Mid-July too late?

[toomuchcoffee]

Hello!

I am looking to apply to a few american schools, but unfortunately my summer situation doesn't allow me to complete the application until mid-July! I was wondering if this would be a little too late to be considered competitively? 

Thanks!

[bearpuppy]

The problem is you will not have your grades verified probably until ~ end of August, perhaps not even into September. Then with secondaries and all that, maybe not actually starting to get reviewed until end of September.. Not a great situation, but could be worse. Why can't you submit now? 

[JohnGrisham]

Sleep a few less hours and get it done.  Or are you simply missing crucial parts that you won't have access to? 

There are very few reasons otherwise that should stop you from getting it done now. It's on you to determine if you want to give yourself the best situation possible in submitting your application.

[jfdes]

Tagging onto this since my question is similar and I didn't want to start a new thread...

I will be able to finish the primary in the next few days but would have to order transcripts to be sent today and ask for reference letters, so don't anticipate those getting in for a few more weeks (maybe 2?). I've heard that applying multiple years in a row looks bad, although this will be my first time applying. Is it worth applying now, so late in the cycle, or would it be better to try again for Canadian schools and apply early to the US next year if I don't get in?

If it makes a difference, I wrote my last MCAT in September 2015...

[Neurophilic]

8 hours ago, toomuchcoffee said:

Hello!

I am looking to apply to a few american schools, but unfortunately my summer situation doesn't allow me to complete the application until mid-July! I was wondering if this would be a little too late to be considered competitively? 

Thanks!

Depends on your stats tbh. If you are going to apply I would suggest getting your primary app in ASAP. Like the next couple of days. Get your school to send in your transcripts and letters can come in after your verified that's perfectly fine as they won't be used at least until you are verified. The limiting factor here would be verification. According to SDN you will still be considered early if you have your verified primary app and LORs in by labor day long weekend, but ultimately its up to you if you want to apply this cycle.

[Neurophilic]

27 minutes ago, jfdes said:

Tagging onto this since my question is similar and I didn't want to start a new thread...

I will be able to finish the primary in the next few days but would have to order transcripts to be sent today and ask for reference letters, so don't anticipate those getting in for a few more weeks (maybe 2?). I've heard that applying multiple years in a row looks bad, although this will be my first time applying. Is it worth applying now, so late in the cycle, or would it be better to try again for Canadian schools and apply early to the US next year if I don't get in?

If it makes a difference, I wrote my last MCAT in September 2015...

According to SDN you will still be considered early if you have your verified app in by labor day long weekend. Additionally, i'd watch out for your MCAT many schools only only your scores to be valid for only 3 years relative to matriculation date, i.e. many schools are accepting 2015,16,17 scores for THIS cycle. Check this out because it would suck if you have to retake the exam with a good score simply because of expiry. 

[toomuchcoffee]

2 minutes ago, Neurophilic said:

Depends on your stats tbh. If you are going to apply I would suggest getting your primary app in ASAP. Like the next couple of days. Get your school to send in your transcripts and letters can come in after your verified that's perfectly fine as they won't be used at least until you are verified. The limiting factor here would be verification. According to SDN you will still be considered early if you have your verified primary app and LORs in by labor day long weekend, but ultimately its up to you if you want to apply this cycle.

my transcripts have already been accepted! It would be the letters of recommendation that I know would take half a month! Would you say to clamp down, write the essays and send it in? 

thanks

[Neurophilic]

Just now, toomuchcoffee said:

my transcripts have already been accepted! It would be the letters of recommendation that I know would take half a month! Would you say to clamp down, write the essays and send it in? 

thanks

That's great then. Yeah definitely bang out that Personal Statement and fill out your EC's and submit. LORs won't even be evaluated until after you are verified at the earliest, and probably not until you submit your secondaries anyways. Verification alone will probably take 2-4 weeks. 

[toomuchcoffee]

Just now, Neurophilic said:

That's great then. Yeah definitely bang out that Personal Statement and fill out your EC's and submit. LORs won't even be evaluated until after you are verified at the earliest, and probably not until you submit your secondaries anyways. Verification alone will probably take 2-4 weeks. 

thank you so much! You seem very knowledgeable about an admissions system that I know nothing about! If i have any questions in the next few weeks, would you mind if i messaged you? 

thanks again!!

[Neurophilic]

Just now, toomuchcoffee said:

thank you so much! You seem very knowledgeable about an admissions system that I know nothing about! If i have any questions in the next few weeks, would you mind if i messaged you? 

thanks again!!

That's because I'm in the midst of a cycle and am on SDN from time to time. Probably a much better resource than premed101 for US apps. Yeah shoot me a PM if you have any questions and I'll see if I can help you out

[jfdes]

Thanks for the info. 

I was under the impression that rolling admissions meant you would be evaluated as soon as you finished the app (and that schools began evaluating completed apps as early as June), is it really just a question of getting it in before September to have the benefits of the early application?

[Neurophilic]

1 hour ago, jfdes said:

Thanks for the info. 

I was under the impression that rolling admissions meant you would be evaluated as soon as you finished the app (and that schools began evaluating completed apps as early as June), is it really just a question of getting it in before September to have the benefits of the early application?

It is rolling admissions, however, schools won't actually fully evaluate your application until all application materials have been sent. This includes: verified primary, LORs, secondaries, and CASper if required by the school. It's more of a step by step process and the quicker you complete each step, the quicker you can get to a completed application and get reviewed. AMCAS won't actually submit any primary apps to med schools until June 30th. When secondaries are sent out from each school also differs. Some will send to unverified applications and others require verification. Additionally, some will automatically send secondaries to all applicants who submitted a primary to that school and others will prescreen and only send secondaries to a select few. It all depends on the school. With all of this said, the quicker you get each phase submitted, the more likely you are to complete and submit the next phase (i.e. secondaries). Benefits of getting in early are that the adcomms will be more liberal with who they admit as you will not necessarily be compared to as many other students because the class has yet to accept any applicants. Re: September, It is more of an arbitrary date but if you could get it in earlier than September that will serve you better in the long run. With that said, don't rush and submit crappy materials as that won't help you. It's a balance between quality and speed.