Why apply early?

[nejadm]

I'm new to the whole AMCAS process and admissions. One piece of solid advice floating around the boards is that applying early really helps your chances of admission. The only reason I could think of is that there is a limited amount of spots availabe. Are there any others? And when is actually considered to be early??

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Because they start reviewing them early and begin their interviewing season with those students who have completed applications. The early bird gets the worm. Wait too long, and the competition for remaining spots heats up.

 

[pyrois]

Applying early helps the most for mid-range schools. To be honest, if you are a stellar applicant and apply late, you will still get looked at by the top universities. But to lower ranked schools, a late application could be construed as a lack of interest in their program (I.E. I applied to a school literally on their postmark date because I wasn't that interested in their program. I was rejected in the same week. To be honest, they made a good call.)

More importantly, a lack of interest also implies that you think their school is a bad fit for you.

As there is such a big problem with multiple acceptances and waitlist movement, I think this is probably a significant factor.

 

[PugMD]

I'm new to the whole AMCAS process and admissions. One piece of solid advice floating around the boards is that applying early really helps your chances of admission. The only reason I could think of is that there is a limited amount of spots availabe. Are there any others? And when is actually considered to be early??

Just make sure you get your AMCAS submitted in early June.

 

[HumbleMD]

Applying early allows you to smartly plan out your interview season. If you chose to, you can then schedule your higher choice rolling schools early. Then, when you hear back from them, you can cancel or keep later interviews as necessary.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Applying early also alleviates the stress of the whole application/interview season because you will hear results much quicker than later in the process. Trust me on this one, you don't want to apply in the "middle" of the application season (read this as "late") because the wait will be excruciatingly long and may result in you not getting in that application year if you aren't a stellar applicant.

 

[Dr.Detroit]

Once you're accepted early in the season (to a rolling school) your confidence at the rest of your interviews...well, you will be confident at the rest of your interviews.

 

[Piper2011]

Also, if you get at least one acceptance early, it makes the rest of the process a LOT less stressful!

 

[tredici]

It's a lot less stressful, and you'll probably get a better application:interview ratio.

I wish I applied early.

 

[weathertalk]

Applying early means submitting your AMCAS Primary anytime in June or the first half of July.

I'm not sure if applying early actually "helps" you that much. I added my last school (a rolling one that is quite selective) to the primary in august and still got in even though I'm out of state. However, applying early is a huge psychological boost. You'll be on your 5th or 6th interview when fellow interviewees are sweating because it's their first. Furthermore, as previous posters mentioned, interviews give you an idea of where your app stands. If you're getting interviews at all the top 20 schools, you can probably cancel interviews that are less desirable. Furthermore, you can group interviews in the same city more effectively, saving a considerable amount of money (I interviewed at 3 NY schools in 3 days, which worked well since it's a long trip from California).

So... unless you're a late MCATer, submit some time in June, your future self will thank you for it.