Will taking a long time to complete secondary look bad on you?

[Long_John]

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Will taking a long time to complete secondary look bad on you? Do Adcom's 'frown' on this or do they not even care?

 

[superdevil]

probably not. most schools don't have the time or personnel to add one more off-the-wall variable to the equation like "uh oh, Long John gets a .35 deduction for excessive time filling out the secondary. no interview granted."

just do it as soon as possible. 😉

 

[superunknown]

i agree w/ superdevil. I had one 2ndary for nearly a month, but I still got an interview at that school.

 

[acl3623]

i hope not because ive been sitting on some for about a month now!

 

[Jeffy]

Well, let's hope not because I've had U Chicago's secondary since July 16th!! If that's not a long time, than I dunno what is.

 

[LauraMac]

i've had stanford's for well over a month. i don't think it matters.

 

[VFrank]

I think sometimes it matters. Some secondaries (WashU, George Washington, Duke) suggest you somplete their application within a few weeks of receiving the invitation (usually between 2 and 4 weeks). I would read the instructions to the apps you're sitting on just to make sure there isn't some weird rule like that.

 

[b-real]

I agree with VFrank, some schools are strict. VCU, for example, gives you a month to complete and has the due date in red on their status check website. A few people have reported the office not budging on extensions after the deadline has passed.

 

[Attentive]

I think that depending on the secondary format, it might look strange.

Some secondaries only require some minor repeated information off the AMCAS. If you take too long in returning a secondary that should take at the most a couple minutes, AND if they keep track of the date returned, they may gauge it as the degree of your response.

In secondaries that require significant answers, I think that it would be better to take your time doing a good job, than rushing things. If you can answer quickly and well, all the better. But once again, when there are a series of lengthy questions, the adcoms might actually read them, so it'd be better to write convincing and thorough response. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Fusion]

I think that depending on the secondary format, it might look strange.

Some secondaries only require some minor repeated information off the AMCAS. If you take too long in returning a secondary that should take at the most a couple minutes, AND if they keep track of the date returned, they may gauge it as the degree of your response.

In secondaries that require significant answers, I think that it would be better to take your time doing a good job, than rushing things. If you can answer quickly and well, all the better. But once again, when there are a series of lengthy questions, the adcoms might actually read them, so it'd be better to write convincing and thorough response. Just my 2 cents.

I agree. Quality should never be sacrificed for speed of response, unless of course the deadline is looming or you are otherwise pressed for time and need to submit it ASAP (like I was with the Rush secondary - I took a trip right after the MCAT and had to bring my laptop along for this reason. Thank God for the ethernet connection in my hotel room, lol).