When is a good time to submit letters of rec?

[panda_lover1]

I submitted my application on the first day it opened (6/7). Still waiting to be verified. I am still waiting on 2 letters to be submitted so I was going to hold off on assigning the letters. My questions are...

1. Do I need to wait until my app is verified to assign the letters and update my application? If not, will adding letters before the app is verified delay the verification process?

2. When do med schools get the primary app?

3. When do they look at the letters?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mcatjelly]

I submitted my application on the first day it opened (6/7). Still waiting to be verified. I am still waiting on 2 letters to be submitted so I was going to hold off on assigning the letters. My questions are...

1. Do I need to wait until my app is verified to assign the letters and update my application? If not, will adding letters before the app is verified delay the verification process?

2. When do med schools get the primary app?

3. When do they look at the letters?

1) No, you can assign them whenever. All the verification process is is AMCAS staff matching up your transcript to your inputted courses.

2) The earliest primary apps are submitted to schools is on June 24th.

3) When your secondary is complete. And you need your letters for your secondary to be complete.

 

[Espressso]

The earlier the better to save yourself from last minute headaches and anxiety.

 

[pillowsnice]

1) No, you can assign them whenever. All the verification process is is AMCAS staff matching up your transcript to your inputted courses.

2) The earliest primary apps are submitted to schools is on June 24th.

3) When your secondary is complete. And you need your letters for your secondary to be complete.

To go off this, can we complete our secondaries before our LORs are submitted? My school writes a cover letter and so they take a while submitting that letter. Usually, it is in by the end of August, but secondaries should be complete sometime in July right?

 

[panda_lover1]

Thank you!

And we are allowed to assign a letter even if amcas has not received it yet right? (if we are sure that the letter is on it's way)

How long does it usually take for the letters to be processed/ sent to schools once you assign them?

 

[mcatjelly]

To go off this, can we complete our secondaries before our LORs are submitted? My school writes a cover letter and so they take a while submitting that letter. Usually, it is in by the end of August, but secondaries should be complete sometime in July right?

Definitely! You just, again, won't be officially complete until those LORs are submitted. And having the cover letter in by the end of August won't significantly affect your app, so no worries there.

Thank you!

And we are allowed to assign a letter even if amcas has not received it yet right? (if we are sure that the letter is on it's way)

How long does it usually take for the letters to be processed/ sent to schools once you assign them?

Yes, you can assign a letter even if AMCAS hasn't received it yet. IIRC it could take anywhere from a few days to--worst case scenario--1-2 weeks.

 

[panda_lover1]

I read that some schools want your AMCAS ID in the actual letter of recommendation? What if you did not ask the letter writer to include this information in there? Will they not look at you???