused, is there no official place that says we need all of our Junior year's grades?? I mean although I have been in the school for 8 quarters I have been a senior ranking for a while now. I have 154 credit hours out of a possible 181 needed to graduate, do I really need to wait for this quarter's grades to come out? It really wont effect my GPA at all.

 

[BlueElmo]

I'm on a semester system. Good thing too.

 

[junkct]

Yah i agree with the above post. If you're a junior, it's probably more important to wait. But I think another indicator can be the number of units. I"m on a quarter system too (UCLA), and just take the normal 180 units to graduate and multiply by (3/4). If you have over 135 by the end of your winter quarter of your junior year, I think it is okay to apply because it shows you've completed most of the coursework and your GPA probably won't move very much anymore. I'm a senior, and I'm actually staying two quarters additional quarters because of my major (elec engring) + an additional 9 premed courses that do not overlap with EE. I think I'm fine because I'm applying with 167 units by the end of winter which is well over the 135 junior mark.

But then again, maybe the convoluted calculations above is what I'm using to make myself feel better for applying early. Med school probably won't look that deep into your application...

EXACTLY my point. Maybe this is a UC thing, in which case all med schools will be aware of this (UCs generate 2000+ applicants each year). I have over 130 units completed, and if you add in transfer courses, probably over 150 units. There's no sense waiting until July to submit my application and lose 1.5 precious months, all so that I can (potentially) increase my gpa from 3.935 to 3.938. I wouldn't mind updating AMCAS with spring grades, but if they dont' calculate it in, I don't see the point. I don't understand what an extra quarter would show anyway... all I'm doing is taking 3 engineering classes + the aforementioned humanities class... hardly anything relevant to med school.

That being said, the reason why I posed the thread topic is to figure out what med schools think about taking humanities classes Pass/Fail vs. taking for a letter grade. Obviously they would prefer letter grade, but is there like a general rule of thumb for what percentage of your non-science classes should be graded on letter basis? The class I'm in right now is a Philosophy class in which 10% of the class gets a B+ or better... considering most of the people in the class are phil majors and I'm a lowly engineer, my chances of being in the top 10% are slim to none. I refuse to let myself get a C (personal goal? idk) on my transcript, which is why I want to take it P/F. But if med schools are gonna look at this and shake their heads cuz they think I'm a little wimp who can't handle a challenge, then I'd rather just take it for a letter grade and show them how manly I am.

 

[looks like mae]

What about if you are applying only having 4/8 semesters at the actual college done? I will have a lot of high school credits and summer school credits done prior to application, so I only really have 2 years of college experience.

 

[TMP-SMX]

What about if you are applying only having 4/8 semesters at the actual college done? I will have a lot of high school credits and summer school credits done prior to application, so I only really have 2 years of college experience.

College credits are college credits. All of those courses count toward your GPA. My question is where you fit the MCAT into all of this and actually having enough credits for graduation complete.

 

[funkydrmonkey]

You cannot edit AMCAS once submitted. Some med schools (UCLA???) want your final Junior quarter on your application.

I applied to a bunch of schools and none of them castigated me for turning in my application before spring quarter grades came out... and for UCLA, you can remedy this by sending in transcripts after getting an invitation to interview. That is what I did... or maybe that is why I am on the waitlist at UCLA