When to start worrying?

[premedpower8484848]

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Hey all,

Posting for a friend without an SDN account.

They are a current applicant with a 520+ Mcat and 3.8 + gpa. They applied very broadly to 45 schools, and have lots of activities/leadership/research roles due to the fact they have taken multiple gap years.

They took multiple gap years to help them become more competitive for T20 due to a strong interest in academic medicine and research. They haven’t received much response yet and their goal was to at least get a few interviews and specifically T20 invites and was wondering if it is too late in the cycle for that too happen? Have most interviews for this cycle already been given out?

 

[premedpower8484848]

At best schools are halfway thru their applications reviews.

So I’m assuming there are some schools that are not even halfway done yet?

 

[LizzyM]

So I’m assuming there are some schools that are not even halfway done yet?

Absolutely correct.

Don't worry until Thanksgiving. Someone as strong as your friend should have at least 3 interviews by Thanksgiving and at least one offer by Mardi Gras. Just be sure your friend doesn't have a scary skeleton in their closet in the form of an IA or misdemeanor that might be a speed bump or even a road block depending on how serious an offense it was.

 

[premedpower8484848]

Absolutely correct.

Don't worry until Thanksgiving. Someone as strong as your friend should have at least 3 interviews by Thanksgiving and at least one offer by Mardi Gras. Just be sure your friend doesn't have a scary skeleton in their closet in the form of an IA or misdemeanor that might be a speed bump or even a road block depending on how serious an offense it was.

Thanks so much for the reply! Staring at SDN every day has made my friend a little worried seeing people get interviews from different places everyday.

They don’t have any scary skeleton in the closet haha. I love that analogy.

 

[LizzyM]

Experience has shown that inviting candidates with dates several months in advance results in cancellations, no-shows, and requests for rescheduling close to the date which can result in fewer applicants actually interviewed as it becomes difficult to fill a slot on short notice. It is far more efficient to invite smaller subsets of applicants and offer dates 2-3 weeks in advance than to release 12 weeks of dates to 4-6 times as many candidates.

^^^^^^^^^
This bears repeating.

 

[premedpower8484848]

^^^^^^^^^
This bears repeating.

This is awesome. I’ll show this to my friend. Hopefully this helps lower some anxiety

 

[LindaAccepted]

Hey all,

Posting for a friend without an SDN account.

They are a current applicant with a 520+ Mcat and 3.8 + gpa. They applied very broadly to 45 schools, and have lots of activities/leadership/research roles due to the fact they have taken multiple gap years.

They took multiple gap years to help them become more competitive for T20 due to a strong interest in academic medicine and research. They haven’t received much response yet and their goal was to at least get a few interviews and specifically T20 invites and was wondering if it is too late in the cycle for that too happen? Have most interviews for this cycle already been given out?

I've interviewed several med school admissions deans recently. Most say they send out interview invitations through January and some into February and a few into March. It's just too early to panic.

 

[UsernameChecksOut]

At best schools are halfway thru their applications reviews.

This statement gave me a lot of hope. I realize I’m reading into it a little but it just occurred to me that *maybe* the applicants who always knew they weren’t going to part of the priority group when schools stratify (insert niche groups that schools are actively recruiting), there is now potentially an even greater chance for an II for the “regular” applicant since it’s now getting to be their turn in line for review. Priority applicants came first, now the others slowly make their way to the stage for the invite or the cut. Hmm. I mean it’s one way to try to stay positive anyway.

Thanks, OP, for the question. I think a lot of applicants feel a lot like your friend when they see the high flyers on here scooping so many II.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

When were you complete by? If august or September, then relax.

I recently changed my hypothesis that schools were basically on track in terms of standard cycle timing. I think a fair amount are still slightly behind due to covid, increased apps etc. this may be the reason for the delay. As always, begin preparing for a recycle asap.
Do you have any interviews right now? Couldn’t tell based on post.

I would say half have been given out. The X factor will really be how many people begin cancelling interviews in a few weeks compared to years past.

How would you rate your ECs and undergrad school?

 

[premedpower8484848]

When were you complete by? If august or September, then relax.

I recently changed my hypothesis that schools were basically on track in terms of standard cycle timing. I think a fair amount are still slightly behind due to covid, increased apps etc. this may be the reason for the delay. As always, begin preparing for a recycle asap.
Do you have any interviews right now? Couldn’t tell based on post.

I would say half have been given out. The X factor will really be how many people begin cancelling interviews in a few weeks compared to years past.

How would you rate your ECs and undergrad school?

My friend has one interview so far. Mostly completely late July to mid august.

EC’s were probably a solid 9/10 and undergrad school an 8/10

 

[premedpower8484848]

This statement gave me a lot of hope. I realize I’m reading into it a little but it just occurred to me that *maybe* the applicants who always knew they weren’t going to part of the priority group when schools stratify (insert niche groups that schools are actively recruiting), there is now potentially an even greater chance for an II for the “regular” applicant since it’s now getting to be their turn in line for review. Priority applicants came first, now the others slowly make their way to the stage for the invite or the cut. Hmm. I mean it’s one way to try to stay positive anyway.

Thanks, OP, for the question. I think a lot of applicants feel a lot like your friend when they see the high flyers on here scooping so many II.

Hopefully this is true. My friend was feeling a bit down today so decided to ask here.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Hopefully this is true. My friend was feeling a bit down today so decided to ask here.

Like I said, I have strong suspicion that many schools are still somewhat delayed. So I think you (or your friend) can relax.

 

[UsernameChecksOut]

Like I said, I have strong suspicion that many schools are still somewhat delayed. So I think you (or your friend) can relax.

What makes you think many schools are somewhat delayed? I agree that some have seemed quiet on here, but do you have any other factors that lead to your suspicion? (Hope you’re right btw).

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

What makes you think many schools are somewhat delayed? I agree that some have seemed quiet on here, but do you have any other factors that lead to your suspicion? (Hope you’re right btw).

I thought that most schools were booking into January but it really doesn’t seem that way from my limited sample size. I think that more schools are booking a week or two in advance because of virtual interviews.

of the past three that I’ve received in the past week two for early November, another for mid October. Doesn’t seem like many schools are booked out yet. In past cycles certain schools would already be booked out until Jan/feb.

Also like you mention, certain school threads seem pretty quiet. Actually one school I applied to hasn’t began sending them out at all, which strikes me as somewhat strange.