When to have secondaries in by?

[Lake_Front]

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I have seen a few threads in the past mentioning that submitting secondaries before Labor Day was considered 'on time', however, speaking to some friends/classmates I have been hearing that early/mid-August is more considered on time with your application shifting towards the 'late' end of things after. I was wondering if anyone had any insight on this?

 

[LizzyM]

I made the "Labor Day Rule" noting that your entire application should be complete by that date. In particular, this is meant as a reassurance to applicants who are getting a committee letter that is not issued until late August. Frankly, sitting on the secondary for more than 2 weeks is dicey, regardless of the date on the calendar. At one school, it will get your application tossed out entirely so get those secondaries in promptly but don't fret if the rest of the application is missing something essential, like LORs through the end of August.

 

[drhealer]

I made the "Labor Day Rule" noting that your entire application should be complete by that date. In particular, this is meant as a reassurance to applicants who are getting a committee letter that is not issued until late August. Frankly, sitting on the secondary for more than 2 weeks is dicey, regardless of the date on the calendar. At one school, it will get your application tossed out entirely so get those secondaries in promptly but don't fret if the rest of the application is missing something essential, like LORs through the end of August.

Do you have an idea of which schools are known to do that? I submitted my Vanderbilt secondaries 15 days after and Duke 17 days after - I am also juggling a full time job 45-50 hours so it's been tough trying to get these essays in on time.

 

[candbgirl]

Do you have an idea of which schools are known to do that? I submitted my Vanderbilt secondaries 15 days after and Duke 17 days after - I am also juggling a full time job 45-50 hours so it's been tough trying to get these essays in on time.

Look for a thread down a few about UCLA. A person was locked out because they missed the deadline by a few hours. If a school gives you a specific date or time line, follow it precisely. You don’t need a list. But you might have to rearrange your schedule to get your secondaries in either on time or in a reasonable amount of time. Everyone has an issue: job, lab work, volunteering etc. Your secondaries have to take priority if you want to go to medical school. Good luck.

 

[drhealer]

Look for a thread down a few about UCLA. A person was locked out because they missed the deadline by a few hours. If a school gives you a specific date or time line, follow it precisely. You don’t need a list. But you might have to rearrange your schedule to get your secondaries in either on time or in a reasonable amount of time. Everyone has an issue: job, lab work, volunteering etc. Your secondaries have to take priority if you want to go to medical school. Good luck.

Gotcha. Thanks so much - I just don't want my app to be tossed out completely if I missed the 2 week mark by 1-3 days.