When is the earliest date schools can accept regular applicants?

[sam500]

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When is the earliest date schools can accept regular applicants (ie. non-early decision)?

Is there an official date or is at the schools discretion?

I've heard some talk of October 15th, but I've been unable to verify this.

 

[aSagacious]

Yes, it's October 15th.

 

[vc7777]

Sag, of course, already answered. To elaborate:

The critical dates for the whole admissions cycle are explicitly called out in the "traffic rules"

Here are the "traffic rules" for medical schools
Here are the "traffic rules" for applicants

EDIT: Is anyone else surprised these links have never made it into a sticky?

 

[latieungao]

The earliest I've read is October 15 of each year, but some other schools don't accept until May!

Do you own the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR)? The book has brief introductions and statistics for each school. It also includes individual school's noteworthy dates.

Retail price is $25.

 

[mvenus929]

The earliest I've read is October 15 of each year, but some other schools don't accept until May!

This is a misleading claim. See the traffic rules:

4. By March 30 of the matriculation year, March 15 for M.D.-Ph.D. programs, each school or program have issued a number of offers of acceptance at least equal to the expected number of students in its first-year entering class and have reported those acceptance actions to the AAMC Section for Medical School Application Services.

Schools have to offer acceptances totaling the size of their class by March 30. Yes, they may still be accepting people out til July or August, but they must accept some people by March 30th.