When do secondaries go out?

[hexane19]

Do secondaries go out automatically once schools have the primary application? Or only when it's an MCAT score and the letters of rec are in their possession?

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[Cytokine2014]

Most schools automatically send a secondary once your verified AMCAS goes to them.

 

[Oranges2]

Data won't be transferred from ACMAS to medical schools until July 1st this year

 

[hexane19]

But will a secondary still be sent without letters of rec and or an MCAT score?

 

[Cytokine2014]

Secondaries, probably. Maybe not if they screen intensely but most don't.

Your application won't be considered complete at a particular school until your secondary, mcat and committee letter (or letter packet) are in.

 

[starlite911]

I would say yes, secondaries are pretty much always sent without LORs; they're usually looked at when schools are reviewing the secondaries. However, my understanding it most schools will not send them without an MCAT score, but I could be wrong!

 

[sat0ri]

Data won't be transferred from ACMAS to medical schools until July 1st this year

Just to be clear, does that mean if you are verified on June 2nd, your data will be sent with someone verified on June 28th--that all med schools will get those 2 applicants' data at the same time?

What I'm getting at is, do my MCAT scores need to be released before July 1st to be a part of the very first wave? And will my scores being released on June 1st be viewed equivalent as being released on June 28th?

 

[njtrimed]

Just to be clear, does that mean if you are verified on June 2nd, your data will be sent with someone verified on June 28th--that all med schools will get those 2 applicants' data at the same time?

What I'm getting at is, do my MCAT scores need to be released before July 1st to be a part of the very first wave? And will my scores being released on June 1st be viewed equivalent as being released on June 28th?

If you submit on the first day AMCAS is open, your application will be verified in a few hours. If you submit 2-3 weeks later (say June 20), you won't be verified for a full month, possibly longer if they have a higher volume of applications. So submitting June 28 means you probably won't be verified (and thus sent to schools) until early August.

 

[sat0ri]

If you submit on the first day AMCAS is open, your application will be verified in a few hours. If you submit 2-3 weeks later (say June 20), you won't be verified for a full month, possibly longer if they have a higher volume of applications. So submitting June 28 means you probably won't be verified (and thus sent to schools) until early August.

Yes I checked the previous cycle's SDN verification thread and noticed that myself.

I'm saying hypothetically, let's say one is verified on June 1st and one is verified on June 28th (based on the past, this would mean that s/he submitted on approximately June 7th). Would both of the applications' data get "transferred" to all med schools at the same time? So in the case of this last cycle application, would the 06/01 and the 06/28 verification dates applications be received on the same time, i.e. 07/01, and therefore are on equal footing?

It appears that @gyngyn liked @Oranges2 post, so maybe s/he can weigh in?

 

[gyngyn]

Yes I checked the previous cycle's SDN verification thread and noticed that myself.

I'm saying hypothetically, let's say one is verified on June 1st and one is verified on June 28th (based on the past, this would mean that s/he submitted on approximately June 7th). Would both of the applications' data get "transferred" to all med schools at the same time? So in the case of this last cycle application, would the 06/01 and the 06/28 verification dates applications be received on the same time, i.e. 07/01, and therefore are on equal footing?

It appears that @gyngyn liked @Oranges2 post, so maybe s/he can weigh in?

AMCAS begins sending completed secondaries to schools in July.
Schools that send secondaries to to all completed applicants will begin sending them upon receipt.

 

[sat0ri]

The question if both applications are transmitted on the same day, will they be considered on equal footing by the medical school does not reflect the complexity of what happens during processing.

1) each medical school will open files, parse applications, do initial reviews, and send to readers by their own specific process. Therefore a blanket rule cannot cover the 140 medical schools.

2) Just by sheer numbers, all applications received on same day will fall in different order in each school's queue for processing. In 2015 some schools received 20%-25% of total applications on first day of transmission, which can be a thousand or more at a time. Someone will be in the top and someone be on the bottom of the big pile.

3) Applications are not necessarily fully reviewed in linear/chronological order. Applications from children of alumni, "superstars", feeder schools, URM, associated undergrad institutions, etc, maybe reviewed first.

4) Applications need to reviewed by readers and then reviewed by committee/subcommittee in batches. Which batch you may fall into after all is assembled (primary, secondary. MCAT, LOR) will vary widely by school.

In sum, each school will have varying steps and decision points in their methodology to process applications

AMCAS begins sending completed secondaries to schools in July.
Schools that send secondaries to to all completed applicants will begin sending them upon receipt.

Ok, so what I was not aware of is that there is an official "first day of transmission" that is held in July, and I guess I'm a little confused what this entails. (My assumption was that once you wer verified, even if you were verified on June 3rd, your application would immediately be sent to schools after verification). So for the applicants who were verified and completed (with MCAT scores) on 06/01 and 06/28, with all other factors being equal (for the sake of the hypothetical), will they be seen (or have the opportunity to be seen) by schools at exactly the same time on ~07/01? Could you say this about many, half, a majority, of med schools? In other words, being verified on 06/01 versus 09/31 will obviously be massively different. But is being verified on 06/01 and 06/28--i.e., dates before first day of transmission--effectively equivalent?

Just to tip my hand, I want to submit to may primary application on the 06/02 the minute it opens to enjoy the rapid verification at that very early stage of the cycle; however, I'm thinking I could take a later MCAT date and have my scores released/added to my application (on 06/21 to be exact, per AMCAS) and still be part of this "first day of transmission". >>So would being verified on 06/01 but have scores added on 06/21 appear the same to schools as if I had my scores released before 06/01?

And thank you so much for the help so far, it really is massively important and influential to me.

 

[gyngyn]

Ok, so what I was not aware of is that there is an official "first day of transmission" that is held in July, and I guess I'm a little confused what this entails. (My assumption was that once you wer verified, even if you were verified on June 3rd, your application would immediately be sent to schools after verification). So for the applicants who were verified and completed (with MCAT scores) on 06/01 and 06/28, with all other factors being equal (for the sake of the hypothetical), will they be seen (or have the opportunity to be seen) by schools at exactly the same time on ~07/01? Could you say this about many, half, a majority, of med schools? In other words, being verified on 06/01 versus 09/31 will obviously be massively different. But is being verified on 06/01 and 06/28--i.e., dates before first day of transmission--effectively equivalent?

Just to tip my hand, I want to submit to may primary application on the 06/02 the minute it opens to enjoy the rapid verification at that very early stage of the cycle; however, I'm thinking I could take a later MCAT date and have my scores released/added to my application (on 06/21 to be exact, per AMCAS) and still be part of this "first day of transmission". >>So would being verified on 06/01 but have scores added on 06/21 appear the same to schools as if I had my scores released before 06/01?

And thank you so much for the help so far, it really is massively important and influential to me.

We will begin to receive all verified applications in July (July 1 last year). All applications verified before July 1st will be received at the same time. The timing of submissions received within this batch is not relevant.

 

[sat0ri]

We will begin to receive all verified applications in July (July 1 last year). All applications verified before July 1st will be received at the same time. The timing of submissions received within this batch is not relevant.

To extend that further, how each school then opens a file, reviews them on GPA, MCAT, and other factors, and what order they wind up in a queue has less to do with when the primary arrives then when the secondary is completed and received. Since the majority of schools, I dare say, send out pre-transmission, unscreened, or minimal cut off screened secondaries, this is probably a larger factor in where you wind up in the queue for 1) reading an application and 2) decision on interview invite. As I have said previously, and will undoubtedly say dozens of time during this 2017 application cycle, (#2) review of apps is not simply done in a linear chronological order. High achievers, URM, family of alumni, feeder schools, associated UG programs, linked postbaccs, and other factor may push an app forward in the process

Thanks, this was immensely helpful and exactly the information I was looking for (and some information I didn't know I was looking for).